It has come to the attention of the Election Resource Centre (ERC) that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will only accredit observers of the 16 by-elections slated for June 10 2015 at a central location in Harare. This is despite the fact that 10 out of the 16 impending by-election constituencies are situated outside Harare, namely, Dangamvura-Chikanga, Headlands, Hurungwe West, Lobengula, Luveve, Makokoba, Mbizo, Pelandaba-Mpopoma, Pumula and Tsholotsho North.
An analysis of the 10 out of Harare constituencies reveals that there is an average of 37 polling stations per constituency with Tsholotsho North recording the highest number with 70 polling stations. Converted to figures this means for any organisation intending to field at least one observer per polling station in Tsholotsho North will fork out USD2,800 at an average of USD40 per person. This does not include the cost of accreditation, accommodation and meals.
The ERC is concerned by the reversal of the provision for the decentralization of accreditation of observers which was one of the electoral reforms introduced ahead of the July 31 2013 harmonised elections. Such a reversal means that:
- There are going to be fewer eyes watching the elections.
- The June 10 elections can only be observed by observers from Harare yet communities should be given an opportunity to observe their own elections.
- All electoral reforms gained ahead of the 2013 harmonised elections face potential reversal.
The ERC urges ZEC and Treasury to immediately release funds to urgently decentralize accreditation of election observers so that the facility is accessible to local communities affected by by-elections to observe their own elections.
The ERC is a think tank and advocacy institution on democracy and elections.
