By Judith Sibanda
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has cancelled the mobile Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise in Victoria Falls which was scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
In a statement, ZEC said the mobile BVR exercise which was meant to be conducted at Mosi-Oa-Tunya High School was no longer going to take place.
“The ZEC registration that was scheduled for Mosi High has been rescheduled for another date to be advised,” ZEC announced on social media without stating the reasons.
“Sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
The developments were confirmed by Mosi –Oa-Tunya High School headmaster Roland Sibanda who said ZEC notified the school on Monday after citing transport challenges.
“They notified me yesterday because I had given them the venue at the school,” Sibanda said.
“They told me that they were not given the promised car to use as theirs has a breakdown and is supposed to be towed to Bulawayo anytime for fixing.”
Scores of residents reportedly started tickling in at the school as early as 7AM, before being turned away.
Former Binga North Member of Parliament Prince Dubeko Sibanda, took to Twitter to express his frustration on the development.
“@ZECzim has cancelled the registration exercise that was meant to be done in Vic Falls because our team on the ground had done a great job of mobilizing the youth. With
@ProjectVote263 & other partners, we’re bringing the youth to Hwange for registration. Forward ever,” he tweeted.
The mobile exercise was meant to target eligible voters who have not managed to travel to Hwange where the ZEC district office is located.
The exercise was triggered by concerns that Victoria Falls residents were travelling 100km to Hwange to register at the ZEC district office.
Registration is, however, continuous around the province where BVR kits are available at static sites at Zec’s district offices in Binga, Bubi, Hwange, Lupane, Nkayi, Tsholotsho and Umguza.
Government last year gazetted the Census and Statistics Amendment Act to allow an early population census and pave the way for delimitation of constituencies ahead of the 2023 elections.
