Electoral Act Complies With Constitution: Parliamentary Committee

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Advocate Jonathan Samukange says voices insinuating that the recently adopted statute runs parallel to the constitution do not comprehend the supreme law of the land’s superiority.

Advocate Samukange told the ZBC News that those saying there is no clarity on who should administer the voters’ roll are not in full appreciation of the constitutional dictates. 

He said where the Electoral Act stipulates that voter registration is under the Registrar General and the constitution says it must be run by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), as the supreme law of the land the constitution takes precedence.

The Election Resource Centre (ERC) and other non-governmental organisations have expressed reservations that the recent signing of the Electoral Amendment Bill into law by President Robert Mugabe is not adequate in addressing who should handle the issue of voter registration.

President Mugabe assented to the Electoral Bill which was then placed in the government gazette of Friday 22 August 2014.

The act will guide the conduct of future elections and at a time when the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs is engaged in the re-alignment of over 400 statutes to the new constitution, experts have indicated that no law or statute can be superior the constitution of the land. 

This means that what the constitution provides for is what must be taken on board, thus ZEC is the one mandated to run the administration of the voter’s roll.

ZBC