U.S President Donald Trump’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Bureau for African Affairs, Ambassador Matthew Harrington has said they wiĺl measure President Emmerson Mnangagwa through how he will conduct the upcoming elections.

Speaking on his visit to Zimbabwe, he said the US wants to establish a working relationship with Zimbabwe adding that his country will use the July 30 election as a measure of how much the country has changed from the past.

Ambassador Harrington said, “Zimbabweans have not in the past been able to express their views or cast their votes freely due to intimidation and the economic environment has frightened away many potential investors with a predictable impact on the economy. So the election on 30 July will be one important benchmark on whether the economic and political environment of the past has changed for the better.

“His decision to invite international observers to give them quite a wide access is very welcome.

“These are very important steps. However, we are going to be watching out on other reforms which range from economic, good governance and human rights because the credibility of elections is only one measure of change.”