Maravi

Zim govt to screen local election observers

Zim govt to screen local election observers
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Friday June 20, 2008 [04:00]

ZIMBABWE'S justice minister Patrick Chinamasa has said government will screen local election observers for the presidential runoff to ensure that the electoral process is not compromised. And the Zimbabwean government has lifted the suspension of field operations for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) running supplementary feeding schemes and AIDS-related programmes.

Chinamasa, who is also ZANU-PF media sub-committee chairperson, told journalists in Harare that local election observers who were an extension of foreign interests would not be allowed to observe the June 27 elections.

He said the government had evidence that some local observers influenced the electoral process in the March 29 harmonised presidential, parliamentary and council elections.
"We are going to assess the status in respect to their independence and neutrality. We are going to invite those with no pre-conceived ideas about the outcome of the elections," he said.

Chinamasa said local election observers with political inclinations were not qualified for the task.

He advised biased local election observers to instead seek accreditation as polling agents.

Chinamasa further said the authorities had received over 50,000 applications from several local NGOs seeking to observe the forthcoming elections but that they could not handle such a large number.

Chinamasa said the ministry has requested the NGOs to scale down their applications to 10,000.

"Given the number of 50,000 applications, it is clear our electoral system cannot accommodate this number without disturbing the smooth operation of the process to handle the situation," Chinamasa said.
And the Zimbabwean government lifted the suspension on field operations for NGOs last week Friday in a circular.
Acting secretary for public service, labour and social welfare, Sydney Mhishi explained that supplementary feeding and anti-retroviral drug rollout did not mean community mobilisation.

He said NGOs dealing in the above-mentioned programmes could not be affected by the suspension of field operations.

"The suspension does not prohibit those on ARV therapy and those benefiting from home-based care programmes to continue accessing drugs and therapeutic feeding from clinics and hospitals," Mhishi said "Supplementary feeding is a community-based programme which does not entail community mobilisation by NGOs, hence it falls outside those affected by the suspension."

Recently, the Zimbabwean government ordered a suspension on the operations of all NGOs and prominent on the list were Save the Children-UK, CARE International and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.
The authorities later within the week told the rest of the civil society in the country to re-apply for registration.

The move attracted condemnation from Western powers and international civil society groups that were calling for the immediate lifting of the ban.

But Zimbabwe's deputy minister of information Bright Matonga confirmed the state's decision, stating that the authorities made the decision after it emerged that several NGOs were behaving like opposition political parties and were using food to buy votes for the opposition MDC.

Labels: ELECTIONS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 4:10 AM