Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has arrived in Harare as Head of the Commonwealth Observer Group ahead of Zimbabwe’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections on July 30.
The twenty-three-member Observer Group also includes the former Chairman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, retired Chief Justice of Kenya, Justice Willy Mutunga, a former Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Gary Dunn and a former Chairman of Cameroun’s Electoral Board, Dr. Fonkam Azu’u.
Speaking shortly after his arrival on Monday, President Mahama emphasised that the conduct of free and fair elections are the fundamental elements of democracy.
He noted that this was the first elections an observer group from Commonwealth had been invited since 2002 adding that “this election of 2018 is absolutely critical for the purpose of democratic consolidation.”
“As independent observers, our mandate is to consider factors that affect the credibility of the electoral process and report on whether the vote has been conducted according to the national, regional, and international standards to which Zimbabwe has committed itself.”
Mr. Mahama urged Zimbabweans, “particularly women and the youth” to turn up in their numbers on Election Day to cast their votes.
He also urged stakeholders to play their part in ensuring a peaceful and credible process and commended the country’s inclusiveness, with the participation of four women in the presidential race.
Mr Mahama has since held preliminary meetings with members of the Group as they prepare for their meetings with the election stakeholders and leadership of the various political parties.
Observers will be deployed to ten provinces, where they will observe preparations ahead of the vote.
On election day, they will observe the opening of polls, voting, closing of polls, counting of votes and the tabulation of results after which the group will issue a statement of its preliminary findings.
About the polls
This year’s election is the first since 1980 when white-minority rule ended in Zimbabwe that Robert Mugabe’s name won’t feature on the ballot paper.
The despot was forced to quit after the military took control of the country briefly in 2017 and the government threatened to impeach him.
About 5.5 million Zimbabweans have registered to vote of which 200 000 are new voters, according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
23 candidates will contest the presidential election. Fifty-five parties are also contesting the parliamentary election, the biggest number by far in Zimbabwe’s post-colonial history
The presidential term is five years and the president is elected by a majority. A second round of voting takes place if no candidate receives a majority in the first round.
More than 7 000 postal votes have already been cast in the election by members of the police, military and diplomats who will be on duty on election day.
The frontrunners are current President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zanu PF and Nelson Chamisa of the MDC Alliance
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By: citinewsroom.com/Ghana