Outrage as Chivayo linked to Namibia elections; ‘Zimbabwe must not bring its ‘cancer’ here – says opposition

By Own Political Correspondent & John-Colin Namene, The Namibian

WINDHOEK: The former chairperson of a Zimbabwean main opposition party has advised his Namibian counterparts to resist the use of Ren-Form for the design, printing, packaging and distribution of the ballot in the upcoming elections.

General elections are due in Namibia on November 27 to elect a new President and members of the national assembly.

South Africa-based Ren-Form was embroiled in a multi-million-dollar controversy over allegations of inflated the price of ballot papers, biometric voter registration kits and portable toilets during Zimbabwe’s last general elections in 2023.

The company’s politically connected partner, Wicknell Chivayo, made mystery payments to top officials.

Luke Kahari, of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said the issue should be headline news.

“We have engaged our opposition friends in Namibia. This must be stopped. We can’t carry the cancer from Zimbabwe into Namibia. It’s been there in Mozambique; it will be in Botswana as well. They are bringing the same nonsense to Namibia,” the Australia-based politician said on Friday.

Kahari warned that the use of the company casts the credibility of the upcoming election into question.

“It will be in doubt, definitely. Nobody believes Zimbabwe had a credible election. The same actors in Zimbabwe are being sent to Namibia. Did they go to tender?

“Who gave a Zimbabwean, an external person [Wicknell Chivayo], to supply critical things like election material? The ECN must be answerable,” he said.

In Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections, Chivayo reportedly acted as agent for Ren-Form.

In the tender with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), Ren-Form branched out from just providing ballot papers into acting as a one-stop shop providing electronic equipment, hi-vis vests and gadgets to display voting results.

Chivayo’s former business partners, Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu, who felt cut out of the deal, accused Ren-Form and Chivayo of inflating costs by up to 235%.

The election body paid the South African printing company at least US$32 million.

Seemingly genuine audio clips went viral in which Chivayo discussed sharing proceeds of the ZEC tender with his partners and senior officials, referred to by their initials or codenames.

In one voice note, Chivayo claimed Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa calls him “my son”, prompting the president’s spokesperson to condemn “name-dropping”.

Chivayo denied that it was his voice on the clips and apologised to Mnangagwa, spy boss Isaac Moyo and ZEC chair Justice Priscilla Chigumba for creating the “adverse impression” that their institutions “are involved in corruption or participate in illicit transactions”.