“Boys on Leave”

According to informed sources, Simba Makoni’s election strategy includes roping in state security agents, especially army officers who are currently deployed by Zanu PF in districts, constituencies and wards around the country to mobilise support for Mugabe.

Known as “Boys on Leave”, the army personnel are usually deployed six months before elections.  Accused of vote rigging, the “Boys on Leave” were key in Mugabe’s controversial 2002 victory, which was essentially run by the military.   

If true, this strategy, which may have been inadvertently revealed, is further proof that the government’s practice of election rigging is initiated months before elections and well before any election observers arrive in the country.

Through ZEW we have consistently stressed that elections are not an event but a process.  

The data collated in our project reflects the rigging reality on the ground – with concrete examples.  Sokwanele therefore urges the observer teams to take into consideration the full scale of rigging throughout the build up to the elections and not to judge them from their arrival in the country just a couple of weeks before the poll.