Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHCR) urges political parties to desist from violence ahead of 2018 election

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHCR) has called on political parties to urge their supporters not to engage in violence ahead of the forthcoming 2018 harmonised elections.

Speaking last Friday at the the appointment ceremony of Mrs Makanatsa Makonese to the post of executive secretary of the organisation, ZHRC chairperson, Elasto Mugwadi, said the organisation remained committed to ensure that free and safe elections prevailed in the country. Said Mugwadi:

Our mandate in line with elections is very clear. We do embark on pre-election awareness campaigns and resources permitting, we would like to do it long before elections begin. What we are trying to do is to bring to the attention of the people that winning the election is not by violence. It has to be in terms of following democratic principles enshrined in our Constitution. People have the right to assembly, association and choose their political leaders by free will not by cohesion.

Mugwadi, however, said the commission members would not be supervising electoral participants as they did not have the capacity.

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