Saturday 20 October 2018

EU Election Observer Mission Final report - Executive Summary

Executive Summary

The 30 July polls in Zimbabwe were for the presidency, parliament and local councils - known as the Harmonised Elections - and were the first since the stepping down from power of the former president Robert Mugabe after 37 years in office. Many previous elections have been contentious and with reports of abuses, and so while the commitment to hold credible elections by the interim president was welcomed, a legacy of the past was a low level of trust in the democratic process and institutions, which permeated the electoral environment.

The right to stand was provided for, the elections were competitive and political freedoms during the campaign were respected. On Election Day, voters enjoyed the right to vote and both the campaign and election day were largely peaceful.

However, the right to an effective legal remedy was not adequately provided for, there is no equal suffrage and shortcomings in the registration of voters somewhat compromised universal and equal suffrage. Notably, major shortcomings in the pre-election environment impacted on the free expression of the will of electors, state resources were misused in favour of the incumbent and coverage by state media was heavily biased in favour of the ruling party. Further, the electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability. Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.

The election was competitive, with a large number of candidates and political parties contesting all three elections. The campaign was largely peaceful, with freedoms of movement, assembly and expression respected, and both the main presidential candidates held numerous rallies across the country. However, while political rights were largely respected, there were concerns regarding the environment for the polls and the failure to achieve a level playing field. Observers widely reported on efforts to undermine the free expression of the will of electors, through inducements, intimidation and coercion against prospective voters to try to ensure a vote in favour of the ruling party. Such practices also included direct threats of violence, pressure on people to attend rallies, partisan actions by traditional leaders, collection of voter registration slips and other measures to undermine confidence in the secrecy of the vote, manipulation of food aid and agricultural programmes and other misuses of state resources.

The introduction of a number of legal and administrative changes was welcomed, including increasing the number of polling stations, limiting voters to voting only at their registered station, and limiting the number of excess ballots to be printed. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) put in place administrative arrangements for the holding of the 30 July polls as scheduled. However, the potentially positive measures were undermined by ZEC’s persistent lack of inclusivity and transparency. Further, the election management body became embroiled in a number of contentious issues, including the layout of the presidential ballot, modalities for printing and distributing ballots, poor procedures for confirming ballot security between printing and election day and the conduct of postal voting. ZEC also failed to make full or proper use of the Multi-Party Liaison Committees, particularly at the national and provincial levels. These issues contributed to a deterioration in the relationship between the electoral commission and the opposition in the weeks before the election.

On the day of the election EU observers reported positively on the conduct of voting. Zimbabwean citizens turned out in large numbers and despite some lengthy queues, particularly in high density areas, the voting process was managed well by polling officials who worked hard to process voters. Some problems with the voter roll, or lack of voter awareness of their polling location, were evident. Party agents were present in virtually all of the polling places visited by EU observers. However, there appeared to be a high degree of instances of assisted voting in some places. The vote count in polling stations was reasonably well organised, though procedures were not always followed. The result was posted at the polling station in many instances, but not all.

Presidential results announced by ZEC were based on figures from the provincial level. ZEC also provided a CD-ROM with polling station figures set out in excel format. As this was not a presentation of the actual V11 forms from each polling station, the CD-ROM did not provide the level of transparency, traceability and verifiability which was hoped for and which could have been achieved. Further, the figures presented by ZEC in the CD-ROM contained a large number of errors and inaccuracies. While these may not bring in to question the outcome per se, the errors do raise enough questions to have doubt as to the exact accuracy and reliability of the figures presented. The information provided by ZEC attests to a lack of quality control in its work, notably given that this was such a critical aspect of the elections. It is also notable that the provinces with the highest margin of votes in favour of the ruling party have been the areas with the highest number of reports of “smart intimidation”, misuse of state resources, involvement of traditional leaders and other electoral malpractices

While the country stayed generally calm after polling, tension in Harare increased dramatically as the first parliamentary results indicated a clear lead for the ruling ZANU-PF. The fact that presidential results were not being released added to speculation and tensions. Before the announcement of official results by ZEC, MDC-A leaders started claiming that their party had won and that at least the presidential elections had been rigged. On 1 August a demonstration in the vicinity of the ZEC command centre was met with the deployment of military units. Soldiers fired live rounds into the crowd leaving at least six people dead and 14 injured. The MDC-A headquarters was also raided, and 27 persons, reportedly engaged on the MDC-Alliance’s vote tabulation, were arrested and computer equipment was seized, and to-date has not been released.

Following the declaration of results, there were reports of violence, and human rights defenders documented over 150 human rights violations between 1-7 August, including retributive acts against supporters, agents and candidates of the opposition. Reports of such of such acts persisted in the post-election phase. The legal challenge against the presidential results by Nelson Chamisa, presidential candidate for MDC-Alliance, was handled in a timely and transparent manner, but was rejected by the court on the basis that their claims were unproven. While ZEC’s poor management of the results may have opened up the process to a degree of legal jeopardy, the case brought by Chamisa did not adequately prove the case for a substantial change of the result. However, many of the claims regarding problems during the pre-election period and many of the procedural errors in ZEC’s management of the results had varying degrees of validity.

Based on EU EOM monitoring, the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, failed to abide by its legal obligation to ensure equitable and fair treatment to all political parties and candidates. State-owned TV, radio and newspapers, which dominate the media landscape, were heavily biased in favour of the ruling party and incumbent president in their election-related coverage. Media operated in a generally free environment during the campaign and freedom of expression was respected.

The legal framework provides for key rights and freedoms for the conduct of competitive elections. However, shortcomings in the Electoral Act and the absence of campaign finance regulations limit the integrity, transparency and accountability of the process. Furthermore, delays in adjudication, dismissal of court cases on merely technical grounds and a number of controversial judgments compromised the right to an effective legal remedy.

The switch to biometric voter registration so close to the election was a major challenge for ZEC, which assumed responsibility for the roll for the first time. Data indicates a capture rate of 78.6% of the estimated eligible population, though with lower levels of registration in urban areas and a number of errors which remain to be resolved. The manner of sharing the voter roll with stakeholders proved contentious and, while acknowledging the effort ZEC made in undertaking the biometric registration, its lack of transparency and failure to provide clear and coherent information about voter registration overall added to a sense of mistrust by stakeholders.

In the direct election for the National Assembly, only 14.75% of candidates were women and women were nominated in just 126 of the 210 seats. But by virtue of the additional proportional list system for the Assembly, which is a temporary constitutional measure, women will represent some 33% representation in the parliament overall.
Priority Recommendations
  1. ZECs independence needs to be strengthened, free from governmental oversight in the approval of its regulations.
  2. ZEC must provide effective and timely information on all steps of the electoral preparations, making all information of public interest, including ZEC resolutions and verifiable polling station level results, immediately and easily accessible.
  3. Voter registration needs to be enhanced in “under registered” districts of the country to ensure universal and equal suffrage.
  4. Legal measures should be introduced to mitigate abuse of the advantage of incumbency and abuse of state resources
  5. State-owned media must abide by their legal obligation to be impartial and provide equitable treatment to all political parties and candidates.
  6. The results management process needs to be more coherent and fully explained to all stakeholders well in advance of the polls in order to enhance transparency, verifiability and integrity of the results process.
  7. The process of aligning the Electoral Act with the 2013 Constitution needs to be pursued and completed.

  1. Develop regulation of political party financing to promote accountability and transparency and as a key step towards creating a level playing field between political parties.
  2. Procedures for the security of the ballot from printing, deployment to polling stations and on Election Day should be reviewed and procedures clearly announced for future elections.
  3. Multi-Party Liaison Committees should be a regular feature of inter-party dialogue throughout the entire electoral cycle, to be an effective conflict resolution tool for political parties and to provide an effective forum for reporting on non-compliance with the Code.1
The Full report is available on the following link:

7 comments:

Patrick said...

For all his very high impressive CV Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has been a great disappointment with all his blundering about scrapping the Bond Notes and then about letting the Bond Notes float only to reverve both decisions within a few days!

Whilst Zimbabwe remains a pariah state it is inconceivable to see how the country can ever have any meaningful economic recovery. It is very disappointing that someone of Minister Ncube's calibre has completely failed to grasp this reality. It goes to show how the power clouds over common sense!

Patrick said...


@ Gwynne Dyer

This has to be one of the best articles I have read in months, you hit the nail on the head again and again until it was driven home! Thank you.

Two points you made that I would same are well worth repeating again, for good measure, are:
1) The coup was about Zanu PF’s own internal power struggle and not about ending the Zanu PF dictatorship. “Robert Mugabe was not overthrown last year by a popular revolution. He was overthrown by his own corrupt and overbearing ZANU-PF Party, because he was planning to make his own wife Grace his successor” as you put it.

If people had not been so naïve and gullible they would have kept their eyes super-glue on the ball – to demand meaningful democratic change and reforms to ensure the 30 July 2018 elections were free, fair and credible. Many people trusted Mnangagwa’s promise to hold such elections and now look real sheepish that he blatantly rigged the elections.

2) The second point is the nation is at a complete loss what to do to remove the Zanu PF dictatorship. “Three months later the Zimbabwean economy, which had been momentarily buoyed up by the hope of better times, is collapsing. In theory, this should usher in the second phase of democratisation in the country, with massive demonstrations driving ‘the crocodile’ (Mnangagwa) out of power,” as you said.

“In practice, that may not happen. Zimbabweans may be too cowed, or just too exhausted – and ZANU-PF would not go without a fight.”

Zimbabweans have been cowed by the August military crack-down against all dissent but most significant of all they are physically and mentally exhausted. Zimbabwe’s fight for freedom, justice, liberty and human dignity has been a protracted one dating back to soon after independence with Zanu PF corrupting the state institutions to create the de facto one-party dictatorship. 38 long years of struggling and few have anything to show for it as they are politically and economically worse off now than they were during white colonial rule!

Chamisa and his MDC Alliance sold-out big time during the GNU and right now they have nothing to offer. Only those who are naïve and gullible would believe the Chamisa’s claim that he “has the key to unlock economic recovery”!

It will be prudent for the people to pause and take stock. The people need to understand what went wrong in the past if they are to avoid being taken for a ride once again as both Zanu PF and MDC leaders have done these last 38 years.

Patrick said...

POLICE have reportedly sought search and seizure warrants against named top Zanu PF officials and former Cabinet ministers as government begins swooping on cash barons and suspected economic saboteurs following the unexplained rise in prices on basic commodities, NewsDay Weekender has established.

BY XOLISANI NCUBE

This came as President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday warned that the government would swoop on cash barons, economic saboteurs and those suspected to be behind other illicit deals in the country.

The regime has not clearly defined what these cash barons, economic saboteurs, etc. have done wrong. Even if someone if found with thousands, hundreds of thousands of US$ or whatever, they have done nothing wrong as there is no law saying one must deposit their cash with the Bank particularly when the said Banks have been reluctant to give it back!

This is a knee-jerk reaction of a regime that has no idea what it is doing. The root cause of the foreign currency shortage is because Zimbabwe is paying more for imports than the country is earning from exports. Even if the regime arrested every illegal forex dealer and recovered ever US$, SA Rand, etc. it will be just a matter of days, months at most, before there is another shortage of forex. This is just kicking a can down the road.

Zimbabwe’s economic recovery will depend on restore the country’s economic production to reduce imports and restore our balance of payments by increasing exports.

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Kevin Moyo

The recent measures appear to be that of a man drowning and clutching at straws. It has instead continued to exhibit fundamental characteristics of the regime of 12 months ago: incapable of taking accountability for Zimbabwe's current situation; quick to pass the buck to the man on the street and a blatant disregard for the private sector.

Where the world expects aggressive implementation of fiscal discipline and consolidation, the new government says that the main solution is to impose high taxes on an already struggling public.

This was apparent in its response to the public's outrage against the 2% excise tax, as government said that their "modest" tax is a necessary evil that the country needs to bear in order to "stop the bleeding".

The statement is tragic, suggesting that the new Finance minister Mthuli Ncube is either insincere or ignorant of Zimbabwe's main challenge: government's excessive expenditure on largely unproductive segments of the public sector.

Just recently the government was ready to spend $20 million on new vehicles for legislators. The splurge was suspended on account of the public reminding them that there was a cholera outbreak that required their outmost attention. It is understood that the vehicle purchases will be made at a more "appropriate" time.

The statement, and supposedly the strategy behind this policy, is also insensitive to the plight of the average Zimbabwean — the man on the street.

After decades of mismanagement and corruption, the government destroyed employment opportunities for this "man", forcing him to create his own opportunities in the informal sector in order to survive.

The same government then proceeded to forcibly evacuate him from his ideal location for his struggling business venture. This same government now wants this man, teetering on the poverty line, to plug 40% of the budget deficit at his expense.

In Kenya, the local revenue authority (KRA) generates about $230m in mobile money taxes from its $80bn economy with 45 million citizens.

The Kenyan government is also battling with record high public debt levels and rising twin deficits, and yet the most they could increase excise taxes was from an average of 0,12% to 0,20% of the transacted amount.

The Zimbabwean government, on the other hand, wants to generate $900m in revenues from an economy that is apparently a quarter that of Kenya.

To put this into perspective, the government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) wants locals to pay it an extra $57 a year per capita, which compares to $5,04 in Kenya. The imbalance is even more striking considering that the GoZ's targeted tax is 4,55% of GDP per capita vs 0,28% of GDP per capita in Kenya.

Back to 2014-2016 when banks charged exorbitant rates for cash withdrawals, a comparative with Kenya showed that Zimbabweans were price savvy in their transactions.

The comparative suggested that Zimbabweans and Kenyans were willing to spend $2,40 to $2,80 per month on transaction charges, and as such, adjusted their transaction habits accordingly.

However, because Zimbabwean banks charged an average of $2,50 per withdrawal against $0,30 in Kenya, the number of transactions per capita in Zimbabwe was 10% of that in Kenya.

A two-fold increase in the average fee in Zimbabwe would ultimately see mobile money transactions decline by 67%.

0000

For all the praise Minister Ncube has received as a highly qualified and experienced professional one thing already stands out - he has no common sense. None! Whilst no one can say the nation did not see the economic crisis we are in coming it is, however, true that our blundering Minister made the bad situation worse!

Zimbabwe Light said...

FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, who is 42 days into his new job, says it is only fair to judge him after six months, adding that he expects the benefits of austerity measures to start coming through around March 2019.

Economic structural reforms, he said, were unavoidable. The Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) through to December 2020 has secured the backing of the World Bank Group and IMF.

This is just nonsense, this is a regime that loves to blame other people for its own mess. In the 1990s Zimbabwe had two five-year IMF and WB sponsored Economic Structural Adjustment Programs back to back, they failed to deliver the economic recovery because Zanu PF cherry pick the reforms to implement and to leave out. The regime blamed the IMF and WB for the failures.

The IMF and WB had no input into this new program and the regime is roping them in just to give the program some modicum of credibility. The IMF would have never proposed taxing the 75% of Zimbabweans living on US$1.00 or less a day!

The IMF would have pointed refused to be involved in the implementation of this program because they know the regime would never implement those reforms affecting the ruling elite. President Mnangagwa has, on paper, reduced the size of his cabinet and yet in practice he has doubled it. All the former cabinet members complete with the entourage of permanent secretaries who lost their jobs have all been send to Zanu PF HQ on their full salaries and benefits!

The IMF and WB are not going to bankroll this regime's doomed program and they have a good excuse - ZDERA. Minister Ncube is going to USA to see if he can talk the American government to lift the sanctions. Even if the American government did that it is no guarantee the IMF and WB would bankroll this regime's voodoo economic policies and programs. They two financial institutions stopped funding the Zimbabwe government by the end of 1999 because Zanu PF had failed to implement the agreed ESAP reforms. ZDERA was imposed in 2001, two years after all IMF funding to Harare had stopped.

For all the praise Minister Ncube has received as a highly qualified and experienced professional one thing already stands out - he has no common sense. None! Whilst no one can say the nation did not see the economic crisis we are in coming it is, however, true that our blundering Minister made the bad situation worse! Worse still, he is stubborn and indifferent to the suffering his blundering incompetence is causing to the most vulnerable is society - the poorest of the poor. And he is taking them through the mill for nothing because the economy is not going to recover in six months or by 2020.

Zimbabwe is a pariah state, President Mnangagwa made this crystal clear by rigging the recent elections. No investors or lenders are going to invest a single dollar in Zimbabwe because they all know it is too risky doing business in a pariah state. Without the much needed investment the comatose Zimbabwe economy will never recover. It is the foreign and local investment that will revive Zimbabwe's comatose economy and not money raised from taxing the poorest of the poor!

Zimbabwe Light said...

This is a nightmare; we have a regime that will never acknowledge that it has failed. It has the dictatorial powers to rig elections and some the nation is stuck with the regime. Now having rigged the elections to stay in power the regime is going ahead with its voodoo economic policies and programs.

What the nation needs desperately to revive its comatose economy is an inject of foreign and local investment. By rigging the recent elections and thus confirming Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs; the regime has effectively scarred away all would be investors and lenders. No one wants to do business in a pariah state, it is too risky.

Instead of facing up to the problem meaning political reform necessary to end the country's pariah state curse, the regime is ignoring the elephant in the room. The regime is now taxing the poorest of the poor to feed its insatiable extravagant spending habit and insisting this would also revive the economy. That is just nonsense and, unless we force this illegitimate regime to step down, we are stuck with it!

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Taruvinga

“So intriguing that a person who won the election with 2 674 032 is being contested.Competition is the beauty and foundation of democratic institutions and society. The MDC and its president Nelson Chamisa cherish and promote competitive internal democracy,” you say.

“That having been said, we are practising democracy in a country ruled by merciless autocrats who will always try to infiltrate and destabilise institutions run by their competitors.”

This is just a foolish argument proffered by those who pay lip service to democratic values of open debate and democratic competition.

If Chamisa won 2.6 million votes then he is popular so why fear competition?

What makes you think that 2.6 million is the best result and no one could have done better in a country with 7 million voters? In participating in the elections with no democratic reforms in place Chamisa showed he was a a village idiot.

To argue that Zanu PF will want to destabilise the MDC and so the later must stifle competition is a foolish argument because the failure to stick to democratic practices will result is electing weak leaders which Zanu PF will find find to undermine.