Mandebvhu Talks “Zimbabwe”…

Given that the entire world’s leaders have foolishly decided to criticise your magnificent election, I shall take it upon myself to congratulate you on a job well done! Goodness knows nobody else will be calling you (assuming the phone lines still work?) with warm wishes.

It has been a hard and tough-fought campaign. The opposition ran a crooked and evil competition, but ultimately the will of the people was truly reflected in your absolutely overwhelming victory at the polls. The people have spoken! They want you! Again…

…you might have run unopposed, but that’s a minor formality in the face of your glorious triumph, placing you at the pinnacle of democratic expression. Those whiner-babies at the MDC could not put a dent in your old-school, down-to-earth style and sheer charisma. Allegations of mass-murder, rape and general tomfoolery by your hired goons are rightfully dismissed as simple diversionary tactics by the opposition.

I can sympathise with your struggle. It’s not easy running a country that has been driven to the dirt by those no good white devils, intent on pillaging our wonderful state with their irrigation techniques, foreign aid infused with genetically-modified poisons and their foreign-inspired notions of ‘good governance’. No, your complete victory at the polls is because of your exemplary leadership, your refusal to allow any manner of foolishness into your economic policies, your stellar adoption of agrarian reform and your fair and just attitude towards democracy would be worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, if that award itself weren’t tainted with the hands of Europeans.

So on this, your magnificent democratic triumph I congratulate you. May you reign long, may the people ever enjoy the warmth of your pragmatism and may democracy never die in your fantastically-liberated country. I hope your example truly serves as a beacon for other African leaders who rely on archaic methods of governance handed down to them by their colonial masters.

Hugs, Kisses and a .50 BMG Between the Eyes

John

(Source)

ShareThis

There’s an open question whether Zimbabwe’s election Friday would be valid even if it hadn’t been marred by violence and intimidation, because it’s pretty clear that a fairly small percentage of people actually turned out to vote. Some legal experts say that at least 50 percent of the registered voters would have needed to cast their ballots. No results have been released as yet officially (for what that’s worth), but a sampling of a dozen polling places in Harare and the nearby town of Chitungwiza is pretty compelling. At the Tamuka polling place for the 24th Ward in Chitungwiza, 1,212 voters chose President Robert Mugabe, 513 chose opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai, and 786 deliberately spoiled their ballot in an apparent protest. And that of course doesn’t begin to count those who heeded the opposition’s boycott and just didn’t vote. That ward has 22,000 registered voters, and only 12.7 percent participated meaningfully. In contrast, during the first presidential race on March 29, voter turnouts were very high.

On Saturday a few shops and businesses opened but it was still preternaturally quiet in the capital, Harare, as if people were collectively holding their breath, waiting for the retribution that ZANU PF enforcers had promised for those who voted against them or stayed away from the polls. Activists from the government party were searching bread lines outside bakeries this morning, checking people’s fingers. Those who didn’t have the telltale purple ink showing they had voted, were pulled out of line and told they’d be allowed no bread. It didn’t take long for outright violence to break out, either. Ismail Siyarun, the secretary of Tsvangirai’s MDC in the Chitungwiza district, wisely fled his house Friday night; at 1 a.m. on Saturday, a gang of Green Bombers, Mugabe’s youth militia, ransacked the place, breaking all the windows and stealing whatever of his belongings seemed worth taking, mostly clothing and household items. Siyarun was just happy they didn’t get his family or him; in the course of the election campaigns of recent years, he’s been arrested 32 times.

We dropped by a hospital in Harare to talk to some MDC victims, though all of them had been attacked before the election, some as recently as Thursday. We were immediately told that journalists have been banned from this hospital (probably from all of them by now), but we presented ourselves as friends of victims, and the nurses on reception just shrugged. The victims, whom Siyarun had identified for us, were MDC activists from Chitungwiza and we only had a chance to talk to three of them; many more are there as well. They’d all been targeted separately by large gangs of ZANU PF activists, and savagely beaten with iron bars and clubs. Jacob Muvavi, 38, a municipal policeman himself, was singled out for particularly harsh treatment and taken to a ZANU PF base, where he was beaten for three hours and had scalding water thrown on his wounds. His tormentors wanted him to confess where he was hiding his MDC t-shirt, so they could make him publicly destroy it, but he refused. Eventually one of his fellow policemen heard where he was and rescued him. “I will never give up my t-shirt,” Muvavi said.

Winfielder Musarrurwa, 21, a youth leader for the MDC, only survived because her tormentors left her for dead. “I pretended to be dead and they left me,” she said. They had found her at 1 a.m. on Thursday, hiding in her sister’s house, stripped off her clothing and beat her with sticks and iron bars on her buttocks and privates. She readily dropped her dress to show the evidence, which was horrifying - modesty surrendered in the sake of giving testimony. They also poured scalding water on her wounds and pounded her arms until they were black and blue. It hasn’t dampened her spirit any. “I will never stop supporting the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai, even if it costs me my life,” she said. Scalding water seems to be a favourite weapon; it was also used on Georgie Simango, 27, a party worker and a samoosa street vendor, who was also burned by hot ashes from a fireplace. But we didn’t get much more into the details; at that point the hospital’s director came in and demanded to know who we were. One of the nurses had ratted - probably only one, because most seemed pretty happy to see us visit.

We explained we were just interested parties, certainly not accredited journalists. “Look, I want the world to know what is happening here as much as anyone,” the director said. “But I also want these people to still be getting treatment here next week.” It was a reasonable position and a classic conundrum; we left after agreeing not to divulge the name of the facility. How much worse this will get before African countries manage to pressure Mugabe into surrender, it’s hard to say, though the initial indications are worrisome. It probably helps the case against him that the low turnout will make it even harder to try to peddle this as a legitimate victory, and at this point, as the second highest vote-getter in the first round of elections, Mugabe can hardly continue to claim to be the legitimate president of Zimbabwe. Dictator, is the title he deserves now, or, at best, self-proclaimed president.

Stopping by the business centre of a major hotel to file this story, I was warned off when we saw one of the computer bays occupied by one of Mugabe’s Men in Black - black suit, black shirt, natty yellow tie, an officer in the Central Intelligence Office. In this case my guide actually recognized him as a CIO man, he said, but since the CIO all wear pretty much the same uniform, that’s only a formality (at night they switch to black leather jackets for the wet work). We eavesdropped on him from a nearby booth; he was multi-tasking, checking his Yahoo e-mail account (I’m tempted to post the address for all those good-intentioned hackers out there) and talking on a cellphone. “I told those guys at the State House to release 400 litres of fuel for the drivers and they didn’t do it,” he said. “What’s their problem? We have an operation tonight.”

After a spell of shouting, he got up and went outside. There he exchanged money and keys with the driver of a minibus parked in the lot, and gave him and several Zimbabweans inside the vehicle instructions. Interestingly, the bus had a sign on the side identifying it as “African Union Observers.” Since they never go out at night, the election observers probably have no idea how their vehicles are being used in the dark. There’s no end to the dirty tricks the regime employed in stealing the election. Thanks to the sullen protest of Zimbabwe’s voters, it seems likely Mugabe will end up like the burglar who finds he has gone to all that trouble to rumble an empty house.

(Source)

ShareThis

The MDC says there was a low voter turnout in parts of Manicaland province, but that last night violence broke out in Headlands, Buhera North/Central and Chipinge constituencies, resulting in the deaths of several people. We were not able to confirm these deaths with the police, but the MDC spokesperson for Manicaland, Pishai Muchauraya said it is the police themselves who have been transporting the bodies of the deceased to mortuaries. Muchauraya said Samson Magumura, the MDC provincial youth organising secretary, was killed in the Headlands constituency by ZANU PF thugs. He said Magumura’s body was taken to Rusape mortuary. He also said that two couples were abducted and murdered, also in Headlands and another MDC couple in Ward 7 Makoni North were killed Thursday night. He said he could not provide the names of all the deceased until he received permission from the families, because of the ongoing victimisation.

Meanwhile the MDC said there were real signs of defiance in Mutare on voting day. Muchauraya said he could only see polling agents and police officers when he went to polling stations like Baring and Chancellor primary schools - no voters. There was a low voter turnout outside Mutare, in places like Makoni, Musikavanhu and Nyanga, although it’s reported that some people were being “helped” to vote by ZANU PF agents. In some instances there were reports that people were spoiling their votes by putting their “X” next to the names of both Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe, and then writing “Mugabe must go” on the top. Meanwhile Crisis in Zimbabwe issued a statement saying seven bodies of MDC activists were found in Epworth on Thursday. Crisis said: “Since the defeat of ZANU PF on the 29th of March 2008, Epworth has been the hardest hit suburb. ZANU PF youth militias were frequently captured on camera pursuing MDC supporters and burning their homes.”

(Source)

ShareThis

South Africa has been supplying Zimbabwe with weapons of war, including helicopters, revolvers and cartridges - despite the mounting human rights atrocities in that country. The sales, some involving state arms company Armscor, have been quietly taking place for some years. When a Chinese freighter recently carried weapons destined for the Zimbabwean military and tried to dock in Durban, there was an international outcry. Information at the Mail & Guardian’s disposal points to a cosy relationship between the defence forces of both countries, as well as government-to-government arms transfers. This appears to conflict with President Thabo Mbeki’s mediation role between the ruling ZANU PF and the opposition MDC, which demands neutrality. The M&G can also reveal that private South African companies have sold arms to Zimbabwe and that these transfers must have been approved by government’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC). The committee is chaired by Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi ­ who also happens to be Mbeki’s envoy in the Zimbabwean negotiations.

Mbeki has been mediating between the Zimbabwean parties since 2001 in an attempt to break the cycle of stolen elections and mounting violence. Repression by the Zimbabwean state and its agents has seen tens of thousands of Zimbabweans harassed and displaced and scores killed. The M&G can reveal that in recent years: Armaments to the value of $237 401 (R3,3-million) were privately transferred from South Africa to Zimbabwe, according to 2004 and 2005 figures; The South African defence department donated Dakota aircraft engines worth millions to Zimbabwe, while Armscor transferred spares to get Zimbabwean military choppers flying again; Zimbabwean soldiers and flying instructors have been trained by the South African Defence Force and the South African Air Force; Armscor was contracted to transport the weaponry destined for Zimbabwe and carried by the An Yue Jiang from the Durban port to Harare. The deal fell through when a court order stopped the ship from offloading and it sailed away.

The arms transfers to Zimbabwe are reflected in official trade records between 2004 and 2005. Although these statistics concern sales by private companies in South Africa, they would still have had to be approved by Mufamadi’s NCACC. The trade records show that in 2004 South Africa exported about 2,6 tonnes of revolvers and/or pistols, another 2,5 tonnes of other firearms, between four and 7,5 tonnes of cartridges and what appear to be parts for military vehicles. These armaments were transferred in the run-up to and aftermath of Zimbabwe’s 2005 parliamentary polls, which were marked by violence. Altogether 18 entries in the trade records were specified from 2004 to 2005, most of them under the general category, “Arms, Ammunition, Parts and Accessories”. But some were specified under the category that includes bombs, grenades, torpedoes and missiles, while some transfers fell into the category of “revolvers and pistols”.

In the NCACC’s annual reports from 2003 to 2006, which are not publicly released but of which the M&G has been given a detailed description, no mention is made of any of these transfers. The only mention of arms transfers to Zimbabwe between 2003 and 2006 is a “temporary export” called “Type A” - a classification used for spares or repairs - in 2005. The data also show the sale of arms to Zimbabwe by China, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates - but South Africa is by far the most frequent and largest supplier. In 2005 Armscor delivered spare parts for Alouette military helicopters to Zimbabwe to a value of $150 000 (about R1-million), an Armscor spokesperson confirmed. The Alouettes, previously grounded, were made airworthy. According to the annual report of the South African defence department, South Africa donated eight Dakota aircraft engines worth R9,5-million to the Zimbabwean Air Force in September 2005.

The disclosure of the extent of South African arms transfers to Zimbabwe comes after the Chinese arms ship saga, when civil society stepped in to prevent the An Yue Jiang from offloading at Durban harbour. The issue is known to have caused conflict in the Cabinet, where President Mbeki and Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota insisted that the ship should be allowed to offload. As previously reported in the M&G, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Transport Minister Jeff Radebe disagreed and tried to halt the delivery. Trucks from an Armscor affiliate were ready to take the weapons from Durban to Harare by road. But when the ship sailed away in contravention of the court order, the transaction was cancelled, said the Armscor spokesperson. Mufamadi later told Parliament that the permit for the transportation of the arms had been approved and that the South African government saw nothing wrong with facilitating delivery. This suggests a political conflict of interest for Mufamadi, who is also a key player in the Mbeki facilitation team brokering a deal between ZANU PF and the MDC.

SANDF annual reports make it clear the South African government has become closer to the Zimbabwean military in recent years. Several Zimbabwean soldiers and flying instructors have been trained by the SANDF since 2002. In 2006 a joint permanent commission of defence and security was formed to ensure close cooperation on defence issues between the two countries. In May 2006 the SANDF presented a course to, among others, Zimbabwean chaplains in the combating of HIV. In the 2006 annual report the deputy minister of defence, Mluleki George, said the South African Air Force was considering using Zimbabwean flying instructors to supplement its own trainers, who were in short supply. The South African Air Force participated in the “silver celebrations” of the Zimbabwean Air force in 2005. Cooperation between South Africa and Zimbabwe on the issue of border protection is also ongoing.

South Africa recently voted in the United Nations General Assembly for a process to set up a global Arms Trade Treaty to prevent the irresponsible transfer of arms, an idea launched in a campaign by Amnesty International and 800 other NGOs in 2003. South Africa was recently allowed into the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement, subscribed to by a number of countries, to contribute to regional and international security and stability by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies. The text of the arrangement reads: “Participating states seek, through their national policies, to ensure that transfers of these items do not contribute to the development or enhancement of military capabilities which undermine these goals.” According to Nicole Fritz, director of the Southern African Litigation Centre, states which render assistance to states that use state machinery against some sections of their society are held responsible under international law. “Knowing what the situation is like in Zimbabwe means a government that gives them assistance becomes complicit.”

(Source)

ShareThis

US presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday the international community must do more try to help resolve Zimbabwe’s political crisis and to pressure President Robert Mugabe who is clinging to power.

He singled out South Africa as one country that needs to apply more pressure on Mugabe, 84, who has refused to step down.

“What’s happening in Zimbabwe is tragic. This is a country that used to be the bread basket of Africa. Mugabe has run the economy into the ground. He has perpetrated extraordinary violence against his own people,” Obama told a news conference in Chicago.

Obama, a Democrat, is running in the November presidential election against Republican John McCain.

“Not only do I think that the United Nations needs to continue to apply as much pressure as possible on the Mugabe government, but in particular other African nations, including South Africa, I think have to be much more forceful in condemning the extraordinary violence that’s been taking place there,” Obama said.

“And frankly, they have been quiet for far too long and allowed Mugabe to engage in this sort of anti-colonial rhetoric that is used to distract from his own profound failures as a leader,” he added.

In the heaviest pressure yet on Mugabe by Zimbabwe’s neighbours, a troika of southern African nations urged the postponement of Friday’s presidential election which they say would lack legitimacy in the current violent climate.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai took refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare this week after announcing he had pulled out of election because of violence which has killed about 90 people and displaced 200,000.

The government has said it will go ahead with the presidential election despite a storm of international condemnation and calls to postpone the vote.

“What is remaining of this election is a complete and total sham,” Obama said, echoing US President George W. Bush.

“I don’t think that whatever the results of this election on Friday, that Mugabe will be able to claim any sort of legitimacy as a democratically elected leader in Zimbabwe,” he added.

(Source)

ShareThis

Zimbabwe’s opposition on Tuesday hand-delivered a letter to the country’s electoral commission confirming that its leader Morgan Tsvangirai will not participate in this week’s presidential run-off, a party spokesman said. “They are now happy recipients of that letter from the MDC,” Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP. “In the letter we are stating clearly that we are not participating in this election.” He added: “We are saying a free and fair election is impossible in the prevailing circumstances.” The letter adds that if Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU PF party goes ahead with the vote set for Friday, “it has no endorsement of the MDC and indeed the majority of the people of Zimbabwe.” According to Chamisa, “the election result of March 29 should stand until a free and fair election is held.”

Tsvangirai defeated President Robert Mugabe in the March 29 first round of the election, but with an official vote total just short of an outright majority. Mugabe’s ruling party also lost its parliamentary majority in the election for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980. Tsvangirai announced on Sunday he was withdrawing from the run-off poll since violence had made a fair election impossible. However, Zimbabwe’s ruling party and electoral officials have said they were pushing ahead with Friday’s run-off because Tsvangirai had not formally confirmed his withdrawal. The opposition claims more than 80 of its supporters have been killed in a campaign of intimidation ahead of the vote, and Tsvangirai has been holed up in the Dutch embassy in Harare for nearly two days, saying he will remain there until he feels safe. International calls have intensified for the government to postpone the run-off election.

(Source)

ShareThis

It has been done with great brutality, but Robert Mugabe has achieved an extraordinary turnaround here.

Back in March, when the first round of voting took place, he was humiliated by being beaten into second place in the presidential race, and by losing the parliamentary election outright.

Now he’s the sole effective candidate in Friday’s presidential run-off, and he cannot fail to win with an overwhelming majority.

His opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been completely outmanoeuvred. The outside world, which mostly sympathises with him, can do nothing whatever to help him.

The suburban street outside the Dutch embassy where he’s taken refuge in Harare is empty, except for a few security policemen on the look-out.

Even his choice of embassy has been turned against him by his political enemies. It might well have been better for him politically if he had chosen an African rather than a European country to ask for help.

As it is, MDC supporters are gloomy and resentful. They are also cowed.

The streets of Harare are quiet because there is no longer any need for the groups of violent political activists in ZANU PF t-shirts who have been roaming them, looking for people to beat up.

There will be no demonstrations in favour of the man inside the Dutch embassy. He seems as cowed as his supporters.

There are plenty of people here who do not even know yet that Morgan Tsvangirai has dropped out of the political race.

That is not entirely surprising. The official media scarcely mentions Mr Tsvangirai or the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) unless they are obliged to.

The main English-language television news programme at 8pm each evening on the ZBC is an hour-long paean of praise to Mr Mugabe and his past record.

The programme’s reporting merges imperceptibly with the frequent election advertisements for Mr Mugabe. If anything, the reporters and newscasters praise him more than his own party hacks.

As for Mr Tsvangirai, he only gets a substantial mention on television when he is being attacked. One rather well-made advertisement lists him with Tony Blair, George W Bush and Gordon Brown as members of the “failures club”.

A long news report on Mr Mugabe’s political campaigning contrasts his successes and his likely future achievements with Mr Tsvangirai’s inexperience. The reporter, referring to Mr Tsvangirai’s past as a union leader, says dismissively that he has merely negotiated about getting more money.

Neither she nor anyone else in this hour-long programme mentions that on Monday the Zimbabwean dollar fell to 30 billion against the US dollar. The cost of a tub of margarine in a Harare store on Monday was Z$420m.

No-one knows how much worse the economic collapse will be after Mr Mugabe wins the vote on Friday. The economy seems to be in complete freefall now.

But as long as he can blame it on Western sanctions, even though they are few and mostly aimed at leading members of ZANU PF, he will remain unscathed.

Western powers will be openly angry about the eclipse of Morgan Tsvangirai and the sweeping victory of Robert Mugabe on Friday. Many African governments will be just as angry, but will be more discreet about it.

Some countries, China in particular, will continue to help Mr Mugabe quietly and give him what diplomatic protection they can.

It all adds up to a remarkable sweeping victory for a man who only three months ago seemed to be on the ropes.

The moral is clear: never underestimate Robert Mugabe’s ferocious determination to stay in power, nor the ability of his political opponents to destroy their own case.

(Source)

ShareThis

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has pulled out of a run-off election for the country’s presidency, saying that his supporters are facing violent intimidation by loyalists of incumbent Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF.

The MDC says that at least 80 of its supporters have been killed and 200,000 others forced from their homes by ZANU PF supporters - claims denied by Mugabe.

Haru Mutasa, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Zimbabwe, talked to Morgan Tsvangirai about his decision to boycott the June 27 vote and how he sees the future of his party and country.

Haru Mutasa: You have just announced that you are not going to take part in the run-off election for the Zimbabwean presidency. How do you think your supporters will react?

Morgan Tsvangirai: I think our supporters will support this decision, because our council is a representative of all the provinces at the grass roots level.

They are the ones we have to confront with this - on a daily basis they have to live with this violence [allegedly carried out by Mugabe’s supporters].

Therefore, when we took this decision, it was really an informed decision. I think it is in the best interests of our people.

What about those who say you are giving Mugabe an easy victory?

We are not giving victory to anyone.

In fact, if we were to proceed to an election it would satisfy Robert Mugabe because he would be able to claim legitimacy.

But if we withdraw because the conditions are so compelling, then he will have a hollow victory to claim.

For us, we won the election on March 29. What he is now doing, to declare war - we will not be a part of it.

What is next for the MDC – what is your strategy now?

Our basic strategy is to inform our people that this is the way we are going to go.

I think everyone agrees that these elections are not acceptable. We will be able to mobilize international opinion on that basis.

Have you ever considered a government of national unity with ZANU PF?

Everyone is suggesting there is almost an unclaimed momentum around a government of national unity. I don’t know about it.

No-one has discussed with me nor with the party about the possible proposals.

We have never said we are not keen to hold negotiations and we are not keen to accommodate ZANU PF, or to cohabit with ZANU PF. We never said that.

For the good of the country we need a transitional mechanism that is going to take the country to a more stable [situation]. But no-one is coming forward with specific proposals to say “look, this is the crisis we are facing”.

If we have to end [the crisis] in order to create the necessary stability, I think there is a need to co-exist and co-operate.

(Source)

ShareThis

Youth militia from Zimbabwe’s ruling party attacked people at the site of a campaign rally in Zimbabwe’s capital just days ahead of the presidential runoff election, according to an opposition official and a journalist on the scene.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had been scheduled to address the opposition MDC rally in Harare Sunday.

A judge in Zimbabwe’s High Court cleared the way Saturday for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rally with an order that banned national police from interfering.

Police had banned the rally earlier in this week, citing security concerns.

A journalist on the scene said “rowdy youths dressed in ZANU-PF regalia have occupied the venue of the rally.”

The MDC issued a statement Sunday saying “thousands of armed ZANU-PF youth militia” disrupted their rally.

“Pedestrians passing through the area were being harassed and assaulted if they do not compile to the demands of the marauding ZANU-PF militia who are asking them to chant ZANU PF slogans,” the journalist, who is unidentified for safety reasons, said.

“This country belongs to ZANU PF,” a ZANU PF youth shouted as he punched the air with a fist. “It came through blood and we are prepared to spill more in order to defend it.”

MDC presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was expected to speak at Sunday’s rally.

Tsvangirai will again face President Robert Mugabe in a presidential runoff set for Friday, after the March 29 election resulted in a standoff.

Though reports of violence are not uncommon in Zimbabwe, there has been an uptick in attacks since those elections.

There have been numerous reports from the opposition and church groups about kidnappings, torture and other violence, including the deaths of opposition party members. They say the violence targets opponents of Mugabe and his ZANU PF party.

Pre-runoff election violence has killed about 70 MDC supporters, according to the party, which says that more than 30,000 people have been displaced.

Tsvangirai and other MDC members have also been detained several times in the weeks leading up to the runoff election.

On Friday, Mugabe, speaking to a rally in Bulawayo, said the MDC was compiling names of alleged victims of political violence.

“They have been saying their supporters are being beaten up by our soldiers. They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie!,” he said, according to the state-run Herald newspaper.

(Source)

ShareThis

With just days to go before the second round of the presidential election in Zimbabwe, violence seems to be escalating.

Reports of intimidation against opposition supporters have included severe beatings, murders and sexual violence.

But ZANU PF, the ruling party of President Mugabe, denies these reports, blaming the violence instead on the opposition MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

In the first round in March, which was relatively peaceful, Morgan Tsvangirai gained about 120,000 more votes than Robert Mugabe but still not enough to avoid a run-off, according to official results.

BBC website readers in Zimbabwe tell of their recent experiences as the vote approaches. Their names have been changed to protect their identity:

As I write this message police officers are queuing to vote using postal votes. There is no way one can vote for Morgan Tsvangirai because seated on the voting table in Masvingo is the senior commissioner flanked by the assistant commissioners. They tell you ‘vote for our father Mugabe’ and show you where to put your X. Even police officers who were not registered voters were registered after the 29 March elections. I was surprised to see my name and many more others appearing and giving me a constituency. Observers should visit centres where postal ballots are cast because this is rigging at its best. Please let the world know about this forced postal voting.

Tendai, Masvingo

I am a student in my final year of university but I wonder if I will finish my degree. There are rumours of a war breaking out regardless of which party wins. My uncle, who resides in a small town called Chiredzi, fled the country and is now in exile in South Africa. My neighbour who was an independent candidate for the House of Assembly is also in exile. Many people in my parents’ social circles have also left for S Africa. But my dad is being stubborn and refuses to go into hiding. What kind of a country is this? There is such greed and such cruelty. I do not see our nation ever being truly independent as long as Mugabe or his party is in power. They are doing exactly what the regime of Ian Smith regime used to do. This kind of oppression is worse because it is brother against brother.

Kennedy, Chiredzi

I am very disturbed by the situation in my country. What we need is divine intervention because we tried our best by voting for the president we wanted, but now we are being killed, harassed and tortured for exercising our rights. The world should condemn Mr Mugabe and his government for taking the people of Zimbabwe for granted. Only God knows what will happen next.

Chris, Harare

Against the background facing us especially in Masvingo province’s Bikita district, it is inconceivable that the elections will be free and fair. Here a bloody reign of terror has been unleashed on us such that we have resorted to hiding in mountains and other areas for the sake of our security. There is maximum brutality here as ZANU PF militias step up their whacking of the MDC supporters with the direct help of a few deployed soldiers and local ZANU PF supporters.

Michael, Masvingo

This is a nightmare. If anyone were to call this environment conducive to free and fair elections, one must question their sanity. We had three people killed yesterday (one said to be the driver of the MDC MP elect) and now ZANU militia and soldiers have put up road blocks and if you don’t show your support for Mugabe by chanting slogans, you will be severely beaten. They have even gone as far as stopping staff buses and beating up workers on their way to their jobs. Mugabe surely is the devil and these demon friends and supporters of his are ruthless! Powerless as we are, I feel we are heading towards a massacre like the one in 1985-7 and it’s a big ask but the international community has to help us. We need help!

James, Kadoma

I live in an upmarket suburb of Harare and even here the ZANU PF youths have moved in en-masse. They have taken over a piece of wasteland where they drink the local moonshine and smoke ‘mbanje’ before patrolling the streets, carrying hammers, pangas and other assorted weapons, insisting that any person going about their daily business go with them. After they’ve gathered up enough people (to refuse results in a sound beating) they take them back to the wasteland and make them sing patriotic songs and chant ZANU PF slogans for hours. If you don’t do this with enough enthusiasm you are threatened and beaten. People are terrified.

Jane, Harare

The violence just needs to stop. ZANU PF and MDC thugs have taken over and are abducting and killing each other at will. This is not an election, it’s a murderous campaign of senseless killings which will achieve nothing. We are on the brink of absolute anarchy and we shudder to think whether we will be able to retrieve the country from where it is being taken to. God help us.

Farai, Harare

The whole thing has gone out of hand and without intervention we are sitting ducks waiting to be picked off one by one. The elections should not go ahead, they are an excuse for bloodshed. We have been summoned for a meeting in Seke, Unit M - we expect hell if we go but if we don’t go its worse. From a town dominated by MDC less than a month ago to not even one opposition supporter in sight, we must be a bunch of spineless Africans. I’m scared for my family!!!

Joseph, Chitungwiza

(Source)

ShareThis