ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe 5. Election Administration 5.1 Structure, Composition and Appointment The ZEC is one of five independent Commissions supporting democracy provided for in Chapter 12 of the Constitution. Section 238 of the Constitution provides for the establishment and composition of the ZEC. The ZEC, like other Commissions, should be independent and Sections 10A and 11 of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13) contain provisions guaranteeing the independence of the Commission and that provide for the impartiality and professionalism of Commissioners and staff and agents of the Commission. her position at ZEC. Justice Priscilla Chigumba was appointed on the 31 January 2018, as the ZEC Chairperson. 5.3 Structure of the Secretariat The Secretariat is headed by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) who is the administrative and technical head of the Secretariat and directly reports to the Commission. The CEO is the accounting officer. Specifically, the Secretariat consists of three divisions namely: Administration and Finance, Operations, and Inspectorate Divisions13. The ZEC also has 10 provincial and 63 District Offices. In preparation for the elections, ZEC established 210 Constituency and 1958 Ward Offices. The Commission consists of a Chairperson who is appointed by the President, after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. The Chairperson must be a judge, former judge, or due for appointment as a judge. The Commission also consists of eight other members appointed by the President from a list of not less than 12 nominees submitted by the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders. Members of the Commission must be Zimbabwean citizens who are appointed on the basis of merit, that is, experience, integrity, and competence. Members of the Commission are appointed for a six-year term and may be reappointed for a further term, but may not be appointed after serving for a period that amounts to 12 years. The Commissioners, except the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, work on a temporary basis and are full-time during the election period, where they are allocated provinces to manage. On the 1 March 2018, Constance Chigwamba, former CEO resigned from ZEC. Her departure from the ZEC came hardly 3 months after Justice Makarau resigned, five months before the harmonised elections, and at a time when ZEC needed to implement the crucial BVR process. Utoile Silaigwana, the then Deputy CEO (operations), was appointed the acting CEO. 5.4 Functions of the ZEC The functions of ZEC as provided by the Constitution and elaborated in the Electoral Act include undertaking, promoting research, developing expertise on use of technology and promoting cooperation with government, civil society and political parties14. ZEC also has to provide the public with information on registration of voters; delimitation of wards, location or boundaries; availability of voters' roll and inspection of the roll; details of political parties and candidates participating; and voting and electoral processes15. The Commission also has to recommend to Parliament appropriate ways to 16 provide public financing for political parties . In respect of some of its functions, ZEC undertook the full mandate and authority as provided by the law. 5.2 Appointment of new ZEC Chairperson In December 2017, the former Chairperson for the ZEC, Justice Rita Makarau, resigned. Her resignation came at a critical time during the BVR exercise and eight months before the harmonised elections. Prior her resignation, Justice Makarau was also Secretary of the JSC, which some believed was unconstitutional and a conflict of interest with 13 https://www.zec.org.zw/pages/departments Section 5(a-c) of the Electoral Act. Section 5(d)(i-vii) of the Electoral Act. 16 Section 5(e) of the Electoral Act. 14 15 20 REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS ZESN