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Writes Tafadzwa Muranganwa
A local observer mission, Civil Society and Churches Joint Forum (CSCJF) national coordinator, Abigale Mupambi, has come guns blazing against some foreign observer missions for unsubstantiated reports.
Speaking during the presentation of CSCJF’s 2023 elections preliminary report, Mupambi said there was a need for foreign observer missions to declare where they were reporting from and not base their assessments on hearsay.
“We need ‘fingerprints and footprints’ for some of these observer missions who are likely to have been following the elections while holed up in hotels.
“Fellow observers missions are advised to go wider in observing and be guided only by facts on the ground and avoid being the source of confusion or conflict,” advised Mupambi.
The mission also noted the presence of FAZ and believes it could have caused intimidation.
“There was observation of some FAZ desks some meters away from polling stations. This was observed in the Midlands, Masvingo, and Mashonaland West provinces among others.
“This mission noted that whilst the constitution doesn’t clarify much in such surveys by institutions, the marking of such desks with Zanu PF logos could have caused possible intimidation to voters. The mission will further interrogate the FAZ element to establish the real impact it had on the polls day, ” CSCJF says.
According to the local observer mission, there was balanced media coverage.
“There was an outcry over demands by the opposition to get coverage from the state media. At the start of the campaign season, balanced coverage was observed as the election progressed as participating candidates from various parties were now featuring on channels like ZBC TV, radio stations, and state print media, ” added the civic society organisation.
The Abigale Mupambi-led CSCJF recommends that ZEC ‘be more robust and alert in logistical arrangement ahead of any polls’.