Zimbabwe election chief resigns – report
2013-02-13 12:16
Special Report
President Robert Mugabe has signed Zimbabwe’s new constitution into law, clearing the path to crucial elections later this year.
Harare - Zimbabwe elections chief has resigned ahead of
crucial polls this year citing ill health, local media reported Wednesday.
Retired Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe took up his post in
March 2010, two years after President Robert Mugabe won elections marred by
bloodshed and intimidation.
The vote led to international outcry and pressure which
forced Mugabe into a power sharing government.
"He tendered his resignation to President Robert Mugabe
and his Excellency accepted it. The resignation is on the grounds of
health," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted as saying by the
Herald newspaper.
Chinamasa said he is consulting with Mugabe and his rival
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to find a "suitable replacement".
Zimbabwe is expected to hold a constitutional referendum and
elections later this year, which will end the shaky coalition, but no dates
have been set.
The two main political parties - Mugabe's Zanu-PF and
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change - have said they support the
adoption of the draft charter.
But the MDC has said it would want more reforms in the
media, security and electoral sectors for the southern African country to hold
free and fair elections.
The MDC has complained that election body is staffed by
state security operatives who support Mugabe's Zanu-PF and called for fresh
recruitment of employees.
Mutambanengwe is a former High Court judge who has also
served on the Namibian Supreme Court bench before his appointment to the
elections body.
- SAPA
