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Zimbabwe Observer Mission Project
The South African Council of Churches (SACC)
April 07, 2005

Read the Zimbabwe Observer Mission Report

The bravery and demeanour of Zimbabweans who contributed to what was largely a peaceful election day deserves both acknowledgement and respect. The insistence of Zimbabweans, members of SADC and citizens of countries surrounding Zimbabwe on the application of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections and minimum standards for elections was admirable.

The drop in violence is welcomed and acknowledged as a significant improvement on the 2000 and 2002 elections. In the last weeks before election day there was a marked opening of public space for opposition voices, voter education and access for the international media. This created a surge of optimism by the opposition and encouraged all who were observing the election.

The coalition issuing this statement comprises the South African Council of Churches, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, SANGOCO, Idasa, the Centre for Policy Studies and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. It requested but was not afforded observer status. Members of the consortium did visit the country prior to and during the elections. They consulted widely with NGO and political groupings in Zimbabwe, interviewed a cross-section of Zimbabweans and followed the election process both from within and outside of the country.

Of particular concern is the realization that:

• Zimbabwe has become an authoritarian state and the election was held within this context. A normal election remains difficult to contemplate without significant changes in the constitutional, legal, institutional and cultural environment.
• The governing party has at its disposal the resources and privileges of incumbency, which it employed to its own advantage. Numerous donations to communities accompanied government ministers as they campaigned and were used as vote buying.
• We consider the politicization of observation missions, in particular the preferential treatment of invited missions in accordance with their stated friendship to ZANU PF to be regrettable. In particular, conclusions arrived at by the South African Observer Missions failed to address the critical issues affecting free and fair elections standards and have thus compromised their role as honest and non partisan observers.
• The suspension of excessive violence and the opportunity to vote do not in themselves constitute a free and fair election as required by the SADC guidelines. The guidelines require states to adhere scrupulously to an extensive set of criteria, all of which are underpinned by the African Union’s democratic philosophy.
• The election has fallen short of these stringent SADC standards and the AU commitment to democracy. Delayed and limited implementation of electoral reforms, remaining restrictions on political activity, abuse of the resources and privileges of incumbency and serious allegations of fraud by the MDC which remain to be answered have undermined confidence in the election outcome.
• Indication are that previous violence and intimidation had cowed voters, that the inequities introduced by early election arrangements (demarcation and voter registration in particular) and other forms of alleged electoral bias calls into question the objectivity of the electoral commission and the outcome of the elections.

Because we are convinced that future elections should not be countenanced without significant changes in Zimbabwe, we believe that both political parties and others who wish Zimbabwe well should seize the opportunity to redouble their efforts to achieve these necessary changes.

The coalition welcomes the fact that election day and the weeks immediately preceding it were largely peaceful. It hopes that this was a prologue to continued legally sanctioned peace and openness. In this regard we call on civil society throughout the region to commit themselves to supporting the efforts of Zimbabweans to wrest peace, prosperity and the necessary political reforms from the elections which are now behind them.

Based on the present evidence and analysis of the SADC guidelines, the coalition cannot pronounce the elections as being free and fair without qualification. We particularly regard as morally questionable the pronouncement by the South African Observer Mission that primarily due to the peaceful climate that prevailed during the elections, the elections are necessarily free and fair. As to the credibility and legitimacy of the outcomes, the coalition believes that this judgment must and will be made by the people of Zimbabwe, their courts and their political parties.

For more information contact:

Molefe Tsele --tmm@sacc.org.za; Tel: +27 82 458 0237
Fr Richard Menatsi – rmenatsi@sacbc.org.za; Tel: +27 12 323 6458
Charles Villa Vicencio – charles@ijr.org.za; Tel: +27 082 897 7964
Chris Lansberg – chris@cps.org.za; Tel: +27 11 642 9820
Zanele Twala – zanele@sangoco.org.za; Tel: +27 82 8941979
Paul Graham – pgraham@idasa.org.za; Tel: +27 82 571 3887

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