Staff Reporter

There are serious disgruntlements within the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (Forum) as members are contesting the election of Blessing Nyamaropa as the new chairperson of the human rights organisation.

Nyamaropa, who is a lawyer by profession and deputy director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), was last week elected chairperson of the Forum, dethroning Zimbabwe Peace Project director Jestina Mukoko who has been at the
helm of the Forum for the past three years.

However, a source who spoke to this publication said the elections were marred by serious rigging and vote manipulation in favour of Nyamaropa.

“Nyamaropa ascendancy to the helm of the Forum was marred by vote rigging. There was massive vote buying and intimidation of members before the elections. If elections were held in a transparent manner, Nyamaropa was not going to win the elections,” said the source.

The source added that it was ironic that lawyers like Nyamaropa, who are expected to uphold the constitution and do things by the book, were on the forefront violating the Forum’s constitution to suit their agenda.

According to the source, Nyamaropa was not even popular at ZLHR and he only won the elections because he had the financial backing of the US Embassy. The source added that the Forum was likely to collapse because some of the newly elected members were people of questionable characters who were more into opposition politics than human rights.

Some of the members who were elected together with Nyamaropa are Media Monitors Zimbabwe (MMZ) director Patience Zirima, who will deputise him. Other members are Zimbabwe Human Rights Association director Dzikamai Bere, Wellington Mbofana of the Civic Education Network Trust and Lyn Walker of Tree of Life.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum is a coalition of 22 human rights organisations who purport to fight for human rights in the country.