In our context, every election is viewed as a watershed event with the potential to change the political, social and economic fortunes of the people. The 2008 harmonised elections are no different.
However, the profile of these elections has also been enhanced by the Southern African Development Community-brokered (SADC) talks between Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations, which had as their objective the creation of an environment and process that would yield an electoral outcome whose results would not be disputed by any of the participants.
The SADC-brokered talks faltered along the way and the rest is history. Be that as it may, the talks produced a revised electoral Act, an amended Public Order and Security Act and amendments to Aippa and the Broadcasting Act.
Needless to say, these amendments have not been implemented in any meaningful way by the state. Those of us who are candidates in this election are undermined by the public perception that these elections will be no different from past ones whose outcomes were disputed.
In my capacity as our formation’s director of elections, I have had to go on campaigning assignments in constituencies other than my own, where the terrain is often inhospitable. Driving to Maningi in Bulilima constituency on a dust road that has not been repaired or graded in 15 years is to partake in a venture that at once infuriates and saddens. Here is a country with so much potential for improving the lot of its people, but it has been governed in such a ruinous manner that a round trip on this 300km stretch of road takes 18 gruelling hours.
The day that I am in Maningi, the crowd of 500 people has walked long distances to attend the rally. It is a crowd of hungry and desperate people, who long ago lost hope of things ever changing for the better. The crowd erupts into applause each time Simba Makoni’s candidature is mentioned. He just might rescue our country from 27 years of Zanu-PF’s disastrous rule!
There is a police detail covering the meeting. Sometimes he forgets to take notes and laughs and nods his head in agreement with the speaker. We are Zimbabweans together, all of us victims of a catastrophic system of governance that forces us to celebrate each time we are able to purchase a rare loaf of bread.
At question time, the audience is lively. The questions are searching and reflective of the despair that stalks the land. Is Makoni not a Zanu-PF plant? Was he not put up by Mugabe to divide the opposition vote? Why is it that he refuses to denounce Zanu-PF? Will Mugabe accept defeat? Is it possible that these elections will not be rigged?
Some of these are speculative questions that none of the speakers can answer with certainty. We ask in return: Why would Mugabe set up somebody that is likely to divide not just the opposition vote but also his own? He barely managed to rig a win in 2002, and it is almost impossible to rig a 50%-plus-one vote in a strong three-horse race. Why would Mugabe set up someone who is going to force him into an election run-off?
Already this election is being rigged in a dozen not very subtle ways, such as lack of access to the media and the small number of polling stations in urban areas. Back in my constituency, I have to deal with distorted information on a daily basis. There are no daily newspapers, no independent radio and television stations; the only source of information in my constituency is a daily dose of puerile propaganda from the state media.
At the weekend the independent newspapers are available, but in limited numbers and at unattainable prices. As a candidate, one has to attempt constantly to correct distorted information by engaging voters in intense “close combat” discussions. There are five competing candidates in this constituency. This means that on an average day, the voters of Entumbane-Emakhandeni are subjected to five competing interpretations of their reality.
Voters this time around will also have to deal with a split MDC. That the two parties in some constituencies will be using identical symbols can only be a source of confusion. The Tsvangirai formation exhibits further splits following the dismissal of Lucia Matibenga. As a result of this internal division, there are 18 constituencies in which there are both “Matibenga” and “Tsvangirai” candidates registered — in addition to our faction’s MDC candidates.
Candidates aligned to Matibenga use the “normal” MDC symbol that we also use, while to distinguish themselves from this group, those who fall under Tsvangirai use the same symbol but have christened their MDC “Tsvangirai”. Voters, though upset about the MDC split, seem to have accepted it as a fait accompli, particularly following several abortive attempts to bring the two formations together.
Past elections have been marred by massive violence directed largely at opposition supporters by Zanu-PF. This election campaign has been less violent; though there have been incidents, they are not on the scale of the violence in the 2002 campaign. Cynics attribute this to everything in Zimbabwe having collapsed, including Zanu-PF’s capacity to organise violence. Despite the absence of widespread violence, in our region at any rate, 27 years of Zanu-PF rule has left huge psychological scars that render ordinary people vulnerable to intimidation. The continued manipulation of food aid by ruling-party candidates has a very damaging effect on ordinary people.
For those of us who fought for this country’s liberation, for those of us who swore by the “one person, one vote” principle, the abuse of the electoral process by Zanu-PF is a negation of all the values of the liberation struggle. The ultimate freedom, the ultimate show of sovereignty, is when people are free to exercise their right to elect leaders of their preference. That is what the liberation struggle was all about.
Paul Themba Nyathi is the candidate of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara for the House of Assembly in the constituency of Entumbane-Emakhandeni in Bulawayo