The Homepage of Vusumuzi Sifile Sibanda: Zimbabwe Holds Its Breath Over Election ResultsBy

Monday, March 31, 2008

Zimbabwe Holds Its Breath Over Election ResultsBy

Ephraim Nsingo

Mar 31 (IPS) - With more than a day having passed since polling stations for Zimbabwe's general elections closed their doors, complete official results for the ballot have yet to be released.Those which have been issued show the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) having won the same number of House of Assembly seats as its principal challenger, the main faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC): 19.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was an early casualty of the Mar. 29 polls, which saw the presidency, lower house of parliament, Senate and local government seats contested. This was the first time all four of these elections had been held on the same day. Delays in starting the announcement of results and the slow pace at which these are being issued have raised further concerns about vote rigging in the Southern African country.

While the outcome of previous ballots was made known within hours of voting coming to an end, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) only started issuing results for the latest polls Monday morning. In an announcement on state television Sunday evening about the time when the outcome would be made known, ZEC Chairman George Chiweshe said there was nothing untoward about unveiling the results on Monday: "In other countries, it takes longer than that -- at times up to one week. There is nothing peculiar about this election in Zimbabwe; the commission is a professional and constitutional body."

However, Chiweshe's words were likely to have been dismissed by opposition members and activists, who have persistently accused the commission of being biased towards President Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF. "Some rigging is going on somewhere, so they delay the announcement to perfect it," said Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, a civic body that lobbies for constitutional reform in Zimbabwe.

In an earlier sign of scepticism about the ZEC, the main faction of the MDC announced that it was on track to win the elections, based on results already displayed at about a third of polling stations; the party claimed it was leading with 67 percent of votes.

Later, the group claimed a lead of 60 percent of the presidential vote against 30 percent for Mugabe, and to have captured 96 of the House of Assembly seats (there are 210 seats in all) -- this based on results made known at polling stations for 128 of the seats. Candidates are also contesting 59 Senate seats. A 60th senatorial spot has already been won by a ZANU-PF candidate who was elected unopposed at the nomination court, while a further 21 places will be occupied in part with presidential nominees. Some 2,000 local government posts need to be filled.

State security forces had banned pre-empting the ZEC on the outcome of the elections. But, the larger MDC faction -- led by Morgan Tsvangirai -- argued that the results cited were already in the public domain, and that its announcement was to guard against votes being tampered with at a national command centre where results are finalised. The faction has reportedly claimed gains even in the provinces of Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and Masvingo -- seen as Mugabe strongholds.

"For us farm workers, this marks the end of tyranny. We have suffered a lot," said a labourer who works at Cornucopia Farm Orchard, a property in Mashonaland West appropriated by Deputy Youth Development and Employment Creation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere under Zimbabwe's controversial land redistribution policy. "Since this man took over the farm, our lives have been a nightmare. He does not pay on time, but he now makes us work far more than we used to. Saviour is fortunate he did not contest here, otherwise we would punish him heavily for his sins."

Starting in 2000, government oversaw the seizure of farms owned by minority whites. Supposedly for resettlement of landless blacks, the initiative has seen a number of properties taken over by high-ranking officials. It is also considered a key factor in the economic collapse of Zimbabwe, which now battles inflation of about 100,000 percent, unemployment of up to 80 percent, and widespread shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency. Once efficient social services in the Southern African nation are crumbling.

"There are certain areas which had been declared permanent ZANU-PF strongholds, and to have the opposition sweeping through in those areas is enough evidence that -- without rigging -- the ruling party will emerge empty handed," said political analyst John Makumbe.

However, fears of rigging are widespread. In the run-up to Saturday's vote, the opposition, along with various rights groups and think-tanks, highlighted an array of factors that have blighted the polls, ranging from intimidation of the opposition, bias in the state-controlled media and a shaky voters' roll to manipulation of food aid and the exclusion of election observers from countries critical of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe and the ruling party stand accused of using similar tactics to rig parliamentary elections in 2000 and 2005, and a presidential poll in 2002. Still, the extent of economic and social hardship that now afflicts Zimbabwe leads some to believe that the 2008 poll will defy the odds. There is "no way ZANU-PF heavyweights could expect to win this election under the current circumstances, for which they are responsible," said Gorden Moyo, an analyst and civic activist based in Bulawayo, the country's second largest city. "In the past, it was easy for them to manipulate voters because the situation was not as bad as it is now. The economy at the moment is the biggest opposition to ZANU-PF and there is no way they could have expected to win. People are disgruntled with the current government's failures."

Almost six million people were registered to take part in the vote, which was largely peaceful.

Mugabe, in power since independence and seeking a sixth term in office, faced three challengers -- notably Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni: a former finance minister and ZANU-PF member who was expelled from the party after he broke ranks to contest the presidency.

If none of the presidential candidates wins more than 50 percent of the vote, then a run-off will have to be held within three weeks. Parliamentary and local government polls attracted 17 parties -- the most prominent being ZANU-PF and MDC-Tsvangirai -- and 116 independent candidates, mostly under the banner of Makoni's Mavambo/Kusile group. ("Mavambo" is a Shona word that means "beginning"; "kusile" is Ndebele for "dawn".)

The wait for results has prompted comparisons between Zimbabwe and Kenya, where head of state Mwai Kibaki's disputed win in the Dec. 27 presidential election came after a delay in the announcement of results. Over a thousand people died and many more were displaced in clashes sparked by the opposition's refusal to accept these results. MDC-Tsvangirai has indicated that it too will not accept the outcome of a poll seen as rigged; security officials, for their part, have warned against a repeat of Kenya's violence in Zimbabwe. IPS found larger businesses in Harare to be operating normally Monday, with the usual queues outside banks.

However, smaller retailers were closed and riot police were said to have been deployed in the capital: telling signs of the tensions in the country as it waits to see whether Mugabe's uninterrupted rule may finally be brought to an end.

The election in quotes "We do not rig elections. We have that sense of honesty. I cannot sleep with my conscience if I have cheated on elections." - President Robert Mugabe

"All along, these people have been using us and taking us for granted, but now we know their dirty tricks and we will not allow them to use us as their political condoms. Immediately after winning elections, they would dump us and only think of us when there is another election. We are happy all of us have finally realised this dirty game." - Mathew Chideu, a voter in Bindura -- capital of Mashonaland Central Province -- in reference to ZANU-PF.

I voted for Tsvangirai. The old man has been in power too long and the country is going to waste. I want change, but I don't trust Simba Makoni because he used to be of ZANU-PF." Tendai, a gardener who voted in Harare.

"My man is Makoni. Him coming into the race was a wake up call. That he is ZANU-PF doesn't make him a bad guy. He has new and fresh ideas. Tsvangirai didn't deliver last time…I doubt if these elections will be free and fair, but it is the best chance we will get for change." Leslie Makawa Tongai, a 24-year-old musician who voted in Harare.

"I am looking for a truck to move from State House. Do you know anybody with a truck? Mugabe." A mobile phone text message doing the rounds in Zimbabwe. -IPS News, 31 March 2008

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About Vusa

Vusumuzi Sifile Sibanda is a Zimbabwean journalist currently working as editor of The Mirror, a weekly newspaper in Gaborone, Botswana.

He joined the Mirror in January 2009 having worked s a Staff Writer for The Standard, Zimbabwe’s only independent Sunday newspaper for close to four years. He also had stints with the now defunct Parade Magazine and The Weekly Times newspaper.

Born in 1981 in Mberengwa, a rural district in the south western parts of Zimbabwe, on the boundary of Midlands and Matabeleland South provinces, Vusumuzi did his primary and secondary education at Danangombe Primary and Matabo Secondary schools respectively.

In 2000, he was named the best student in the Gwanda High School Advanced Level class. A year later, he became the first student from Gwanda High School to enrol at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo when he became part of 19 pioneer students in the Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. He completed the programme in 2005.

While still studying at NUST in June 2003, Vusa joined Parade Magazine, then Zimbabwe’s leading monthly magazine for Industrial Attachment. The very day he joined the publicatioon, on June 2 2003, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) embarked on their "final push". This was a real rude awakening for a young, raw journalist.

In November 2003, when all indications were that Parade would not continue publishing, Vusa left to join the World Agroforestry Centre/International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) where he worked as an intern communications assistant for the organisation’s Southern Africa regional programme. At ICRAF, he worked as an assistant Editor of the organisation’s regional publications, Miombo Voices ans Living with Trees in Southern Africa, as well as the organisation’s website, www.icrafsa.org. He was also a regular contributor to the organisation’s international weekly, Transformations. He also collaborated with Livai Matarirano in establishing Agroforestry Forum, an agroforestry newsletter focusing mostly on the ICRAF Zimbabwe national programmes and its partners.

In addition to his Bachelor’s Degree, Vusa also has a number of other qualifications like Reporting Politics, Multimedia and Online Journalism, Population and Rural Development. During his stay at ICRAF, Vusa participated at a number of training programmes, with the two main ones being the Integration of Gender into Agroforestry Development (2003) and Teaching with Trees in Southern Africa (2004).

Towards the end of 2004, Vusa and nine other students from his class grouped themselves to form the editorial team of The Weekly Times newspaper. Despite being inexperienced, the team managed to produce a high quality weekly newspaper, which proved to be an alternative source of information for Zimbabweans. So serious was the newspaper that the authorities saw it as a threat, resulting in it being forced to shutdown in February 2005 after publishing just six issues.

During his at The Weekly Times, Vusa also contributed to Tariro/Ithemba Magazine, a publication focusing on orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The magazine was edited by Parkie Mbozi, his industrial attachment supervisor at ICRAF Southern Africa.

His experience as a communications assistant inspired Vusa to write a dissertation titled: “An assessment of the knowledge and understanding of agroforestry issues by newspaper journalists in Bulawayo”.

On completion of his studies, Vusa joined The Standard newspaper as a junior reporter and rose through the ranks to the position of a Senior Staff Writer. He is also a regular contributor for reputable international news agencies.

Vusa is a God fearing journalist. He is a born again member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ). Among other positions in the church, Vusa is the current chairperson of the Luther League (Youth) Fellowship in the Martin Luther Deanery of the ELCZ.

As part of his contribution towards the ministry of the Gospel of Christ, Vusumuzi is among the founders of Anointing Magazine, a fortnightly Christian magazine published in South Africa. He is the magazine’s deputy editor.

My Writings

Zimbabwe impedes Sadc intergration’

By Vusumuzi Sifile

THE continued economic and political meltdown in Zimbabwe is endangering any prospects of regional integration within the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc), political analysts have said.
During a debate in Harare recently, the analysts were unanimous that the current situation in Zimbabwe was making it virtually impossible to integrate the region.
The debate focused on what role Zimbabwe could play in helping to integrate Sadc.
Among other factors was Zimbabwe’s inflation rate, estimated at more than 14 000% — more than 1 000 times the average across the region.
Weber Chinyadza of the MDC, who presented the argument, said although there had not been much effort in integrating the SADC region, Zimbabwe would “make the attainment of the integration objectives difficult”.
“The rest of the region is suffering as a result of Zanu PF’s misrule,” said Chinyadza. “Zimbabwe is short-changing the rest of the Sadc members. How can you integrate Zimbabwe, with an inflation of 14 000% with, say, Botswana, whose inflation rate is about seven percent?”
Chinyadza said the huge difference between the official and parallel market exchange rate was inconveniencing other countries.
The chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Dr Lovemore Madhuku said “the levels of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe are not found anywhere in Sadc”.
“The extent of human rights abuses on its own makes it difficult for Zimbabwe to fit into a community of nations with respect for human rights,” Madhuku said.
“Our political culture is clearly outside the framework that is necessary for integration. Zimbabwe is not so much in a class of its own in terms of creating problems for the SADC. For example, we have Angola which still wants to rerun the 1990 presidential elections, and Swaziland which is still run by a monarchy. But the difference between Zimbabwe and those countries is that in those places there is a genuine effort to implement the Sadc guidelines on the holding of free and fair elections.”
Madhuku said Zimbabwe had polarised regional and world politics, making it difficult to implement any form of integration. He said “each time the issue of Zimbabwe is raised, so many other irrelevant issues arise, diverting people’s attention” and as such, if the “Sadc were to be serious with any form of integration, they have to handle the Zimbabwean issue with openness”.
At the same time, said Professor John Makumbe, it was impossible for the rest of Sadc to integrate without Zimbabwe, as “the country is literally at the centre of the region”.
“The country’s position at the centre of the region forces every infrastructure to somehow touch Zimbabwe. Our position makes Zimbabwe key to any efforts to integrate the region,” Makumbe said.
The newly conferred Professor jokingly added that Zimbabwe was already implementing its own form of regional integration.
“The whole country is now a training centre where people are trained and exported into the region. Zimbabwe is exporting victims of human rights violations into the region and elsewhere, forcing neighbouring countries to spend lots of money on deporting Zimbabweans,” Makumbe said.

The Homepage of Vusumuzi Sifile Sibanda

Monday, March 31, 2008

Zimbabwe Holds Its Breath Over Election ResultsBy

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