“The leaders should first make efforts towards guaranteeing peaceful elections before any call for elections,” says the organisation in a statement.
“The call for elections by political parties without destabilising the machinery of political violence is like putting the cart before the horse. The political leaders should be reminded that it was the outbreak of incidents of political violence in 2008 that caused a stir at national, regional and international level forcing the African Union to intervene through SADC ultimately leading to the formation of the GNU,” it adds.
The need to create a peaceful environment ahead of elections was more urgent than the election date itself. The Trust added that the failure to deal with perpetrators of past human rights violations was creating anxiety among the electorate.