2 April 2008
Harare — The painful slowness of announcing the results of Zimbabwe's 29 March poll is being condemned internationally as "suspicious", but the accusations do not take account of the debilitating affects of the country's eight-year long recession and its impact on the electoral process.
In past elections, results were announced almost immediately by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). But this time, the battered economy and the world's highest inflation rate in excess of 100,000 percent, could mean that final results may only be finalised on 11 April, election officials and candidates told IRIN.
"We could have expected more in terms of preparations for such major elections, but the current economic problems naturally constrained the voting process," David Chimhini, candidate for the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the rural province of Manicaland, told IRIN.
Chimhini, who is also the director of Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET), said: "Worse still, the ruling party hurried the elections in spite of protestations from the opposition that the polls should be postponed to June, all because they thought they wanted to retain power before our crisis got out of hand."
"There were hardly enough vehicles to ensure smooth voting in the province," said Chimhini, who won his seat. "The transportation of ballot boxes after voting on Saturday was a real headache. Officials ended up resorting to unreliable transport such as private lorries and tractors that broke down.
"To make matters worse, there was little fuel and in one case in my constituency, the lorry that was used because there was no official vehicle ran out of fuel on its way to [ZEC's] command centre, and that meant a big delay in relaying the results," Chimini said.
Shortages of fuel, food and energy have become commonplace, but the election placed extra demands on an economy which has become shadow of its former self.
In the run-up to the polls, fuel shortages became even more acute as supplies were procured by the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM), a state parastatal, for election purposes.
Ballot shortages
Ballot paper ran short and hasty arrangements had to be made to get more; and even though polling stations were equipped with generators for lighting, there was no fuel to power them. "While candles might have been made available, how far do you go with candles in the windy darkness?," noted Chimini.
Samson Phiri, a school teacher, was deployed as a polling officer to a constituency in the Mhondoro district of Mashonaland West province, about 60km southwest of the capital, Harare. He said they were not provided with sufficient candles to provide light at night.
"We ended up using our own money to buy candles from the nearby shopping centre, but there was a further problem in that the only shop that had them was overwhelmed by demand from other polling stations, and the result was that we carried out our duties under extremely difficult conditions," Phiri told IRIN.
Innocent Makwiramiti, a Harare-based economist, commented: "It is possible that even up to now, some remote areas have not sent in their results. I have heard of ox-drawn carts being used to transport ballot boxes, and one wonders how long it would take to get them to their intended destinations for purposes of verification.
"The fact is that the economic crisis that we are experiencing now, that has made so many people fervently wish for leadership change, has managed to throw its own spanners into the very process that would bring about the much desired change in our fortunes."
He said more problems would be experienced if there was a second round run-off in the presidential poll, required if no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, as the "government is too broke to sustain another round of elections".
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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I have heard of nonsense , crap and "bullshit" in my life but this article takes the oscars. If the "ruining) Zimbabwean government got the other results collated (even with the voting being done under moonlight), why couldn't they collate the Presential one?
Please Zimbabweans, and indeed the world, you can doubt that the sun will shine but never doubt the callous man involved in all this. I have two hypotheses.
First is that Bob and his goods are buying time to pack and disappear into the night. Maybe take their valuables, transfers monies bs properties somewhere safe. Dubai would be a good choice (but poor Grace would not be able to dress in style as there is strict dress code). that makes a lot of sense.
Second is that Mugabe and his crew are just running scared and are shitting themselves. Now that might ake more sense since I saw my 75 year old ex-combatant uncle dressed up in army combats on telly la t night. (Yes, he is the one who got 3 compensation lumpsums, a "farm near Norton) and was given a car for his loyalty to Zanu! Unfortunately he cannot drive and the near service station near Kasango is 75 kilometers away. If he had petrol he might have helped Transport some of the results.
Just ke my article sounds like nonsense, crap and bullshit, so does the idea that Presential results are being delayed by Recession. ZEC said they are trying to meticulously modify them.
Am off to church now and my prayers will be with all Zimbabweans. I will ask God to make Bob know that " The time hath come".
I read your story Zimbabwe: Recession Slows Election Results with utter dismay at your deliberate attempt to exonerate a political regime that seeks to regain power through hook and crook. While I appreciate that the recession is a factor to the general slow nature of progress to government projects and that in most cases it has resulted in a stand still in almost operations, i don't agree that it has any significant contribution to the delays in collating data that has been processed at the polling stations throughout the various constituencies of the country. In any case, the Zimbabwe government is known to mobilize resources wherever the party is set to benefit. Because this time they see the impending loss of power, they are dilly-dallying and hiding behind the veil of accuracy. There is defintely no doubt that there are a lot of alternatives being hatched, weighed and negotiated behind closed doors because the party and its stalwarts are under pressure, and they do not want to pre-empt the alternatives by delaying the announcements of the results. It ia also true that there are deliberate changes to the ballot figures to resu of ballots set to resuscitate the political lives of certain ZANU PF members. The said meetings bewteen Mugabe and the military are a clear indication that something is brewing around the Harare areas of Chancellor Street, Police General Headquarters and KG VI. They cannot just fathom the idea of leaving power and face the whip. And they will definitely face it: lose the farms, looted irrigation equipment, tractors and combined harvesters. shortages of fuel is not an issue because the elections had been budgeted for many months before they were held. Gono had released the money. Questions of shortages of resources are out because the ZANU Pf is good at allocating resources where its future is. I find some of your information very inaccurate and grossly exaggerating the nature of the problems at hand. We are questioning here the delay in the publications of results, not counting ballots or collecting counted ballot papers. Ballot shortages could have been a matter if we question the pace of the voting process, not the release of results. To send results from the polling stations does not require lorries and truck loads, its just names and figures authenticated by the responsible polling officers. While most people in the diaspora rely on the websites such as yours, the article you wrote is unreliable and it seeks to present the delays as genuine and reasonable. It is time you scurtinise some of the issues I raise here and see things in a different light. That may better inform concerned and genuinely concerned members of the public.