The villagers had their names written down by their headman and were told that they were expected to vote in batches of 50, according to their cells.
The Zimbabwean recently reported that one of the strategies Zanu (PF) had adopted to manipulate votes was to shepherd villagers to polling stations as early as 4am to vote under the supervision of traditional leaders.
The traditional leaders in the area have openly declared their allegiance to Zanu (PF). Last week, at Chief Mutoko’s installation ceremony of Phillemon Chimunhu Nyachoto at Gonye village, villagers were made to chant Zanu (PF) slogans.
Information gathered by this newspaper reveals that the traditional leaders convened a meeting at Headman Kudzanai’s residence where they reached consensus on how they were going to influence villagers in their respective areas to vote.
According to the Electoral Act, voter education is a preserve of the country’s electoral body, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and authorised independent bodies only. Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Southern African Development Community Principles and Guidelines on electoral processes. According to these, member states should ensure that all citizens enjoy freedom of movement, assembly, association and expression as well as political tolerance during electoral processes.
But countrywide, traditional leaders have openly victimized and intimidated villagers suspected to be supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. A person who spoke on condition of anonymity said villagers were living in fear following the recent development.
“We were told that we are going to vote according to our cells and the ballots are going to be recorded. This means that they can trace to see which candidates we would have voted for because the order means that they can trace back the serial numbers of the ballots,” he said.
Another villager, Annatoria Gwaraga, said most villagers were being intimidated because they were repeatedly told that the current system would expose whoever votes for the opposition.
“The headman told everyone that whoever is going to vote for the opposition will face the consequences after July 31,” she said.
Meanwhile, the SADC observer team was told on Sunday that all headmen in the north of Mash Central were instructed to record the number of people in their villages and their ID numbers.
They then told the people that the leaders expected that number of votes for Zanu (PF) from that area – any variance would result in mass punishment.
Post published in: News