IX. International and Domestic Election Observation A number of international election observation missions were deployed for the polls65, this included invitations for the first time since 2002 for the Commonwealth, EU and the US-based International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute. This open invitation to so many groups was a positive initiative on behalf of the authorities. ZEC reports that it accredited 1,007 international observers66. This includes all locally-based internationals who sought accreditation as well as others. Of the major international organisations, SADC deployed ten long-term observers and also had a short-term delegation led by Manuel Augusto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Angola67. The African Union team was led by Hailemariam Desalegn, former prime minister of Ethiopia and comprised some 50 short-term observers. The Commonwealth team was led by John Mahama, former president of Ghana and had 23 persons in total. IRI/NDI’s mission had four leaders, two former Assistant Secretaries of State from the US and two former African heads of state, from Liberia and the Central African Republic. It included 14 long-term observers and a core team of six long-term analysts and on election day comprised some 60 observers in total. The Carter Center deployed a small technical team to follow the process. ZEC accredited 11,019 national observers. Of these, ZESN was the largest, deploying some 6,500 short-term observers, 210 long-term observers and 750 observers to report for the sample-based observation. Of the others, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches deployed 300 observers, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace deployed 700 observers and the Election Resource Centre deployed 63 observers. In addition, ZESN, together with some 30 other organisations cooperated in an Election Situation Room (ESR)68, which also sought to bring together the information from various organisations, pre-election and over election period, and to provide a hotline for reports during the Election Day. Overall, it is clear from the number of accredited national and international observers that the requisite freedoms were put in place to enable such actors to undertake their duties, and ZEC also established reasonably effective and timely accreditation procedures. Having said this, while such problems were overcome, the requirement for national observer groups to acquire individual accreditations for each of their observers, together with the $10 fee for each accreditation, placed an onerous burden on the organisations. Further, the charge of $100 per international accreditation is excessive and unnecessary, and it remains an anomaly compared to experiences in other observed countries. 65 In addition, there was a pre-election visit of The Elders, led by Kofi Annan and also including Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi. The Elders visited Zimbabwe from 19-21 July “in support of those working towards an inclusive transition for the country”. 66 ZEC also accredited 202 foreign journalists. 67 There were also separate missions from SADC-Parliamentary Forum and SADC Election Commissioners Forum. 68 The Steering Committee for the ESR comprised some of the leading election-related and human rights groups: Counselling Services Unit, Election Resource Centre, Habakkuk Trust, Heal Zimbabwe Trust, National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped, National Association of Youth Organizations, Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and Zimbabwe Peace Project. 24