He urged Zimbabwean political parties to develop dialogue amongst themselves to avert any post-election conflict that could plunge the country into chaos. Politicians have to understand that there is life after elections and for that reason they must strengthen institutions of governance rather than, as we Africans too often do, placing all the emphasis on the personalities of leaders. They are the experts on this region and we work and consult closely together. Sawyer said he was aware that some observer teams had been denied accreditation on their arrival and said he would be raising his concerns with the Zimbabwean electoral authorities. The OAU has had no difficulty in accreditation or in deploying its observers throughout the country.
Today is the last day for observer accreditation.
The mission will issue a statement on its perceptions of the election after the vote-counting has concluded. As a former head of state in Liberia which for years was wracked by civil war, and a noted student of democratic process, Sawyer reflected on the need for African states to find peaceful ways of transferring power from one party to another in a democratic fashion. We must get out of this culture of violence. We spend too much time in conflict-resolution on this continent and too little time on our national development programmes while other areas of the world are getting on with advancing their technology and joining the rest of the world's prosperity. We know of the emotive issues, such as the land question, in this country and as observers we must understand it.