By Kelvin Wilson Kasiwulaya
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has rebuffed allegations from the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) about collaborating with Team Pachedu to prematurely announce election results.
In a press statement released on November 28, 2023, ZESN categorically denied working closely or collaborating with Team Pachedu for such purposes.
According to the press statement, ZESN partnered with the Election Resource Centre (ERC) to promote democratic elections in Zimbabwe by providing domestic oversight on all electoral processes.
The organization emphasized that it had never collaborated with Team Pachedu concerning the collation and tabulation of election results.
“ZESN would like to categorically state that it does not and has never worked closely or collaborated with Team Pachedu to collate and tabulate results. ZESN partnered with the Election Resource Centre (ERC) as part of its mandate to promote democratic elections in Zimbabwe through domestic oversight on all electoral processes such as voter registration, nomination, pre and post electoral environment and polling day processes among others as provided for under Section 40 G (1) (d) of the Electoral Act”
“Additionally, addressing a Press conference in Harare on 24 August 2023, Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest of the ERC and ZESN staff and not Team Pachedu, a sure sign that the latter was never a part of the observation team working on independently verifying results,” ZESN.
ZESN also emphasized that it has always shared its observation reports with all key electoral stakeholders as required by the Electoral Act’s functions of Accredited Observers,stating,”Over the years, the Network has always shared its observation reports with all key electoral stakeholders including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) as required by Section 40 G (1) (d) of the Electoral Act on the Functions of Accredited Observers.”
The statement continued by highlighting ZESN’s commitment to sharing observation reports with electoral stakeholders as required by the Electoral Act’s functions of Accredited Observers. ZESN stated that it adheres to Zimbabwe’s constitutional dictates, the Electoral Act, ZEC Code of Conduct for Observers, SADC Principles and Guidelines, and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.
Additionally, ZESN emphasized that it is a law-abiding organization that seeks to promote peaceful democratic elections in Zimbabwe, and that it has no intention to prematurely announce election results. The organization believes that election observation is vital for assessing whether elections are conducted in accordance with the country’s laws and international standards.
ZESN also asserted that it had no intention to prematurely announce election results, citing the provisions of the Electoral Act.
“Furthermore, the Network would like to put it on record that ZESN is a law abiding organization that seeks to promote the conduct of peaceful democratic elections in Zimbabwe hence, it had no intention to go before a Constitutionally Mandated Body to announce results as it stands guided by the provisions of Section 66 A of the Electoral Act on results announcement which gives ZEC the mandate to declare election results in particular subsection (3) (a) (b), which states that “any person who purports to announce the result of an election as the true or official results; or purports to declare any candidate to have been duly elected; before an electoral officer, acting in accordance with this Act, has announced the result of that election or declared a candidate to have been duly elected in that election, as the case may be, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level five or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
The Network also emphasized the importance of election observation in gathering information and providing impartial and accurate appraisals of the electoral environment to improve electoral processes.