The European Union has announced that it is suspending financial aid to Zimbabwe’s electoral body due to concerns about its practices in the contested August elections.

Since 2022, the EU has been one of the donors to a project to improve the capacity of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

The project, which is run by the United Nations Development Programme, was to end in December 2024.

The EU had contributed $4.7m (£3.7m) to the project, some of which has been spent.

However, the EU said on Tuesday that it would step back from the project, which “is currently under scrutiny due to concerns raised by several international election observers regarding the independence and transparency of ZEC during the 2023 elections”.

The union also said that the funding withdrawal will promote responsible management of EU development funds.

EU has started the aid suspension process and has communicated the plan to ZEC and Zimbabwe’s finance ministry.

However, the union said it will continue monitoring developments in Zimbabwe and could resume support.