ZEC “Doesn’t Know What To Say” About President ED’s Unsolicited Campaign SMSs

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has distanced itself from the leakage of voters’ data.

Voters in various districts have begun receiving messages praising the government’s work and signed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The texts were personalised to include the name of the recipients’ district — and signed “President ED Mnangagwa”. One of the messages reads:

Kwaziwai. Iyi ndiyo WhatsApp nhamba yangu yeSeke 0719******, ichengetedzei mufoni menyu nekuzivisa vamwe vagari vemaSeke. Ndichange ndichikuzivisai paWhatsApp STATUS yangu, zvirikuitwa nehurumende kuvaka nyika yedu nemuno maSeke. Ndatenda, ndini wenyu President ED Mnangagwa.

ZEC’s deputy chairman Rodney Simukai Kiwa told AFP that he was “shocked” by learning of the SMSs. He said:

We have not given anything to anyone. We do not even know what to say.

Meanwhile, pressure group Team Pachedu has accused ZEC of passing voters’ data to ZANU-PF in breach of privacy and electoral rules.