By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ahead of the August 23 presidential and parliamentary polls, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused authorities in Zimbabwe of undermining processes to enhance a free and fair exercise in the Southern African country.
HRW on Thursday expressed fear that the electioneering exercise will be held under a “seriously flawed electoral process” that does not meet global standards for freedom and fairness.
“Zimbabwe’s authorities have yet again demonstrated a lack of respect for the basic freedoms necessary for a credible, free, and fair election,” said HRW’s senior Africa researcher, Idriss Ali Nassah.
The country will head to the polls in couple of weeks to elect the president and members of the parliament in what analysts expect to be a tense affair, marked by a crackdown and fears of rigging.
HRW, a US-based rights group said the authorities had adopted repressive laws to muffle dissenting voices and used intimidation and violence against the opposition.
The group said in a report based on interviews with activists and politicians that the courts have been “weaponised” to target opposition politicians, while the election overseers lack impartiality,
“The Zimbabwe government needs to take concrete measures before the election to meet its obligations under national and international law to allow people to vote free of intimidation, fear, and violence,” Nassah said.
“So far nothing indicates the authorities are willing to do that.”
According to AFP report, Zimbabwe’s government was yet to respond to the allegation by the human rights group.
The incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa who has been in power since 2017 when Robert Mugabe was forced out of office, is expected to slug it out with his main challenger, Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year-old lawyer and pastor.
80-year-old Mnangagwa who is the presidential candidate of ZANU-PF succeeded Mugabe who was in power since the country’s independence in 1980.
