Tafadzwa Nyikadzino

The recently completed harmonized elections have now gone beyond the contestation between local political rivals as they have attracted louder voices from the United States of America and China, with the former now engaging regional countries to voice its concerns over the electoral conduct and outcomes.

In a statement yesterday,  US’s department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to make “disaggregated polling stations results publicly available” to increase confidence in the result tabulation process, a position which shows that they have doubts on the credibility of the outcomes.

He also called on government to cease its “attacks ”on the SADC Observation Mission which they described as “unacceptable”. The harsh statement comes after the government of Zimbabwe accused the SEOM of being sponsored by the “West” to go beyond its mandate. They accuse the observer mission of undermining the country’s Constitution by commenting on its laws and legal processes.

“These actions belie President Mnangagwa’s repeated pledges to respect rule of law, transparency, and accountability. The United States is engaging regional leaders to share our concerns, including what this means for the international community’s nascent efforts to reengage the Zimbabwean government. There is much at stake for the people of Zimbabwe and the region,” said Miller.

Despite various efforts between Zimbabwe and the U.S to mend relations, the two countries have failed to find common ground for decades. The former accuses the latter of undermining its sovereignty  while the latter accuses the former of committing human rights violation on its citizens.

However, China which is more friendlier to Zimbabwe issued a positive statement which carried a congratulatory message to President Elect Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“We extend our congratulations to President Mnangagwa . We stand ready to work with the new government to bring our two countries comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to new heights,” said a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.