Zimbabwe African Peoples Union

To All ZAPU District and Branch Chairpersons/ Secretaries

      All outgoing PEC Executives

      ZAPU Europe Province.

      09 February 2012

 Re:- ZAPU Europe March 2012 Provincial Elections

I hereby announce that the ZAPU Europe Provincial Council of Elders has agreed that  PEC elections be held on the 24^th of March 2012 at a venue to be confirmed.

 An Elections Supervisory Committee will run the elections in accordance with constitutional provisions under the supervision of the Provincial Council of Elders ; one of whom will be the Chairman of the Elections Committee.

 Election rules and guidelines for these elections are attached .

 All outgoing PEC officials ( ie those elected in Oct 2010 ) are hereby requested  to submit their detailed reports on their portfolios by the 8th of March 2012 to their Chairman who will present a combined report( excluding the finance report) on the 24th of March 2012. The main summarised report by the outgoing PEC Chair , will form part of the handover to the incoming PEC.

 All Branch and District Chairpersons are hereby requested to send in their lists of paid up members not later than the 8^th of March 2012.

 As previously stated , in order to avoid a power vacuum; the PCOE Zapu Europe continues with its supervisory role in the province as detailed in attached SG circular used by all Zapu Provinces at election time .

 Elder B T Muvirimi

Chairman PCOE

ZAPU Europe Province.

 cc. Zapu Secretary General

     Dr . R. Mguni

 cc. Zapu Regional Co-ordinator

      Felix Silundika

 cc.Secretary PCOE

        Elder R. Mhlanga

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Agenda:

 i) Outside Speaker

 ii) Zapu Speaker 

iii) PEC Elections  (14:00pm-17:00pm)

 Venue: Birmingham (You will be notified of the Venue soon)

 It is important that all Zapu Members attend this meeting as your contribution will make a difference.

We shall send you details of the venue and directions soon. Please be aware that everyone is requested to make a small donation towards the hiring of the hall.

Elder Reginald Mhlanga

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ZAPU Europe Province Election Rules and Guidelines –P1     

 Candidate Nominations

The following are the rules and guidelines for the nomination of candidates for the provincial executive committee ballot lists:

Candidate nominations shall be done at district level in a meeting.

 Each District shall submit a candidate for each of the 14 provincial executive posts listed below.

 The nominations shall be submitted to the Chairman of Elections Committee; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; by the  8th of March 2012.

 All submitted nominations shall appear on the ballot paper for a particular position. No short-listing will be permitted.

Candidates for PEC posts should be vetted and cleared by their own branches and districts who know them better than other party structures

 .Only members of ZAPU in good social standing with no past criminal records as referred to in the ZAPU constitution or pending charges will be eligible for nomination.

 No candidate will be allowed to decline a nomination after the nominations have been submitted to the elections committee. It is therefore, necessary to confirm with the candidates before nominations are submitted.

Candidates for election will be expected to submit brief and relevant curriculum vitae, clearly indicating their suitability for the positions they would wish to contest and the value they would bring to the Party if elected. It is hoped that each candidate’s vision will include issues of Party

                                      -P2

unity and discipline. A passport-sized photo should be attached with their curriculum vitae. This will be published on the party website.

Candidates are requested to pay a participation of £5 each which will cover the printing and other costs associated with the elections

Successful candidates will be expected to conduct their campaigning and lobbying in an ethical manner in line with the code of conduct for ZAPU members as described in “ Rights of Members and Discipline” under Sections 2 and 8  of the ZAPU Constitution.

Any district that publishes it’s nominations before nominations closing date will be in breach of these rules.

      Elections

Elections shall be conducted by the Elections Supervisory Committee under the chairmanship of the Provincial Council of Elders. The rules for elections are as follows :-    

 Voting will be done by delegates.

Voting shall be by secret ballot;

Ballot papers shall be prepared in advance with the names of candidates for a position clearly printed on them.

Voters will vote for their preferred candidate on the ballot paper by clearly marking with an X in the box next to the candidate’s name.

Voters may only vote for one candidate for each post. If more than one candidate is selected on a ballot paper, the ballot paper will be considered a spoiled paper and will not be counted.

Ballot papers shall be placed in a sealed, empty and transparent box by the voters after voting.

Ballot paper counting shall be done in full view of all the voters soon after voting and the winner for each position announced immediately thereafter.

Announcement of Results

Voting results for each PEC position will be announced immediately after the counting for that position is completed.

After consolidation of results, the chairperson of the Council of Elders will announce the full provincial executive committee to the delegates.

                                                                                                                                    -P3

PEC members will be issued with position acceptance forms which they will be required to complete and submit to the Regional Coordinator in accordance with the Party’s requirements.

An official memo notifying all ZAPU members in the province of the new executive committee shall be circulated by the new PEC no later than 72 hours after the completion of the elections.

A full elections report signed by the Election Supervisory Committee Chairman shall be prepared and issued no more than seven days after the completion of the elections.

The Provincial Executive Posts to be contested are listed below:-

     1.  Provincial Chairperson

     2.  Provincial Vice Chairperson

     3.  Provincial Secretary for Administration

     4.  Provincial Treasurer and Resource Mobilisation

     5.  Provincial Secretary for Mobilisation and Organisation

     6.  Provincial Secretary for Information and Publicity

     7.  Provincial Secretary for Education, Health and Welfare

     8.  Provincial Secretary for Economic Development

     9.  Provincial Secretary for Legal Affairs

     10.  Provincial Secretary for Security

     11.  Provincial Secretary for Culture, Spiritual, and Traditional Affairs

     12.  Provincial Secretary for Policy and Strategy

     13.  Provincial Committee Member

     14.  Provincial Committee Member

    To meet our constitutional requirements, please note that;

The Provincial Secretary for Culture, Spiritual and Traditional Affairs will only be contested by women.

The Provincial Council of Elders / ZAWU and the Youth  Chairpersons who shall be part of the provincial executive committee shall be elected by their own respective ZAPU organs in separate processes.

Provincial Council of Elders

Zapu Europe .

09/02/2012