By Own Correspondent

A local observer mission, Civil Society and Churches Joint Forum has written a damning communique to SADC discrediting its head of the observer mission Dr Nevers Mumba.

In the communique, addressed to the Chairperson of SADC, Angolan president Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco and copied to all the heads of the bloc’s members, CSCJF claims the report by the Nevers Mumba-led SADC Elections Observer Mission (SEOM) was likely to fuel insurgency in the country.

“We were disappointed with the manner in which the SEOM Preliminary Report was crafted and its manifest agenda-setting attempt to fuel an insurrection in this country, according to what we have discerned.

” The SEOM report ignored the fact that one of the candidates in presidential elections openly declared some weeks before the polls that he would not accept any result other than his own victory. This was a brazen and unacceptable attack on our democracy and our Constitution. SEOM was silent about that in its Preliminary Report , “wrote CSCJ.

In particular, the local observer mission directed its worry on the impartiality of the head of the SEOM Dr Nevers Mumba for ‘hobnobbing’ with the opposition candidate, CCC president Nelson Chamisa.

” To make matters worse, the SEOM Head, Dr Nevers Mumba, was hobnobbing and playing an advisory role to the same opposition candidate who had rejected constitutionalism in advance of the elections

” Dr Mumba did not declare his prior associations with some of our opposition leaders, which links render him unsuitable to play an impartial role. The SEOM Code of Conduct is clear on this matter.

” In fact, we are reliably informed that there is evidence to attest to the existence of an association to which Dr Mumba is a member, whose stated goal is to cause the removal of certain former liberation movement parties from power in SADC,” cites the local observer mission.

The Abigale Mupambi-led CSCJF said the attack of the country’s judiciary system by the SEOM was uncalled for.

” On another note, the SEOM report’s attack on our Judiciary was unprecedented. Our judges were smeared only because of conditions of service (housing) that they are entitled to like any other public servant.

” Instead of applauding the fact that the Second Republic is delivering a better quality of life for the people of Zimbabwe, including civil servants, the same achievements have been mischievously portrayed as bribery just to cast aspersions on our election, “notes CSCJF.

The local observer mission says it has no doubt with the outcome of the polls as pre-election surveys had already hinted.

” The outcome of the elections was consistent with what several opinion survey entities had projected.

“Furthermore, the opposition got some votes in more than 98% of polling stations, which demonstrates that voters countrywide freely exercised their choice,”.

According to CSCJF national coordinator Abigale Mupambi, the organisation will also present the same communique to the SADC Panel of Elders that will be in the country on a fact-finding mission following the reports of flaws of the just ended harmonised elections.

“We are definitely going to let the SADC Panel of Elders know the truth of what really transpired and not rely on the report by Dr Nevers Mumba which seems to have been doctored to suit an agenda,” she told this publication.