The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana has hit out at the opposition for it’s sustained pressure on the electoral body ZEC.
Mangwana’s sentiments come as the opposition calls for more transparency from ZEC as the country heads for crucial by-elections on the 26th of March.
The by-elections will be held to fill 28 National Assembly seats and 122 local authority wards which became vacant after the Douglas Mwonzora led MDC T recalled the representatives, while a few are vacant due to death.
Posting on Twitter, Mangwana urged the opposition to formally engage ZEC if they have grievances.
“It’s really inappropriate for political parties to try to terrorize ZEC through bully-boy tactics in a bid to intimidate. If there are any areas of concern then engage rather than try to brow beat them in a way that compromises their independence,” he said.
In 2018 the MDC Alliance, then led by advocate Nelson Chamisa approached the constitutional court accusing ZEC of rigging the general elections in favor of the ruling Zanu Pf party.
They lost the case. The court cited lack of substantive evidence of vote rigging.
Citizens Coalition for Change {CCC} leader Nelson Chamisa told his supporters at Zimbabwe grounds that he would not allow vote rigging to be repeated in Zimbabwe, saying his party had devised various mechanisms to guard against it.
“In this country we will never allow an election that is rigged, never again is an election going to be rigged, never again is a 2018 going to be repeated. This time I will be at the fore front and you will be following. There are no elections which will be stolen in this country,” he said.
However ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba advised political parties to stop blaming ZEC but rather campaign peacefully and entice the electorate with their ideas.
Chigumba said this on Wednesday at the launch of the NationaI Multi-party Liaison Committee {MPLC} in Harare.