In final report, SADC pats Zim on back for peaceful polls

Harare (New Ziana) – In a final report, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Election Observer Mission (SEOM) to the country’s August general elections has commended Zimbabweans for conducting themselves in a peaceful, orderly and exemplary manner in the pre-election, voting, and immediate post-election phases of the poll.

The report, released on Thursday, also commended political leaders for spreading the message of peace and non-violence throughout the electoral cycle.

It, however, reiterated its view – first expressed in a preliminary report shortly after the conclusion of the election in August – that some aspects of the election did not meet the requirements of Zimbabwe’s constitution, the Electoral Act and SADC election guidelines.

“The SEOM noted that, as detailed in sections 6 and 7 of this report, some aspects of the Harmonised Elections fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021),” it said.

The mission called for all concerned parties to ensure that any grievances with respect to the election results are channelled through the appropriate legal processes to ensure the exhaustion of domestic legal remedies.

The SEOM raised concern over the independence of officials of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the body in charge of running the country’s national elections, accusing some of them of links to the ruling Zanu PF party.

The government, which was retained in power in the election, strongly denied any violations in the election, and accused the SADC Election Observer Mission – led by former Zambian vice president Nevers Mumba – of misrepresenting facts, bias and over-stepping its mandate.

It said, for example, that the mission interrogated laws and aspects of the constitution of the country, which was outside its mandate, and also made unproven allegations.

In the final report, it repeats some of the unproven allegations: “In (the) event that the concerns from stakeholders that some ZEC Commissioners are closely related to the senior members of the ruling party are found to be true, there is a risk of violation of Section 11(2) of the Electoral Act and Section 4.1.9 of the SADC Principles and Guidelines SEOM, therefore, recommends that such practice be considered as one of the disqualification criteria in recruitment of ZEC officials.”

As a general rule, election observer missions are supposed to raise, as concerns or violations, investigated and proven transgressions, and not rumours or allegations thereof.

The SADC Election Observer Mission report is littered with unproven allegations, most of them drawn from the opposition.

It is on the strength of this that the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change party is calling for a SADC-administered re-run of the poll, something the government and the majority of member states of the regional group have ruled out.

Among its recommendations, the SEOM urged ZEC to avail the voters roll to stakeholders early to afford them enough time to inspect and verify it in line with the Electoral Act.

It also implored ZEC to consider engaging other stakeholders in future in the design of ballot papers for transparency.

New Ziana