Observers Give Zimbabwe Referendum Thumbs Up

President Mugabe bids farewell to Vice President Joice Mujuru and Chief Secretary to the Presidency and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda before his departure for South Africa at the Harare International Airport on March 7, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Observers give referendum thumbs up

Monday, 18 March 2013 00:23
Herald Reporters

ELECTION observers have endorsed the referendum for being held in a transparent, peaceful and credible manner.

This comes as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said it had finished collation of results at constituency and district levels.

By last night the commission was collating results at provincial level.

Sadc election observer mission, the Electoral Commission Forum for Sadc countries, the United States Embassy in Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network commended ZEC for holding a credible election consistent with the regional body’s Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic elections as well as the country’s enabling legal statutes.

Addressing journalists, senior Government officials and ambassadors accredited to Zimbabwe, Head of the Sadc election observer mission, Mr Bernard Membe, who is also Tanzania Minister Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, said although there were concerns raised by some stakeholders, they were not of a high magnitude as to discredit the process.

The mission commended ZEC for its efficiency as polling had started on time, counting commencing immediately after voting had ended and the peaceful atmosphere that prevailed.

Mr Membe urged authorities to timeously resource ZEC and decisively deal with isolated cases of intimidation and harassment.

“In general, the mission observed that the polling process was conducted in a peaceful, transparent and smooth manner. The mission has come to the conclusion that although some of the concerns raised are pertinent, they are, nevertheless, not of such magnitude as to affect the credibility of the overall referendum.

“We also wish to commend ZEC for the professional and dedicated manner in which they delivered a successful referendum to the people of Zimbabwe,” said Mr Membe, who was representing Tanzanian president Mr Jakaya Kikwete, who is the Chairperson for the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation.

“I wish to sincerely congratulate the Government, ZEC and the people of Zimbabwe for holding a peaceful and credible Constitutional Referendum on 16 March 2013.

“This is a major step in the implementation of the GPA and I therefore would like to take this opportunity to encourage the political leadership and all the people of Zimbabwe to uphold peace and stability.”

He said during their interaction with stakeholders, major issues that were raised include timeous availability of resources to ZEC, possible apathy, insufficient copies of the draft Constitution, inadequate time for the electorate to acquaint themselves with the draft, polarised media, among other issues.

“It was noted that the late disbursement of funds to ZEC had not affected the overall voting. The mission observed that the Referendum took place within the provisions of the GPA Article 6 and the Referendum Act, Articles 3 and 4,” said Mr Membe.

He said the mission condemned isolated cases of intimidation and harassment and urged law enforcement agents to objectively deal with the matters as they arise.

It recommended that there be an establishment of a mechanism through which funds for elections could be timely made available.

The Electoral Commission Forum for Sadc countries chairperson Commissioner Fako Likoti said they were no intimidation and polling officers were well trained with voter secrecy protected.

“ZEC demonstrated a high degree of transparency in its handling of the voting process. The counting of votes was transparent and meticulous. Voters who need assistance were duly assisted and only those polling stations that opened late also closed,” he said.

Commissioner Likoti said the ECF teams which comprised of members from Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique among other member states. The Commission observed that in some areas there was late arrival of ballot papers while some voters were turned away for bringing wrong identification particulars.

The Electoral Commissions Forum of the Southern African Development Community (ECF Sadc) is an independent organisation in which each country of the Sadc region is represented by its electoral management body.

Zimbabwe Election Support Network chairperson Mr Solomon Zwana said preliminary ZESN assessment showed that the process was peaceful.

“ZESN commends ZEC for putting together the logistical support within a short time. Our findings show that the process was generally peaceful and smooth with very few recorded incidents of violence,” he said.

The United States embassy congratulated Zimbabweans for holding a peaceful and credible referendum.

“This historic step forward in the nation’s development of democracy and rule of law is part of an important process started in 1980 to establish freedom for all Zimbabwean citizens,” said the embassy in a statement released last night.

The embassy said the way the referendum was conducted would help Harare gain confidence from neighbouring countries and the international community.

It, however, said they had received reports that voters in some areas were instructed to vote at specific stations or to report to political party operatives after casting their vote.

ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau told journalists last night that collation of results at provincial level had commenced.

She said judging by the rate the process was unfolding, full election results would be announced soon. The ZEC chief invited accredited observers to come and witness the counting of results at the election command centre.

Earlier on, she said ZEC had received reports that all polling stations had closed by 7:30 pm on Saturday. Justice Makarau said in some areas people were still in the queues after 7pm and were allowed to vote.

“In most provinces counting of votes at polling stations had been completed with results posted outside the stations,” she said.

Justice Makarau said at two wards in Mbire Districts some polling officers were reluctant to move out of their vehicles in fear of wild animals.

“Ward 4 received heavy rains and this has affected arrangements. Angwa River was also reportedly full while in Matabeleland South, there were challenges of fuel and this has since been rectified,” she said.

ZEC deputy chairperson Mrs Joyce Kazembe confirmed that voter education was late because of inadequate funding. She said the exercise was done in eight days and ZEC had to do the awareness campaigns through the electronic and print media.