Follow “legal procedures”: Catholic Bishops to Aggrieved Political Parties in Zimbabwe

“We totally discourage hate speech by some members of political parties,” the Catholic Church leaders say, and add, “Let us shun barbaric actions that are contrary to the Christian ethos and national values as stated in the Preamble of our national Constitution.”

They underscore the need to safeguard the credibility of the polls as a process, saying, “Violent actions paint a negative picture of the whole election process.”

In their statement, ZCBC members laud Zimbabweans for conducting themselves peacefully during the casting of the ballots to elect the country’s President, Members of Parliament (MPs), and Councilors. 

They acknowledge gaps in the process, saying the elections were marred with challenges including delays in opening of polling stations, late delivery of ballot papers, missing names in the voter’s roll, and inadequate lighting facilities in polling stations where voting went into the night, among other hitches.  

The Catholic Church leaders say the challenges “would surely bring our elections into dispute due to some form of cohesion on the part of the electorate.”

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They say ZEC needs to give “an audit” of the August 23-24 polls to give Zimbabweans relief.

“An audit of the whole exercise may give relief to the electorate to whom ZEC is answerable. This may help the nation to be satisfied by our electoral process,” ZCBC members say, adding that the electoral commission needs “to give an account to the nation about the delays and procurement of voting material and the missing names on the voter's roll.”

On August 28, Church leaders under the auspices of Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) offered to mediate disputes arising from the general elections to help maintain peace.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.