Over the past weeks, Zimbabwe’s opposition has raised concerns about the printing of the ballot
paper, the integrity of the voters roll, the location of polling stations and the questionable process of postal votes amongst others. The basis of the objections is in the public domain, as are the
inadequate responses from the ZEC, and we will not go into these matters further: they are merely
the symptoms of a profound lack of trust in a body that is supposed to be impartial.
It has reached such a point that we in the Build Zimbabwe Alliance believe that there is no
reasonable doubt that ZEC has little interest in transparency and the pursuit of a fair and level
electoral playing field.
In consequence of the above, the Build Zimbabwe Alliance calls for the ZEC to immediately address
all key opposition concerns, failing which we call for the resignation of the Chairperson and
commissioners of the ZEC to be followed by an impartial reconstitution of this body. There is no
other way to restore the trust so urgently required.
We thank the international community for their observation missions and call on them to note our
deep reservations. We wish for our country that which you expect from yours: free and fair
elections. It is not acceptable that this election be simply a small improvement on the wholly
deficient elections of the past.