1. It’s incredibly myopic to characterise @ZECzim’s poor voter registration record as a failure of the opposition & civic society when it’s a clear sign of systemic institutional failure. Just look at @ZACConline & its similarly poor record in fighting corruption.
2. So within days you have 2 critical national institutions reporting extremely poor performance of their constitutional mandates. This is a sign of chronic institutional weaknesses. You would think people would place responsibility on the institutions & their leadership.
3. But not in Zimbabwe. It’s yet another chance for naysayers to hammer the opposition as if it controls the pace of voter registration. The principal authors of ZEC’s failure Chigumba & all are given a free pass. In a normal country they would be resigning for failure of duty.
4. You even get a senior government official mocking efforts of those who have tried to raise the call for registration. It escapes his mind that the pathetically low registration figures are an indictment against a state institution which is failing to deliver its mandate.
5. It shows that slow pace of voter registration and deliberate bottlenecks are a weapon to frustrate voters & the opposition. Of course, the opposition & civic society need to up their game next year & to document any impediments they face in trying to get people to register.
5. The single biggest agenda item of any civic organisation or political party next year must be to promote and actually get the unregistered to register, especially the young first time voters. It’s the most urgent question. Without registration the voters’ pool remains shallow.

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More from @Wamagaisa

30 Dec 21
1. In some countries, voter registration is tied to the political economy and this provides important incentives for people to register. You have to make the system make sense beyond voting. I will use this thread to explain how voter registration is incentivised in the UK.
2. In the UK, being on the voters roll is useful for when one is applying for a loan, mortgage or even a job. It’s an easy way for the bank or employer to verify your identity and it helps improve your credit score. That’s why I urge every Zimbabwean who settled here to register
3. It’s therefore in the best interests of every person to register on the voters’ roll. Of course, the process of registration is much easier. Once registered, the local authority will remind you each year in case you decide to change residence. I attach some advantages:
Read 4 tweets
30 Dec 21
1. Perhaps it’s something that comes with the professions, but confidentiality is the hallmark of any professional & advisory relationship. It’s a mark of good faith. The other party must be comfortable that what you discuss will never be revealed; that it will stay between you.
2. Even journalists whose main job it is to tell stories swear by their duty to protect the confidentiality of their sources. Recognising the importance of confidentiality in such relationships, the law has several rules that are designed to protect it. It’s given sacred status.
3. For lawyers, there’s attorney-client privilege. For journalists, there’s protection of confidentiality of journalists’ sources. Doctors & therapists are also bound by rules of patient confidentiality. It gives confidence & freedom to both parties in that relationship.
Read 6 tweets
29 Dec 21
1. Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Electoral System comprises 3 elections: Presidential, Parliamentary & Local Authority. A political party can compete in all or some of the 3. However, to govern effectively & unhindered, a party must win both Presidential & Parliamentary elections.
2. Winning the presidential election but losing the parliamentary race means the President will be at the mercy of Parliament which he needs to pass any laws. It creates an impasse & in the worst case scenario, the majority party might use its power to remove the President.
3. Mugabe faced this problem after the dubious 27 June run-off election in 2008 because his party had lost its parliamentary majority. He would have needed the MDCs to pass laws & govern effectively. It was a factor that helped push the logic of the Inclusive Government.
Read 13 tweets
29 Dec 21
1. The Tenerife air disaster 1977 is among the biggest aviation disasters. It’s often used as an example of the role of the Human Factor in causing problems. Behind every system are humans who make decisions. Those humans are responsible for the success or failure of the system.
2. The aircraft involved were perfectly fine. It was the humans operating the traffic control system & the pilots who got it wrong. Miscommunication & fog resulted in 1 aircraft taking off while another was still on the same runway. 583 people in both aircraft lost their lives.
3. Oft-times people blame the system when something goes wrong, but it might just be the human factor. We blame machines, cars, computers, but really it’s the decisions we make that could be more significant. The human factor is very important in how systems work & evolve.
Read 8 tweets
28 Dec 21
1. We have always stood by the movement. From 1999 we don’t have to tag leaders for approval. We don’t owe them anything & we don’t require their approval. If they lose track we will tell them in a convivial way. We have never hurt them & they know they are dispensable.
2. The party is the people. That’s why Nelson succeeded Morgan & people approved of him despite the challenges. Those who want to come in & hang on to the leadership are gravely mistaken if they think they can mock the people just because they can blackmail the leadership.
3. The politically homeless must not overestimate their worth. They must be humble & appreciate the hurt they caused. The system is what it is because of their actions. The human factor. Haikonai kutiudzira zvekuita. You think elite pacts will buy tickets to glory. They won’t.
Read 4 tweets
19 Dec 21
1. @PatrickZhuwao you say I want to silence you and your friend, Prof Jonathan Moyo. I have no such power. You silenced yourselves by the egregious abuse of power during your time in govt. You lost the moral authority to speak on issues that you now claim to be champions of.
2. Check your friend’s record when he was Information Minister & how many journalists, media houses and citizens he mocked & silenced when he had the power to promote freedom. Daily News press bombing, Capital Radio, ZBC journalists, foreign journalists like Andrew Meldrum.
3. You behaved like demigods, as if power would not end. And I haven’t even mentioned the abuse of Morgan Tsvangirai, the name calling & the disgusting, cruel and hurtful words when Itai Dzamara was abducted and caused to disappear in 2015, when you were all in government.
Read 6 tweets

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