PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa may have discredited the credibility of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) after he rushed to endorse Mozambique’s disputed elections before the final results are announced, critics have said.
Mnangagwa on Tuesday congratulated Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) presidential candidate Daniel Chapo on his victory.
The final outcome of the presidential, legislative and provincial elections held on October 9 will be announced by tomorrow.
Main opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane has rejected the results amid unrest in that country over the disputed polls.
Mondlane on Monday called his supporters to protest alleged vote fraud.
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said Mnangagwa, as the Sadc chairperson, had jumped the gun.
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“What if the tables turn or the local court declares the election as a nullity, how Sadc will be able to play any positive mediation role if other parties feel that the Sadc chair is irrevocably biased in favour of one of the competing parties?” Mkwananzi asked.
“As we have repeatedly stated to Sadc, you cannot install a leader who faces an electoral dispute in his own backyard and expect Sadc to continue maintaining its credibility and good standing in resolving electoral disputes within the region.”
The Welshman Ncube CCC faction spokesperson Willias Madzimure said Mnangagwa had effectively pre-emptied the Sadc election observer mission (SEOM) report on the Mozambique elections.
“This is unprecedented,” Madzimure said.
“This is against Sadc protocol on free and fair elections. Under his chairmanship, we are going to see a rapid movement of Sadc semi-democratic States to full-fleshed dictatorships.
“Remember the same Sadc adopted the SEOM report that declared the Zimbabwe elections a sham, a non-event. Nothing would motivate him to see a free and fair election in any Sadc member State.”
Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu said Sadc faced a major credibility test.
“However, you will notice that this kind of behaviour, which is a lack of respect for democratic processes, is what has marked the Zanu PF government from the 2017 coup to date,” Mukundu said.
“Their behaviour in Zimbabwe is what they are extending to the rest of the region, which is very sad.”
Southern Africa Programme Head for the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) think-tank Piers Pigou said Mnangagwa showed double standards.
“We know how Zanu PF wails and gnashes its teeth when results are claimed unofficially. If a neighbouring country’s political party did this in a Zimbabwe election, you can just imagine,” he posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.