INTRODUCTION 2. 1. The By-election In terms of Section 39 (2) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13) President Mugabe set the 15 July 2017 as the date for the Chiwundura National Assembly by-election. The seat fell vacant following the death of the National Assembly representative for the Constituency; Mr Kizito Chivamba, who died on 19 April 2017 following a short illness. 2. The Observer Group Zimbabwe Election Support Network was formed in 2000 and is a coalition of 34 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 15 July 2017 National Assembly by-election. ZESN relied on reports from its volunteers who observed the pre-electoral period and the Election Day processes. ZESN election observation methodology is based on the Constitution of Zimbabwe and Electoral Laws of the country. ZESN is independent in its findings and conclusions. In addition, ZESN’s assessment of the election is also guided 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. 9|Page