the declaration by the Constituency Elections Officer of Dexter Nduna as the duly elected
Member of the National Assembly for Chegutu West Constituency and have he himself
declared as the duly elected Member of the National Assembly for the constituency. In the
case of Canaan Matiashe vs Nokuthula Matsikenyere, the petitioner seeks, as redress, the of
setting aside of the election of the latter as the Member of the National Assembly for
Chimanimani West constituency, the declaration of the parliamentary seat for the
constituency of Chimanimani West as vacant, and that the cost of the petition be borne by
the respondent.
Human Rights Violations
ZESN continues to observe the political environment beyond the Election Day. Over the
reporting period, LTOs reported on incidents of human rights violations in their
constituencies. However, in most cases, LTOs could not identify the perpetrators of the
violations. Where it could be established, ZANU PF supporters and the military were
identified as the main perpetrators. Where unofficial curfews1 were reported, LTOs reported
that there was general apprehension in their respective constituencies as soldiers were
indiscriminately beating up people. For instance, in Dzivarasekwa, Chitungwiza, and
Kuwadzana constituencies in Harare Province, there were reports of soldiers going into
nightclubs asking patrons to leave and randomly beating up people found on the streets on
the nights of 1 and 2 August.
LTOs also made efforts to verify social media reports of human rights abuses in their
constituencies. Intimidation was reported in 19% of constituencies, although reported
incidents dropped to some extent over time. In Maware village, Makonde constituency ward
9 in Mashonaland West province, there were threats of a follow up exercise to determine
who voted for the MDC Alliance. Figure 4 below indicates the percentages of constituencies
where human rights abuses had been reported by 11 and 19 August 2018.
1
An unofficial curfew as defined by those who interacted with ZESN LTOs is a situation whereby there is no
officially announced and gazetted curfew but residents of an area know from experience that walking around
in their area beyond some stipulated time (1800hrs in this case) would result in beatings or harassment by
State security operatives (from soldiers in this case).
3
POST-ELECTION LONG TERM OBSERVER REPORT © September 2018