by Innocent Mujeri
Zimbabwe’s 2023 harmonised elections have generated so much interest that some organisations have already started pouring in money to start recruiting observers.
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) which has been widely viewed as one of the proponents of regime change in Zimbabwe, is recruiting various organisations to equip them with skills of monitoring the forthcoming elections.
NDI, a United States of America-funded organisation supposedly working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government, has been dangling some funds to Civic Society Organisations (CSOs), Religious Organisations, Community based organisations, Media practitioners, Labour Movements and some opinion leaders to register with them, so that they can be trained and technically equipped to monitor the 2023 harmonised lections.
A dossier in possession of this publication revealed that NDI invited all those who want to partner with it in monitoring the next coming elections to submit their applications before end of this month, so that they can be included in the budget.
The NDI, which is a known opposition sympathiser and an agent of regime change in Zimbabwe, is believed to be funded by the United States of America to try everything it can to cause the defeat of ZANU PF in 2023.
According to the dossier, the NDI wants to recruit thousands of election monitors who will be taking instructions from it as well at the American Embassy in Zimbabwe.
Those who are going to be successful are expected to start work this year as purveyors of propaganda on behalf of the opposition and only assume the role of election monitors in 2023.
It is believed that the NDI wants to implant their elections observers in every polling station.
In the event that the opposition is defeated, these observers will then be tasked with compiling reports, which indicate that the elections were rigged in favour of ZANU PF.
According to the same dossier, the NDI also has a budget for journalists who will spread propaganda messages in favour of the opposition.
These media practitioners, together with the CSOs are also tasked with calling for electoral reforms and painting the Government and the ruling party in bad light so that they will lose credibility in the eyes of the international community.
NDI is also expected to deploy the organisations they are about to recruit from the districts to the national level and they will all be reporting to NDI offices in Harare.
This is not the first time the NDI has been meddling in Zimbabwean politics in favour of the opposition.
Over the years, NDI has been working with organisations such as Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) to write fake dossiers that accused the Government of stifling people’s electoral freedoms.
The West has been financially and technically sponsoring the opposition in Zimbabwe since 2000. However, the opposition has been suffering defeat after defeat at every poll, a development that resulted in the scaling down of funding in recent years.
