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Executive Summary
THIS REPORT COVERS ALL THE REPORTS RECEIVED BY THE NCA DURING THE PRE ELECTION PERIOD (FEBRUARY
AND MARCH 2005), THESE BEING FROM ALL PROVINCES EXCEPT MANICALAND COVERING 105 CONSTITUENCIES.
A TOTAL OF 383 REPORTS WERE SUBMITTED, WITH AN AVERAGE OF 3 REPORTS PER CONSTITUENCY. AS THE AIM
OF THIS REPORT IS TO GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE ELECTION CLIMATE DURING FEBRUARY AND MARCH 2005, IT
DOES NOT GIVE ALL THE DETAILS FOR EACH PROVINCE AND THE RELATED CONSTITUENCIES, AND HENCE DEALS
WITH THE DATA RELATING TO TOTAL NUMBER OF REPORTS RECEIVED. THE REPORT ALSO EXAMINES BRIEFLY THE
RELATIONSHIP OF THE PRE-ELECTION CLIMATE TO THE RESULTS OBTAINED IN THE ELECTION ITSELF.
Detailed reports on each Province are available from the NCA they can be obtained from the
website www.nca.org.zw or by requesting these copies from ncainformation@yahoo.ca
The Election Irregularity [EI] ratings showed that no Province had a satisfactory election climate
during the two months this process was being undertaken. The worst Provinces in general were
Mashonaland and Harare, and it is evident that the trend described above still accords with the
observations of previous elections: Harare and Mashonaland Central Province generally have
shown more frequent instances of election irregularities than other Provinces. Mashonaland West
and Masvingo Provinces were the best as the EI ratings there were relatively low.
The incidents of physical political violence remained low in comparison to the 2000 and 2002
elections but they were nonetheless still reported. The main political violence, however, was in
the form of hate speech, threats, and intimidation, with both parties involved, but with Zanu PF
being more frequently reported to be the primary instigator. Although the police and the
President called for a violence-free election, and this was heeded to an extent, the psychological
damage caused by the intimidation and threats, following several years of actual physical
violence and torture, still could not guarantee a climate conducive to free and fair elections.
The youth militia has become an arm of the government, well known for violence and
intimidation. In many places, they have become the law, as they act with impunity from both the
ruling party and the police. Their presence has turned out to be extremely important in recent
Zimbabwean elections, as there has been a decided correlation between the presence of militia
bases and political violence and other irregularities in a constituency. In view of the importance
of militia, we undertook an analysis of the data as it relates to militia. This analysis showed
strong associations between the presence of militia and a wide range of electoral irregularities:
the association was not merely with violence, but with interference with basic freedoms as well.
Voter education was reported to be low in both months. This was unacceptable, as, with new
electoral laws and voting arrangements in place, the voting public needed to be aware of the
ways in which these new laws and arrangements would affect them. Voter education was under
the control and direction of the Zimbabwe Election Commission, and the reports suggested that it
National Constitutional Assembly: THE 2005 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION. FLAWED, UNFREE AND UNFAIR!