The Zimbabwe Situation

Friday, April 01, 2005

Obert Mpofu: Sokwanele Update #15

A Sokwanele activist witnessed first hand Obert Mpofu ejecting MDC Election Agents from at least three polling stations, Nyathi Hall, Loziba Primary School and Turk Mine School. The count took place with no MDC officials in place. Sokwanele reported on Obert Mpofu's tactics in an earlier blog - see Bubi Umguza Constituency: Sokwanele Update #6

Waiting for a statement from Morgan Tsvangirai: Sokwanele Update #14

There is substantial evidence of rigging in the rural constituencies and the people of Zimbabwe are now in a state of disbelief and shock. The evidence is damning and all await a statement from the president, Morgan Tsvangirai. Most people are glued to their radios and televisions and the streets in the cities and rural villages are quiet. The delay in announcing the rural figures has left Zimbabweans without access to external communications confused, for the initial figures for urban areas indicated an MDC victory.

Dirty tricks in Chimanimani: Sokwanele Update #13

Heather Bennett's campaign team have expressed their shock at the election result in Chimanimani. The update posted today on the Free Roy Bennett Campaign website suggests still more dirty tricks by zanupf:

Heather Bennett and her election team express their shock at the election results announced earlier today for the Chimanimani constituency.

Chimanimani has been an MDC stronghold for the past 5 years and the results today are in complete contrast to the support that Heather has enjoyed in her rallies over the past 4 weeks.

Heather is particularly concerned by the discrepancies released at 1pm (today 1 April 2005) and the fact that the announced figures do not tally with the total number of votes cast, announced last night. In addition to that, the ZEC knew the total number of votes cast in the area. Why did it then take 10 hours to announce the votes and why is there a discrepancy of over 3000 votes between the announcements.

Heather would like to emphasize that despite this result that she and her family will continue to support the people of Chimanimani, and in turn she thanks the people for their support of her and her family.

Heather will continue to struggle for the people of Chimanimani.

Clear signs of mass mobilization in Zimbabwe: Sokwanele Update #12

Clear signs are emerging in Zimbabwe of a mobilization of the people. Despite the massive police presence across the country and in the full knowledge that the army is being held on a high state of alert to put down any popular uprising, the call has gone out for people to take to the streets in protest against yet another rigged election.

The evidence is now clear, that the current parliamentary elections have been massively rigged and particularly in the rural constituencies. Across the country stories are pouring in of ZANU PF agents acting in defiance of the country’s electoral law and of every norm of free and democratic elections. The opposition MDC’s election agents have been illegally detained at numerous polling stations in order to prevent them from communicating the polling station results which the presiding officers should have communicated, but failed to communicate immediately on the completion of the count.

ZANU PF have not only committed a massive fraud. They have also violated in most blatant fashion the electoral laws which they themselves crafted. Over and again the electoral institutions have demonstrated their partisan nature, as have the courts. Therefore the people of Zimbabwe can have no hope of legal redress of their legitimate grievances within the existing framework of unjust laws and corrupt administration. In short, they have no option but to take to the streets in protest at the way in which they have effectively been disenfranchised by a clique of corrupt, self-serving politicians.

Only a few days ago the courageous Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, advocated a non-violent and peaceful uprising to remove an entrenched dictatorship that has caused untold suffering to the people of Zimbabwe. It seems the people are heeding that call.

The people of Zimbabwe who are rising up to throw off the chains of oppression deserve the support of the international community. Pray God we may not fail them at this hour.

Did you know...?

If you wish to lodge an objection to the retention of any name on the voters’ roll a $100 000 fee is charged. This amount constitutes the sum total or more of many pensioner’s monthly earning, and more than the minimum wage was up until two days ago. Hence Zanupf are able to count on the dead not being removed from the roll.

Polling agents still locked in: Sokwanele #11

Reliable information is coming in from the rural areas that although the vote counting is complete, the results are not being publicised. Many polling agents remain locked into their polling stations without access to any form of communication. The MDC candidates are still barred from having any contact with their agents.

In Chimanimani the count is over. Heather Bennett, wife of jailed MP Roy Bennett, has not been able to access figures.

The illegitimate regime is engaged in vicious rigging.

Announcing Results: Sokwanele Update #10

We had intended to bring you two sets of results for each constituency – alongside the official results provided by the partisan Registrar-General Tobias Mudede, setting down the best count available from the polling stations themselves. In order to do this we were relying upon ZANU-PF to adhere to the electoral law of the land. This includes a provision (under the Electoral Act section 64 (2)) requiring the presiding officer of each polling station to affix a copy of the polling station return outside the polling station immediately upon the completion of the count.

Our mistake was to believe for one moment that this lawless regime would adhere to the law – even their own deeply flawed legislation. In fact we have now learnt that presiding officers were instructed to openly flout the law by imposing a news black-out on the results until authorised to release them by Harare. In the result at this stage we can only provide the official, and clearly suspect, results announced by the Registrar-General (column (2), the green columns on our tables). The blank column therefore indicates the missing element - the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

Despite every obstacle thrown in the way, we still intend to bring you the real results (column (1), the red columns on our tables) as soon as we are able.

Reports of the lawless activities of presiding officers and other officials of the Zimbabwe Election Officer (ZEC) continue to flood in. Here are just a sample few of them.

In one instance ZANU PF thugs entered the polling station after polling had closed and remained there while the counting continued (Insiza). In another, ballot boxes containing postal votes of unknown origin were added to the registered votes and when election agents queried this with the presiding officer they were told to mind their own business (Victoria Falls). In Kwe Kwe ZANU PF youths whose names were not on the register and who only arrived at the poling station after 7.00 pm, were allowed to vote despite the protests of election agents. At two polling stations in Lupane ZANU PF militia chased away the election agents, and the count continued in the absence of any MDC representatives. At another polling station photocopies of postal ballots of unknown origin were accepted, each and every one of them being votes for ZANU PF.

But the most blatant and widespread violation of the electoral law concerned the refusal of presiding officers to post the results at the polling stations upon the completion of the count, as required by Section 64 (2) of the Electoral Act. Time and again, and from centres across the country, we hear of polling officers refusing to post the results, and instead seeking to impose an illegal news blackout. MDC election agents were illegally detained at polling stations after the completion of the count, and they were prevented from using their cell phones. Many were imprisoned by presiding officers. In one instance (in Bulawayo East) the election agents only recovered their freedom by making good their escape from their captor (presiding officer). In many instances the MDC election agents are still being held hostage as we write.

It is clear that the many presiding officers who indulged in these criminal activities were acting on instructions from their superiors.

So much for a “free and fair” election in Zimbabwe.

Will President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa please take note.

*The results released on our website are so far as per Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) announcments. They have not been issued in writing. Sokwanele is making every effort to provide accurate information, but we must point out that during the last elections the results announced on ZBC were later altered.

When are SABC Africa going to get their act together?

When are SABC Africa going to get their act together? How can they report on the 10am news that 5.8 million people voted yesterday? Relying on the ZBC for accurate news is ridiculous. The ZBC, as state controlled media, has a well publicised track record of partiality towards zanupf.

WOZA women beaten badly: Sokwanele Update #9

Sokwanele has just received information that over 400 women (including children and babies) representing Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) who gathered in Unity Square Harare yesterday evening for a prayer vigil were badly beaten. They were made to lie down, and were ‘stomped on’ by Zimbabwe Republic Police. The women who were detained after the incident, were badly injured and have been denied access to lawyers. So much for freedom of expression and freedom of worship; the women were gathered in prayer.

Sokwanele Update #8

Last night at Bulawayo City Hall, all election agents were kept captive until 2.30 a.m., but even more interesting was that the Observer team, including South Africans and Malawians, was locked in the polling station until midnight!