Dear Deborah Harry
“People will recognise that making each vote count is a much
more challenging goal compared to a campaign to make people register to vote.
Making each vote count requires that every poll station where votes are casted
and counted is being monitored for voter fraud. Not only that, but in the event
that voter fraud is identified, it needs to be captured on camera and
publicised for the entire world to see,” you wrote in Zimeye.
First of all I would like to thank you for your realisation
that unless we stop Zanu PF rigging these elections all our clamouring for
change will come to naught. And I thank you too for your contribution and zeal in
the search for ways to stop Zanu PF rigging elections.
In a country where many have either given up the fight for
free, fair and credible elections; or, worse, still all but buried their heads
in the sand and refuse to see the blatant vote rigging; your wide-open eyed dealing
with reality is a virtue.
“The tallying of all national votes by the ZEC also needs to
be monitored closely and any shenanigans need to be captured on camera and
publicised to the world. All these things need talent, manpower, dedication,
organisation and definitely, funding,” you continued.
“This is the level of hard work that is needed to make every
vote count. Without any safeguards against vote rigging, it’s impossible for
the CCC to get anything from the 2023 election.”
Some of the vote rigging shenanigans were not just captured
on camera but came out in the Constitutional Court!
In ZEC’s own affidavit, the commission admitted that it did
not have all the V11 forms, the summary of the vote count from each Polling
Station, and hence the reason had two different vote tallies which it could not
reconcile. About 10% of the V11 forms were missing, the exact number is not
known because, like so many things in the Zimbabwe election process, only a
select few know the exact number of Polling Stations in the 2018 elections.
It should be noted that the number of Polling Stations has
increased from 2 000 in 2008 to 9 000 in 2013 and over 11 000 in 2018. Of
course, the number of Polling Stations was increased to facilitate the vote rigging.
What else!
It is one thing to argue that the opposition must appoint
election agents to monitor the voting, counting, etc. at each Polling Station.
How does the opposition monitor a Polling Station that even the official ZEC does
not know about?
A close examination of the ZEC affidavit showed that there
were 16 cases in which two or more V11 entries of the votes cast for each
candidate, spoilt votes, etc. were exactly the same. And, one more thing, in all
these cases Emmerson Mnangagwa was leading by a very healthy margin. ZEC’s
lawyer argued that these were merely coincidence and it “is not for ZEC to
explain human behaviour!” The judges agreed with him.
The obvious explanation of the 16 two or more exact entries
is double entry. The judges could have ordered opening of the sealed boxes from
the corresponding Polling Stations to be opened and examined. The Court did not
want to know the truth; and to deliver a judgement expected of them, it was
wise not to know the truth.
It should be remembered here that High Court Judge George
Chiweshe had ruled that the November 2017 military coup was “justified, legal
and constitutional”!
The judiciary is supposed to be judicious in its search for truth
and justice and upholding the rule of law. Not so in Zimbabwe!
If a military coup is “justified, legal and constitutional”
it is not surprising the same judiciary should rule the creation of shadowy
Polling stations, double votes, etc. cannot too be “justified, legal and
constitutional”.
Zanu PF is using state aid to buy votes and is using war
veterans, party youths and traditional leaders to coerce voters, especially in
the rural areas. The rural voters have been reduced into medieval serfs
beholden to the Zanu PF proxies landlords, they are frog matched to attend
party rallies and, come voting day, to vote for the party.
Zanu PF is denying the 3 million plus Zimbabweans in the
diaspora the vote. The party says it will not allow diaspora vote as long as
the sanctions imposed on the regime by the West remain. Of course, this is
nonsense! Why should the ordinary Zimbabwean be denied his/her fundamental
right for something over which he/she had no say!
The EU send a 245-strong team to observe Zimbabwe’s 2018
elections. ”The electoral commission (ZEC) lacked full
independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final
results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and
lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” stated the
mission final report.
“As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe
failed to meet international standards.”
The EU recommended a number of reforms to be implemented. A
member of the observer team has just been in Zimbabwe and was disappointed to
note that not even one reforms was implemented. Not even one!
Zanu PF is rigging these elections and the biggest mistake
we have made, repeatedly too, is to participate in these flawed elections under
the foolish belief we can contrive ways of stopping Zanu PF rigging elections.
The folly is in participating in flawed elections when we should insist on
reforms before the elections.
By participating in the flawed elections, we have given Zanu
PF legitimacy. Why would Zanu PF risk losing the elections and power by
implementing reforms when it will get legitimacy from the opposition regardless!
Addressing party supporters in Kwekwe on Sunday Chamisa said people in other provinces like Matebeleland and Manicaland they are calling for change and focus is now on Mashonaland Central province.
ReplyDelete"We are preparing for the next government, ZANU PF no longer stands a chance in provinces like Matebeleland and Manicaland, our focus is now in Mashonaland Central," Chamisa said.
"Change is imminent, change is coming!"
This is Zimbabwe’s worst nightmare. The nation has been in decline ever since the country’s independence in 1980, stuck with the corrupt, incompetent and murderous Zanu PF regime whose number one priority is to secure absolute power at all costs including denying the people their basic freedoms and rights including the right to free elections and even the right to life.
Zimbabwe had the golden opportunity during the 2008 to 2013 GNU to implement the democratic reforms and dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship once and once for all. MDC leaders failed to implement even one reform. Not one! Ever since the GNU debacle MDC leaders have insisted in participating in flawed elections giving Zanu PF legitimacy and thus help perpetuate the dictatorship.
CCC or rebranded MDC is insisting in participating in these flawed elections insisting “change is imminent, change is coming!”; when all we are doing is sink deeper and deeper into the abyss.
“Pretty soon, the EU Electoral Observation Mission will publish its report from the observations they made in Zimbabwe. We are waiting for their assessment, which came out of the exercise.
ReplyDelete“As you are aware, in 2018, the EU’s observation mission made 23 recommendations to Zimbabwe and then the follow up mission visited the country to assess the progress made on the recommendations. So we are waiting for the assessment to take note of the latest developments,” he said.
He said on the economic front, there are a number of issues that are pulling back the Western bloc’s investments from flowing into Zimbabwe.
The concerns include the foreign currency retention, repatriation of profits, security of ownership, level playing field, procurement and corruption and tenure in the agricultural sector.
If there is one lesson Robert Mugabe learnt well during the 2008 to 2013 GNU it is that Zanu PF can retain its carte blanche dictatorial powers as long as the party bribes the MDC leaders with some of the spoils of power. The dictator bribed Tsvangirai and company with the trappings of high office during the GNU and with their snouts in the feeding trough, for five years they forgot about the reforms. Not even the constant nagging by SADC leaders would get MDC to implement even one reform.
Zanu PF has resisted all pressure to implement meaningful reforms to ensure free and fair elections because the party knows that as long as MDC participating in the flawed elections, the party will have legitimacy. As we know, MDC/CCC is hell bent on participating in these 2023 elections knowing fully well that Zanu PF is rigging the elections because they also know Zanu PF will give away a few gravy train seats.
If we are serious about reforms and free elections in Zimbabwe we need to pile the pressure on not just Zanu PF to implement reforms but on MDC/CCC to stop selling out by participating in flawed elections