The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says its operations are heavily affected due to underfunding from the government which has left some personnel depolarized.
In its March 26 by-elections report released recently, the electoral management board said its budget needs to be considered in its originality, especially on elections, to avoid compromising the quality-of-service delivery.
The Commission was allocated $3.002 billion out of a bid of $5.0 billion, representing 60% of the Commission’s budget.
“The payment of US$45 election allowances per day instead of US$60 affected the morale of recruited personnel. Local service providers compounded the situation by demanding payment in hard currency instead of local currency, thus adversely affecting the preparations for the elections.
“Personnel recruited for electoral activities need to be paid allowances in time in order to motivate them and hence avoid disturbances of any form. Further, allowances payable per day should be compensatory enough to keep election officers motivated,” ZEC said.
In its recommendations, ZEC said personnel recruited for electoral activities need to be paid allowances in time in order to motivate and hence avoid disturbances of any form. It added that allowances payable per day should be compensatory enough to keep election officers motivated.
” The Commission recommends that all election funds be released timeously, and in sufficient amounts to enable it to adequately prepare for and conduct elections,” the report said.
In his 2023 budget, Finance Minister,m Mthuli Ncube allocated ZWL$76 billion for next year’s elections with $53 billion earmarked for the actual polling process and The European Union pledged US$5,9 million to support ZEC.
“The commission’s budget needs to be considered in its originality, especially on elections, to avoid compromising the quality-of-service delivery. The commission recommends that all election funds be released timeously, and in sufficient amounts to enable it to adequately prepare for and conduct elections. The State should fully capacitate the ZEC to enable it to carry out the function of voter registration in terms of the law,” Ncube said.
