Zimbabwe Council of Churches Secretary General Rev Solomon Zwana (Photo by Moses Chibaya)

The General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Dr Reverend  Solomon Zwana, who is also the Zimbabwe Election Support Network chairperson, has challenged government to restart the mobile voter registration process which Zimbabweans believe did not capture everyone who wants to vote in the upcoming election.

Dr Zwana, who was speaking on behalf of civic society organizations including the church in Harare on Tuesday, said the just ended mobile registration process did not achieve what Zimbabweans deserve.

The organizations said the process was not democratic adding that it was secretive.

 “Disheartened by the exclusion of other stakeholders like the church parliament and civic society organizations we say the process was chaotic, slow and did not capture all those aspiring to register as voters.

“The process excluded the church. The process must be restarted in line with the new constitution which stipulates a thirty day period for registration after its enactment .It is our view that the preceding exercise cannot be a substitute for this constitutionally mandated process,” Dr Reverend Zwana said

Thousands made last minute rush to register to vote and were left without getting registered.

During the period when the mobile voter registration was operational a number of civic society organizations had their members arrested for mobilizing people to register to vote in the upcoming elections.

Any organization intending to embark on voter education is mandated to get clearance from ZEC.

The Herald of Monday reported that, a new 30-day voter registration exercise was being planned, but the ZEC insists that the project must be funded in advance