Former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, is to lead a joint observer mission of the Africa Union (AU) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) for Zimbabwe’s general elections scheduled for August 23.
A statement by AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Mahamat, said Jonathan will leave Abuja on Saturday along with a team comprising of 73 short-term observers and three core teams of electoral experts, who would be involved in the election observation activities from August 16 to 29 in the eastern African country.
According to the statement, the objective of AU and COMESA election observer mission is to “provide accurate and impartial reporting or assessment of the quality of the harmonised elections.”
“The duties of the mission includes observing the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental and international standards for democratic elections,” Mahamat said.
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“The observer team is expected to offer recommendations for improvement of future elections based on the findings, demonstrate AU’s solidarity and support towards Zimbabwe’s election and democratisation process to ensure that the conduct of democratic, credible and peaceful elections contributes to the consolidation of democratic governance, peace and stability in the country,” he said.
“The mission would be guided by AU and COMESA statutes governing the holding of elections whose aim is to promote good governance among other democratic tenets. The team would engage with several stakeholders and observe the final preparations and polling process and issue its preliminary statement after the election date,” he added.
With the new assignment, the former Nigerian leader is leading a fourth AU election observation mission having led electoral observatory duties in Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia.
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