1 zimbabwe election support network [zesn] - Nehanda Radio

together with the AU to engage the broader political leadership in Zimbabwe into a “negotiated
transitional settlement”.
The Botswana Observer Team roundly condemned the election before concluding that “the
Presidential run-off was not free and fair, did not express the will of the people of Zimbabwe”.
The Government of Botswana openly called for the expulsion of Zimbabwe from the SADC and
the AU adding that it does not recognize the leadership in Zimbabwe while the African National
Congress youth league Chairman Julius Malema called it “a joke of the worst order”.
The Group of Eminent African leaders that include Nelson Mandela also expressed visible
disquiet on the conduct of elections, generally describing the election as illegitimate and in fact
a dark patchy in Africa’s electoral history. However, the manner in which some African leaders
reacted to the election led to the questioning of the relevance and utility of the SADC protocols
and guidelines governing the conduct of elections in Southern Africa. It seems that SADC
leaders signed and ratified the principles governing the conduct of election as lip service but
are reluctant to enforce them in their respective countries as demonstrated by the Zimbabwean
case where the SADC principles were blatantly violated.
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