Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, March 31 (IPS) – Street activity in Zimbabwe’s second city is testimony to a thriving informal sector where thousands of people make a living selling everything. Houseware.
From vegetables to soft drinks, televisions, cell phones and anything in between, it’s all peddled here, where being self-employed means working overtime to keep food on the table.
This is where 41-year-old Gilbert Mabutho works as a peddler, peddling whatever he can sell. Today he is selling boiled corn because he said, “the corn is in season.”
“Jobless. This is the source of my bread,” Mabutho told IPS.
Amid the hustle and bustle of life, Mabutho is among many who have not taken time off from each day to register to vote or check their name on the voter list ahead of the upcoming primaries.
Voter registration opened in January and closed on February 28 ahead of the by-elections. Registration will resume after the April 10-30 by-election.
“I don’t have time to sign up. I was just too busy trying to make a living,” said Mabutho.
The by-elections, seen as a foreshadowing of the country’s 2023 elections, were held earlier this month, and analysts are raising concerns about the low response to registration and voter participation.
However, besides being too busy to have time to register to vote, residents like unemployed Samson Basvi say they see no benefit in voting.
Basvi told IPS: “The country’s difficulties have been going on for many years, showing me there is no reason to vote.
“If voting really changes anything, surely those elected to power will improve our lives,” he reasoned, expressing the general sentiment here, where the National Coalition The African Zimbabwe (Patriotic Front) (ZANU-PF) took power. since 1980.
According to the Zimbabwe Election Commission, the country’s second largest city with the lowest number of registered voters.
In the 2018 election, where President Emmerson Mnangagwa claimed victory in the dispute, about three-quarters of the roughly 5.5 million registered voters their vote – which is considered a high voter turnout.
“It remains unclear whether turnout in the by-elections will be an indicator of the 2023 poll,” said Piers Pigou, southern Africa analyst at the International Crisis Group. .
Analysts note that a lack of trust in electoral processes has led to voter apathy.
Stanley Mabuka, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), said: “The main driver of apathy is concern about the potential fraud of the election in favor of ZANU-PF, a long-standing sentiment. of voters.
The Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC), a government-appointed body tasked with running the country’s elections, has also been criticized for what it sees as poor voter education and a campaign to voter sign, with some residents claim they have not heard of voter verification or registration.
“ZEC’s lackluster approach to registration implementation in remote areas could also accelerate voter apathy among first-timers. Mabuka told IPS there was a delay in the registration process due to the coronavirus pandemic delays.
Zimbabwe has for many years seen a cycle of controversial election results, with opposition political parties accused the ruling party of manipulating the electoral processes. At the same time, some Observer duty raised concerns about the reliability of the 2018 poll results.
“We did not see an increase in the number of registered people compared to the number of people eligible to vote even when they met all the requirements,” said Effie Ncube, a political analyst and independent researcher at Bulawayo. bridge.
Ncube told IPS: “Then you have people who are registered to vote but don’t vote out of frustration that the elections haven’t delivered the lifestyle they want.
The ruling party said it was targeting 5 million vote in the 2023 elections, while the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), led by Nelson Chamisa, said it was targeting 6 million voters. But at the current rate of voter registration, and the check of voter lists expected to pour in in 2023, there is little indication of which side will garner such numbers.
By-elections are called to fill vacant legislative and municipal seats, but some analysts note that by-elections have generally attracted few voters, a phenomenon seen cross-country.
“There is generally less interest in by-elections, but also the problem that young people who have turned voting age are not receiving registration documents that allow them to vote,” says Pigou.
Pigou told IPS: “Low voter participation has been a general trend throughout the (southern Africa) region, and this is especially the case with young people.
Stephen Chan, professor of world politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, who has written extensively on Zimbabwe.
“Overall, by-elections attract low voter turnout around the world. In Zimbabwe, however, there are additional factors of frustration with the dispersion of the opposition and the consciousness of voters that ZANU-PF at this point cannot be stripped of power,” Chan told IPS. .
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