via MDC-T concerned ZEC and Mudede manipulating evidence | SW Radio Africa Posted by Tichaona Sibanda
The MDC-T is concerned that the delay by ZEC and the Registrar-General, in providing voting materials the party has requested, is a delaying tactic giving them time to tamper with the evidence.
Outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s electoral petition, challenging the July 31st Presidential poll result, is banking on evidence he hoped would be supplied by ZEC and Tobaiwa Mudede, the RG.
Tsvangirai is seeking the nullification of the presidential poll and a re-run within 60 days from the date of judgment. He has since labelled the poll a ‘farce.’ The petition will be heard on Saturday.
Lawyers representing the Premier filed a court application last week compelling ZEC to release full details of the disputed poll. In his affidavit Tsvangirai has requested the electoral body to provide verified votes in each district and copies of voters’ lists used at all 9,000 polling stations.
The MDC-T wants the details to support its claims that up to one million eligible voters were prevented from voting and ballots were cast in the names of dead people and voters out of the country.
Douglas Mwonzora, the party spokesman, told journalists in Harare on Friday that they are seriously handicapped by their inability to access the materials and information, some of which by law should have been given to all contesting parties by now by ZEC.
For instance SADC guidelines on elections in the region stipulate that all parties contesting an election should have an electronic copy of the voters roll a couple of weeks before an election.
This is aimed at helping political parties to study and audit the roll, which is easy to do so using an electronic version. But in the case of elections in Zimbabwe, ZEC only provided hard copies of the roll, which are extremely difficult to analyse. They only provided this hard copy on the actual day of the election and only after the MDC-T had gone to court demanding the election roll.
Mwonzora went on to express concern about their inability to access election information: ‘These delays may be contrived to enable the surreptious manipulation of the voting materials and information. We do not have access to these materials and information and we do not know where they are.
We might well be given access eventually but to materials and information that would have already been fixed. In the process we would have legitimized the illegitimate.’
Two weeks ago ZEC announced that President Robert Mugabe had won the poll with 61 percent of the vote, way ahead of Tsvangirai who had just under 34 percent. However claims of rigging have marred Mugabe’s victory amid overwhelming evidence of electoral irregularities.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Nikuv corporation, which reportedly manipulated the voters roll in favour of Mugabe, took away the software which they used to move potential MDC-T voters to other wards or constituencies.
A source told us that moving back voters back to their original constituencies is proving to be a nightmare for Mudede, adding that this is why it’s taking long to provide an electronic voters roll.
Obert Gutu, the outgoing deputy Justice Minister and spokesman for the Harare province told SW Radio Africa that rigging of the poll took place at ZEC and at Mudede’s offices.
Asked why both offices were failing to release the information requested by his party, Gutu retorted: ‘They are scared of letting the cat out of the bag.’
Journalist and political commentator Itai Dzamara said if Mugabe had won fairly, why is the party not comfortable releasing the voting material.
‘They won by an overwhelming majority, so why are they concealing the evidence. If the people voted for them fairly, it’s only fair then for other contesting parties to inspect material on request. By law ZEC should have provided all this a month before the poll,’ Dzamara said.
COMMENTS
There are times when retreat is far more powerful a strategy than attack. This is one of them; Dunkirk was another. Good move Morgan.
As expected they will never release these documents and “No Comment” will be rule of the day. Morgan has to unfortunately sit back and wait for the situation to fall apart and even then nothing will be done by the rest of Africa.
The lesson to be learnt is that elections are not won until they have been won indeed. It is difficult to imagine Tswangirai coming back effectively again. Its just a capitulation as we once did to the whites. We are capitulating to Chinoz. There is no strategy here. Its just a clear defeat of both the MDCs. Next election they will get nothing no senator, no councillor, let alone an MP.
It is indeed a false electoral victory if zanu muppets do not want it to be scrutinised and audited. This denial on the part of the supposed “victor” can only be explained by the fact that they know it is not a victory at all and is not something to be celebrated, it is a shameful and deceitful thing to be kept in the dark and wispered about. Thank you zanu muppets for shaming patriotic citizens and for making Zimbabwe the laughing stock of the whole world !
Good decision Morgan. How can people in their right senses expect THIEVES to willingly provide self incriminating evidence that they stole the election? It has never happened and will never.Look at it this way: The judges to preside over this case were handpicked by Mugabe the THIEF; the registrar general was appointed by Mugabe the THIEF; the ZEC was chosen by Mugabe the THIEF; the police Commissioner General was appointed by Mugabe the THIEF; the Army general was appointed by Mugabe the THIEF; the Head of the CIO was appointed by Mugabe the THIEF – whom then do we expect to judge against Mugabe the THIEF? All these accomplices suffer from crippling paralysis when it comes to Mugabe the THIEF because they do not have the spine to challenge him ‘NOKUTI VAKAGOTA MOTO VEMBAVA’. ALL IN ALL THEREFORE, WE SHOULD CONGRATULATE MUGABE FOR BEING SUCH A SHREWD BUT OBDURATE THIEF.