they
would
expect
to
be
met
before
re-‐engaging
fully
with
the
Zimbabwean
government.
The
need
for
a
new
and
transparent
voters’
roll
was
agreed
to
as
part
of
a
roadmap
to
a
free
and
fair
election
in
2018.
The
UNDP
agreed
to
facilitate
and
fund
a
BVR
process.
Controversies
around
tenders,
equipment
and
the
BVR
However,
in
February
2017,
the
Zimbabwean
government
insisted
that
it
would
take
over
from
UNDP
all
decisions
and
funding
linked
to
the
choosing
of
a
company
to
provide
the
BVR
equipment.43
The
MDC-‐T
opposition
immediately
cried
foul,
claiming
that
this
was
the
government
already
attempting
to
invalidate
the
2018
electoral
processes,
particularly
as
the
vendor
chosen
would
be
using
Chinese
manufactured
equipment.44
A
clear
statement
from
the
UNDP
in
March,
indicating
that
they
supported
the
Zimbabwe
government’s
choice
of
Laxton
for
this
process,
did
not
shift
all
the
suspicions
around
this
tender.45
The
alarm
around
this
development
spread
to
civics,
who
also
issued
concerned
statements,
several
months
after
the
UNDP
statement.46
The
concerns
around
the
tender
continued
through
2017,
with
claims
that
the
Chinese
company
that
was
given
the
tender
did
not
win
the
process
fairly.47
During
2013,
there
were
accusations
that
NIKUV,
an
Israeli
company,
had
helped
ZANU
PF
rig
the
poll
via
the
voters’
roll.
While
these
allegations
were
never
proven,
the
oppositions’
longstanding
negative
perceptions
of
lack
of
access
to
all
processes
surrounding
the
voters
roll
explains
their
initial
outcry
when
UNDP
was
sidelined.
Once
the
registration
process
started
in
October
2017,
observers
raised
various
concerns
but
agreed
that
the
equipment
was
functional
in
terms
of
its
ability
to
register
voters:
however,
the
early
controversies
and
outcries
may
have
accounted
for
some
voter
registration
apathy
(see
more
ahead).
Moreover,
controversies
arose
around
how
registration
data
was
being
centralized
during
2017
and
these
controversies
remain
to
date,
in
January
2018.
The
registration
process
rolled
out
without
the
existence
of
a
central
server
into
which
all
information
was
being
collected.
This
opened
the
process
to
accusations
that
voters
could
register
in
more
than
one
constituency
without
the
system
tracking
that
this
was
occurring,
as
all
registrations
were
effectively
happening
in
cul
de
sacs.48
Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission
(ZEC)
and
election
experts
maintained
that
the
elimination
of
double
registrations
would
happen
in
due
course,
“with
back-‐end
software
which
comprises
the
central
database
system
plus
the
automated
finger
print
identification
software
(AFIS)”.49
To
add
to
the
controversies,
ZEC
eventually
selected
a
USA-‐based
company,
IPSIDY,
to
manage
this
back
end
process,
once
the
BVR
process
was
well
under
way
using
equipment
from
the
Laxton
group.
Laxton,
which
supplied
the
data
capture
machinery,
has
contested
this
second
award,
claiming
they
were
not
given
fair
opportunity
to
tender
as
the
equipment
requirements
were
“manipulated
and
43
http://www.mybulawayo.com/bvr-‐equipment-‐purchasing-‐duty-‐govt-‐mnangagwa/.
https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2017/03/01/zanu-‐pf-‐already-‐rigging-‐2018-‐poll-‐tsvangirai.
45
https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2017/03/30/undp-‐speaks-‐out-‐on-‐bvr-‐saga.
46
http://www.radiovop.com/index.php/national-‐news/15775-‐zec-‐must-‐prove-‐bvr-‐tender-‐process-‐was-‐
clean-‐erc.html?print.
Also
http://www.zesn.org.zw/wp-‐content/uploads/2017/06/ZESN-‐DID-‐NOT-‐BACK-‐
LAXTON-‐GROUP-‐LIMITED-‐IN-‐BVR-‐EQUIPMENT-‐SUPPLY-‐TENDER-‐PROCESS.pdf.
47
https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2017/08/13/zec-‐bvr-‐tender-‐raises-‐stink/.
48
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2017/10/opposition-‐raise-‐red-‐flag-‐porous-‐bvr/.
49
Ibid.
44
15
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