Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Report — Of Stuffed ballots and Empty Stomachs thus dutifully stated that Zimbabwe now had an independent body to supervise the electoral process in the form of ZEC.17 The assertion demanded some wilful obtuseness on his part.18 The ZEC consists of a Chair and four other Commissioners. The President appoints the Chair after consultation with the Judicial Services Commission,19 while the four other Commissioners are also appointed by the President from a list of seven nominees submitted by a Parliamentary Committee dominated by ZANU(PF) members. Not surprisingly, its five members were almost all ZANU(PF) stalwarts. In keeping with the militarisation referred to earlier, Justice George Chiweshe was appointed to chair the Commission.20 The functions of the ZEC are as follows: • to prepare and conduct elections; • to employ a chief elections officer and other persons to carry out the work of the Commission; • to direct and control the registration of voters by the Registrar-General of Voters; • to compile the voters’ roll; • to ensure the proper custody and maintenance of voters’ roll and registers; • to design, print and distribute ballot papers, approve the form and procurement of ballot boxes and to establish polling stations; • to conduct and authorize others to conduct voter education; and • to oversee the work of the Delimitation Commission. Given that one of its functions is to oversee the work of the Delimitation Commission, it was entirely inappropriate that Justice George Chiweshe, who chaired the Delimitation Commission, was also appointed to chair the ZEC. A comparison of these functions with those of the ESC reveals a duplication of roles between the two bodies. In practice ZEC was left to carry out these duties, rather than the ESC. Given that ZEC was appointed less than two months before the election, it was impossible for it to 17 18 19 20 “I don't know what is said about what has happened in Zimbabwe that is in violation of the SADC protocol, because as far as I know, things like an independent electoral commission, things like access to the public media, things like the absence of violence and intimidation -- those matters have been addressed.” Mbeki quoted by EISA at http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/zim2005int.htm A clear example of ZEC’s obeisance to Mugabe arose in the circumstances surrounding former parliamentarian Roy Bennett’s application to the Electoral Court. That Court had correctly ruled that Bennett could stand as a candidate nothwithstanding the fact that he was then imprisoned for contempt of parliament (see “Politcal Persecution in Zimbabwe: The Case of Roy Bennett” Zimbabwe Human Rights Bulletin Issue 11 Jan –June 2004). Mugabe, who has taken a personal interest in neutralising Bennett’s influence, described the ruling as an “act of madness”. ZEC took the hint and filed an appeal against the ruling. By filing this appeal, ZEC displayed that it was a partisan body which would align itself with the ruling party’s position. The JSC is itself stacked with presidential appointees. The full composition of ZEC was Judge George Chiweshe (Chair), Mrs. Sarah Kachingwe, Mrs. Vivian Ncube, Prof. George Kahari, Rev. Jonathan Siyachitema almost all of whom had shown fealty to ZANU(PF) in the past. 9