SADC observer mission final report reinforces claim Zimbabwe poll was flawed

HARARE – A final report by the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) to Zimbabwe’s August 23 elections has reinforced the poll group’s earlier position the country’s elections were marred with flaws which could have influenced the outcome against the opposition.

In its preliminary report that elicited an angry reaction from Zimbabwean authorities, SEOM said the poll was fraught with irregularities and did not meet regional and international benchmarks governing the running of credible polls.

In its final report, SEOM reiterated the views on a plebiscite that earned President Emmerson Mnangagwa a controversial second term.

“The SEOM noted that …  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),” reads the report.

SEOM further questioned ZEC’s independence after some of its commissioners were closely related to senior Zanu PF officials.

“In 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,” it said.

In its recommendations, the mission urged ZEC to avail the voters roll to stakeholders to allow enough time for inspection and verification in line with the Electoral Act.

The mission urged the government to consider engaging other stakeholders in the design of ballot papers for transparency; to have a clear timeline for the provision of the voters roll and information of ballots.

“Given the concerns raised by certain stakeholders on the alleged partiality of ZEC, the mission calls on ZEC to consider adopting a pro-active communication strategy which engages stakeholders at every stage of the electoral process in order to build confidence and sense of ownership among key stakeholder and the general public,” it said.

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