ZESN Report on the 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections 22% 18% Mujuru Grace Mugabe Makarau Kazembe Charamba Manyeruke Makone Elizabeth Macheka Misihairabwi-Mushonga Mupunga 17% 11% 9% 6% 5% 4% 4% 4% During the election period there was little independent examination of the administration of the electoral processes by the media, save for the rehashing of statements from civil society; rhetorical complaints from the MDCs and other contestants, as well as ZEC’s responses. As a result, the extent of ZEC’s inability to control all the electoral processes as manifested in the opaque and inadequate voter registration exercise; flawed voters’ roll; the late provision of voter registers to contestants; and the lack of thorough voter education on the ward-based voting system, among a host of other issues, remained largely unexplored. Beyond announcing that it was monitoring media coverage with the assistance of the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, ZEC did not do much to address problems arising from the media’s coverage of the elections, which it is legally bound to do. Instead of quibbling over past transgressions, the media can draw hard lessons from past elections for a better performance in the future. As a means of strengthening the media’s role in the future, the following should happen, among other measures:    A revision of ZEC’s media code of conduct in consultation with all relevant stakeholders. The revision should also take into consideration existing codes such as the SADC guidelines on reporting elections adopted by regional stakeholders, including Zimbabwe. There should be a visible, firm enforcement of the code. ZEC should use the expertise of existing media organisations, such as the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe, for independent monitoring of the media’s conduct. ZEC’s monitoring  unit, comprising representatives of discredited statutory media regulatory boards, was invisible and remains tainted by public perceptions that it is biased. ZEC should set up and publicise a public complaints mechanism to allow citizens to submit their complaints on the conduct of the media. The results of the adjudication process should be made public. 48 | P a g e