The Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer
mission says it will not endorse a bogus election in Zimbabwe.
The 63-member SADC team‚ led by Angola’s secretary of state
in the External Relations ministry‚ Tete Antonio‚ said after meeting political
parties in Harare at the weekend that they would not endorse a sham election as
their mandate was to witness a fully democratic process.
Political instability in Lesotho‚ skirmishes in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)‚ Madagascar - where elections are due in
November - and Zimbabwe’s military-engineered removal of Robert Mugabe have
cast a bad light on the region in recent years.
“We spoke (to the parties) about consolidating democracy
and we understood that democracy is a process and elections are only a part of
the process. With the issue that was raised regarding reforms‚ we understand
that steps were undertaken and we have taken note that 13 changes were done‚”
Antonio said.
The MDC Alliance is leading protests over issues such as
the design of the ballot paper and security around the ballot papers. These
issues were raised by the SADC team at a meeting with the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC). Protests by the alliance were scoffed at by President
Emmerson Mnangagwa who said that the July 30 poll would be the most transparent
election in the history of the country.
He urged the opposition to approach the courts with their
grievances. “Government has no role in controlling or influencing ZEC at all.
They are guided by the Constitution and Electoral Act of the country. Those who
feel that the ZEC has not complied with the law or constitution‚ our courts are
open to deal with such issues‚” he said.
So far‚ grievances brought before the courts in relation to
the polls have been thrown out‚ including the latest by visually impaired voter
Abraham Mateta who sought an order to have the electoral body print a braille
version of the ballot paper.
High Court Judge Charles Hungwe said according to law‚ a
visually impaired person was allowed to bring a trusted assistant when casting
their vote.
A 2014 report from the University of Zimbabwe said at the
time that nearly 10% of the population was visually impaired. sowetan
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