HARARE - Observers from the Sadc Parliamentary Forum (SPF) left Zimbabwe yesterday morning after endorsing the referendum elections held last Saturday.

They said they will be back for the harmonised elections expected later in the year.

SPF, whose offices are in Windhoek, Namibia, is a grouping of MPs from the region and was deployed by the mother body as an observer team for the referendum which was overwhelmingly approved.

 Sheunesu Kurasha, SPF programme manager confirmed the team had left the country.

“We finished our work on Monday and issued a press statement on our findings on the referendum,” Kurasha said.  

“The MPs are going back to their countries and shall be coming back to Zimbabwe for the harmonised elections this year, after receiving invitations from Zimbabwe Election Commission (Zec).

“We came here at the invitation of Zec for the referendum but we will be here three weeks earlier for the harmonised elections with more MPs as observers.”

Led by His Royal Highness, Prince Guduza Dlamini, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Swaziland, the mission comprises MPs from Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The 40-member mission was in the country from 11 to 19 March. - Staff Writer