EU open to send Zimbabwe vote monitors, wants credible polls
BRUSSELS - The European Union says it stands ready to send election monitors to Zimbabwe and hopes that free and fair polls can be held soon.
EU foreign ministers said in a statement yesterday that "the upcoming electoral process will be an essential step" in helping to re-establish the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
They said "the EU would consider favorably electoral observation" under certain conditions and if Zimbabwe invites the monitors.
The ministers signaled that the EU could upgrade its ties with Zimbabwe if the country restores law and order and undertakes credible reforms.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa says elections will be held in May or June. He is under pressure to deliver a credible vote to cement his legitimacy after taking power with military help in November from longtime ruler Robert Mugabe.
Meanwhile, a Zimbabwean white farmer Richard Seager is reportedly seeking President Mnangagwa's government to assist him get back his 609 hectare farm that was seized from him in 2007 by an indigenous farmer.
According to the privately-owned Standard newspaper, Seager claimed in a letter to Mashonaland East Provincial Minister of State David Musabayana and Lands minister Perrance Shiri that his farm in Wedza, was "fraudulently and violently" taken away from him.
"Having heard the new government's mandate and witnessing the reinstatement of several white farmers, this has prompted me to make this application seeing how fair, just and committed the government is with this exercise. "
Seager's move came a few weeks after another white Zimbabwean farmer Robert Smart got his Lesbury farm - about 200km east of the capital, Harare - back.–