Harare- 03 December 2023– In the spirit of promoting democratic elections in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) observed Local Authority by-election on 2 December, 2023 in Chinhoyi Municipality Ward 2. The by-election in which Zimbabwe African National Unity Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) won the seat was held to fill in a vacancy that arose in the Ward following the death of the incumbent Councillor Patricia Chibaya of the Citizens Coalition for Change ( CCC).
Legal Framework
The by-election was held in accordance with Section 121 A of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13) following the death of the incumbent Councillor. The Nomination Court sat at the office of the Town Clerk in Chinhoyi on Friday 27 October 2023 for the purposes of receiving nominations of candidates for the vacant ward. The Nomination Court approved the candidature of Jonasi Hamilton of CCC and Mutevani Walter of ZANU-PF.
Observation methodology
ZESN trained and deployed 4 static observers who were accredited by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to observe the Local Authority by-election. The observers were deployed to four (4) polling stations a few days before polling to observe the electoral and political developments ahead of the polls. The findings and recommendations of this preliminary statement are made in reference to the Electoral Laws of Zimbabwe, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Principles and Guidelines Governing the Conduct of Democratic Elections as well as other regional and African election guidelines and principles. This preliminary statement is based on reports received from the ZESN observers.
