1
Zimbabwe: A culture of electoral fraud, a paper presented by ZESN at the
Zambia SADC Summit 13-14 August 2007.
Introduction
Ladies and Gentlemen, the holding of periodic, free and fair elections form part of the basic tenets
of democratic practices and good governance. Our participation in the electoral processes, as civic
bodies should therefore be looked at as a human right as well as a commitment to a calling that, as
civil society, we should heed to. This summit comes at a time when Zimbabwe is undergoing a lot
of challenges, political, social and economic, but most importantly, at a time when the country is
preparing for yet another major election-the harmonised presidential, parliamentary and senatorial
elections. Given such a background, it is important that I give you an update on what is going on in
the country in view of the forthcoming elections. It is my wish that the summit would, after this
presentation, come up with recommendations, suggestions and general advice on how best the
civil society would ensure their effective participation in the electoral process. Let me begin by
going historical.
Background
Ladies and Gentlemen, when we talk of elections in Zimbabwe, it is important to bear in mind that,
in its history, the country has never had a free and fair general and presidential election since
1980. The country has had three defining elections; those that had the potential to completely
change the whole political landscape. Sadly, all of them were fraudulently conducted. The 1980