InfocusNews 28 Feb - 4 March 2022
“I am not comfortable with my children being vaccinated against COVID -19 because I do trust the process and I doubt these vaccines are safe just like other vaccines which have been in circulation for years. I am still wondering if I should be vaccinated and I won’t risk the lives of these young ones because Government wants to achieve goals,” she said.
Parents skeptical of COVID-19 Vaccination drive targeting 12-year-olds
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arents and guardians who are still struggling to be fully vaccinated said the approval of the inoculation of 12-year-olds should be taken with a pinch of salt as they do not trust the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. Government through Ministry of Health and Child Care Permanent Secretary Air Commodore (Rtd) Jasper Chimedza said all health institutions can now roll out the vaccine to children aged 12 years and above. “Based on the available scientific data provided by the manufacturers, the Medicine Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
authorised the Emergency Use Authority (EUA) for the COVID-19 vaccination with Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. “In light of the above, Government has approved with recommendation from the Specialist Pediatricians, the vaccination of the 12 to 15 years age groups with immediate effect,” he said. Parents however said they were reluctant to consent to having their children vaccinated as there were a lot of inconsistencies. Rutendo Dube from Emganwini said she was still not convinced that vaccines will protect children against COVID-19.
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She added that the fact that booster shots have been added means the vaccines ag not be as efficient as said to be. Ms Anna Nhliziyo said awareness campaigns were needed and important as many communities are still skeptical about the vaccines especially in the rural areas. “We keep hearing that children should now be vaccinated but we not even sure of the vaccines yet as adults. I think Government should consider doing awareness campaigns to dispel myths and theories which are deterring people from getting vaccinated hence the low figures these days,” she said. Bulawayo Provincial Medical Director said specialists had recommended the vaccination of 12-year-olds after satisfactory scientific researches. “We rely on parents and guardians to help us achieve herd immuni-
InfocusNews ty as a country and Bulawayo. I therefore appeal to them to be on the forefront in terms of encouraging all learners aged from 12 and above to get vaccinated against COVID-19,” he said. In a recent paper, ten Zimbabwean doctors recommended that Government should consider vaccinating learners than closing schools to
contain COVID-19. The researchers led by Dr Grant Murewanhema said schools promote the social, mental, physical, and moral development of children and should not be closed for extended periods. Some concerns have been raised linking COVID-19 with the increase in the incidence of un-
wanted teenage pregnancies, child marriage, illicit substance use, and child labour,” said Dr Murewanhema. “Vaccination is established as the best preventive public health intervention to deal with the spread, morbidity, and mortality associated with infectious diseases.” raised concerns over the constitutionality of the bill, most of whom highlighted that it’s not constitutional as it violates the fundamental rights of the organization and gives more power to the already overburdened Ministry.
Bulawayo residents call for an independent regulatory body to govern PVOs
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t was a full house at Selbourne Hotel where the public, interest groups, and diverse organisations gathered for a Public Hearing on the PVO Amendment bill (H.B.10,2021), which was facilitated by the Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare. The Committee has been running these hearings country wide, since the 28th of February and slated to end on the 4th of March. A lot of people who attended the hearing did not agree with the Amendment Bill, citing that it would compromise the good work facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
that Private Voluntary Organisations have been doing. “NGOs have been doing sterling work, some of which the government could not do. They should be allowed to do their job and compliment government efforts. Compared to the two, you will notice that for one to get a benefit or service from the government, they will be asked to produce their party IDs, and NGOs, on the other hand, just offer help to communities regardless of which party they are affiliated with, which is commendable,” said Mr Ncube. Participants during the hearing
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“This is a good example of toxic legislation whose main aim is to cripple and suppress the functionality of NGOs that are already doing more for the people. If we really look at it, this bill will violate the very essence of democracy. Why would power be given to the already overburdened ministry that is failing to provide the basic documentation for such a huge task? It violates the essence of democracy. There are a lot more questions than answers. For example, the bill does not give clarity as to what political lobbying is. If there is no clarification, then the CSOs risk being caught on the wrong side of the coin and will in turn be violated because the bill simply has these loose ends,” added Mr. T. Chiweta. The heated discussion, which had so many concerns about the Amendment, was accompanied
InfocusNews by a recommendation that most agreed to. They noted that there could be an independent board to govern the conduct of PVOs that are not the government or any of its Ministries.
We cannot continue to give individuals and Ministries power, which is overwhelming them and, in turn, will make them lose track of what they really should be focusing on. Power on its own
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is very dangerous, hence there is a need to have an independent body that will be a regulatory body,” said Mr Chiweta.
Electoral Information Blitz resources for them will be a hustle.” Bekezela Mguni, a representative from The Girls Table said: “Registering to vote is about saving Constituencies so that they get resources that are meant for them as a Constituency.”
Click on the image to follow the discussion
Voter Educators Convene to Review ZEC BVR Blitz
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esterday, 28 February 2022, a group of Voter Educators from various Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Bulawayo conducted a Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Youth Dialogue on the just ended BVR Blitz. The discussion was prompted by the observations they made while conducting voter education in communities from the first day of the Mobile Biometric Voter Registration Blitz which commenced on the 1st of February 2022 and came to a close on the 28th of February 2022. The discussion was also live streamed through the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) Facebook page. The discussion enabled youths present to share about their experience as voter educators throughout the life span of phase one of the BVR Blitz.
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During the discussion it was noted that voter educators were encouraging the citizens to register, especially in the Constituencies that are at risk of being lost in the upcoming delimitation exercise. Such Constituencies in Bulawayo Province comprise of the following: Magwegwe, Njube – Lobengula, Mpopoma – Pelandaba and Entumbane – Makhandeni. Rumbidzai Mhlanga, a representative from Community Podium said: “As youths it is our duty and responsibility to participate in processes that have to do with our communities, when talking about Constituencies and saving them it means that if a Constituency is not saved, for example Magwegwe does not end up being a constituency it means issues to do with service delivery and allocation of
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Mgcini Ndebele, a representative from Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BUPRA) suggested that for phase two of the BVR Blitz sports galas should be adopted as a strategy to attract youths. Among many other strategies the educators suggested Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) use of tents, posters, extension in the closing time of tents as well as being stationed at a place for more than two days. Most of the Voter Registration stations were not PWD friendly, thus shunning PWDs from participating in voter registration. Constituencies such as Njube – Lobengula had voter registration centers that were mostly centered at Njube making it a distance for people from Lobengula to walk to Njube to register to vote. Voter educators said that even after facing aggressive adults and other factors the fact that some people would listen to them and actually go register to vote was a motivation that led them to continuing to do the work. As voter educators they are encouraging youths to go register to vote.
Electoral Information Blitz In their view, mobilizing youths in schools was quite an exciting experience as they got to know that young people of school going age
have an agency of being involved in democratic processes. Youths called upon ZEC to improve on being stationed in schools as com-
munities would not be aware that a mobile biometric voter registration exercise is being carried out. ing registrants were turned away because they did not have IDs. We lobbied the relevant ministry and the Registry office to expedite the issuance of IDs,” said Emelia Bundo. One of the participants in the Twitter Space added other relevant strategies that are being employed to get young people to register to vote, emphasizing the need to start within household level.
Lack of IDs : Major setback to citizens’ ability to register to vote during BVR Blitz
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he Biometric Voter Registration Blitz, which commenced on the 1st of February and ran until the 28th of February, saw diverse stakeholders taking great strides to mobilise people to register to vote. During a Twitter Space that was conducted by Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD), a representative from Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) highlighted the work conducted by different CSOs, citing how lack of documentation continued being an impeding factor in their mobilisation efforts. Emilia Bundo, Communications facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
and Information Officer at ZESN cited that most CSOs have been actively involved in the first phase of the BVR Blitz through conducting civic education, educating the masses on voter education, disseminating information on the BVR blitz through the distribution of fliers and calendars and conducting radio programs. All these efforts were done in a bid to also complement ZEC’s efforts to encourage people to register to vote and educate communities about the delimitation exercise. “The greatest impediment has been the issue of IDs. A lot of will-
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“I have an 18-year-old sister who I have been urging to go and register to vote. She only registered after we had a ticket giveaway to the Sunday Summer Big Boys Party for people who would have mobilised at least five people to register to vote,” added Claude Phuti, Programmes Officer at Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BUPRA). Phuthi reiterated that young people are better involved in electoral spaces if they have factors that are enticing in the form of activities that are appealing to them. He cited that such factors usually motivate the youths to actively participate in electoral spaces such as registering to vote, which is fundamental in helping save their Constituencies. “These push factors like tickets to attend shows, iPhone competitions, or other incentives mean a lot to them, and we are seeing
InfocusNews how they turn out after being given such. People, especially young people, now understand the importance of registering to vote, but they have just lost faith in the whole system.
in a way to register to vote,” added Phuthi. Bundo commented on what the previous speaker highlighted citing that such methods promote a culture of vote buying.
Humans are political animals, and we are selfish by nature. Hence, there is a need to motivate them
“As ZESN, we don’t believe in giving incentives because it promotes a culture of vote buying. The
minute you start with incentives at voter registration processes, come election time, people won’t look at the service delivery but everyone will say, “What’s in it for me?” Instead, we should be promoting constitutional literacy and educating people on the importance of voter registration,” said Bundo.
ZEC BVR Blitz fails to attract anticipated figures
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HE just ended mobile biometric voter registration blitz was a complete failure according to Bulawayo Chief Elections Officer, Mr Innocent Ncube who bemoaned the disappointing turnout by members of the public. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had embarked on a month long blitz which ended on Monday. The mobile voter registration is being rolled out in two phases, with the second phase running from April 11 to April 30. The first phase ran from February 1 to 28. Statistics show that in Matabeleland only a few new voters registered confirming fears that the region will lose a number of constituencies during the forthcoming delimitation process set for August this year. Matabeleland region, which is least represented in Parliament, has 38 Parliamentary seats out of 210 facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
Constituencies. The blitz was also aimed at having more people register in preparation for general elections which will be held next year. Mr Ncube said the just ended blitz was a flop because only around 6000 people registered to vote in Bulawayo. “If you recall, the National Census had projected that in Bulawayo Province, by 2018 410,000 would be qualifying to vote but 258,000 registered. Add 6,000 who regis-
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tered in the blitz, the Province is at about 260,000+. Where are the 150,000 as at 2018? Not to mention thousands of others who turned 18 years from 2018 to date, ” he said. “The turnout was disappointing. More needs to be done by the politicians, CSOs and citizens themselves because as ZEC we have given them a chance to register we cannot be blamed for the low turnout.” In a joint analysis of the blitz, Elections Resources Centre and the Zimbabwe Elections Support
InfocusNews Network (ZESN) said lack of sufficient notice and uncertainty of the timeline created confusion amongst individuals who wished to register or update their registration details. This development according to the organizations also made it difficult for other stakeholders, including
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political parties, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and observers to adequately prepare to engage in the process. “As with past voter registration exercises, the list of voter registration centres for phase one raised concern that there are insufficient total days of voter registration in
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urban areas in general and particularly in Harare and to a lesser extent Bulawayo. The VAP per day for rural areas is 942 compared to 1,571 for urban areas Therefore, urban registration centres need to process 70% more individuals than rural centres for equal levels of voter registration, ” read the statement.
Electoral Information Blitz
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Electoral Information Blitz
VOTERS’ ROLL LINK facebook.com/wildtrustzim |
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