2. INTRODUCTION
2.1. The By-election
The Mhondoro-Mubaira national assembly seat was declared vacant by the Speaker of
Parliament, after ZANU-PF invoked section 129 of the Constitution which provides for the
tenure of the seat of Parliament. Specifically section 129(1) (k) provides that the seat of a
MP becomes vacant “if the Member has ceased 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, has ceased to belong to it.” Thus the Mhondoro-Mubaira parliamentary seat fell vacant
following the expulsion from ZANU PF and subsequent recall from parliament of Mr
Sylvester Nguni.
2.2. The Observer Group
Zimbabwe Election Support Network was formed in 2000 and is a coalition of 31 nongovernmental organisations. The major focus of the Network is to promote democratic
processes in general and free and fair elections in particular. ZESN is the secretariat of the
Southern Africa Development Community Election Support Network (SADC-ESN) and is a
member of The Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM).
Following the invitation of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), ZESN deployed
observers to the 5 March 2016 National Assembly by-election. ZESN relied on reports from
its volunteers who observed the pre-electoral period and 15 observers who observed the
Election Day processes.
ZESN is independent in its findings and conclusions. ZESN election observation methodology
is guided by the Constitution of Zimbabwe and Electoral Laws of the Country. ZESN’s
assessment of the election is also informed by a number of regional and international
conventions and declarations which Zimbabwe is signatory to such as the SADC Principles
and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, the African Charter on Human and
Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
ZESN is also guided by the GNDEM’s Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan
Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations, Code of Conduct for
Nonpartisan Citizen Election Observers.
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