State Media – Government has said Britain has no business in Zimbabwe’s internal elections and has no right to prescribe how the country should run its elections.
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Secretary Mr George Charamba said any interference by the British administration in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs would be resisted.
Mr Charamba said Zimbabwe was a sovereign State and in no way should it pander to the whims and caprices of the British regime.
His remarks come in the wake of some reckless and unsubstantiated claims by the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Catriona Laing recently that the takeover of the procurement of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits by Government might compromise the credibility of next year’s elections.
Ms Laing preferred a situation where the Government of Zimbabwe surrendered the procurement of the BVR kits to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Mr Charamba queried why the British were interested on how the kits were being procured, yet they were not showing the same enthusiasm on how the country was procuring grain for drought relief.
“What is so special about those voting kits,” asked Mr Charamba.
“Why didn’t they meddle on how we procure grain for drought relief? What is she trying to say? We hope the Conservative government, which she represents, is not copying wrong things from the discredited (Tony) Blair government.
“If they made that mistake they will discover the resistance to that will just be stout. We are not a British colony and voting is a sovereign right.”
Mr Charamba added: “The British had elections a few years ago and more recently they had a referendum on whether to stay or get out of the European Union. Were the kits bought by the United Nations Development Programme?”
Although the British are not a stakeholder in Zimbabwe’s elections, Ms Laing said the Government of Zimbabwe should cite the type of material it wanted to purchase.
She said Britain was “concerned” on the transparency of the process, without elaborating where the concern was coming from.
“There are a number of conditions and recommendations that the African Union and Sadc made that need to be in place in order for all of us to have confidence that the elections, when they happen, will be free and fair,” she said.
“One of the issues we are concerned about is around the change of the procurement process around BVR. We wait to see how this is going to pan out.”
Government recently said it was now going to play a leading role in the procurement of the BVR kits instead of leaving the entire process to the UNDP.
There are a number of issues that led to that development, including a plot by Western governments to use the involvement of the UNDP to influence the outcome of Zimbabwe’s elections.
If things failed to go their way, they might cause instability in the country like what they did in Cote d’Ivoire during the tenure of President Laurent Gbagbo, observers said.
Analysts say elections were an internal process that should not be left in the hands of foreign institutions or Governments. They said it was interesting to explore why the opposition and Western governments were keen to involve UNDP in a purely internal and sovereign process such as elections.
People are we not being naive to think that a dictatorship can be removed through the ballot? When has it ever been done? Truth be told even if a free & fair election were possible it won’t free us! These sharks at the top have so much to lose! We forget how militant this state really is!
Please wena Nomusa. There is no party called MDC-N in Zim, later on on earth. Stop inventing names that don’ t exist. It is the MDC full stop. Zim media is very dangerous – you like creating stories and names that don’ t exist – driving a lie again and again until it gets stuck in the public’s mind as the truth. Please be factual, if you are seeking to change Zim for the better. Copying Gukurahundi ZANU PF is a very bad start for a self proclaimed Democrat!!
Eish! eish! I am sick and tired!
Had Gorge Bush not coined the phrase “Regime Change” during the Iraq war; what would these Africans be saying to day?
It is now a phrase that has now taken a life of its own, only in Africa why?
Gorge Bush is long gone and we still hear about ” regime change”. Fortunately though; even Gukurahundi Robert Mugabe is now tired of shouting about Tony Blair. He is gone quiet with age. It seems he has now forgotten about Britain!!
kkkkkkkkk – I love old age; like death, it indeed does sort you out. Even the most stubborn on earth!!
Nearly all the freaking ministers of Mugabe are thieves including him
True Zanu PF has a “tainted history of stealing elections” but are you sure you are not being taken for a sucker! With all Zanu PF’s vote rigging skill, are you suggesting stopping the regime from buying the BVR kit will stop it rigging the elections? If is can still rig the elections with great ease, I say it can, then why are you making a mountain out of a mole hill. Zanu PF will give in and then rig the elections, who will have a lot of egg on their face then!
We want free and fair elections and must demand the implementation of ALL the reforms and not waste time on one trivial issue whose contribution is questionable!
Zanu PF has perfected the art of rigging elections and has numerous ways of achieving this as past-experience has shown. If we are serious about free and fair elections in Zimbabwe then we must talk about implementing the raft of reforms and not waste time on BVR kits.
The British Ambassador should be careful not to allow herself to be drawn in a fight over the kit because Zanu PF would love to do that and then give in with all the fan fair and publicity. They will then go on and rig the vote anyway, will the British endorse the elections as being free and fair then?
“We are not a British colony and voting is a sovereign right,” say Charamba.
That is rich, coming from a regime that has routinely denied the majority of its people a meaningful free vote and regularly frog march them to attend its rallies and to vote for it! Since when has sovereign right meant rigging elections and then claim they were free and fair.
Zanu PF has got away with rigging elections because it bribes the opposition by allowing them to win some seats. Senator Coltart admitted this in his book and no one in the opposition will dare to deny it.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the elections,” explained Senator Coltart.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
The betrayal of the opposition sickens me!
People should understand that there is no distinction between government and Zanu pf. Government is zanu pf and zanu pf is government. To allow then to take a major role in purchase of BVR is fraud. They have a tainted history of stealing elections and why should they be trusted. Charamba is just singing for his supper.