03
Traditional Leaders
Reports point to meetings held with traditional leaders where they were challenged
to be actors in the mobilisation of support for Zanu PF against provisions of the
Constitution. This is in direct contravention of Section 281 of the Constitution, which
states that traditional leaders must not be members of any political party or in any
way participate in partisan politics and must not act in a partisan manner or further
the interests of any political party or cause. In line with this, ZPP recommends
government to adopt the following interventions to ensure that traditional leaders do
not abuse their powers:
i)Constitutional education and awareness for traditional leaders. Traditional leaders
should be capacitated on their constitutional mandate so that they do not violate the
rights of the citizens they lead, especially the right to political affiliation as enshrined
in Section 68 of the Constitution.
ii)Constitutional awareness of citizens so that they are not easily subdued by
traditional leaders and that they are able to hold their leaders to account.
04
Mobile national registration blitz
ZPP continued to record cases of traditional leaders requesting bribes to sign
documents such as proof of residence so that citizens could attain national
registration documents such as birth and death certificates. In Chiredzi, ZPP also
recorded cases of government officials in the Registrar’s department demanding
bribes and sex in order to issue documents to community members. ZPP
recommends government to adopt the following interventions to ensure that the
national document registration blitz takes place transparently:
i)There is a need to conscientize government officials in the Registrar’s department
on the importance of ethics in carrying out their duties.
ii)
The establishment of effective checks and balances to ensure transparency
within the registration blitz process.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project
Monthly Monitoring Report
8