SADC to deploy election observation mission to Zimbabwe

By Xinhua

HARARE: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will deploy an election observation mission to Zimbabwe next week ahead of the general elections set for Aug. 23, the bloc said Friday.

The SADC secretariat team arrived in Harare on Thursday to prepare logistics for the launch of its Electoral Observation Mission set to fully operate on Aug. 18.

The mission will be deployed “to all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe to observe the pre – and post – election phases and the polling day,” the regional bloc said in a statement.

The mission will be headed by Zambia, the incoming chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Affairs.

The mission will join other foreign observer missions in Zimbabwe, including the EU Election Observation Mission.

The deployments follow an invitation by the Zimbabwean government to both foreign observers and international organizations, to observe the polls.