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Urgent letter to SADC and African heads of state and government: Zimbabwe elections
Open Society Institute, Southern Africa (OSISA)
April 08, 2008

We represent the many people within SADC increasingly alarmed at unfolding events in Zimbabwe. We issue this open letter to all citizens of this region, and in particular to our heads of state and government, members of parliament in the respective countries and senior leaders with the SADC and African Union Secretariats, asking them to take urgent action to ensure that the Zimbabwean people, who on the 29 March 2008 exercised their right to vote, now have the results of that vote recognized and respected.

The continued failure on the part of the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to disclose the results of the election, without any reasonable explanation for such delay, warrants the strongest censure. This inexplicable delay at so critical a time has heightened tensions within Zimbabwe, inviting suspicion that electoral outcomes will be manipulated and that the Zimbabwean peoples' peacefully registered political preferences will be contemptuously discounted.

Already, those who cast their votes in an attempt to authentically register their political preferences have faced serious obstacle. The elections themselves were characterized by a denial of equal access to state-controlled media; widespread voter roll irregularity; the use of state resources in a manner calculated to influence the outcome of the elections, such as the stationing of police officers in polling booths; an absence of independent civic and voter education in the run-up to the elections; and an undermining of the role of electoral observers through inadequate access and accreditation.

We are, however, further concerned that the safety and security of Zimbabweans, not only their vote, is under threat. The increased presence of security forces throughout the country, intensified activities on the part of associated quasi-military groups, such as the War Veterans Association, and the recent arrests of journalists and others associated with civil society, at best indicate an attempt to intimidate Zimbabwe's citizenry, at worst warn of incipient violence.

SADC leadership, in its mediation efforts in respect of Zimbabwe, have repeatedly emphasized the centrality of free and fair elections to the resolution of Zimbabwe's difficulties. Regional leaders have again and again called on the Zimbabwean people to solve the crisis for themselves. Those who cast their ballots on 29 March 2008 sought to bring to fruition both these calls.

That our regional respective heads of state and government now remain silent, in the face of increasingly obvious and sustained attempts to subvert the results of those elections, fails not only the Zimbabwean people, but also the continental and regional institutions and initiatives in which our respective countries have so heavily invested.

We therefore now call upon heads of state and government in SADC to ensure the following:

1. The immediate release of all outstanding Zimbabwean electoral results.
2. The adherence to and respect for those electoral results.
3. The immediate cessation of all acts of political violence and intimidation.

Furthermore, we strongly urge that African governments use bilateral and multilateral means such as SADC, the AU and the UN to urgently appoint and dispatch a high-level team of eminent persons to:

Examine and report on reasons for the delay in announcing the results of the 29 March elections and other irregularities, and to provide a framework for restoring confidence in the vote.

In the event of a run-off in the presidential elections, we call for regional and continental intervention to ensure:

• That the run-off is conducted within the framework of Zimbabwe's electoral laws, specifically that:
• That the run-off be held within 21 days of the first election;
• That the counting of the ballots take place at polling stations (rather than at a central location which provides room for manipulation and electoral fraud);
• That the results of the count be posted at all polling stations, as was the case in these primary elections.
• That a mechanism be put in place whereby delays and technical challenges encountered by the ZEC are given public explanation to avoid a repeat of the current situation;
• The presence of electoral observer missions afforded necessary access and accreditation.

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