The Elders visit Zim ahead of elections
Kofi Annan urges free and fair vote
The Elders‚ led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan‚ have arrived in Zimbabwe to meet political parties ahead of general elections at the end of the month.
Annan is joined by Mary Robinson‚ former president of Ireland‚ and Lakhdar Brahimi‚ an Algerian career diplomat‚ for their three-day mission in Zimbabwe to assess the country’s preparedness for the all-important elections.
According to a picture tweeted on The Elders’ official account‚ the diplomats met some presidential candidates in Harare yesterday‚ including Joice Mujuru‚ leader of the Zimbabwe People First‚ Nkosana Moyo of the Alliance for the People’s Agenda‚ and Elton Mangoma from the Coalition of Democrats.
“In Harare‚ The Elders meet presidential candidates ahead of July 30 #Zimbabwe polls. @KofiAnnan urges free‚ fair & competent elections with all stakeholders taking their responsibilities‚” @TheElders tweeted.
The Elders’ visit comes at a time when most disgruntlement against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the ruling party Zanu-PF is coming from the MDC Alliance.
This week‚ the commission’s chairwoman Priscilla Chigumba said in a radio interview that the electoral body’s website was hacked and crucial information cloned.
“That was a serious cybersecurity breach,” she said. “They cloned our site and we are in the process of doing something about it; we should have that site taken down in the course of the week.”
The alleged hacking was brought to light a week after Zanu-PF sent SMSes to voters asking for votes.
Leading cellphone operator Econet distanced itself from the bulk messages.