Pro-democracy groups concerned over March poll

Zimbabwean pro-democracy groups have cautioned that the use of civil servants and the military to monitor next month's poll would throw its fairness and transparency into doubt. In a report released last week, the Crisis Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) alleged that the deployment of civil servants, security personnel and the use of pro-government national youth service militia was designed to ensure a ZANU-PF victory. It also said the controversial Public Order and Security Act, Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Broadcasting Act of Zimbabwe, limited freedom of expression and assembly. The CZC report, entitled 'Things Fall Apart', noted the militarisation of key electoral bodies. "Military personnel have been placed at the centre of state institutions responsible for governance - the judiciary, the Electoral Supervisory Commission, the Delimitation Commission, parastatals and general election administration," read part of the report. Lovemore Madhuku, a constitutional and human rights lawyer, said the organisation of the 31 March poll by an allegedly partisan civil service rather than independent monitors, as recommended in the electoral guidelines of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), was cause for concern. "Over the past four years, we have seen an extensive purge of the key arms of the service, including the replacement of independent judiciary officers suspected of collaborating with the opposition, with ZANU-PF loyalists. The purges were felt across the civil service, from the highest offices to the lowest workers. It is therefore not surprising that government has thought of using them to conduct this poll," Madhuku remarked. "Most of the rank and file civil servants saw their friends lose jobs over allegations of supporting the [opposition] MDC [Movement for Democratic Change]. They saw some of them being assaulted and killed for the same reasons. Whatever they do with regards to the elections will be designed to protect their jobs and save their lives. For these reasons, they cannot be trusted to be impartial," claimed Madhuku. The civil society organisation, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, noted that while SADC guidelines did not bar civil servants from running a ballot, giving them total control of the electoral process in Zimbabwe was bound to raise questions over the fairness of the poll. Justice, legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, has defended the use of civil servants to organise the election, as they have done for every ballot since independence. "Our civil servants are experienced in running elections ... National elections are an important event in any country's history and, as such, we want to ensure that those who handle them are trustworthy and accountable," he noted. "Independent monitors, who are strangers in most cases, cannot be trusted that way, but we can trust our civil service to do the same job they have done capably since 1980," said Chinamasa. He also dismissed allegations by Free Zimbabwe, an independent election support group, that there were more than two million suspect names included in the voters' roll of 5.6 million people. "There is nothing like that," said Chinamasa. "Why can't they publish a list of the disputed names if they are genuine? We will not worry about desperate, power-hungry day-dreamers, who have made it their business to rubbish the good name of this country."