Zimbabwe’s security forces were placed on full alert on Friday to head off possible violence at this weekend’s elections as President Robert Mugabe’s opponents feared the outcome had already been fixed.
With state media predicting Mugabe would crush his two main challengers in Saturday’s poll, a coalition of human rights groups said there was no way the electoral process could be said to reflect the will of the people.
Meanwhile, the veteran president wrapped up campaigning with a fresh broadside against the old colonial power Britain, saying that his ballot-box rivals, Morgan Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni, were their puppets.
”We are ready for a fight tomorrow [Saturday],” he told a rally in a shantytown on the outskirts of Harare. ”It will be a good fight against the British, to deal them a final blow.”
The election comes at a time when Zimbabwe is grappling with the impact of the world’s highest rate of inflation — officially put at 100 580,2% — and an unemployment level that has breached the 80% mark.
Once seen as Southern Africa’s breadbasket, the country is now suffering from previously unheard of shortages of even the most basic foodstuffs such as cooking oil and bread.
Mugabe has blamed the economic chaos on the West, which imposed sanctions intended to only hit his inner circle after he allegedly rigged his 2002 re-election.
Mugabe’s security chiefs have made little attempt to hide their loyalties, with the head of the police saying during the campaign that he would not take orders from ”puppets” in a clear reference to opposition leader Tsvangirai and former finance minister Makoni.
While Tsvangirai has called for supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) not to resort to violence if it is not declared the winner, the party has warned such an outcome could lead to violence similar to that seen following the disputed outcome of Kenya’s election in December.
In an eve-of-poll press conference, police National Commissioner Augustine Chihuri said that anyone who harboured ”evil” intentions would face the full force of the law.
”Those who have been breathing fire about the Kenyan-style violence should be warned that violence is a poor substitute for intelligence and that it is a monster that can devour its creator, as it is blind and not selective in nature,” he said in a joint statement on behalf of all the security services.
Mugabe himself has warned his opponents to not even ”dare” think about resorting to violence in the event of a victory for the incumbent and his Zanu-PF party.
‘He can only steal the election, he cannot win it’
In an interview published in the London-based Financial Times, Tsvangirai — who believes Mugabe cheated him of victory in the last presidential election in 2002 — said only vote-rigging would prevent him from winning this time.
The MDC and Makoni have accused Mugabe of a systematic attempt to fix the election in his favour, allowing security forces into polling booths, adding phantom voters to the electoral roll and restricting access to state media.
”He can only steal the election, he cannot win it. So much as he can boast, everybody realises that he’s run out of options,” said Tsvangirai.
Makoni, meanwhile, also cast doubt on the preparations for the poll by saying he had been prevented from seeing the electoral roll.
”We haven’t seen the final voters’ roll. It’s a matter that is concerning us a lot,” said Makoni.
Meanwhile, the Crisis in Zimbabwe movement, which includes a raft of pressure groups as well as the MDC, issued a statement saying the polls were a charade.
”Tomorrow’s [Saturday] general election is illegitimate. Whatever the outcome that results from it, that process will not be a true and legitimate expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe,” it said.
With the opposition claiming that the outcome had been pre-determined, state media predicted Mugabe would win an outright majority in the first round of voting, thus negating the need for a run-off within three weeks.
Citing an eve-of-poll survey by university researchers, the government mouthpiece Herald said Mugabe would win 57% of votes, while Tsvangirai would garner 27% and Makoni a mere 14%.
As well as voting for a president and 210 members of Parliament, the 5,9-million strong electorate will choose the make-up of councils nationwide. — AFP
