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Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
The SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) yesterday concluded its pre-election assessment mission and a report on the findings is scheduled to be released in two weeks.
The SEAC mission, led by its chairperson Judge Ticheme Dlamini and deputy chairperson Advocate Notemba Tjipueja, held several meetings with various stakeholders to assess Zimbabwe’s preparedness to hold the forthcoming harmonised elections.
These meetings included Government departments, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), political parties, civil society organisations, traditional leaders, media houses and media organisations, SADC Ambassadors accredited to Zimbabwe, and the leadership of the United Nations and the European Union delegation in Zimbabwe.
In an interview, Justice Dlamini said the mission had been a resounding success.
“Their responses were overwhelming, it was informative and we learnt from them,” he said.
“The mission in our view was successful, we achieved what we set out to do and it was very informative so we are grateful to stakeholders.
“Zimbabweans are good citizens, it’s a great nation and they treated us very well. We did not encounter situations where we felt ill-treated.”
Justice Dlamini said the SEAC team had not yet disclosed its findings or made a conclusive assessment, adding that a report would be made public in two weeks.
“The report will be published very soon; two weeks is the maximum period,” he said.
“It will not take more than two weeks to be made public. It is important to note that contrary to some press reports, the SEAC has not yet made a formal announcement on the readiness or otherwise of Zimbabwe to conduct the elections.
“This recommendation will be made to the Ministerial Committee of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation in the formal report to be submitted by SEAC at the conclusion of the mission. The SEAC mission will conclude on 20th April 2023.”
Justice Dlamini said the next phase would be the dispatching of a mission to observe the election, as well as engage relevant stakeholders.
He said in that mission, there will be similar engagements as well, with the stakeholders they met during this visit “because at that point in time, a lot will have taken place.
“So we need to be updated concerning the electoral process and the issues that may have arisen. The head of the meeting will be appointed by the Chairperson and we cannot pre-empt.”
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