This Policy Dialogue series uses the framework of five Pillars to examine the key areas of the electoral playing field in Zimbabwe, contrasting these with regional and continental best practices. The five Pillars allow an audit of the electoral playing filed ahead of the forthcoming elections, and have been outlined in previous policy briefs.
Read MoreThis policy brief covers a comparison of the Kenyan elections and the Gokwe-Kabuyuni By-Election. The webinar from this policy brief is focused on assessing whether conditions in Zimbabwe, that lead to free and fair elections, are evident from the comparative analysis. As discussed in an earlier policy brief free and fair elections are measured against five pillars notably Information, Inclusion, Insulation, Integrity, and Irreversibility. It concludes that Kenya provides a good model for Zimbabwe, particularly because of the strength of the formal institutions. On the other hand, the Gokwe-Kabuyuni by-elections showed the pillars are very weak in Zimbabwe.
Read MoreThis report examines Organised Violence and Torture OVT occurrence since the publication of the previous report. The report derived the data from several sources, predominantly the data in the Armed Conflict Local Event Database (ACLED) and the data from the reports of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP).
Read MoreZimbabweans desire for democracy is matched by their rejection of authoritarian forms of government. Most (77%) reject the notion of one-party government, military rule (84%), and one-man rule (87%).
Read MoreThis Policy Brief premiers a Dialogue Series on Zimbabwe’s preparedness for the forthcoming harmonised elections in 2023. It sets the pace for a series of discussions on the factors that enable credible, free, and fair electoral processes and outcomes in Zimbabwe. Thus, it introduces the essence of the basics of free and fair elections, including information, inclusiveness, insulation, integrity, and irreversibility, as well as other outstanding problems, such as ZEC independence. This report also includes the perspectives of notable Zimbabwean practitioners who say that the electoral deficit requires immediate repair. The report finds that without intentional and immediate improvements, the electoral process would remain ceremonial, contentious, and antithetical to Zimbabwe’s democratic objectives. The report suggests widening and deepening conversations about elections so that policymakers and stakeholders are forced to change the environment for the benefit of democratic governance.
Read MoreThis report observes a large increase in the number of young women that registered to vote in 2018, probably a very significant improvement in the rate of young women voting relative to the number eligible to vote compared with previous elections. The report also notes that views about the PhD (Pull her Down) syndrome, effects of culture and the views that older women seem to be doing little or nothing to encourage young women’s participation need to be taken very seriously.
Read MoreCommercialisation of lobola has seen a rise in practices that stifle women’s voices and bargain in marriage. This has rendered them subservient to their husbands as society expects them to suffer in silence.
Read MoreThe voters’ roll is an essential document in electoral processes, in this regard, this report explores how discrepancies in the voters’ roll disadvantage voters and underplay democracy if it is not accurate and up to date. An incomplete voters’ roll may disenfranchise those who might otherwise be entitled to vote while an inflated voters’ roll containing duplicate entries, names of persons who have emigrated, or of dead voters, lends itself to electoral fraud…
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