malvernmugadzikwa
Emmanuel Kafe
HEAD of the joint African Union (AU) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Zimbabwe, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, arrived in the country yesterday ahead of Wednesday’s harmonised elections.
He arrived at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport aboard a Nigerian Air Force charter plane.
In an interview upon his arrival, President Jonathan said Zimbabwe’s elections were very important for the continent.
“The AU brought me here because Zimbabwe has a very important election coming up on the 23rd of this month and AU has an Election Observation Mission here,” he said.
“Our long-term observers have been here for some months, now short-term observers arrive today (Saturday), yesterday (Friday) and tomorrow (Sunday).
“I am coming to lead the short-term observers, to make sure that we work with your people to ensure that elections are peaceful and conducted in a manner that is seen to be free and fair, that is the mission of the African Union.”
The joint AU-COMESA EOM, which comprises 73 short-term observers and three core team of electoral experts, will be in the country until August 29.
In a statement ahead of the team’s deployment, the AU said: “The objectives of the joint AU-COMESA EOM are to: (a) provide an accurate and impartial reporting or assessment of the quality of the August 23 harmonised elections in Zimbabwe, including the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental and international standards for democratic elections; (b) offer recommendations for improvement of future elections based on the findings; and (c) demonstrate AU’s solidarity and support towards Zimbabwe’s election and democratisation process to ensure that the conduct of democratic, credible and peaceful elections contributes to the consolidation of democratic governance, peace and stability in the country.”
The joint EOM will issue its preliminary statement after election day.
Several short-term observer missions began arriving in the country last week, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission led by Mr Nevers Mumba, the Commonwealth team led by Ms Amina Mohamed and former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano.
The SADC electoral observation mission (SEOM) comprises 68 observers drawn from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
Bongani Ndlovu