1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On 5 March 2016, The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) conducted a National Assembly by-election in Mhondoro-Mubaira Constituency. The by-election was necessitated by the fact that ZANU-PF invoked section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution which states that a Member of Parliament’s (MP) seat becomes vacant when the MP ceases to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker of Parliament, or the President of the Senate, as the case may be, informs parliament of the same. Following the invitation of ZEC, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) deployed 15 observers for the by-election based at all the Ward and Constituency Collation Centres. Two mobile teams were also deployed. Zimbabwe’s Electoral Legal framework generally, provides a basis for the conduct of credible elections, also in line with the country’s regional and international commitments. Notwithstanding this, there remains a need for electoral and political reforms as the prevailing polarised political environment and culture of intimidation has a negative impact on the professional conduct and management of elections by electoral and related state institutions. Piecemeal approach to electoral reform persists and alignment of electoral laws to the Constitution remains incomplete. Electoral contestants’ intolerance of opposing political views, during the pre-electoral and electoral period continues to make the playing field uneven. The situation is compounded by the fact that Multi-party Liaison Committees (MPLCs) are not permanent despite the fact that MPLCs can make a huge contribution to the resolution of election related disputes in the pre-polling, polling and post polling electoral phases. The pre-electoral environment was relatively calm and peaceful. However actions that constituted vote buying were observed chiefly in the form of partisan food distribution1 by Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic (ZANU-PF). Media coverage of the by-elections was inadequate and unbalanced. All the media articles regarding the by-election were mostly limited to the process and outcome of ZANU-PF primary elections. On Election Day, all the polling stations where ZESN observed successfully completed opening and setup procedures on time and voting proceeded smoothly at all polling stations. Counting was reported to have taken place according to procedure and results were displayed outside the polling stations. At all the ward and constituency collation Centres where ZESN observed, all election agents agreed that the process had gone well and signed the V11 form, albeit election agents were from ZANU-PF party only, which was one of the two political parties that were contesting the by-election. ZANU-PF deployed two election agents at every polling station as provided by the electoral law; however the Freedom Front Party failed to deploy election agents at polling stations, ward collation and constituency collation centres. 1 During the ZEC Accredited voter education ZESN volunteers observed numerous food distribution activities in the Constituency. Several village heads mobilized communities to collect food at various food distribution points. The source of the food remains unclear however it was clear that officials from only ZANU-PF and no other party were actively involved in the distribution process. 5|P a g e