ZEC allays job loss fears after voter registration transfer

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has assured staff that no jobs will be lost following the transfer of voter registration and management functions to the Civil Registry Department after the Constitutional Amendment Number 3.

ZEC chief elections officer Simbarashe Tongayi said the commission has 93 highly experienced staff who have been handling voter registration and delimitation.

He was speaking in an interview with The Sunday Mail on the sidelines of a workshop held at a Bulawayo hotel last week.

“You need to understand that when the law was enacted, the Commission used to have a department we called voter registration and delimitation, and it was staffed by 93 members,” said Tongayi.

“We no longer have that department now and, as the Registrar-General said, these were very experienced personnel in ICT.

“If you look at it now, the voter registration and delimitation function was decentralised, and we have 68 electoral districts, each with one person.

“Administratively, we think it is very noble and strategic for the Civil Registry to consider taking in our staff.”

He said keeping the staff will help ensure a smooth handover, given their experience and knowledge of the voter registration system.

Tongayi assured ZEC employees and the public that the transfer of functions would not lead to retrenchments or job losses.

“What I want to assure the nation is that, at policy level, there is no one who is going to be affected in terms of retrenchment,” he said.

“Everyone is going to be accommodated, everyone is safe. There will be no job losses, that I can assure.”

The transition of responsibilities between ZEC and the Registrar-General’s Office is underway, placing voter registration and allied functions under the jurisdiction of the Civil Registry Department.

Related:

“CAB3 Could Allow Election Rigging Before A Single Vote Is Cast” Transfer Of Voters’ Roll To Registrar-General’s Office Will Improve Efficiency – ZEC