ZAPU expresses concern over declining voter confidence

ZAPU has expressed concern over the increasing difficulty of convincing people to participate in electoral processes, citing the recent recalls of parliamentarians as a key factor contributing to voter fatigue and disillusionment with the country’s political landscape.

Despite mixed reactions to Sengezo Tshabangu’s recalls of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) MPs and Senators, some people believe these recalls harm the opposition more while benefiting Zanu PF.

ZAPU is one of the stakeholders which feels the recalls benefit Zanu PF and the party declared it would run in the upcoming December 9 by-elections, as an attempt to prevent the ruling party from obtaining more constituency seats where the CCC members were recalled.

In an interview with CITE, ZAPU Secretary General, Mthulisi Hanana, confirmed it was ‘already’ cumbersome to convince people to participate in the upcoming by-elections because they were afraid of seeing more recalls initiated by Tshabangu or another individual.

“There are two things that are happening now. One, we can have a country that has an endless cycle of elections and in that cycle, absolutely nothing changes. So people are asking themselves why must we vote because they are continuously voting but nothing is changing,” Hanana said.

“Over and above that, people fear that when they vote, one individual, for whatever reasons, justified or not, will overturn their will. Now the question is how must people act when somebody comes to subvert their will, saying, ‘no, we do not want those representatives, blah, blah, blah goes to court and wins.’”

The ZAPU SG said recalls had negative connotations because if one “powerless” individual like Tshabangu can subvert the will of the people, it confirms to the people that Zanu PF, which is a “powerful institution” can do more to reverse their choices.

“Zanu PF is more powerful than Tshabangu and has the power to subvert the will of the people to rig elections. These are things that affect people, but secondly, look at how difficult it was for people to vote in the August 23 elections,” said Hanana, noting that names of voters were not appearing on the voters roll while others were shifted to different polling stations including the fact that voting in some urban areas started hours later. 

“There was just a lot that was going on and ultimately when this thing happens, people ask themselves is voting worth it?”

Hanana added another factor was the logistical arrangements for people based in the diaspora. 

“If they want to vote, they have to go to Zimbabwe to register to vote or confirm if their name is there on the voters’ roll. They might even find that their name is not there. Now with by-elections, people based abroad need to come and confirm if their names are still there,” lamented the ZAPU SG, who explained there were so many challenges that discouraged people from voting.

“Finally, when people go and vote, the process is expensive. People will ask is it worth it or should they just allow people to decide for them? These are some of the consequences of the actions we are seeing in Zimbabwe and one of the most difficult things that we come across as political parties is to lobby people to register to vote and vote.”

The ZAPU SG said at the end of the day, people expect the electoral system to “meet them halfway” and make sure that the voting process or the voting outcomes reflect their will.

“That is when we can then say, ‘OK, I didn’t want to vote but I voted and it was worth it.’ But what has happened now? Everyone feels ‘it’s not worth it. Why bother voting?’ In the next cycle of elections in 2028, we have to start encouraging people to go through this same process because of certain voting benefits of voting but voters will say, ‘don’t ask us to vote. Why should we vote if Tshabangu can recall our people?’” Hanana indicated.

“People will ask why they should vote if their will as expressed in the ballot is not going to be respected. You also ask yourself, what have you benefited from voting? You know the answer is absolutely nothing except the benefit of having to vote again and that’s not a benefit.”

Hanana summed: “You don’t vote. so that you vote again. You vote so that you are led. You vote for your representation.”