HARARE- Suspected MDC Alliance youths staged a flash protest outside the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) premises on Friday demanding the holding of by-elections.

A few dozen opposition activists picketed while hoisting placards with a gamut of messages, including one that read: “If Uganda voted in Covid why not us?”, a reference to the disputed January 14 polls won by President Yoweri Museveni.

They also spray-painted “By-Elections Now” on the electoral body’s main gate and affixed messages denouncing corruption and demanding diaspora vote.

One placard screamed, “Stop Corruption, Not By-elections” while another said, “Diaspora remits, give them the vote.”

ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba announced the suspension of all electoral activities last year following the declaration of coronavirus as a national disaster by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

And in November justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi reiterated that position saying council and parliamentary by-elections would remain banned as the government focused its efforts on fighting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Graffiti… The activists spray painted the ZEC entrance and pinned placards to it.

A hard national lockdown is currently in place to slow down the respiratory disease.

But the ruling Zanu PF party has on many occasions violated the restrictive measures, gathering its supporters at rallies and holding official in-person meetings.

Recently, the Election Resource Centre, a watchdog, urged the government to conduct by-elections even under the pandemic, arguing that further procrastination would impinge citizens’ rights to representation.

Several council and parliamentary seats are long overdue for by-elections after their holders either died or were recalled by the MDC-T as it sought to decimate the main opposition MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa.

Diaspora vote… The demonstrators also demanded a fair shake for Zimbabweans outside the country, saying they should be allowed to vote.