Electoral justice, involves the means and mechanisms available in a specific country for ensuring that each action, procedure and decision related to the electoral process complies with the legal framework; protecting or restoring electoral rights; and giving people who believe their electoral rights have been violated the ability to file a challenge, have their case heard and receive a ruling…more
ZESN Fact sheet on Electoral Justice
ZESN Fact sheet on Accountability of Security Forces, Traditional Leaders, and Civil Servants in Electoral Processes
Background Information
Elections should be conducted in a transparent manner that yields credible and indisputable results. However, election administration in Zimbabwe has in practice been marred by malfeasance from political incumbents and state institutions. Among the most contentious issues are the roles played by three critical state/national institutions: traditional leadership, the security sector and the civil service which have an obligation to be accountable to the Constitution which forbids them from being aligned to any political party…more
ZESN Factsheet on Fundamental Freedoms
The term fundamental rights refers to basic human entitlements or rights aimed at protecting and promoting specific interests of people. These rights are often times identified and entrenched in a country’s Constitution. in Zimbabwe, Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013 (‘the Constitution’) contains the Declaration of Rights which sets out the various fundamental rights recognised in Zimbabwe…more
ZESN Factsheet on Electoral Suffrage
The Constitution establishes a multi-party democratic political system with “universal suffrage and equality of votes”. Every five years elections are held to elect a President, parliamentarians, and members of local councils. Suffrage means the right to vote in elections…more
ZESN Factsheet on Elections Observation
Election observation is a process of systematically gathering information on
the electoral process in order to make an informed decision on the integrity and credibility of the process. This implies limited direct intervention into the actual electoral process by observers (whether local or international)…more
ZESN ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL (No.2)
On 31 December 2019, the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) published the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.2) Bill (hereinafter the Constitutional Bill) in the Extraordinary Government Gazette. This formally commenced the special procedure to amend the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The process stalled following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and public health regulations under which a national lockdown was imposed. Parliament has announced that public consultations are resuming…more