Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will on Friday meet the Zimbabwe Electoral commission (ZEC) to assess the commission's preparedness for the referendum and elections.

Speaking in Mutare, PM Tsvangirai said, "I will meet with ZEC so that the electoral body can give us timelines on when we can have the referendum."

The meeting is a follow up to last week's with the Premier to ensure that the country holds free and fair polls.

Polls in Zimbabwe have been marred with violence and vote rigging that has been blamed on President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party.

ZEC needs at least eight weeks to prepare for the referendum. According to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that ushered in the government of National Unity (GNU), Zimbabwe should have a new people driven constitution before any election.

However Mugabe and his Zanu PF party have derailed the constitution making process and have threatened to go for elections without the new constitution.

Lack of adequate funds are likely to affect the running of the two national processes but PM Tsvangirai has pledged to look for support from other development partners to ensure that Zimbabwe has a new constitution that will lead to a free and fair election.

According to ZEC the referendum and the elections need more than $220million.