At least 40 armoured vehicles, including four Israeli-made water cannon, anti-riot trucks and six armoured personnel carriers weighed down with heavily armed troops, swept through the street of Harare on Thursday and Friday in a massive show of force.Â
Heavily armed police units put on an ominous show of force throughout Harare’s high-density suburbs, Chitungwiza, Bulawayo and Mutare.
Three Chinese-built MiG-21 fighters streaked over farmland in Mashonaland West and in Masvingo in an intimidatory display of force.
These actions underlined the threat being spread by ruling party thugs: If President Mugabe loses the election, we will go to war.
Defence sources said at all military barracks in Harare soldiers were moving out in small convoys of three lorries at a time. At Cranborne Barracks on the outskirts of the capital, soldiers were reportedly towing a BM-21 multiple-rocket launcher, a fearsome weapon that can fire 40 122 mm rockets in six seconds.
On the eve of the election army generals repeated warnings that they would not accept Mugabe’s defeat, but it is unclear whether junior ranks would obey an order to subvert the will of the people.
Earlier Mugabe had made a chilling warning through State media warning the MDC against Kenya-style post-election riots.
If they make a disturbance like in Kenya, you will see, he said. We are not joking. We warn the MDC, if they want to put a rope around their necks, that is okay, he said.
In a final rally to wrap up his campaigns in Nyanga, Mugabe, who has earlier threatened that he would never allow the opposition to rule, appeared to backtrack on his earlier threats.
When you join a political fight by way of an election, you must be prepared to lose, he told his supporters in Nyanga Thursday. If Zanu (PF) wins, you must accept it, if you win we will accept, Mugabe said.
Simba Makoni, his backer Arthur Mutambara and main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced on Thursday a joint strategy to forestall vote rigging.
We believe there is a sophisticated and premeditated plan to steal this election from us, Makoni told reporters at a press briefing. The integrity and credibility of this election is gravely in doubt.
ZDN spokesman Goodson Chibaya said they had received information suggesting that at Thornhill Airforce Sports Club on Thursday, trusted officers in the army, airforce and police filled in multiple ballot papers that have been airlifted by a helicopter to Squadron No 7 at Manyame HQ and later to Mount Darwin. The operation was masterminded by the Central Intelligence Organisation.
In a last minute bid to shore up his flagging electoral fortunes, Mugabe handed out 450 cars to striking doctors on Thursday in what opponents say was a brazen vote buying campaign.
Post published in: News