Voting may have ended in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, but the controversy around the vote has not.

The main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T), filed a petition on Friday, Aug. 9 with the country’s Constitutional Court to declare the election null and void. In the election on Jul. 31, President Robert Mugabe won 61 percent of the 3.4 million votes cast, while Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the MDC-T, won 34 percent. The opposition has asked for fresh polls in 60 days.

In his appeal, MDC-T leader Tsvangirai accused an Israeli firm of rigging the election in favour of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu–PF) and of conniving with the Registrar of Voters and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to manipulate the country’s voters’ roll. The firm was said to have been paid 10 million dollars to do so.

“What is worrying is the involvement of an Israeli firm in the development, management and manipulation of the voters’ roll….,” reads part of the 20-page dossier, which states the name of the firm allegedly involved in the vote-rigging. The petition also states that large numbers of voters were allegedly “assisted” to vote in the presidential election and that in one constituency as many as 10,500 voters out of 17,000 had been assisted. The document also says that about 750,000 voters were reportedly turned away from polling stations.

But analysts here have said the MDC-T knows the court may not rule in its favour.

“Ironically, Morgan Tsvangirai and his party are seeking legal redress from the same court that gave a nod to a Jul. 31 election date when the MDC-T had sought an extension of poll dates. It is doubtful that the same court will this time around rule in their favour,” independent political analyst, Malvern Tigere told IPS.

Political analyst Richard Zizhou told IPS that this southern African nation’s Constitutional Court has been put in a difficult position.

“It’s indeed a trying time for the highest court in the land. MDC-T seems to be in possession of overwhelming evidence that the polls were indeed rigged and if the court rules in favour of MDC-T, Mugabe will be furious,” Zizhou told IPS.

But while the court challenge hangs in the balance, many Zimbabweans suspected of supporting the MDC-T have already been subjected to violence.

Tawanda Chimhini, director of the Elections Resource Centre, an independent civil society organisation that monitors national elections in Zimbabwe, told IPS that his organisation had been inundated with reports of rising cases of intimidation after the elections.

“We have received reports of intimidation… historically there have always been constant cases of intimidation that often follow every election. [It is] a Zanu-PF strategy to deflate members of the opposition parties and vanquish whatever semblance of support the opposition may have,” Chimhini told IPS.

A heavy police presence in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, has done little to make people feel safe. Police have mounted water cannons at the MDC-T headquarters in the city in a move to quell possible protests.

Vendors like 32-year-old Margret Matevura, who is based in the central business district close to the MDC-T headquarters, have expressed fear about the heavily-armed police presence in the capital.

“These police disturb our peace; we are really afraid and our clients are now avoiding using this route because of these cops as they harass anyone who gets near them,” Matevura told IPS.

Those who live in the suburbs have not been safe from intimidation either. Alex Rutsito of Highfield, Harare’s low-income suburb, told IPS that he and his family have been targeted for allegedly “being enemies of Zanu-PF”.

“Two days after the Jul. 31 elections, my home was ransacked by Zanu-PF activists, who accused my family of backing the MDC-T. They beat up all of us mercilessly,” Rutsito told IPS.

Zanu-PF national spokesperson Rugare Gumbo denied the intimidation was perpetrated by members of his party.

“Those are lies peddled by electoral losers. Zanu-PF is now busy moving towards rebuilding the country and we don’t have time to waste on imaginary trivial turfs,” Gumbo told IPS.

Cleto Manjova, programmes officer for rights group Heal Zimbabwe Trust, accused Zanu-PF of perpetrating violence after the election.

“The winners (Zanu-PF) were actually expecting to loose; their win is a surprise to them and they are reaffirming their power … So in most cases they are issuing threats to deal with people who openly campaigned against Zanu-PF in the elections,” Manjova told IPS.

As post-election intimidation worsens, 38 MDC-T supporters who served as polling agents for the election were forced by suspected members of a Zanu-PF militia group, dubbed Chipangano, to leave their homes in Harare’s Mbare high-density suburb.

Analysts say cases of post-election violence were also rife in the countryside.

“It’s unfortunate that the media has restricted itself to the cities where cases of intimidation are less concentrated compared to rural areas where Zanu-PF zealots have gone on rampage intimidating everybody they suspect of being linked to the MDC-T,” independent political analyst Alfred Mhaka told IPS.

The MDC-T’s chief election agent, Morgan Komichi, was arrested on Jul. 28 for allegedly opening a pack of ballot papers without having the necessary authority to do so.

Komichi approached the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on Jul. 25 and handed in an envelope containing a stray paper ballot cast in his MDC-T party’s favour, supporting his party’s claims that the commission had rigged the earlier special voting in Zanu-PF’s favour.

He was denied bail on Aug. 8, after filing an appeal with the high court.

Tjenesani Ntungakwa, programmes advisor of the Revolutionary Research Institute, told IPS that communities countrywide needed to speak out against rising cases of intimidation.

“As long as intimidation is happening secretly, there will be more damage caused in the country … there is no message that these people perpetrating violence can take seriously except from a community. In any case, if Zanu-PF really won the polls, why should there be a need to intimidate the people?” Ntungakwa told IPS.

Zimbabweans voted on Jul. 31 for a new government and president. But local opposition parties and analysts are questioning credibility of the vote and President Robert Mugabe’s victory. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS

By Jeffrey Moyo
HARARE, Aug 8 2013 (IPS)

As a second commissioner from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) resigns, local opposition parties and analysts are questioning the organisation’s credibility and President Robert Mugabe’s victory. 

Professor Geoff Feltoe’s resignation Tuesday came soon after that of another commissioner, Mkhululi Nyathi. Nyathi resigned on Jul. 31, the day of the vote, over the way the elections had been conducted. Nyathi told the media he had resigned because the ZEC had failed to ensure that voting was legitimate.

Feltoe did not give a reason for his resignation on Tuesday, but a leading official from the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T), told IPS that he had most likely resigned over the credibility of the vote.“There is definitely nothing to celebrate with Mugabe’s return to power, save for the perpetuity of economic suffering and political instability." -- political analyst Malvern Tigere

“The fact that Professor Feltoe resigned from the ZEC soon after this sham election renders the organisation’s credibility questionable, for why would he leave at that point? Why did he not depart before? It’s clear he didn’t want to be implicated in the rot he saw [at the] ZEC during the election,” the official said speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Mugabe won 61 percent of the 3.4 million votes cast on Jul. 31, while Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the MDC-T, won 34 percent. This sparked a litany of questions from analysts and rights activists about how the 89-year-old leader could have retained favour with the voters after he presided over Zimbabwe’s record-high inflation of 293 million percent in 2008.

Opposition parties report that during the polling thousands of voters were turned away, and that the voters’ roll, which was meant to be available to political parties for verification prior to the election, is still not available. There are also reports of intimidation by alleged members of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu–PF). However, there were no reports of violence during the election.

Director of the Elections Resource Centre (ERC), Tawanda Chimhini, said Mugabe’s victory raised more questions than answers.

“As ERC, we remain extremely worried about the irregularities cited in the elections. Zimbabwe’s elections did not meet international standards,” Chimhini told IPS. The United States rejected the vote.

“Modern day democracy is not judged by the absence of violence, but by upholding all factors leading to an uncontested election result,” added Chimhini.

The MDC-T and other opposition parties are currently preparing a dossier, which sources say contains proof that Zanu–PF rigged the elections.

“We are pursuing the legal, diplomatic and political routes. We are compiling the dossier on the irregularities of the polls before, during and after the elections, which we will then hand over to the Constitutional Court prior to taking our case to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), if we may not get a fair court hearing here,” MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora told IPS.

Mwonzora said that according to the constitution, the president-elect would only be sworn in after all electoral challenges had been resolved: these must be completed within 14 days of the polls.

But political analyst Masimba Kuchera said that the complaint by the MDC-T and other parties was not going to change anything.

“The MDC formations are challenging the election results for record sake and their efforts won’t change the fact that Mugabe is now the president. Neither SADC nor the courts may overturn that reality,” Kuchera told IPS.

Cleto Manjova, programme officer for the Heal Zimbabwe Trust, a local rights group, said overturning the controversial election outcome in favour of the MDC-T would be difficult to achieve through any means.

“In their reports, the African Union and SADC found electoral irregularities pertaining to Zimbabwe’s elections, but they are less likely to call for fresh polls. They will leave Zimbabweans to act,” Manjova said.

Thomas Mukuti, 35, an unemployed electrical engineer, told IPS his dreams for a better life have abruptly ended.

“Personally, I’m finished. My hopes are gone. I looked forward to a new era, but [Mugabe] has [cheated] his way through this election and where do we go now?”

For Zanu–PF supporters like 39-year-old Andrew Jacha from Epworth, 22 kilometres east of Harare, a Zanu-PF victory means more money and business opportunities.

“Mugabe has returned to power and his victory means much bigger things are set to happen for us as we benefit from [his] economic policies,” Jacha told IPS.

However, some political analysts here have told IPS that Zimbabwe was heading for the worst political and economic crisis yet under Mugabe’s leadership.

“There is definitely nothing to celebrate with Mugabe’s return to power, save for the perpetuity of economic suffering and political instability. Zanu-PF itself is set for another war against itself to find who shall replace its aged leader. There are going to be assassinations in Zanu-PF as hardliners position themselves to succeed the aged leader,” independent political analyst Malvern Tigere told IPS.

Claris Madhuku, director for Platform for Youth Development, a democracy lobby group, said Mugabe did not care in which direction he was driving the country.

“Whether he heads for the mountains or not, Mugabe does not care so long as he managed to retain power. He’ll remain adamant that the people of Zimbabwe have spoken … The attack on him will gradually fade since sanctions against him failed to destroy his political career, and arguably made him more popular. He still has the capacity to outwit his rivals,” Madhuku told IPS.

McDonald Lewanika, director of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an amalgamation of civil society organisations, said he foresaw economic doom beckoning under another Mugabe-led government.

“Mugabe’s victory here [poses] a real danger in terms of democratic gains made during the tenure of the unity government,” Lewanika told IPS. After the 2008 election violence, the Zanu-PF government entered into a coalition arrangement with the MDC-T and MDC led by Welshman Ncube. The unity government came to an end with the Jul. 31 election.

Tension remains in most townships. Marylyn Chikate, a widow and mother of six from Harare’s Mbare Township suburb, says she was evicted from her home in the now Zanu-PF-run parliamentary constituency after militias linked to Zanu-PF accused her of voting for the opposition.

“Memories of [having] lost my husband in the 2008 political violence have just been re-ignited as now Zanu-PF militias have driven me and my children from my home. This just tells me we are headed for more reprisals,” Chikate told IPS.

But it remains uncertain whether Zimbabweans will rise up to contest the credibility of the vote.

On Jul. 14 and 15 special elections for the Zimbabwe’s national security forces were held but only 10 percent cast their ballots because of the disorganised process. Courtesy: Jeffrey Moyo

By Jeffrey Moyo
HARARE, Jul 24 2013 (IPS)

Gibson Muzungu’s hope for a free and fair election on Jul. 31 has faded after local Zimbabwe Africa National Union-Patriotic Front party officials seized his identity card, apparently to check if he was a registered voter.

“I already suspect the polls will be rigged by Zanu-PF after local Zanu-PF officials forced me to surrender my I.D, saying they wanted to check if I was a registered voter,” Muzungu told IPS. “But do I need someone to check for me when I can do that on my own?” His I.D. card is yet to be returned and he suspects that it will be used for a fraudulent vote.

Muzungu, who is from Chivhu district, in Mashonaland province in eastern Zimbabwe, is amongst hundreds of villagers in his neighbourhood whose I.D. cards were allegedly seized by suspected Zanu-PF officials.

He added that local traditional leaders were busy cautioning villagers against voting for one of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) parties to avoid post-election violence by Zanu-PF.

Tawanda Chimhini, director of the Elections Resource Centre (ERC), a local independent election organisation, said they were aware of villagers being coerced to vote for specific parties.“I know someone wants to steal this election for why was I denied a chance to register to vote?" -- Zimbabwean school teacher Nyson Nhemachena

“Yes, we know there are traditional leaders in the countryside receiving orders from their political handlers to order villagers to vote for one party over another. It is unlawful and we expect the law to take its course against such individuals. The electoral code of conduct doesn’t allow that,” Chimhini told IPS.

“ERC, like the ordinary electorate, is worried that this year’s elections may be rigged considering that many people could not register, and that shortages of voting material derailed the special voting for police and soldiers, which was worsened by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) failure to publicise voting information,” said Chimhini.

On Jul. 14 and 15 the ZEC held special elections for the country’s national security forces. However, the voting was disorganised and showed that the electoral body was ill-prepared for the coming elections. Polling stations opened late, and many did not have voting ink, ballot papers or even the voters’ roll. In the end only 10 percent of registered security forces voters cast their ballots.

According to the ZEC, about 70,000 police officers and soldiers applied for special voting ahead of this year’s polls as they will be working on election day. However, the treasury department here says that the total number of soldiers and police on the national payroll is 48,500. The discrepancy in figures has also raised concerns among analysts that the special polls were rigged and that “ghost voters” will complete the remaining ballots.

ZEC deputy chairperson Joyce Kazembe conceded that the special voting exercise had been riddled with errors.

“We have taken note of the concerns and disputes reaching us and we will address them as we proceed,” Kazembe told IPS.

On Jul. 21, while addressing supporters in Gweru in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province, about 340 km west of Harare, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said he was concerned that the ZEC had printed eight million ballot papers for six million registered voters. Tsvangirai is the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC – T) presidential candidate.

The Research and Advocacy Unit, a local research organisation, added to Tsvangirai’s concerns saying that over two million eligible voters had not registered and more than one million deceased people were still on the voters’ roll.

But Zanu-PF national spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said he saw nothing wrong in the ZEC printing extra ballot papers.

“If the ZEC printed more than the required ballot papers, what’s wrong with that? Isn’t it better to have more in case of damages?” Gumbo told IPS.

Political analysts and rights watchers are concerned that opposition parties like Movement for Democratic Change led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC-T) will not be able to compete fairly in Zimbabwe’s Jul. 31 election. Credit: Trevor Davies/IPS

Civil society organisations here have also expressed their fears of a rigged election.

Raymond Majongwe, secretary general for the Progressive Teachers Union in Zimbabwe, said politicians were contesting in a poll already decided.

“The MDC-T didn’t listen to us when we told them to enter into this race after the implementation of electoral reforms. But they entered nevertheless, and they are contesting an already-won match,” Majongwe told IPS.

Zanu-PF has reneged on implementing media and security sector reforms stipulated in this southern African nation’s Global Political Agreement (GPA). The GPA is a 2008 pact between Zanu-PF and the MDC that paved the way for the current unity government and the elections.

President Robert Mugabe had declared that the elections would go ahead on Jul. 31, despite calls from the Southern African Development Community for Mugabe to first implement the reforms and to postpone the date. Local political parties, including the MDC-T had filed separate petitions with Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court to delay the elections. The petitions were overruled by the court.

South African President Jacob Zuma’s top aide and point person in Zimbabwe, Lindiwe Zulu, said on Jul. 18 that preparations for Zimbabwe’s elections were “not looking good”. Zuma later apologised to Mugabe over the comments.

Claris Madhuku, director for the Platform for Youth Development, a local democracy lobby group, accused Zanu-PF of deliberately causing electoral challenges and aiming to rig this year’s elections.

“Zanu-PF has a long history of political unfaithfulness, and there are many things on the ground raising suspicions that the polls will be rigged. Zanu-PF does so many sophisticated things to keep itself afloat that we can’t see easily, and it is surely plotting to steal this election,” Madhuku told IPS.

Several political analysts have expressed fears of rigged polls.

“Rigging remains the sole survival kit for the former ruling Zanu-PF. And if exposed, it will leave the party with no other method to ensure it rides to victory save to unleash violence and chaos to win the polls,” Vincent Ruhembe, an independent political analyst, told IPS.

There are many like Nyson Nhemachena, a 23-year-old teacher from Harare’s Mabvuku low-income suburb, who were unable to register to vote.

“I know someone wants to steal this election,” Nhemachena told IPS. “Why was it made so difficult for people like me to register to vote?”

At most voter registration centres in Zimbabwe there are long queues and the process to register a tedious one. Most civil society organisations believe that this is a deliberate attempt by President Robert Mugabe’s supporters to frustrate people and prevent them from registering. Credit: Michelle Chifamba/IPS

By Michelle Chifamba
HARARE, Jul 6 2013 (IPS)

Like many other aspiring voters, Emilia Magirazi, 27, braved a chilly winter’s morning as she waited patiently to register as a voter in the slow-moving queue at Kuwadzana 8 Primary School in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

Zimbabwe’s second round of voter registration commenced on Jun. 19 and is expected to end on Tuesday Jul. 9, with the presidential elections set for Jul. 31. A first round took place over 20 days in April and May.

But people like Magirazi are finding it hard to put their names down on Zimbabwe’s electoral role. This is because she is a foreign national: Magirazi was born in Zambia, of Zimbabwean parents.

“I arrived here before the break of dawn, and by lunch time I eventually got service from the officials. But they told me that I am an alien and not eligible to register. I was referred to the army barracks or the police for clearance of any criminal offences,” Magirazi told IPS.

While the 12th amendment of Zimbabawe’s Citizenship Act 2011 outlaws dual citizenship, the country’s new constitution, which was enacted in May after the first round of voter registration, recognises those born abroad of Zimbabwean parents to be citizens. It also recognises all people born in this southern African nation, regardless of their parents’ citizenship, as Zimbabweans.

But like Magirazi, scores of other foreign nationals have been denied the right to register as voters, despite the stipulations in the new constitution.

According to the Harare office of the International Organization for Migration, between 500,000 nd four million Zimbabweans are living abroad. Most fled Zimbabwe for economic reasons as between 2003 and 2009 the country had one of the worst rates of hyperinflation in the world.

With the word “alien” inscribed on her national identity document (ID), Magirazi was referred to the Registrar General’s office to apply for a new one. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has stipulated that persons previously categorised as foreign nationals should apply for citizenship and national ID cards that reflect this changed status in order to vote.

But long queues and cumbersome demands have become the order of the day at the Registrar General’s office. Marshal Bachi, 35, of Dzivarasekwa in Harare, said he had to sleep at the Registrar General’s offices when he went to obtain a new ID as his previous one stated that he was a foreign national.

“They refused to process my national ID because my birth certificate was soiled and they said that I should get a new one … Due to this cumbersome process, I might not be able to get a new ID to register as a voter before the process ends,” Bachi told IPS.

The Election Resource Centre (ERC), a local NGO, believes that the Registrar General’s office is deliberately trying to frustrate first-time voters in order to prevent them from voting.

“It seems to be happening to a lot of prospective voters. Foreign nationals will not be able to vote in the next election. For the first time they were able to enjoy being citizens under the new constitution, but they will not be able to exercise their right under prevailing conditions.

“The stipulations by the electoral commission are contradictory to what is happening on the ground. A number of people are being denied the right to claim their citizenship at the Registrar General’s office despite the ZEC’s stipulations that those formerly-categorised as ‘aliens’ can apply for new IDs,” ERC director, Tawanda Chimhinhi, told IPS.

Harare-based social commentator Tawanda Mukurunge agreed.

“Despite the fact that the elections are only three weeks away, there has been no serious attempt by the ZEC to educate Zimbabweans on the impending vote and their right to vote. The information blackout by the ZEC is a deliberate ploy meant to keep unsuspecting citizens in the dark. The possibility of a free and fair election will remain a pipe dream unless these issues are addressed,” he told IPS.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s chief of staff, Ian Makone, told IPS that many more people were being turned away from registering to vote.

“More than 50 people failed to register on the grounds that they were aliens and were sent back home, while the elderly who did not have IDs were told to get clearance from KG ‘6’ an army headquarter where national documents such as passports are processed. Cabinet must therefore revisit this issue because this is taking place all over the country,” he said.

However, on Thursday Jul. 4, the Zimbabwe Constitutional Court overturned appeals to delay the elections. Many here say that the haste with which President Robert Mugabe set the election date has not allowed for sufficient time to reform the country’s security forces. In previous elections, state security have been accused of instigating violence against those opposed to Mugabe.

Civil society groups have said that holding the elections on Jul. 31 would likely incite fear and possibly result in an unfair election.

Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a coalition of NGOs monitoring the elections, said that the nature of the voter-registration process, the atmosphere associated with it, and the disruption and intimidation of civil society were an attempt by Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front to instigate violence at the polls in order to reclaim its political legitimacy. Mugabe has been in power for 33 years in a reign marred by corruption, violence and political oppression.

The Youth Agenda Trust, a youth networking organisation, added that the process had been deliberately designed to deny bona fide citizens their right to vote.

“The cumbersome processing of ‘aliens’ is a direct violation of the rights of the people of Zimbabwe and a breach of the constitutional right to vote as stipulated in the new constitution. The time that has also been allocated to register is not enough as most people have either failed to cope with the long and winding queues and or have not had time to visit the centres in the short period due to other competing interests,” director of Youth Agenda Trust, Fortune Nyamande, told IPS.