APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Friday refused to endorse the conduct of Zimbabwe’s general elections as credible, saying credibility of the polls was called into question by a plethora of anomalies leading up to election day.
Head of the SADC electoral observer mission Nevers Mumba said although the environment was relatively calm and peaceful during election day on August 23 and 24, the shortage of ballot paper at 36 percent of polling stations in the capital Harare, second city Bulawayo and other parts of the country has cast doubt on the credibility of the poll.
“The mission noted that 64 percent of voting stations observed opening time while 36 percent did not open on time due to various reasons. The challenge was however specific to Harare and Bulawayo provinces where some polling stations had not even opened at the time of expected closure of voting at 7pm,” Mumba said.
He said the delays disenfranchised several eligible voters who had to go back home without casting their votes and failed to return when ballot papers were eventually delivered.
The SADC observers also noted the rural vote was compromised due to alleged widespread intimidation of voters by members of a shadowy organisation called Forever Associate of Zimbabwe (FAZ) which is aligned to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ZANU PF.
FAZ officials allegedly set up desks outside polling stations where they took down details of people going in and coming out of polling stations, Mumba said.
Other anomalies cited were the failure by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to avail the voters roll to the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and biased coverage of the elections by state-run media.
“For reasons noted above, the mission felt that certain aspects of the elections fell short of the provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections,” Mumba said.
He said the SADC mission would give its “final qualification” of the elections over the coming few weeks, noting that its observers would remain on the ground to observe post-election environment until September 1.
The situation was tense in Harare on Friday as vote counting continued amid claims by both ZANU PF and CCC that they were both leading.
JN/APA