Senate if his appointment was contrary to the advice of the JSC but there was
nothing that the Senate was empowered to do upon receiving the report. It was
therefore a useless procedure, especially if the Senate is dominated by the
President’s party. In any event the JSC members were themselves Presidential
appointees. This meant the President had excessive and uninhibited power in the
appointment process.
There is a now a requirement to consult not only the JSC but also the
Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders (CSRO) which is
comprised of MPs from different parties thus guaranteeing a voice to parties
beyond the ruling party. The other Commissioners are also drawn from a list
submitted by the CSRO which as long as it remains constituted by MPs from more
than one party, will at least guarantee some diversity in the Commissioners who
are appointed.
•
ZESN recommendation is that the appointment process be further
strengthened by ensuring that the President appoints the
Chairman not simply “after consultation with” the JSC and the
CSRO as is the current case but “on the advice of” with the
implication that he may not disregard the advice of those bodies.
However, a critical element for the independence of the Commission is its funding
and financial resources. Recent reports have demonstrated that the Commission
remains severely underfunded. It is disconcerting to note that the body
responsible for most important political process in the country has to depend on
the benevolence of external donors. Since the Commissioners were appointed
almost two years ago, they have not been given official vehicles to perform their
work whereas government ministers have just recently got delivery of the latest
brand of the luxurious Land Rover Discovery 4 vehicles – apparently, the fourth
official vehicle per minister costing around $60,000 each. Quite apart from the
profligacy and culture of conspicuous consumption, it demonstrates a serious lack
of priorities. You would expect especially the MDC part of the government which
is in an unhappy relationship because of flawed elections managed by a an underresourced and compromised Commission would be doing more and screaming
more about funding the Commission instead of accepting state largesse but they
seem to be losing touch with realities and justifying lack of prioritisation.
The Commission needs money to perform its job efficiently. It has to develop a
professional culture over time. It doesn’t work to simply pour money into its
coffers just before elections. The opportunity presented by the GNU to create
institutional structures such as the Commission with a proper institutional culture
of professionalism, integrity and fairness is sadly being wasted. It needs a welltrained and competent staff deployed across the country. There can be excellent
legal provisions referring to its independence but unless it is given resources in
real terms, the Commission will remain hamstrung.
•
ZESN recommends upholding the spirit of independence of the
Commission as contained in the legal provisions by providing
regular and adequate funding to enable it to fulfil its mandate.
Access to financial resources must be guaranteed and the
Commission must have clear control of its budget.
ZESN reiterates the fact that the independence of the Commission is the most
important factor in facilitating the holding of a free and fair election. As the
ultimate referee of elections it must not only have powers to set rules, manage
elections exclusively without interference or direction from any other person but it
must be financially self-sufficient and autonomous. As discussed in this paper, the
Commission must be given full control of elections, including setting the dates of
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