Zimbabwe elections | Churches say pre-elections relatively peaceful

HARARE - Religious leaders are appealing for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.

The country heads to the polls next week and there have been reports of sporadic violence in parts of the country. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches says it's deployed observers to monitor the elections and what's happening on the ground.

 READ: Zimbabwe presidential and parliamentary elections to take place next week

Reverend Wilfred Dimingu said, "comparing with the previous elections, we can say the period before the election, this time around, has been relatively peaceful. Although we have witnessed some violence here and there particularly the issue that Tinashe Chitsunge was stoned to death in Glenora in Harare, which is really a sad development."

READ: Zimbabwe elections | Opposition supporter allegedly stoned to death

"But the challenge that we have seen this time around is that we have seen so many court cases pertaining to the electoral processes, which is a bit worrisome."

"Otherwise, in terms of violence, this time around we have not witnessed huge cases of violence."

"The issues of free and fair elections, we as the Church in Zimbabwe we have got our observers on the ground and we are hoping that by the end of the electoral process on the 23rd we will be able to come up with a clear picture on what would have happenedand then we can issue a statement with regards to whether the elections were free and fair."

"We cannot really say otherwise as we would pre-empt the process of observation that is going on."