Zimbabwe: Electoral Supervisory Commission (defunct)

Updated August 2005

The Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) was abolished by the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 17) Act 2005 and its functions have been transferred to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). The amendment repealed Article 61 of the Constitution which established the ESC and substituted for it a new article 61 providing for the constitutional establishment of the ZEC which hitherto had been constituted by ordinary legislation only.

The ESC was originally established in terms of Article 61 of the Constitution (1980) and was tasked with overseeing the registration of voters and the conduct of the elections. The actual execution and logistics were in the hands of the Registrar General and the Elections Directorate. The ESC was also required to consider proposed bills relating to elections, accredit observers and promote voter education (Molokele 2005).

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was established with virtually identical terms of reference and responsibilities by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act (2005) so that considerable confusion existed about the two bodies' respective functions and duties (Human Rights Watch 2004, Zimbabwe Election Support Network 2004, 2, 12-14).

At the time of the 2005 parliamentary elections the two bodies existed side by side and EISA staff who had been present in Zimbabwe during the election period reported that the conduct of the election was performed by the ZEC, while the ESC performed a monitoring function. Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa said prior to the 2005 election that the ESC would follow the model supplied by Mauritius and other countries, "where the electoral body is monitored by another institution" (IRIN 2005).

References

CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE 1980, incorporates all amendments until October 2007, [www] http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/ZW/zimbabwe-constitution-of- zimbabwe-2008-1 [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 30 May 2008).

CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE AMENDMENT (NO. 17) ACT 2005, [www] http://www.kubatana.net/docs/legisl/constitution_zim_amd17_050825.doc [Word document] (accessed 21 May 2008).

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 2004, "Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission Bill", [www] http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/zimbabwe/2004/11/6.htm [opens new window] (accessed 21 May 2008).

IRIN 2005, "Doubt over extent of electoral reform ahead of poll", February 23, [www] http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45746 [opens new window] (accessed 21 May 2008).

MOLOKELE, D 2005, "An overview of the Zimbabwean electoral institutions", ZimOnline, February, [www] http://www.zimonline.co.za/opinionread.asp?ID=9405 (page 0ff-line 30 Oct 2007).

ZIMBABWE ELECTORAL COMMISSION ACT CHAPTER 2:12, [www] [www] http://aceproject.org/regions-en/eisa/ZW/Zimbabwe%20Electoral% 20Commission%20Act%20Chapter%2021%202.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 30 May 2008). This does not include the amendments made by the Electoral Laws Amendment Act 2007, [www] http://kubatana.net/docs/legisl/electoral_laws_amendment_act_2007_080111.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 30 May 2008).

ZIMBABWE ELECTION SUPPORT NETWORK 2004, "The Electoral Bill, 2004 (HB 19, 2004): A Commentary", [www] http://www.kubatana.net/docs/elec/zesn_commentary_electoral_bill_041021.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 21 May 2008).