Alex T Magaisa 🇿🇼 Profile picture
Sep 8, 2020 7 tweets 2 min read Read on X
1. Please take note of this change to the census law. This amendment means the next census will no longer be held in 2022 as per the regular pattern. Instead it will be held by July 2021. This change is a result of successful lobbying efforts by parties & CSOs & the public. Image
2. The Government wanted to change the Constitution so that delimitation of constituencies would be delinked from the census. This was unwise. Progressive Zimbabweans joined CSOs like @ZESN1 & @ercafrica to resist this move & suggested that the census be brought forward.
3. The amendment does this, allowing enough time for marking new electoral boundaries between the census in 2021 and the next elections in 2023. This is a fair outcome but people must now be very VIGILANT because the census is a deeply political & electoral issue.
4. It’s an electoral issue because electoral boundaries are marked on the basis of census data. The size and location of constituencies will be determined by census day. A lot happens especially if census data is manipulated. E.g. I’ve always doubted the rural/urban statistics.
5. If opposition parties, CSOs and the public sleep on the wheel, they will wake up to find that the election has been determined by the census in 2021. So don’t talk about 2023; talk about 2021. It’s a numbers game. Watch out for inflation/deflation of numbers in constituencies.
6. The redrawing of electoral boundaries is a deeply political issue. Watch out for gerrymandering (look it up!) & whether the rural/urban ratio is still the same or has changed. To parties & CSOs prepare to monitor the census like you monitor the election.
7. Don’t say you weren’t told. Don’t pretend like you have been ambushed when it happens. Some of us are accustomed to look ahead to see what’s coming so that there are no surprises. The census is coming soon. It will be more political than ever before. Please be VIGILANT.

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More from @Wamagaisa

Apr 28, 2022
Havasi vose vanoti CCC vane chido nayo. Naizvozvo havasi vose vanoti CCC vamuchange munavo pakuyambuka. Vamwe vanoti zvino tinoziva sei? Aiwa, muchaona nemabasa. China manenji hachifambisi, chinomirira kuti mavara acho aonekwe. Mukaziva izvozvo moyo yenyu haizodzimbikani.
It’s not everyone who says CCC who is for it. Therefore, not everyone who says CCC shall be with you at the crossing. Some ask, how shall we know? Worry not for you shall see by their works. A mystery takes time to show its colours. Know this and your hearts shall not be broken
Akusi wonke othi CCC omela i CCC. Ngakho ke, masokumele sichaphe umfula asi wonke ozawela. Sizobazi kanjani ukuthi laba ngabethu laba asibethu? Ungakhathazeki! Okulempondo akufihlwa emgodleni Sizobona ngezenzo. Ungabakwazi lokhu, inhliziyo yakho izoba lokuthula
Read 6 tweets
Apr 28, 2022
1. I’ve read the distress call from journalist @daddyhope arising from the Zimbabwean regime’s attempt to grab his private investment at his rural home. As usual, the regime uses surrogates to create false narratives to justify the confiscation & plunder of private property.
2. For experienced Zimbabwe watchers, looting and plundering is a regime favourite. Edwin Moyo’s flourishing Kondozi Estate was run aground by regime looters. Business people live in fear of losing their investments which is worse if they reveal their political preferences.
3. A businessman who was suspected of funding the opposition found himself facing an unreasonable and vindictive tax bill from ZIMRA. Many more are choked into silence if ever they are suspected of siding with or helping the opposition.
Read 7 tweets
Apr 24, 2022
1. When they say you’re putting the cart before the horse they mean you’re doing things in the wrong order. You want to buy a wedding gown before your partner has proposed! Everything must follow a process. This is why debate over the CCC “Congress” is misplaced & misdirected.
2. I’ve been searching for when the “Congress” became an issue of public debate. I took a break over Easter & I missed its genesis then. Back to the idiom: an event of the nature described as a “Congress” is the culmination of other foundational processes.
3. The nomenclature of “Congress” is a reflection of how ZANU PF discourse has shaped our political thinking. MDC simply copied & pasted the language & processes of ZANU PF. The organs were similar albeit with minor modifications such as “Youth Assembly” for “Youth League”
Read 15 tweets
Apr 22, 2022
1. In an environment where traditional media space has long been restricted, social media can be useful to opposition leaders. But just as it is an opportunity, it is also a risk, the latter of which increases in the absence of proper training and message discipline.
2. I’m surprised that some opposition figures see their twitter handles as “personal”. The fact of the matter is that to the public eye whatever they tweet is associated with their party. They have to think hard & carefully how their output will reflect on the party.
3. Going forward, a social media crash course is necessary for party officials. Tsvangirai used to be so frustrated by message indiscipline. You would open the newspaper & find conflicting messages from party officials. And that was before social media blossomed.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 12, 2022
1. @TrevorNcube I’ve read your piece & there are loose ends that need clarity. You say you supported Mssrs Makoni & Moyo in their political projects. It’s common cause that 1. both failed & 2. you abandoned them. Could you elaborate on why they failed despite the merits you saw?
2. Secondly, you pledge a holy petition that Chamisa “attracts men & women who are far better that him to add content, vision and strategy to his ambitions”, an indirect claim that he has none. Is that how lowly you regard accomplished peers like Welshman Ncube & Tendai Biti?
3. Who might these men and women be that you have in mind so that we can also assess their qualities and your judgment. When you joined PAC were you satisfied that Mnangagwa had men and women of the calibre that you suggest? If so who were they and why did they fail?
Read 4 tweets
Apr 8, 2022
1. Yesterday I spent time listening to young people discussing their attitude to voting and electoral processes. I hope @OpenParlyZw recorded it because political leaders need to listen to it. When I was invited I said no, I don’t want to speak for the youth. I want to hear them.
2. And boy, did they speak sense! I learnt a lot from them which I shall share one day in a BSR but there is one thing that cannot wait. It is that the political messaging about elections and the electoral system must change and change big.
3. The young ones say there have been socialised to believe that the electoral system is rigged and that it is pointless to vote. We are always told that it’s all rigged, so what’s the point? We have no faith in the system. That is what they said and I understood them.
Read 5 tweets

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