A political race is much the same – we seem to have been in this game for a long time, now we are only hours away from the final leg and the finish line is in sight. I spoke to my own team on Sunday and they were totally exhausted. I decided to give them a break today and tomorrow because I cannot really see us changing any one’s mind at this last moment. Most people have made up their minds.
This has been the most fiercely contested election in my experience. Although 30 political parties declared their intention to contest, only half a dozen have in fact done so in any kind of significant way. Of that group, only Zanu PF, MDC (N) and MDC (T), Zapu and Dawn have made a real effort.
The most intense campaign came out of Zanu PF because they have the most to lose in this race. For them this is a “do or die” event and they have certainly taken that approach seriously. I would like to know what they have spent and where the money came from. Certainly Chinese industry benefitted. They are handing out cheap toys, torch lights, flasks, crockery, kitchen ware, clothing and money.
Food and transport has been unstinting and in the process they have hired hundreds of buses, trains and trucks of every description. I heard they brought in 140 tonnes of poster paper and you can see that everywhere. A very young Mugabe peers out to us from every tree and lamp post. My wife saw one on the wall of a company and asked me who that was, I said it was Mugabe and she could not reconcile the image with the man we see every hour or so, on State TV.
One other reason why the Zanu PF posters are so visible is that Zanu PF has had teams at work every night, taking down everybody else’s posters which are now almost nonexistent. Tear down a Zanu poster and you will find yourself in a Police cell and likely to remain there for some days before a Magistrate can be found to impose a fine. We have all complained to ZEC and the Police, to no avail.
Less visible, but just as pervasive is the intimidation programme now in full swing in the rural areas; here the message is both universal and consistent. Villagers are rounded up, their names and ID numbers recorded and then they are instructed to vote at a specific polling station. They are told that if there are any MDC (T) votes in the subsequent tally, that the village will be visited and severe punishment exercised. They all know what that means and it take a courageous man or woman to then go and vote independently. In the former farming districts it is even worse.
In the peri urban areas Zanu PF has settled nearly a million people in the past 18 months on farms that they control. Each family is given a small plot in return for a small payment ($100) and told that they can build a shack on it and live there providing they join Zanu PF, attend the meetings when called and vote for Zanu PF on the day.
Only in the urban areas are people relatively free to vote where they want and for whom they want. Here the difficulties are with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Registrar Generals Office. Millions have been disenfranchised, polling stations are inadequate for the numbers of people wanting to vote and the manipulation of the poll and the count are guaranteed.
It’s no wonder that people in Africa become disillusioned with democracy when they see this sort of thing happening and no one seems to take any notice of give these practices any importance. The internet and social media as well as the ubiquitous cell phone have become the main means of communications in an environment where all other forms of communication are State controlled. So this week when the system for sending out mass messages on SMS systems was suddenly suspended, it was an ominous signal.
Yet the official observer missions remain mute and silent. If they do not defend democracy and free speech and freedom of association – just who is going to do so? I was watching a programme yesterday on one of the major networks; the presenter asked why the Congolese conflict with nearly 6 million deaths and many millions of displaced people received so little exposure in the media. The commentator said “perhaps because it’s so complex and technical and there are few opportunities for media bytes involving gunfire and bodies”.
But is that really an excuse? Surely there are those in the media who can interpret and explain these issues and their implication to the general public out there. But in our case, not even the specialists seem to show any understanding or ascribe importance to these life or death issues. Reporting is superficial and misleading and the sounds coming out of social media simply overwhelming.
But in the end one Party will cross the line ahead of all the others and be declared the winner. How they got there, the hard work, sacrifice and cost, will be quickly forgotten.
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis