Ahead of Zimbabwe's constitutional referendum slated for Saturday, 16 March 2013, observers have been invited from SADC, COMESA, the African Union and other "friendly" countries.

Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said in an interview after meeting Swedish International Development Co-operation Minister Gunilla Carlsson yesterday that, government will not entertain observers from the European Union and the United States.

He said EU and US observers would not be allowed to monitor electoral processes in Zimbabwe as long as illegal sanctions they imposed on the country were in place and added that one cannot observe anything in a country that they are hostile to. The level of hostility is measured by the relationship those countries have with Zimbabwe and clearly those countries that have imposed sanctions on us will not be here.

"To be an observer, you have to be objective and once you impose sanctions on one party, your objectivity goes up in smoke. If you are not objective, you are not entitled to observe elections anywhere and that is the situation with those Western countries." he added.

The EU, which met last month to review sanctions on Zimbabwe, said it would suspend most of them after a credible referendum.