Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede Says Aliens Won’t Vote in Zimbabwe’s 2018 Elections

Mudede told VOA that individuals classified as aliens should seek proper documentation before they register to vote in the polls.

He said it would be impossible for some of the people to get proper documentation before the elections.

There are thousands of people, mostly from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, who are living in Zimbabwe. Some so-called aliens were born in the country by foreigners from these three nations.

Mudede said he won’t change Zimbabwe’s laws to assist aliens to vote in the forthcoming elections.

Chairperson Justice Rita Makarau of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which is currently carrying out a nationwide Biometric Voter Registration exercise, said there have nothing to do with this issue, noting that the Registrar General is responsible for issuing documents being used for registering people in the country’s new voters’ roll.

Opposition leaders, including Douglas Mwonzora of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, claimed that Mudede is indirectly denying people their rights to vote in the 2018 general elections.

But Zanu PF Politiburo member, Paul Mangwana, said Mudede is following the law and therefore it is impossible for him to single-handedly ensure that aliens register to vote in the next polls.

Some legal practitioners warned that aliens may take the case to court if they are denied a right to register in Zimbabwe’s new voters’ roll, which will make them eligible to vote in 2018.