The Ghost Haunting the Disability Constituency in Zimbabwe Today!

By Political Reporter

Representation is a question of being given the majority consensus and mandate to stand in or on behalf of others. It is a question of having the people’s legit voice backing up someone.

It is sad that 15% of Zimbabwe’s population (disability constituency) is to this day being represented by ‘Ghosts’ in the senate which is the upper house of Parliament responsible for making key contributions into this legislative arm of the State.

The hand picking of representation and the subsequent electoral fraud of 26 August, 2023 that crippled the voices of the already marginalized community, barring them from independently choosing candidates of their choice to the Senate, has remained a haunting ghost in the constituency.

Whilst the Sightsavers backed Senator Ishumael Zhou and Senator Annah Shiri continue to enjoy the monopoly voice in the disability constituency, it follows that the constituency at grassroots level remains disgruntled, as to why such impositions have been allowed to proceed, even under the nose of our own laws.

Sightsavers, a British NGO operating in Zimbabwe is reportedly the hand behind all the shenanigans and chaos in the disability constituency today. They have used their financial muscle and the subject of disability as a weapon, to award themselves a share of the crucial governance systems of the country – infiltration is the right word.

Through the leadership of their Country Director Peter Bare, and supported by one UN Representative, Fiona Adolu, a Ugandan national working in the UN Resident Coordinator’s office in Zimbabwe, Sightsavers has successfully managed to not only divert from their registration mandate in Zimbabwe, but they have also furthered their destructive interests in many ways.

Sightsavers has manipulated the Zimbabwe disability electoral process, has a hand in the drafting of the flawed disability bill, is using destructive machinations to push for speedy passing of the bill, and has launched what they are calling an “Equal Zimbabwe Campaign” which they are using to cause serious civil unrest and rifts in the local disability constituency.

Isaacs Mwale of Sightsavers is coordinator of the machinations of destruction under this campaign and he is being supported by Leonard Marange of FODPZ who is chairperson of the destructive campaign and his allies that include the imposters Ishumael Zhou and Annah Shiri. Indeed, Sightsavers has shaken the disability constituency to the core of its bones.

Reports have it that Sightsavers managed to bribe an office bearer by the name of Given Shamiso Kabayahwaro to replace legitimate delegates of the electoral college with the help of Sightsavers management.

It therefore followed that on 26 August, 2023, when constituency voters went out to cast their votes for Senators of Persons with Disabilities, each registered organization had submitted or seconded 4 or 2 voters to the electoral college, depending on its registration status.

Unbeknown to these innocent voters, their legitimate names had been struck off the role by the bribed officer who happens to be the Sightsavers, Ishumael Zhou and Annah Shiri runner in the ministry.

On the morning of the voting day, some persons with disabilities who were eligible voters, were shocked to learn that their names were not appearing on the voters’ roll, and they were returned home, as their organizations were carrying names that were unknown to them, in a context where their right to vote was seriously violated.

Sightsavers had already infiltrated the whole system, thus replacing the voice of the disability constituency with imposters, Ishumael Zhou and Annah Shiri, who have become a common feature at all of Sightsavers’ destructive initiatives.

Alarms were raised, legal battles emerged including a High Court Case (HCH5986/23), and to this day there is no harmony in the disability constituency. The “ghost has remained in the house.” A deeper introspection is needed, urgent sanitization and harmonization of this constituency is necessary.