HARARE, Jul. 30 (NewsDay Live) — Southern African countries holding elections are increasingly ignoring recommendations from election observer missions, highlighting a broader decline in electoral accountability and democratic standards across the region, Election Resource Centre (ERC) executive director Barbara Bhebhe said on Thursday.
Speaking during a virtual regional dialogue titled Politics, Reform and Electoral Integrity: Zambia’s 2026 General Election, Bhebhe said governments and electoral authorities were routinely disregarding recommendations from observer missions without consequence.
“Global enforcement mechanisms no longer exist,” Bhebhe said, pointing to Tanzania’s recent elections as an example of how authorities and incumbent governments have increasingly bypassed international democratic norms and oversight.
The symposium, jointly hosted by ERC Africa and Zambia’s Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG), brought together governance experts and civil society leaders to assess the regional electoral environment ahead of Zambia’s general election on August 13.
CCMG programmes coordinator Christabel Mwango said election monitors had documented 46 cases of politically motivated violence ahead of the vote, raising concerns over the country’s electoral climate.
“The recording of 46 politically motivated violence cases ahead of the 2026 election underscores an urgent need for multi-stakeholder interventions to prevent further deterioration of the security environment,” Mwango said.
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Participants warned that unless the Southern African Development Community (SADC) strengthens enforcement of electoral standards and member states implement observer recommendations, election monitoring risks losing credibility while political violence and electoral malpractice persist.
They said stronger institutional reforms and accountability mechanisms were needed to safeguard electoral integrity and public confidence in democratic processes across the region.