TWELVE  CANDIDATES   FOR CONSTITUENCIES  IN BULAWAYO , ZIMBABWE, WERE DENIED  THEIR RIGHT TO STAND FOR  ELECTION TO  PARLIMENT

Last week  twelve prospective candidates for constituencies in Bulawayo , Zimbabwe were denied their Human Right to stand for election to the Zimbabwean parliament.  In turn the people of Bulawayo were denied their Human Right, as enshrined at the United Nations and also the African Union , to be able to elect representatives of their chose, to represent them in parliament.

This is a basic Human Right 

This affects the whole of the Bulawayo, the second city of Zimbabwe.  It affects intensely the southern Region of Zimbabwe and also the whole country The High Court judge who barred these twelve prospective candidates from standing ruled that they had handed their candidature papers late to the Zimbabwean Election Commission , Zec, that facilitates the election.  Yet Zec in their Nomination Court and also at the High Court said these twelve prospective candidates handed in their papers on time.  At the High Court no other evidence was presented that contradicts this yet the judge barred the prospective candidates from standing.

The twelve barred candidates were all from the main Opposition, Citizens Coalition for Change , CCC.  The ruling party is Zanu PF and it controls the judges with an iron fist.   In these elections which are due on the 23rd August 2023 , Zanu PF is trailing far behind the CCC.  Commentators predict that CCC will win this election, bringing  change to Zimbabwe  for the first time in 43 years. 

It now comes to light that there were a number of Zanu PF candidates that handed in their papers late , ie after 16;00, yet nothing was done to them.

This is a frontal assault upon democracy its self , aside from any politics that may be there.
To make matter worse, Bulawayo and the southern part of Zimbabwe have been marginalised by the Zanu PF gov for 43 years with respect to development and service delivery by Zanu PF. In addition Bulawayo suffered atrocities in one of its suburbs called Ntumbane in the early 1980's perpetrated by Zanu PF.  Then in the period 1983 -1987 Bulawayo and the southern provinces suffered a Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, once again perpetrated by Zanu PF. 

Why does this matter

Since independence 43 years ago all the elections in Zimbabwe have been disputed.  Zanu PF is the only political party that has ruled the country.  However the Zanu PF rule has been tainted by corruption, genocide, a deep economic criss and a total collapse of service delivery across all portfolios and the government is now a military government after the November 2017 coup.   These election are about to change all of that with a new civilian government.  These elections are the lifeline the country needs in order to stand on its feet.  It is given that the elections are not free and fair but non the less for the sake of the people the need to try democracy again was there.  But this unconstitutional  judgement of by the judge to bare these CCC candidates is a step too far. For it gives Zanu PF twelve constituencies before even the first ballot paper has been handed in. Terrible  !

This will now destabilise Zimbabwe and destabilise the whole Southern African Region, SADC, to the detriment of the people of Zimbabwe and SADC as a whole . In such an event migration watch experts predict an exodus of Zimbabwe to South Africa in the millions. Already South Africa has 4.1 million Zimbabweans as a result of the conduct of Zanu PF gov.  To date the number of Zimbabweans in the diaspora of voting age is in the order of 6.5 million.  And the Zanu PF government has banned them from voting from the diaspora. Strangely the total number of Zimbabweans on the voters roll inside Zimbabwe is 6.5 million.

What do we want  

We are asking for the 12 candidates that have been barred , to be allowed to stand in these elections on the 23 August 2023 
We are asking the international arena to apply pressure to the Zimbabwean government for it to operate within the  internationally acceptable norms of practice  for elections as it has already pledged to do so. We are asking the international arena to encourage the countries around Zimbabwe , SADC,  to be firm with Zanu PF, with respect to these elections, the rule of law, and the principles of democracy. We are asking for your participation in this petition so as to show that the world is watching and also to encourage other governments to take a stronger position against the Zanu PF gov.