To complicate Mbeki's role, a number of prominent black African leaders
and election observer teams — including South Africa's own —
reported seeing nothing fundamentally wrong with the conduct of the
election. Noting that the campaign was characterized by "polarization,
tension and incidents of violence and intimidation," Sam Motsuenyane,
leader of Pretoria's observer mission, said the result "should be
considered legitimate" because problems were considered minimal on
the actual polling days. In fact, the two-day election was extended
into a third day when the opposition complained about long voting
delays in some areas; the High Court rejected a fourth day of balloting.
Nigeria, the other major power in Africa, also acknowledged violent
pre-election incidents in which more than 30 people were killed, but
did not find them "sufficient to threaten the integrity and outcome"
of the voting. Like many opposition supporters and frustrated MDC
voters throughout the country, Kåre Vollan, head of the Norwegian
observer team, took particular exception to the South African statement.
Those monitors, he added, "based their conclusion on two arguments:
a big voter turnout and that the elections were relatively peaceful."
Terming those points "superficial," Vollan says: "Yes, there was a
high turnout of voters on the election days, but in the [heavily pro-Tsvangirai]
urban areas, many of them were unable to vote. In the rural areas,
the situation was the opposite. There, people voted because political
violence and pressure forced them to."
According to Reginald Matchaba-Hove, chairman of the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network, inadequate and flawed voter rolls, intimidation and
attacks on voters by police and militants of the ruling ZANU-PF party,
and a reduction in the number of polling stations clearly favored
Mugabe. "The roadblocks are already going up," he says of the police
and military presence on the streets. "We are concerned and we are
apprehensive."
As the election results were announced, George Chindengo, 22, a student
from Harare, sat on the pavement listening to a radio. "In my constituency,
Kambuzuma, the police scared people away from the lines at the polling
stations," according to Chindengo, who waited for 40 hours and still
was not able to vote. "The police beat up many of my friends and falsely
accused them of voting twice. Many were scared to go near the polling
stations. If all the people who had the intention to vote actually
were allowed to do so, things might have been different." Voting,
he added, was characterized by violence carried out by the police
and young ZANU-PF militia groups who terrorized anyone who did not
attend Mugabe rallies. The militiamen went door to door in suburban
Mbare, Chindengo says, attacking people unable to show a ZANU-PF membership
card.
Rasmus Garaba, 35, a businessman and dedicated ZANU-PF supporter,
rejects assertions that the election outcome was rigged and that vast
numbers of people were not permitted to vote. And, he adds, the Norwegian
observers are "crazy for saying that Mugabe cheated." The President,
says Garaba, "did his best and worked hard. The people living outside
Harare still believe that Mugabe is the best man. The opposition was
simply not mature enough to rule the country."
In the rolling countryside of Bindura, in the Mashonaland Central
district northeast of Harare, two Norwegian observers found that 14
of 44 ballot boxes had loose bottoms. The seals and screws had been
removed, said Tapera Madeka, an mcd election agent, making it easy
for ballot papers to be added or removed. Political opposition has
been sharply curtailed in the region lately, which fills local ZANU-PF
youth-brigade members with pride. "We are set to maintain peace and
order in Bindura," says Kenneth Tichaona, 18. "It is difficult sometimes,
as the bad people from MDC create trouble. Mugabe has his trust in
us to bring support back to ZANU-PF."
In Harare, meanwhile, Chindengo says: "People in my district have
been so scared. Now they are just angry. They voted for change and
got more misery." What's next for Zimbabwe, ultimately, will depend
on how much more misery its people are willing to accept.
Reported by SUE CULLINAN/London,
JAMES GRAFF/Brussels, PETER HAWTHORNE/Cape Town and GØRILL HUSBY/Harare
