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

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