SADC slams presence of spies in Zim election

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) electoral observation mission has raised a red flag over the presence of what it called a shadowy organisation led by spies called Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ), which it accused of intimidating voters in the country’s just-ended harmonised elections.

The mission said it has been informed that Zimbabwe’s rural vote could be compromised due to allegations of intimidation attributed to the group.

The head of the SADC mission, Nevers Mumba, informed the media at its Friday morning briefing on its preliminary findings concerning the conduct of Zimbabwe’s poll that FAZ was said to have been deployed to several wards and around 36 000 villages.

Mumba is also Zambia’s former vice president and was tasked by president Hakainde Hichilema to lead the SADC observation mission to Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces pre-and post-elections.

“These and other unidentified persons who were not polling officials were also observed taking down voters’ names before they cast their votes. In some areas voters were intimidated by the actions of these individuals,” said Mumba.

He added that they received reports that people have been intimidated to vote in a particular manner and that they were warned that it would be easy to determine who voted against opposition parties.

“Our observers confirmed the existence of this group as its officials and agents were easily identifiable at some polling stations as they were dressed in regalia emblazoned with the FAZ name and were accredited electoral local observers,” said Mumba.

ELECTIONS MARRED BY CHALLENGES AND IRREGULARITIES

The observer team has so far noted in its preliminary findings that 8% of Zimbabwe’s polling stations observed were not accessible to voters with disabilities.

The mission observed that 50% of the polling stations did not give priority to the elderly, people with disabilities and pregnant women.

However, 97% of the polling stations were found to have been free of irregularities while voting proceeded in an orderly manner in 95% of the polling stations observed.

“As a result of the excessive delays in the opening of the polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo provinces,  at least 36% of the voting stations observed did not close at the scheduled closing time of 19h00, while some had not even opened by that time,” said Mumba.

While 64% of the voting stations opened on time, the SADC mission found that 36% did not, with some polling stations opening more than 12 hours after the stipulated time.

“Due to the delays, some voters left without casting their votes, while others remained in the lengthy  queues throughout the day and night. By 06h00 on 24 August 2023, some voters had not still voted. Consequently, these delays also had a knock-on effect, as they dissuaded voters from voting in the first place,” said Mumba.

Another preliminary finding is that that the voter’s roll was not present at 1% of the polling stations observed and was not displayed outside the polling stations for the convenience of the voters and verification by agents of parties and candidates.

Meantime, the mission has recommended that in future Zimbabwe must improve public trust by following the supreme law on matters of transparency, access to information and making the voter’s roll available on time.

Nomination fees paid by political aspirants must also be in line with Zimbabwe’s economic reality so that they do not end up being exorbitant and thus dissuade broader participation.

Zimbabwe’s media authorities have been advised to ensure impartiality during state-owned media coverage while the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has been urged to enhance transparency in the procurement process and delivery of all voting material.

The SADC observer mission will make its final and comprehensive report available in due course and its observers will remain in Zimbabwe for post-election observation until 1 September.