EU to Stop 5 Million USD Support for ZEC Project

By Tendai Chisiri

The European Union (EU) has formally communicated its intention to suspend its 5 million USD financial support for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to both the Ministry of Finance and Investment Promotion and ZEC.

The project supporting ZEC, which is managed by UNDP and scheduled to run until December 2024, is currently under scrutiny due to concerns raised by several international Electoral Observation Missions (EOMS)regarding the independence and transparency of ZEC during the 2023 harmonized election.

In a press release, EU said the recent preliminary statements from multiple EOMs, including the EU EOM, have raised concerns about ZEC’s of management of the electoral process, particularly regarding to its independence and transparency.The EU contributes together with other donors to a UNDP-managed project. In response to these concerns and in adherence to responsible management o EU development of EU development cooperation funds, the EU has initiated a procedure to suspend its contribution to this project.

“The EU firmly undersocres the critical importance of electoral management bodies serving as independent and transparency institutions in fulfilling their manadates to deliver credible and inclusive electoral processes that enjoy the trust of the citizens. The EU remains open to the possibility of resuming its contribution to support efforts aiming at strengthening the electoral processes and bring such processes closer to the regional and international that Zimbabwe has signed” EU said.

“The European Union will continue closely monitoring development in Zimbabwe and reaffirms its commitment to collaborate with the government independent, independent commissions, , and other stakeholders in promoting democracy, human rights, and rule of law” EU noted.

The background information about Zim-ECO2 project says its primary goal is to enhance ZEC’s capacity to conduct the electoral process, with the aim of contributing to the improvement of the entire electoral cycle, not limited to elections only. This project is managed by UNDP and receives support from various donors, including the EU.

Following the signing of the Financial Agreement with the Ministry of Finance in November 2022, the EU officially entered the Zim-ECO2 with UNDP in December 2022, providing a total contribution of 4.7 million USD, of which approximately 1 Million Euros have been spent.