“We thus conclude that, notwithstanding the concerns highlighted above, the elections held in Zimbabwe on 29 March 2008 for President, Senate, House of Assembly and local government, have been a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.

On the presence of the police in polling stations which formed the opposition's major concern, SADC said the police did not influence voters in any way. Asked about the statements made by the security chiefs in the run up to the elections, SADC said the statements were of no effect because they were individual statements and not institutional statements.

"Despite these concerns, in our profound analysis we observed that the elections were held in a peaceful environment and that the conditions for a free and fair election as prescribed by the SADC guidelines were met," said Marcos Barrica.

Asked on how he could declare the elections free and fair before the announced were announced, Marcos Barrica said that the mandate of the observer mission ended at the counting of votes and not the results.