Ahead of Zimbabwe’s forthcoming national polls, election observers from the Commonwealth, which has been tasked with observing Zimbabwe’s elections arrived the official residence of President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday.
The Commonwealth team is undecided about Zimbabwe’s readmittance into its fold. Former President Robert Mugabe pulled Zimbabwe out of the group in 2003 after the nation was suspended for human rights violations. Zimbabwe applied to rejoin after Mnangagwa took office five years ago.
Zimbabwe’s information ministry posted a video of the Commonwealth’s delegation leader, at State House yesterday.
The African Union and COMESA also launched a joint Elections Observer Mission (EOM) to the August 23, 2023 harmonised elections. The arrival of the Mission was announced on Sunday, 20 August 2023. This is the second joint AU-COMESA EOM with the first being in Kenya in 2022.
The mission follows the invitation of the Government of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Subsequently, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, His Excellency Moussa Faki Mahamat, approved the deployment of the joint short-term AU-COMESA EOM to assess and report on the conduct of this election.
Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is leading the Mission in collaboration with Rt. Hon. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, former Prime Minister of Uganda and Member of the COMESA Committee of Elders.
It is comprised of 86 Short Term Observers comprising of Ambassadors accredited to the African Union, officials of election management bodies, members of African civil society organisations, African election experts, human rights specialists, gender and media experts, and representatives of youth organisations.
The observers who will be deployed to all 10 Provinces and 16 electoral districts in Zimbabwe are drawn 23 countries including Benin, Botswana, Central Africa Republic, Djibouti, Liberia, Libya, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
The Mission is expected to interact with state authorities, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission political parties, the media, civil society organisations and representatives of the international community. It will equally interact with other election observation missions deployed to observe the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
The Mission’s Preliminary Statement of its overall findings and assessment of the conduct of elections is expected on August 25, 2023 in a Press Conference in Harare, Zimbabwe. A final and comprehensive report will be released within two months from the date of the announcement of final election results and will be posted on the AU Commission and COMESA websites.
Wednesday’s elections will be a “significant step in the country’s democratic governance”, the Commonwealth said.
Several Civil liberties organisations in the country have expressed concerns that the polls will not be free or fair.