from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Bureau
HARARE, (CAJ News) – THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) has commenced its duties in Zimbabwe ahead of the August 23 poll.
Dr Nevers Mumba, former Vice-President of Zambia, leads the mission and arrived in the neighbouring country on Wednesday.
He leads the SADC EOM (SEOM) courtesy of Zambia being the incoming Chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
The deployment is in line with Article 3 of the revised SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021), which provides that SADC shall observe all general elections held in its 16-member states.
The SEOM will be deployed to all ten provinces of Zimbabwe to observe the pre- and post-election phases and the polling day.
Before the launch of the SEOM, the head of SEOM was to undertake a courtesy call to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Zimbabwe.
He is to conduct meetings with the leadership of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) as well as the SADC Ambassadors and High Commissioners Accredited to Zimbabwe.
SADC is considered the most peaceful bloc in Africa but elections in Zimbabwe always pose a headache for the region.
President Emmerson Mngangwa, the incumbent, is seeking a second term, at the helm of the Zimbabwe African National Union –Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) that has been in power since independence in 1980.
The Citizens Coalition for Change’s (CCC) leader, Nelson Chamisa, is again his biggest rival after the two men’s electoral battle in 2018 ended up in the courts with the latter alleging vote rigging.
Opposition parties in Zimbabwe accuse SADC of partiality in local problems, amid allegations of the bloc’s allegiance to ZANU-PF.
SADC brokered a unity government in Zimbabwe after the disputed 2008 poll when former president Robert Mugabe (deceased) and ZANU-PF lost power to Morgan Tsvangirai (also late) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
It was the first time since independence that the incumbent and his party lost power to the opposition.
– CAJ News