The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on Monday handed over a preliminary delimitation report to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, which has new constituency and ward boundaries for the forthcoming harmonized elections.
ZEC chairperson Priscillah Chigumba told journalists in Harare that the preliminary report has been handed over to the president as per Zimbabwe’s constitution.
Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, also said, ““In terms of the law, His Excellency is required to cause the Report to be tabled before Parliament of Zimbabwe within 7 working days from the date of presentation of the said Report.”
Section 161 of the constitution stipulates that after delimiting wards and constituencies, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must submit to the president a preliminary report containing a list of the wards and constituencies, with the names assigned to each and a description of their boundaries; a map or maps showing the wards and constituencies any further information or particulars which the Commission considers necessary.
“The President must cause the preliminary delimitation report to be laid before Parliament within seven days. Within fourteen days after a preliminary delimitation report has been laid before Parliament, the President may refer the report back to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for further consideration of any matter or issue; either House may resolve that the report should be referred back to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission for further consideration of any matter or issue, and in that event the President must refer the report back to the Commission for that further consideration.
“Where a preliminary delimitation report has been referred back to it, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must give further consideration to the matter or issue concerned, but the Commission's decision on it is final. As soon as possible after complying with subsections (7) and (9), the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must submit a final delimitation report to the President. Within fourteen days after receiving the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's final report, the President must publish a proclamation in the Gazette declaring the names and boundaries of the wards and constituencies as finally determined by the Commission.”
The Zimbabwe constitution clearly states that once every ten years, on a date or within a period fixed by the Commission so as to fall as soon as possible after a population census, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must conduct a delimitation of the electoral boundaries into which Zimbabwe is to be divided.
“If a delimitation of electoral boundaries is completed less than six months before polling day in a general election, the boundaries so delimited do not apply to that election, and instead the boundaries that existed immediately before the delimitation are applicable. The boundaries of constituencies must be such that, so far as possible, at the time of delimitation equal numbers of voters are registered in each constituency within Zimbabwe. The boundaries of wards must be such that, so far as possible, at the time of delimitation equal numbers of voters are registered in each ward of the local authority concerned.”