Zimbabwe warns foreign observer missions

Zimbabwe has warned foreign observer missions to the August 23 elections to stick to their mandate and abandon any attempts to interfere with the much-awaited national poll process.

The call was made by acting Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Amon Murwira at a Friday signing ceremony between the EU embassy and the ministry.

"The government of the Republic of Zimbabwe is inviting all entities to come and observe the harmonised elections," said the minister.

"The teams are however reminded that their purpose is solely to observe, not to monitor the election process."

The ministry outlines the administrative arrangements guiding the observation of the 2023 harmonised elections.

The EU is set to deploy 150 observers to Zimbabwe with the first batch expected in the country starting next week.

Italian lawmaker Fabio Castaldo, also a Member of the European parliament, would be EU Chief Observer to the Zimbabwe mission.

Murwira urged the incoming EU observers to "maintain strict impartiality, objectivity and independence" when discharging their mandate.

"The EU EOM and its members will maintain strict impartiality, objectivity and independence in the conduct of their mandate.

"All EU observers shall respect the Code of Conduct in terms of the First Schedule of the Zimbabwe Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13]," he said.

Speaking at the same event, EU Head of Mission to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Jobst von Kirchmann reiterated the observer team's impartiality and compliance with set regulations.

"It's an important moment and I would like to sincerely thank the government of Zimbabwe for inviting us for this election observation.

"This election observation mission will obey Zimbabwe regulations and also the EU code of conduct. They will be strictly impartial. This is part of the agreement we just signed," he said.

Kirchmann commended the Zimbabwe government and political parties for committing to the holding of peaceful elections.

"This is a sign of commitment for Zimbabwe to hold credible, peaceful and inclusive elections.

"This resonates with us and is the reason why we are deploying an election observer mission because we would like to contribute to a more robust electoral environment," he said.

The EU observer mission is taking part in its second such Zimbabwe assignment since President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2018 lifted a ban that had previously been imposed on the group by predecessor Robert Mugabe who cited inherent bias against his party Zanu-PF by the bloc's agents.