Political environment
ZESN reiterates its calls for the establishment of a conducive political environment that
enables the holding of free, fair and credible elections devoid of violence and
intimidation. There is need for an effective and efficient electoral dispute resolution
mechanism that responds to conflicts and disputes before, during and after an election
by strengthening institutions supporting democracy such as Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. Commitments must
be made towards zero tolerance to violence, intimidation, politicisation of food aid and
partisan involvement of traditional leaders.
In addition, there is need to tighten provisions on the role of traditional leaders to deter
their partisan involvement in politics but rather strengthen their role in peace building
and social cohesion by empowering them to deal with political disputes that arise in their
jurisdiction in a non-partisan manner. The government must ensure that fundamental
freedoms such as freedom of expression, association and assembly are respected to
facilitate the full enjoyment of democratic rights by all citizens.
Media
It is imperative for media law to be reviewed to ensure media pluralism, diversity that
facilitates equal coverage and access to the media by all contesting political parties and
candidates. ZEC must put in place effective mechanisms to ensure compliance by all
media as well as share its media monitoring report widely with key stakeholders.
Additionally, mechanisms must be established to deal with hate speech and the fake
news phenomenon especially on social media.
Delimitation of electoral boundaries
Zimbabwe has conducted three sets of elections on the basis of the 2008 delimitation
exercise, it is imperative to therefore timeously conduct delimitation of electoral
boundaries for the 2023 elections in order to rationalise constituencies based on
principles of equality of voting strength and representativeness.
ZESN reiterates its recommendation for ZEC to conduct comprehensive stakeholder
consultations on the process to ensure compliance with international standards of equal
voting strength, representativeness, and community of interest.
In view of the existing gaps in electoral law, there is need for the ZEC to convene an allinclusive Electoral Reforms Working Group to strengthen the integrity of electoral
processes. The working group could include all Chapter 12 institutions, Parliament,
political parties, CSOs, and eminent persons.
Women’s participation
With the women’s parliamentary quota coming to an end in 2023, it is imperative for
government, political parties and ZEC to ensure compliance with Constitutional
provisions for the equal representation of women in all key decision making positions.
ZEC must also institute a prerequisite for all political parties to submit their papers with
equal representation of both men and women before elections. ZESN believes that the
dialogue process must take into consideration the need to ensure that there is equal
2