NORWEGIAN ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION

Presidential Elections in Zimbabwe 2002

Final Report issued on 20 March 2002
by Kåre Vollan, Head of Mission

Executive Summary

The Norwegian Government was invited by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe to send observers to the Presidential Elections 2002. Norwegian observers were deployed in the country from 12 February, with most observers arriving on 25 February to 17 March. 

The Observer Mission regrets that the conditions for a much broader observation of the elections were not in place.

The Observer Mission concludes that the Presidential Elections failed to meet key, broadly accepted criteria for elections.

The Presidential Elections in Zimbabwe in March 2002 were conducted in an environment of strong polarisation, political violence and an election administration with severe shortcomings.  Despite that, voters on election days turned out to vote in large numbers, showing an extraordinary sense of civic duty.

The run-up to the election was marred by a pattern of intimidation and violence.  Even though incidents have been reported from both sides, the evidence shows clearly that in the vast majority of cases the ruling party has been to blame.  Numerous reports of harassment and assault of opposition officials, members and supporters and their homes have been documented by observers.  Opposition offices have also been attacked in several places.

Reporting in the state media, which should have a particular duty to be politically unbiased, has shown a blatant bias for the ruling party, with little or no coverage of the opposition except to portray it negatively.

The Public Order and Security Act has been used to obstruct regular political activities involving the opposition.  Meetings have been interrupted, party representatives have been taken in for questioning during deployment to their polling stations, party offices have been raided, and opposition officials and supporters have been detained on spurious charges.  

On election days, the capacity of polling stations in Harare was wholly inadequate.  Despite advance warnings, the Registrar General decided to carry out elections with as many as 5,300 voters per polling station on average in Harare and Chitungwiza.  In all other provinces, excepting Bulawayo, the number was around 1,000 per polling station.    

On the first election day voters in Harare and Chitungwiza turned out in extremely high numbers.  In the morning of the first day of polls up to 4,000 voters had queued up to vote.  After three days of voting only 2,000 to 3,500 voters per polling station had been able to cast their votes.   Despite a clear requirement in the Electoral Act to allow all voters in line at the close of the polls to vote, the Registrar General decided to close all polling stations at around 10 pm on day two and at 7 pm on the extended third day of voting.  The thousands of voters still in line both days were sent away by the police.  Many of the voters who were turned away had been waiting for ten to twenty hours in vain.  Inexplicably, the polling did not start until 11 am on the third day, despite polling material and staff being present from the morning onwards at all polling stations visited by our teams.  The irregular closure of the polling stations on the second and third days together with the late opening on the third day removed the last chance to offer all voters a fair chance to cast their vote within a reasonable time.  

In the areas outside of Harare the voting was carried out in an efficient manner.  However, a number of incidents of intimidation were reported, including harassment of polling agents and domestic observers, resulting in an atmosphere of fear surrounding the electoral process.  Inside the polling stations visited by our observers, the technical part of the process was handled in an orderly manner, and staff at the polling stations showed a high degree of commitment to achieving a correct voting process.

After the count, one can clearly conclude that the violations were on such a scale that it could have affected the outcome of the elections.  That the turnout in some provinces rose drastically compared to previous elections, must at least in part be attributed to the high level of intimidation of voters reported in these areas prior to and during the poll.  In Harare where the opposition draws its strongest support, voters were not given a fair chance to cast their ballot.

In the immediate aftermath of the poll, a number of highly disturbing developments were noted. It quickly emerged that ZANU PF supporters around the country had embarked on systematic reprisals against opposition members or supporters. In particular, opposition polling and election agents were targeted by violent youths and war veterans reportedly using the list of polling agents published in national newspapers before the election. Numerous cases of assault, beating, torture, looting, arson, and at least one killing of a suspected MDC supporter were reported to observers in the first few days after the poll. There were also reports of violent attacks on commercial farmers and farm workers. Given the time constraints, only a few of the reported incidents could be independently verified before the observers' departure, but both the consistency of the reports and the threatening rhetoric used by ZANU PF officials during the party's pre-election house-to-house campaign lend credibility to the claims by the opposition, the independent media and civil society groups of systematic reprisals. 

Police conduct in the immediate wake of the poll also gave cause for alarm. While in a few cases action appears to have been taken against perpetrators of post-election violence, in the majority of reported incidents those carrying out the reprisals have been able to operate with impunity. 

The election administration in Zimbabwe, both the bodies administering the elections and those supervising them, form part of the executive structure, lacking convincing independence and integrity.   The contesting parties’ only involvement is via their polling and election agents.  Polling agents for the opposition were in a number of instances harassed or intimidated by supporters of the ruling party or the police.  Being the vital instrument for keeping the checks and balances in place in the polling stations, this represents a weakening of the trust in the voting process.  Despite the reported incidents, the main opposition party seemed to have been able to achieve a fairly good coverage of polling agents in the polling stations around the country.

Accreditation of domestic observers in substantial numbers could have enhanced transparency and confidence in the voting process.  However, the Minister of Justice chose to exclude most of the 12,500 observers organised by the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network from observing the elections, thereby missing the opportunity to prove its commitment to a fully transparent process.

The voter registration process had serious flaws in that the cut-off dates for making amendments to the registers were changed without prior public announcements.  The extension of registration from 27 January to 3 March was only known to the public on 3 March.

Other vital information about the voting, such as the number and location of polling stations, the number of registered voters per constituency, the number of approved postal voters, and the number of late registrants on supplementary voters rolls were published very late, or not at all.  The voters rolls have not been available for purchase by the public as required by law.

The Electoral Framework and Administration

Late Changes to the Law

It is regrettable that the Electoral Act had not been passed in an impeccable manner well before election days.  The amendments to the Act passed in January were annulled by the Supreme Court as late as 27 February and a Presidential Decree modified the code on 5 March.  Such last minute changes in themselves reduce the transparency of the process.

The January amendments included some important changes to the Electoral Act.  They introduced a distinction between monitors employed by the ESC and observers, they prohibited NGOs other than political parties or those appointed by the ESC from providing voter education, they prohibited the use of foreign donations for voter education, they gave the Registrar General extensive powers to make corrections to voters rolls, they restricted the postal voting option to diplomats, military and police, and they prohibited posting election material on any building, lamp-post, etc without the consent of the owner.  The amendments also introduced harsh penalties for violating of the amendments, such as up to five years imprisonment and fines for ‘defacing property’ with campaign material.

After the annulment by the Supreme Court most of the provisions of the amendment were re-instated by the Presidential Decree of 5 March, by use of the regulatory powers of the President to suspend or amend the Act (Section 158).  These regulatory powers are presently being challenged in court.  Apart from the highly questionable power this gives to the executive, it also allows one of the candidates to change the rules of the game at his own discretion.

Election Bodies

The election administration is divided between the Elections Directorate, the Registrar General and the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC).  All the electoral bodies are appointed by either the President or the Government.  

The Registrar General has the key operational role in the conduct of elections, as well as in maintaining the voters rolls.  The Registrar General takes his instructions from the Elections Directorate which is also part of the executive structure.  The Registrar General failed to work in a transparent manner, and crucial information about the process was either not submitted or was published very late.  The Norwegian observers were not able to meet with the Registrar General despite a number of requests for a meeting.

The ESC has supervisory and monitoring functions.  In order to enhance confidence in the electoral process, independent electoral authorities should be created. Multi-party representation in the commission and decisive powers would be one way of achieving transparency and increasing trust in the process.  

The polling stations are staffed with election officers appointed by the Registrar General.  In addition the ESC deployed monitors, who were all civil servants.  

Polling Agents

The law also gives candidates the right to appoint their representatives (polling agents and election agents) in every polling station and counting centre.  This is the only involvement of the contestants in the electoral administration, and is therefore crucial to the checks and balances of the process.  

The electoral legislation requires that parties must publish the names and assigned polling stations of their polling agents, before these can be accredited by the Registrar General. The MDC published the names of their polling agents as required, but did not assign polling stations since at that time the party still had not received the final list of polling stations from the Registrar General. The Registrar General would not accredit the agents until the party published the names of the agents together with their assigned polling stations, and MDC therefore made arrangements with The Daily News to issue a Special Edition the evening before election day containing the new list. 

It is hard to understand the need for publishing the list of polling agents.  In light of the reprisals against MDC supporters after the election, it is clear that the lists were used to find and harass people working for the opposition.

Observers

The Law provides for domestic observers to be accredited to observe the elections in the polling stations.  However, the NGOs and individuals must receive an invitation from the Minister of Justice before being accredited.  It is to be regretted that the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), the main umbrella organisation for NGOs observing elections, did not receive such invitation for more than 470 out of their 12,500 nominated observers.  The observers from NGOs would have added a very important element of transparency to the process, and would have offered an independent view on the polls in addition to the civil servants and the party agents.  For future elections a simpler form of accreditation not involving any kind of political screening of the organisations should be implemented.

Postal Voting

The postal voting arrangements were restricted to officials organising the elections, the disciplined forces, and diplomats and their spouses being absent from their constituency on election days.  Civilians such as students temporarily living outside their constituency were not covered.  If the postal voting system is retained, one should consider extending it to other groups.  Reports were received to the effect that the secrecy of the vote was not maintained during the postal voting of the security forces.  The safeguards against double voting of those casting a postal vote were not fully in place.

The number of voters having been issued with a postal ballot was not published before the election, and it is not clear what the deadline was for submitting applications for postal ballots.  The amended law prescribed ten days prior to election day as the deadline for applications, whereas the Presidential Decree left it with the Registrar General to set a deadline.  As far as the observers were able to establish, such deadline was not published.

The postal voting with its limited scope allowing only a small section of the electorate to benefit from the arrangements, represents a high risk of violating both the secrecy of the vote as well as the integrity of the process.

Voter Registers

The cut-off date for registering to vote in the Presidential Elections was changed several times.  The date publicly known until 3 March was 27 January 2002.  However, on 3 March the Registrar General published a notice dated 1 March extending the deadline for registration to 3 March.  In the meantime observers had reported hectic registration of voters in strongholds of the governing party.  This procedure raises serious doubts about the voter registration process.  A comparatively high number of voters were rejected at polling stations because their names did not appear on the rolls, which shows that the registration process should be improved.

Transparency

Key information was not made publicly available in a timely manner, or at all.  This includes the final number of registered voters per constituency, the number of polling stations per constituency, the list of polling stations, the final deadline for applying for a postal ballot and the number of ballot papers printed.  

The Public Order and Security Act

The Public Order and Security Act passed in January 2002 has far reaching provisions limiting free speech and regular political activities.  Examples of such regulations include 

-	prohibition of giving any statement - with or without intention - which he i.a. does not have reasonable grounds for believing is true, and which promotes public disorder or adversely affects economic interests of Zimbabwe, etc,
-	prohibition of making abusive, indecent, obscene or false statement about the President, whether his person or office,
-	prohibition of organising public meetings without four days prior written notice to regulating authorities (the police).   The police may then give directions about the conduct of the meeting which may seem reasonable to prevent public disorder.
 
The power of the police to regulate public meetings was used to a large extent during the campaign, the training of polling agents, as well as during the deployment of polling agents.

The Pre-election Phase

Political Violence

The campaign period was characterised by high levels of fear and intimidation, a pattern of serious political violence, and heavy restrictions on opposition campaigning. In some of the incidents reported MDC supporters were at fault.  However, as an overall assessment there is no doubt that the majority of cases were directed against the opposition party. Indeed, reports from observer teams deployed in all ten provinces of the country are so consistent as to suggest a deliberate campaign of violence and intimidation against the opposition and its known or suspected supporters, condoned or even sponsored by state organs.  

Numerous reports of harassment and assault of MDC officials, members and supporters and their homes have been documented by observers. Some of these cases have involved extreme and indeed shocking levels of violence. MDC offices have also come under attack in several places. The net result of this systematic violence and intimidation has been that certain areas of the country, in particular Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central, as well as parts of other provinces, have effectively been no-go areas for opposition campaigning. In some rural districts of Masvingo and Manicaland, the level of intimidation has been such that MDC supporters have been forced to flee, seeking refuge in urban areas. Observers have also noted a pattern of harassment and intimidation of certain sectors of the electorate, in particular teachers and farm workers in the commercial farming areas. There is convincing evidence that the establishment of ZANU PF youth bases in many areas has been instrumental in restricting political freedom, limiting freedom of movement, and spreading fear among the electorate. In a number of confirmed cases, ZANU PF youth bases were located at or near known polling stations, suggesting a deliberate strategy to intimidate voters. Allegations of torture against known or suspected opposition supporters at such bases have been verified by observers in Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Matabeleland South.

The Police

Observers have noted with concern numerous incidents in which members of the security forces, in particular the police, have acted in a partisan manner. A pattern was observed where the police regularly failed to respond to or investigate reported violence against opposition supporters, while reacting swiftly and with disproportionate force against real or alleged opposition offences. In some cases, relations between violent supporters of the ruling party and police and CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) operatives appeared so close as to suggest collaboration toward a common goal. 

The recently adopted Public Order and Security Act gives the Police far-reaching powers to restrict key civil and political rights such as the freedom of speech, movement, association and assembly. Both in the pre-election period, on polling days, and in the immediate aftermath of the election, police used these powers to control, intimidate and harass the opposition.

Numerous cases of police using the Act to restrict opposition campaigning have been documented. MDC offices and MDC officials’ homes have been searched by police in the run-up to the election, in some cases in the presence of observers. In recent weeks, the application of the Public Order and Security Act has been such as to place wholly unreasonable limitations on the freedom of assembly, with civil society coalitions, domestic election observers and some NGOs apparently being targeted. Accredited local journalists have also faced police harassment. There have been many disturbing reports of detentions of opposition members, polling agents and supporters under the Public Order and Security Act or other legislation, a number of which have been verified by observers. In many cases, observers have found it difficult not to conclude that the detentions were politically motivated. There have also been worrying reports of detainees being denied fundamental civil rights such as access to legal counsel and medical attention. 

Polling Agents

The Observation Mission regrets that polling agents of the main opposition party have been intimidated by the police and by youth supporting the ruling party in a number of instances.  Despite that, polling agents have been in place in most stations places visited, but it is clear that in some areas voting has taken place without representation of both the major candidates.  Candidates other than the two from ZANU PF and MDC did not seem to have polling agents in the polling stations visited by our teams. 

Charges of High Treason against MDC Leaders

Following the release of a video tape allegedly showing the MDC President and Presidential candidate, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, the Secretary General Mr. Welshman Nkube and other party officials plotting against President Mugabe, Mr. Tsvangirai was on 25 February taken in for questioning on the allegation of high treason.  

The Media 

The State controls the electronic media in Zimbabwe through the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, which owns ZTV and four national radio channels. Independent broadcasters find it near impossible to operate under the stringent restrictions set by The Broadcasting Services Act of 2001, and as a result, the State enjoys an effective monopoly over radio and television broadcasting. While the Broadcasting Services Act requires that “reasonable and equal opportunities” be provided to all contesting political parties, it can in no way be said that the state controlled media lived up to this requirement during the present election campaign. Reporting in the state media, which should have a particular duty to be politically unbiased, has shown a blatant bias for the ruling party, with little or no coverage of the opposition except to portray it negatively. Observers have also noted that the distribution of the main independent newspaper, The Daily News, is non-existent in much of Mashonaland, and that newspaper vendors attempting to sell the daily in these areas have been threatened.

Election Days

Voting in Harare and Chitungwiza

The voting in Harare and Chitungwiza must be assessed differently from the voting in the rest of the country.  The capacity of the polling stations was far too low to accommodate the more than five thousand voters on average per site.  With only one processing line in each polling station, it was clear well before the election days that the number of polling stations in Harare would be too low.  In some constituencies the number of voters even approached 7,000 per polling station.  Already in the morning of the first day of polling the queues at some polling stations had up to 4,000 people.  After three days of voting only 2,000 to 3,500 voters had been processed at the polling stations.

On the first day of voting most of those in line at 7 pm were allowed to vote, in accordance with the law.  Most polling stations had to stay open till early morning to accommodate the queues and some kept open around the clock.  Even the last ones to vote had in many instances waited since before the polling station opened and thus waited for twenty-four hours to vote.

On the second day of voting, there were still long lines outside the polling stations.  The message given at the polling stations was again that everybody in line at 7 pm would be given a chance to vote, and again that would imply that many polling stations would have to stay open till early morning.  At around 9 pm it became clear that the Harare High Court had ordered the polling stations to be reopened for a third day all over the country to accommodate the voters.  Approximately an hour later an order was given by the Registrar General to close the polling stations with effect for those already in line.  Upon that decision thousands of voters were turned away, many of them having waited since very early morning.

The polls were re-opened on the third day, but only in Harare and Chitungwiza, not in the whole country as ordered by the High Court.  The voting did not start before 11 am, despite the fact that the polling stations were ready to open earlier.  A few actually opened at 7 am, but closed again by order of the Registrar General.  Queues were building up since morning, in some cases by the thousands.  At seven in the evening all the polling stations closed regardless of the queues at the time.  In some polling stations there were still a thousand voters in line. 

The fact that a high number of voters were turned away on the second night reduced the effect of the extra polling day drastically.  The patience and determination of the voters have been impressive. Even so, only the most patient among the voters have been given a chance to vote.  The turnout figures for Harare are more a measure of the capacity of the polling stations over three days than of the number of voters who had an intention to vote.

Voting outside of Harare

In the provinces outside of Harare the average number of voters per polling station was around 1,000, except in Bulawayo where it was around 3,000.  The polling was therefore carried out in generally efficient manner.  However, in many areas, there are reports of a strong fear of expressing political opinions.  Observers reported on clear instances of fear among voters.  Despite several instances of intimidation of polling agents and police raids on opposition party offices, polling agents of the two major candidates have been deployed in an impressive manner.  

At some polling stations it was noticed that villages were voting together under the direction of the chief.  This was explained as a measure to ensure that the polls were conducted in an orderly manner.  However, since the ballots carry serial numbers, the arrangement also has the potential of controlling that there are no defectors within a village, by checking the number series afterwards.

The Count and Aggregation of Results

The Process

The count was performed at central counting centres, one for each of the 120 constituencies.  It was conducted in two steps:  Verification of the voting material brought in from the polling stations as well as the postal votes, and the count itself.  The counting staff seemed to be well conversed with this tedious process, even though small anomalies during the reconciliation were not always addressed.  

Only in one counting centre observed were the postal ballots checked against the voter registers for double voting.  This is a very time-consuming process, but it is the only way to ensure that voters who have cast a postal ballot have not also cast a regular vote.  

Since the ballots are numbered, it is relatively simple to check whom a postal vote has been cast for.  The system for postal ballots should be re-assessed.

In a number of counting centres the Constituency Registrar was not willing to announce the result of the count to those present within the counting centre before having communicated the protocol to the command centre in Harare.  Even though the observers could make their own estimates based upon the piles of ballots, this did not strengthen the general confidence in the process.

Once the results had been received at the command centre, the results of the constituency were published.  This was an important positive feature of the process.

Some inconsistencies in the protocols signed at counting centres and published as part of the official results, such as in Mufakose constituency in Harare, need to be carefully corrected and explained to the public.

The Results

The figures presented below are based upon various sources and may contain inaccuracies. 

President Mugabe was declared the winner of the election around noon on 13 March.  The results as published early (not verified) can be summarised as follows:

Province	Registered voters	Turnout in %	Votes	Relative strength between the ZANU PF and MDC candidates only, not counting other candidates	
			ZANU PF	MDC	ZANU PF	MDC	
Harare	882176	49.8	101395	309832	25	75	
Bulawayo	363028	46.7	29828	131894	18	82	
Mashonaland East 

	589185	61.3	264179	83978	76	24	
Mashonaland West

	572677	59.9	230321	87498	72	28	
Mashonaland Central 

	480092	69.0	240735	45100	84	16	
Manicaland	658694	54.7	172540	172225	50	50	
Midlands	724659	46.9	257708	151355	63	37	
Masvingo	655122	61.1	261786	107936	71	29	
Matabeleland North	338186	64.5	63686	109771	37	63	
Matabeleland South	343993	48.8	73371	84322	47	53	
Total	5607812	55.8	1695549	1283911	57	43	

The difference between the two candidates was 411,638 votes.

The Parliamentary Elections in 2000 gave the following results:

Province	Registered voters	Turnout in %	Votes	Relative strength between the ZANU PF and MDC candidates only, not counting other candidates	
			ZANU PF	MDC	ZANU PF	MDC	
Harare	799452	48.7	84987	296055	22	78	
Bulawayo	357281	47.5	22350	142379	14	86	
Mashonaland East 

	506817	53.6	196157	64987	75	25	
Mashonaland West

	502964	47.9	153107	78923	66	34	
Mashonaland Central 

	418277	57.5	188967	47542	80	20	
Manicaland	575404	46.2	117232	125763	48	52	
Midlands	658422	51.4	193736	126058	61	39	
Masvingo	593778	46.6	163014	92152	64	36	
Matabeleland North	317405	45.2	36749	98908	27	73	
Matabeleland South	319015	48.3	50663	97127	34	66	
Total	5048815	49.3	1206962	1169894	51	49	

As can be seen from the figures, the turnout increased in the ZANU PF strongholds whereas there was little change in areas where MDC has it main support.  There is no doubt that the will to cast a vote was very strong in Harare and Chitungwiza and that voters there were effectively prevented from doing so.  Outside of Harare reports were clear that fear and intimidation had raised the turnout.  The number of registered voters also increased drastically in areas with ZANU PF support.

All together it can be concluded that the political intimidation before election days and the limitation of polling capacity in Harare and Chitungwiza affected the figures, and that the outcome of the elections thus could have been different.

Check of results against observer reports

Allegations have been brought forward that the official turnout figures in certain constituencies are higher than expected based on the actual turnout in the polling stations.  It is very difficult to assess this on the basis of our sample.  However, in the Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe constituency, the official turnout per polling station on average amounted to more than 1300 voters.  The reports from our observers on turnout in the afternoon of the second day of voting, indicate that only one out of eight polling stations had surpassed 1300 votes, and that most of them were down at around 800 votes.  Only a very high turnout in the final hours of the second day could have produced the turnout reported from the constituency.

To enhance the transparency of the process, it is vital that the detailed figures of turnout per polling stations are made publicly available, together with the figures of number of rejected voters.  This will enable the observers, polling agents and monitors to verify that their polling station has been correctly added to the aggregated figures.

The Post-election Period

Harassment of Polling Agents

Norwegian observers remained in their areas of deployment for several days after the official announcement of results. During this immediate aftermath of the poll, a number of highly disturbing developments were noted. It quickly emerged that ZANU PF supporters around the country had embarked on systematic reprisals against opposition members or supporters. In particular, opposition polling and election agents were targeted by violent youths and war veterans reportedly using the list of polling agents published in national newspapers before the election. Numerous cases of assault, beating, torture, looting, arson, and at least one killing of a suspected MDC supporter were reported to observers in the first few days after the poll. There were also reports of violent attacks on commercial farmers and farm workers. Given the time constraints, only a few of the reported incidents could be independently verified before the observers' departure, but both the consistency of the reports and the threatening rhetoric used by ZANU PF officials during the party's pre-election house-to-house campaign lend credibility to the claims by the opposition, the independent media and civil society groups of systematic reprisals. 

Police action in the immediate wake of the poll also gave cause for alarm. While in a few cases action appears to have been taken against perpetrators of post-election violence, in the majority of reported incidents those carrying out the reprisals have been able to operate with impunity. 

Arrests on Allegations of Double Voting

Meanwhile, according to the Press and Public Information Department of the Police, by 15 March approximately 270 persons in Harare and near 600 nationwide had been arrested and would face charges for allegedly voting twice. Observers attempted to visit some of those detained in Harare, but were denied access by police and prison authorities. However, some of those later released claimed to have been kept in overcrowded cells and denied access to food or toilets for up to 24 hours during their detention. The evidence produced against the alleged "double voters" to date is that their hand or hands were allegedly found to be stained with ink when they attempted to vote. However, given the practise of dipping both hands into the ink and the ease with which the liquid is transmitted to others (via handshakes etc.), it is highly possible that a number of those arrested may have been innocently accused. 

Detention of the MDC Secretary General

On 13 March, MDC Secretary General Welshman Ncube was arrested and detained by police at a roadblock in Plumtree near the Botswana border. The police were acting on orders from the Law and Order Division of the Criminal Investigations Department in Harare, which had previously questioned Mr. Ncube over his role in the alleged assassination plot against President Mugabe. Later released on bail, Mr. Ncube was obliged to surrender his travel documents to a Harare magistrate and ordered to report to the authorities every week. A number of other high-ranking MDC members were reportedly in hiding for fear of arrest or violent reprisals by members of the ruling party.

Meeting of the Trade Unions Cancelled

On 14 March, a meeting of the General Council of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions was cancelled when police, citing the Public Order and Security Act, demanded to be present during the meeting.  The General Council had been convened to discuss the labour movement's response to the national political crisis. 

Informal Curfew

According to residents of several high-density suburbs of Harare and Chitungwiza, units of the Army and the Police Support Unit ("riot police") imposed an informal curfew shortly after results were announced, with freedom of movement restricted to daylight hours. 

***

The Norwegian Observer Mission consisted of 25 observers, all deployed two to four weeks prior to the election.  Teams of two have covered every province in the country assessing the pre-election period, the electoral framework, the election days, and the period immediately after publication of the results.  For further questions please contact NORDEM.