Harare – The Commonwealth’s team of observers have begun its assessment of the
electoral process in Zimbabwe, which will hold general elections on July 30.
The observers, who are led by former Ghanaian President John Mahama and comprises of 23 eminent people from
across the Commonwealth, will be in Zimbabwe until Aug. 6.
Mahama said the group’s mandate is to consider factors that affected the credibility of the electoral
process and report on whether the vote had been conducted according to the national, regional, and
international standards to which Zimbabwe had committed itself.
“We will perform our role with impartiality, independence and transparency,” he pledged.
He said the group would issue a statement on its preliminary findings after the elections before a final
report is submitted to Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland.
Mahama said Scotland would then share it with the government of Zimbabwe, leaders of political parties,
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), and to Commonwealth governments and the public.
“The final report will be considered in the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s assessment of Zimbabwe’s
interest in being readmitted to the organization,” he said.
“The Commonwealth Observer Group urges citizens, particularly women and youth, to participate in this
election, and all stakeholders to play their part in ensuring a peaceful and credible process,”
Mahama said.
The commonwealth last observed elections in Zimbabwe in 2002, a year before the southern African country
withdrew from the grouping over disputes relating to governance issues.
However, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from former President Robert Mugabe in
November 2017, in May wrote to Scotland, the commonwealth secretary-general, asking her to initiate
the re-admission process.
In that letter, he requested the Commonwealth to observe the forthcoming elections, with the final
report of the observer group contributing to the secretary-general’s informal assessment of whether
Zimbabwe should re-join the organisation.