already been setup and that they would be evicted from the area if the opposition won the election in the area. There were also cases of vote buying that increased towards the election and implicated contesting parties, particularly ZANU-PF and the MDC Alliance. In the reported cases, the electorate would be given seed and fertiliser; food aid; groceries; airtime; and money. In some cases, contesting candidates would fund barbeques for the electorate. In terms of Section 160G of the Electoral Act, all contestants in an election are entitled to equal access to the publicly funded media. While in relative terms, the media was opened up more ahead of the 2018 elections than in any other election before, the ruling party received disproportionately more coverage and the opposition would suffer negative coverage in some instances. This is elaborated in the section on media and elections in this report. Section 152 of the Electoral Act makes it an offence to deface or remove any billboard, placard or poster published, posted or displayed by a political party or candidate contesting the election from the date on which an election is called until its result is displayed. However, in the run-up to the election, many political parties and candidates were victims of the defacing of campaign posters. Most of the reports received by ZESN implicated the MDC Alliance and ZANU-PF supporters. Despite the noted malpractices, no meaningful action was taken by political parties as required by Section 133G(b) of the Electoral Act which obliges an office bearer of a political party to take effective steps to discipline all members of the party who engage in politicallymotivated violence or who commit any electoral malpractice before, during, or after the election period. In light of the foregoing, there is compelling need for the enforcement of sections 5 and 6 of the Electoral Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates and other Stakeholders that prohibits the intimidation and the use of hate language, amongst other violations, and for all responsible actors to act on matters that fall within their purview. 10.2 Election Campaigns Political parties started campaigning well before the official opening of the election and campaign period by proclamation of the election date. The campaign period was officially opened with the proclamation of the election date by the President. But for all intents and purposes, the Presidential Youth Interface rallies held by former President Robert Mugabe in 2017 were part of ZANU-PF’s campaign for the 2018 election. In January 2018, the MDC Alliance convened a rally in Epworth where speakers talked about unity amongst the 61 | P a g e