HARARE – THE head of the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM), Hailemariam Desalegne, arrived in Zimbabwe on Monday, seven days before the country votes in key elections.
His arrival follows that of the European Union’s 44-member long term observer mission last month and last week’s visit by the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, leading The Elders.
Desalegne, the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, was appointed by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat to lead the African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM).
The AU sent a 14-member observation team on July 3, and they will remain in Zimbabwe until August 15.
The AU’s election report will be watched closely in the immediate aftermath of the election as the world waits to form opinions on the credibility of the vote, pitting Zanu PF leader and incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa against the challenge of youthful MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa.
AUEOM, in a statement ahead of Desalegne’s arrival, said it would judge the election using the AU Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance; the AU Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa; the AU Guidelines for Election Observation and Monitoring Missions; the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; and the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.
“It will also be guided by Zimbabwe’s constitution and legal framework governing the conduct of elections,” it said.
Desalegne must quickly get to grips with escalating tensions between the MDC Alliance and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission over what the Nelson Chamisa-led party sees as attempts to manipulate the vote for Zanu PF.
The fights are centred around the design of the ballot paper placing incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa top, although the law says candidates’ names must be listed by alphabet, which would place him down at 15th, if ZEC had not designed a double-paged ballot conveniently turning after 14 so that the other nine presidential candidates of the 23 are listed on the second page, with Mnangagwa now taking pride of space.
The MDC is also unhappy about changes to the voting booths that would mean election agents can see which candidates a voter has chosen; failure by ZEC to release a voters’ roll with voter images as well as the printing, security and transportation of the ballot papers.
