ZESN PRELIMINARY STATEMENT ON THE 3 FEBRUARY 2024 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BY-ELECTIONS

4-FEBRUARY-2024 – In line with its mission to promote democratic free and fair electoral processes through objectively and impartially observing elections in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) observed the 3 February 2024 National Assembly by-elections. These by-elections were conducted in Chegutu West, Goromonzi South, Mkoba North, Pelandaba-Tshabalala, Seke, and Zvimba East. National Assembly vacancies arose following recalls of six (6) incumbent legislators.

The legislators who were all elected in the 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections under Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), were recalled by the party’s ‘interim Secretary General’ Sengezo Tshabangu who declared they had ceased to be members of the political party with effect from 14 November 2023 are; Addmore Chivero – Chegutu West; Stephen Chatiza – Goromonzi South; Amos Chibaya – Mkoba North; Gift Ostallos Siziba – Pelandaba-Tshabalala; Willard Tapfumaneyi Madzimbamuto – Seke and Oliver Mutasa – Zvimba East.

Legal Framework

Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution, the Electoral Act as well as Subsidiary and Subordinate legislation in the form of Statutory Instruments governed the conditions under which the by-elections were conducted. Section 39 (2) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13] provides that, …after the President has been notified in terms of the said section of vacancies in the membership of Parliament, he shall issue a proclamation ordering a new election to fill the vacancies in the same manner, mutatis mutandis, as is provided in Section 38 of the said Act in regard to a general election. On 23 November 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa proclaimed the by-elections date through Statutory Instrument 235 of 2023, Proclamation 10 of 2023 in line with Section 46 (17) (c) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13]. The proclamation ensured that the election date sat within the confines of the Zimbabwean Law as enshrined under Section 158 (3) of the Constitution which further mandates that any vacancy should be filled through a by-election within 90 days of the date in which the vacancy occurred.

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Constituency Profile (Pelandaba- Tshabalala Constituency)

Introduction
Pelandaba-Tshabalala Constituency is one of the seven (7) Bulawayo constituencies that
were reconfigured and renamed following the 2022 Delimitation exercise. It borders with
Lobengula Magwegwe, Mpopoma-Mzilikazi, Bulawayo South, Nkulumane, Tsholotsho
South and Pumula. The CCC spokesperson Ostallos Gift Siziba was directly elected in the
August Harmonized Elections to represent the constituency. He served from 7 September
2023 when he was sworn in up to 7 November 2023 when he was said to have ‘ceased’
from being a member of the party, hence, on 14 November, the Speaker of Parliament
declared the constituency vacant. The President of Zimbabwe then proclaimed 3 February
2024 as By-Election date to directly elect a Member of Parliament for the constituency.

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MKOBA North Profile (MKOBA North Constituency)

Mkoba North is an urban Constituency located in Gweru provincial town of Midlands
Province. The Constituency share borders with Chiwundura, Vungu and Mkoba South.
On 14 November 2023, the Speaker of Parliament declared Mkoba North Constituency
vacant. This followed the recall of National Assembly representative, CCC’s Chief whip,
Amos Chibaya, three months after he was elected in the August 2023 Harmonized
Elections. The CCC ‘interim Secretary General’ Sengezo Tshabangu claimed Chibaya
ceased to be a member of the party with effect from 7 November 2023. Chibaya,
alongside other recalled CCC members challenged this in Courts but lost the matter
to Tshabangu and in line with the Constitution and the Electoral Act, this triggered a
By-Election that will be held on 3 February 2024.

 

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Chegutu Profile (Chegutu West Constituency)

Introduction
Chegutu West is a Constituency located in Chegutu District of Mashonaland West
Province and consists of both rural and urban wards. It shares borders with Chegutu
East Constituency, Chakari and Muzvezve. Its geographic coordinates of the area are
-18.20314S, 30.13705E. The Constituency experiences high temperatures and minimum
rainfall and is largely dominated by sparsely vegetated trees and thorn bushes,
savannah soils and grasslands. The poor rainfall affects economic activities
particularly agriculture, resulting in high levels of lived poverty. Chegutu West has
fifteen wards of which wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are urban wards while
wards 21, 25 and 28 are the rural wards. According to the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission 2022 Delimitation Report, Chegutu West Constituency has 30 480
registered voters.

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Constituency Profile (Zvimba East Constituency)

Introduction
Zvimba East is a rural Constituency, located in Zvimba District, Mashonaland West
Province, which is situated about 60km northwest of Harare capital. Bordered by
Mazowe West, Harare Metropolitan, Norton and Zvimba North, Zvimba East was
created in 2008, together with Zvimba West. Mashonaland West is former Zimbabwe
President, Robert Mugabe’s home province. On 14 November, the Speaker of
Parliament declared Zvimba East constituency vacant with effect from 7 November
2023 following the recall of Oliver Mutasa, a CCC Member of Parliament. A By-Election
is scheduled for 3 February 2024

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Constituency Profile (Seke Constituency)

Introduction
Seke Constituency is a peri-urban constituency, geographically located in Seke District
of Mashonaland East Province. It is situated approximately 50km southeast of
Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. Seke Constituency shares borders with Epworth South,
Hunyani, Zengeza West, Zengeza East, Chitungwiza North, Marondera West and
Goromonzi South. A by-election will be held in the constituency on 3 February 2024
following the recall of the Citizen for Coalition Change Member of Parliament, Williard
Madzimbamuto as announced by the Speaker of Parliament on 14 November 2023.
Madzimbamuto is said to have ceased to be a member of the CCC with effect from 7
November 2023, creating a constituency vacancy that ought to be filled through a by-election.

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Constituency Profile (Goromonzi South)

Goromonzi South Constituency lies in Mashonaland East’s Goromonzi District.
Goromonzi South Constituency share borders with Harare East, Mabvuku-Tafara,
Ruwa, Goromonzi North, Murewa West, Seke and Marondera East. Since August 2023,
the constituency has been under a CCC MP, until that time when the ‘interim secretary
general” of the party recalled him on grounds that he had ceased to be a member of
the party. A By-Election is scheduled to take place on February 3 to fill the vacancy
created by the recall. Goromonzi South is a rural constituency, with traditional families
that base their livelihoods on subsistence farming methods.

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Final Nomination Report 3 February 2024 by-election

On 18 December Nomination Courts in Marondera, Chinhoyi, Gweru and Bulawayo
convened to fulfil Zimbabwe’s legal procedure in officially verifying and accepting aspiring
candidates’ nomination papers ahead of the coming National Assembly by-elections
scheduled for 3 February 2024. By-elections will be conducted in accordance with
Statutory Instrument 235 of 2023, Proclamation 10 of 2023 to fill the parliamentary seats
left vacant by the recalls of six (6) incumbent legislators. Vacancies occurred following the
recalls of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) candidates on 10 November 2023 by the
party’s ‘interim secretary general’ who declared they had ceased to be members of the
party.

The recalls triggered the need for by-elections to choose new representatives in Mkoba
North, Goromonzi South, Seke, Pelandaba-Tshabalala, Zvimba East and Chegutu West
Constituencies. Among the recalled Members of Parliament is the CCC organising
secretary, Amos Chibaya, who is also Chief Whip of the party, and the party’s deputy
spokesperson Gift Ostallos Siziba, representing Mkoba North and Pelandaba-Tshabalala
respectively. Admore Chivero (Chegutu West), Tapfumaneyi Willard Madzimbamuto
(Seke), Oliver Mutasa (Zvimba East) and Stephen Chatiza (Goromonzi South) also ceased
to be members of Parliament for their respective constituencies on 10 November.

In line with its objectives, ZESN members observed the nomination processes at
designated Magistrates Courts. Due to resource constraints, ZESN members observed the
nomination process for parliamentary contenders only and excluded nomination sittings
for the twelve (12) Local Authority Councillors. To promote consistency across its
observation, ZESN agreed on a common framework and approach through which
members were guided in terms of gathering information on the process and outcome of
the nomination.

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ZESN 2023 Harmonised Election Report

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network ZESN) is a coalition of 37 Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs) which was formed in the year 2000. The major focus of the Network is to promote democratic
processes in general and free and fair elections in particular. Following an invitation by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC), ZESN trained and deployed a total of 6,500 Short-Term Observers (STOs) to
observe the 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections. These accredited observers were deployed to every
constituency, ward, district and province in the country to observe the political environment and all
Election Day processes.

In addition, ZESN partnered with the Election Resource Centre (ERC) in deploying sample-based observers
to observe Election Day processes. In Zimbabwe, national Harmonised Elections are conducted once
every five years. Three elections are held concurrently namely; the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local
Authority elections. The 23 August 2023 Harmonised Elections were the fourth to be held under this
system since the year 2008 and the third under a new Constitution which was adopted in the year 2013.
This report presents an account of the pre-election situation, the Election Day observations and the post-election environment in the country.

On 31 May 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa proclaimed the election dates. Under Statutory
Instrument 85 of 2023, the President fixed the 23 August as polling day and June 21 as the date on
which Nomination Courts would sit countrywide to accept applications by political parties and their
candidates to take part in the polls. In line with Presidential proclamation, the Harmonised Elections
were conducted on 23 August 2023. On Election Day, there was another statutory instrument to extend
voting in some constituencies to 24 August because of delays in opening of some of the polling stations
due to logistical hurdles such as the deployment of wrong ballot papers or missing ballot papers

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9 December By-Election Report

On December 9, Zimbabwe conducted by-elections in Lupane East, Binga North, Beitbridge West, Bulawayo South, Lobengula-Magwegwe, Mpopoma-Mzilikazi, Nketa and Cowdray Park. National Assembly and Local Authority vacancies arose following recalls of nine (9) incumbent legislators and 17 Councillors by the ‘interim secretary general’ of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Sengezo Tshabangu who declared that they had ceased to be members of the political party with effect from 3 October 2023. However, instead of nine (9) National Assembly by-elections, only eight (8) were conducted. This followed a High Court judgment which barred recalled legislators from contesting, ruling acceptance of their candidature by the Nomination Court was unlawful. Therefore, the Mabvuku-Tafara by-election was cancelled since only two candidates had been nominated for election in the constituency and Sakupwanya Pedzai of ZANU-PF was duly nominated and elected as the Member of Parliament for Mabvuku-Tafara constituency.

In the run-up to the election, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) volunteers and members observed the pre-electoral environment and other electoral related events and processes such as the sitting of the Nomination Court that was conducted on 7 November 2023. On election day, ZESN deployed 256 static and 38 mobile observers who observed the election day processes. These observations helped ZESN in determining whether elections complied with national, regional and international standards of electoral integrity.

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