Zimbabwe in the Spotlight (continued)

His visit was not without controversy. He caused an outcry from opposition parties and civic society when he said that it was possible to have free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.

"I believe it is possible to have free elections…that is what we are hoping for and that is what the (Zimbabwe) government has told us it wants to have."

Opposition parties and civic groups argued that the Secretary-General had only been in the country less than 24 hours, had not consulted with all stakeholders and was therefore not in a position to reach that conclusion. He has since told BBC Television's 'Breakfast with Frost' that recent violence and intimidation was "not a good omen". He says a preliminary report raised concern that the problems there don't really look as though they are conducive to free and fair elections".

Concern over the country's ability to host a free and fair election has come from many corners. The head of delegation of the European Union (EU), Asger Pilegaard, told diplomats and senior government officials at a ceremony to mark Europe Day in Harare recently that the EU was deeply concerned about the political violence, increasing lawlessness and disregard for the rule of law.

"The Commission is convinced that only a halt to violence and intimidation, and free and fair election can pull the country out of a dangerous impasse. Only then can Zimbabwe return to law and order and the development of its huge capital of human and natural resources."

The World Council of Churches pre-election observation team put it more bluntly. "It would hardly be possible to anticipate an election that meets international standards," said the head of delegation, Melaku Kifle, WCC international relations staff member from Ethiopia.

The five-member delegation held discussions with all stakeholders and was however impressed with the fact that ordinary citizen and opposition parties insisted that everyone should come to the polls, despite the unhealthy political situation.

Meanwhile, it is debatable if the Zimbabwean government will have all the logistics in place in time for the June 24 - 25 election. To begin with the voters roll which the Registrar General, Tobaiwa Mudede, defends as "one of the best in world" has difficulties as has been revealed with the current voter inspection exercise. The inspection of the voter's roll, which contains about 5.1 million voters, started on 1 June and will end on the 14th of June 2000.

Thousands of voters are missing and it also contains a good number of deceased persons. Isaac MacKenzie, the ZANU PF candidate for Kariba constituency is among those whose names did not appear in his consistencies register. The United Nations Electoral Assistance Division earlier this year highlighted the flaws in the voters' roll.

In its findings the UN team said the country's voter's roll is flawed with 10 to 25 percent of the names on the list belonging to deceased people. It also said that out of the 5.1 million registered voters, an estimated two million have moved from their original constituencies since the general elections in 1995. The Registrar's office dismissed these findings as, "baseless and unfounded."

The Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) together with other civic organizations have trained over 24 600 election monitors to cater for the envisaged 4000 polling stations. However the government is yet to release the money to pay the monitors and has said it can only release enough money to pay for one monitor per constituency. The rest will have to be paid from elsewhere.