Election observers refused accreditation

International election observers told IRIN on Monday they were checking reports in the official daily, ‘The Herald’ that Zimbabwe has refused to allow 17 Kenyan and Nigerian members of a mission sponsored by the European Union (EU) to monitor this weekend’s parliamentary elections.

Ten Kenyans and seven Nigerians, have been refused accreditation to monitor the parliamentary elections on Saturday and Sunday because they had been “planted” by Britain. The paper also said it had documents showing that “the Africans are in Zimbabwe to observe the elections on behalf of the UK”. A spokeswoman for the EU mission said a formal clarification on the issue was being sought.

“We deeply regret the decision not to accredit the Kenyans and Nigerians,” she added. She said the 17 observers were already deployed in several rural districts across the country and would not be pulled back to Harare until their status was clarified. They had entered Zimbabwe on their own countries’ passports and were sent into rural provinces before the government began the accreditation process.