HARARE, July 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has challenged southern African countries to come up with a true democratic dispensation that suited their people, yet staying away from the foreign donors' influence.

    He made the remarks on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 6th Annual General Conference of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Electoral Commissions Forum (ECF) in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

    "I am aware of the challenges that confront you, which include under funding," he said. "Yet there still is the need to fight the dependence syndrome, both as a group and as individual electoral bodies."

    The president said dependence prevented electoral bodies from being free and reduced the quality of elections in the different countries, adding that it also weakened the ability of people to think and come up with effective strategies for dealing with their problems.

    He urged SADC countries to guard against being misled by some western countries that portrayed themselves as beacons of democracy and yet their systems were fake models, which they coerced developing countries to copy.

    The ECF brings together Electoral Supervisory Commissions from the regional grouping and is discussing ways of enhancing the electoral process in member countries.

    SADC countries are currently engaged in consultations on draft principles and guidelines governing democratic elections in the region.

    Zimbabwe will hold parliamentary elections in March next year while Mozambique will hold the general elections in December this year. Enditem¡¡