via MDC-T dossier says JOC controlled the elections | SW Radio Africa by Tichaona Sibanda November 6, 2013
President Robert Mugabe’s trusted Joint Operations Command (JOC) took a vice like grip on proceedings of the July 31st elections, which allowed them to snuff the remaining life out of the opposition through rigging.
In a 48 page-dossier compiled by the MDC led by ex-Premier Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition party claims Justice Rita Makarau, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), had her authority reduced to nothing more than rubber stamping.
The JOC deployed Silas Nyanungo, a senior CIO operative to the ZEC headquarters in Harare, where he assumed the role of chief operations officer. This rendered Makarau useless and forced her to toe the ZANU PF line.
Covertly Nyanungo set up systems and structures within ZEC that ensured he had total control of all the processes, programmes and decisions, according to the dossier, that has been reportedly handed over to several SADC Heads of States and diplomats based in Harare.
The JOC’s stranglehold over much of the running and conduct of the elections raised alarm among some ZEC Commissioners, who forced Makarau to take up the issue with Registrar GeneralTobaiwa Mudede, two weeks before the poll.
‘On July 15, Makarau, after being pressured by the majority of commissioners, approached Mudede requesting an explanation over the lack of transparency as well as progress in the voter registration and preparation of the voters’ roll following widespread outcry and condemnation of the corrupted process.
‘However, Mudede refused to own up and explain the chaos around voter registration but rather, Makarau was ordered to leave the matter, by Retired Air-Vice Marshal Henry Muchena.’
Muchena, a director at ZANU PF headquarters, was part of a three member committee (management and implemention) controlled by the military and intelligence organs. Other members of this committee included major-general Douglas Nyikayaramba and Aaron Daniel Tonderai Nhepera, the deputy director-general of the CIO.
Above this body was the high command, personally appointed by Mugabe and led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the former defence minister in the inclusive government. The dossier says this body was tasked with supervising and commanding the whole rigging mission.
The dossier claims that others that were involved in this body included Sydney Sekeramayi, Saviour Kasukuwere, Webster Shamu, Ignatius Chombo, Kembo Mohadi, Christopher Mushowe, Nicholas Goche and Obert Mpofu.
‘Each and every department at ZEC had plants that controlled and directed all plans and operations in conformity with instructions and guidelines provided from the military and intelligence management committee,’ the report said.
It added that Makarau and the rest of commissioners were also kept in the dark about the processes as well as plans behind the printing of ballot papers, which was now the preserve of the junta.
‘The ZEC official structure cannot up to now account for the number of ballot papers that were printed, how they were distributed and used. The commissioners were merely given figures to issue out, but without at all being allowed to observe, monitor or even take stock of this vital aspect of an election,’ according to the report in possession of SW Radio Africa.
However, political commentator Pedzisai Ruhanya said there is nothing in the report that senior MDC-T officials were not aware of as they were warned well in advance of ZANU PF’s plans to rig the poll.
‘The report will not change anything. It’s only new to people who are not serious, as many people produced reports and verbally told the MDC-T of how Mugabe was going to rig the elections.
‘They didn’t listen…the problem with the party is it’s full of divisive elements, full of people who are not content, full of people who realize how they were tricked after the event,’ said Ruhanya.
He continued: ‘What is done is done and cannot be undone. The reality is ZANU PF has successfully rigged the elections; they are in power and it’s not going to be undone. What is to be done is to have a thorough interrogation of the whole process.
COMMENTS
Amazing to read the rubbish journalists come up with.
Prior to thev electiom – several weeks.
I made a prediction resultant of questions in the rural villagers it was 30% for MDC I did think they may do better in Harare but speaking with observers they said that meetings held in Seke which they attended where 5$ a head was being handed out to all in attendance and people being bussed in from out of town attendance was poor in comparison to Zanu meetings.
I told the brit embassy who said rather obviously those coming for hand outs said they would win. The guardian poll agreed with my evaluation as did a US poll.
I don’t say it was rigged because MDC got 33% in stead of 30%.
Maybe there is a lesson to be learned.You cant buy an election, once the electorate has seen you operate.
John you speak like a prophet with no facts….a simple statistical analysis would tell you the elections were indeed rigged. I am not an MDC supporter or member, but a sympathiser with Statistics Studies background.
In a research if one get readings with the pattern as portrayed in the Zimbabwe Election result a further analysis or “re-experiment” will have to be done, or we fail the student for fiddling with the figures.
You cannot have polling stations in one constituents having significantly different numbers of voters, with wards in which Ngwazi’s Party won having significantly higher turnout. The coincidence cannot be replicated in normal random system.The figures must have a trend.
If A=3, B=2, c=4,d=25 and e=2 in a set of data in a zone, then there is surely something wrong with “d” and a prudent student would carry out further investigation. If this is repeated in other zones then it is indeed a cooked experiment.
Jonh: What prediction? Nonses the election was rigged full time. If by US prediction you mean an article entiled “US think tank predicts Zanu-PF victory” by one John Campbell, a Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, the article has one ambigous statement cited as reason hfor a mugabe win. The statement reads, I quote “So long as Mugabe lives, Zanu-PF will likely win a national election. It benefits from the advantage of incumbency: not just because of intimidation,because it is associated with the dispossession of white farmers.” Well, my interpretation of this, and which is 80% and above the right interpretation,is that the advantage of incumbency here involves the militarisation of instutions of goverment and politicisation of the security sector.You know this John dont you?
Then, that john Campbell continues, and I quote “Land is by far the most important domestic issue in the country and Mugabe has been on the side of justice from the point of view of black Zimbabweans” Here john campbel sounds ignorant. His statement seems to imply that MDC was against land redistribution. He doesnt seem to know that we had a referendum on the land issue in early 2000 to choose between a violent,chaotic redistribution route and a non violent,economical boosting route. The majority of zimbabweans voted against mugabe and zanu pf’s preferred route of violent redistribution. So campbel is either wilfully being dishonest,and a hired zanu propagandist.If he is not, then he needs to revise his Africa Policy Studies, in particular that of zimbabwe.
There are many of these experts on Africa who have never set foot on the continent.Some, when they do come to places like Zimbabwe will write pages upon pages using parts of articles from local papers while sitting in their hotel rooms,looking down on Africa Unity Square.Most of their supposed research is from what they read on the internet.
Zanu categorically refused to have election assistance from UNDP, a UN arm. Why?
The irony is that ZANU came to power through a UN supervised election, which they now conveniently label as interfering into internal affairs.
ZANU is basically a group of ruthless crooks with no conscience, a culture which has now trickled down in our society and children. Stealing and taking something built by someone has become the norm.
If you scan the people who went for the armed struggle, the majority were school drop outs, criminals on wanted list, people who had become social misfits, or running from some social problems. It was generally a circumstantial departure to Mozambique. It was anaChunky, nanaChanetsa. I challenge anyone to do a check of people whom they know personally, if they were of age at the time of the struggle. Very few were motivated to liberate the black man.
Unfortunately anaChunky now rule us and claim we “died for you” as they plunder our resources, and giving us a semblance of elections, to cow us down after the failure of introducing one party state.
I totally agree with you Tsuro.The question is what do these so called leaders teach their own children?It”s OK to steal and lie with a straight face.Shame on them!What is this world coming to?I cry for the women and children that have no one to protect them from these cowards,I cry for all the people of Zimbabwe.
Where are the brave and honest men and women?I know there are many of them out there!We cannot allow this thuggery to go on!Arise
I totally agree with you Tsuro.The question is what do these so called leaders teach their own children?It”s OK to steal and lie with a straight face.Shame on them!What is this world coming to?I cry for the women and children that have no one to protect them from these cowards,I cry for all the people of Zimbabwe.
Where are the brave and honest men and women?I know there are many of them out there!We cannot allow this thuggery to go on!We have to take our country back from these criminals.
I wonder if many of us from this 80% Christian country???? know what the bible says about lying, deceit, corruption, theft, hatred and so on? may God have mercy on this nation. Our children are growing up with some very bad examples
In as much as we point a finger at zpf I think mdc shd shoulder much of e blame. Like Ruhanya said all what e mdc is saying has been said and complained abt by many ppl. It ddnt need a learned person to c zpf was bz rigging. Voter registration was skewed in favor of zpf, earlier voters rolls analyzed be ERC revealed abt 68 constituencies had more registered voters than inhabitants, it was reported e zrp was printing ballot papers and we all know Chihuri is a full time and active member of zpf, there were reports of nikuv manipulating e roll etc. The conduct of e special voting by security forces proved nothing gud was going to come out. The mdc shd have listened bt they became too arrogant. To me all e chaos we find ourselves in shd be blamed on them. Zpf wanted pwr bt knew fairly they won’t win, they also knew resorting open violence will alienate them from sadc that’s y they resorted to rigging. Zpf doesn’t care abt e p bt themselves. Talking u can’t rig e economy is empty and means nothing to them. They don’t even care so let’s not pin our hopes on e crumbling economy. In 2008 e economy crushed bt instead they bcame more ruthless just to retain power
A former CIO operative being appointed Operations Manager – by merit I assume, whats wrong with that. Was Morgan not aware. He goes to mention ZPFs campain team directorate. Didnt MDC have its own directorate. Where was MDCt when its members were failing to register. I assume they ran out of numbers
Part of this obvious rigging process was to infiltrate MDC to create a certain amount of confusion and for them to make decisions that helped the overall rigging process.
Blame MDC for what? Zanu rigged period!!! MDC ine vanhu and not machines and they are prone to make mistakes.
If ours is really a democratic country led by honest people, will there be need to employ such crooked methods like Zanu did to win an election?