Harare – The government on Thursday set aside a whopping ZW$76 billion in the 2023 national budget for the upcoming general elections, expected to be held around mid next year.
Presenting the budget in Parliament, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube said preparations for elections, such boundary delimitation, and voter registration, were already underway.
“The 2023 National Budget is setting aside resources to cover voter registration ZWL$12 billion, voter inspection ZWL$11 billion and actual election conduct ZWL$53 billion, among others,” he said.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) conducted a two phased voter registration exercise as well as voter’s roll inspection, meant to allow voters to check whether they appeared on the roll, and whether their identity details were captured correctly.
Delimitation of the 210 constituency National Assembly seats for the forthcoming elections, based on the latest census data, is also underway.
According to the Electoral Act, ZEC is mandated to prepare for, conduct and supervise elections for the Office of the President, Parliamentarians, Provincial and Metropolitan Councils as well as the governing bodies of local authorities. – New Ziana
