Harare — THE much-awaited results of the presidential election are expected to be released this week -- exactly a month later -- the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced yesterday.
The announcement appeared to be in response to the expressed impatience of Sadc, which gave yesterday as a deadline for ZEC to release the results -- or the credibility of the poll would be in tatters.
Addressing a press conference, ZEC chairman, Justice George Chiweshe, said the process of feeding the recounted statistics into the system had already started.
"We trust that by Monday 28 April this process will have been concluded," he said. "Immediately thereafter, the returning officer (Chief Elections Officer) will invite the four Presidential candidates or their agents to a verification and collation exercise, leading to the announcement of the results of the Presidential election."
He said observers would be invited to the process, which was in terms of an agreement between the chief elections officer and the four presidential candidates.
Each party would tally the figures it collected from the 9 000 polling stations.
If there were no discrepancies and they all agree on the figures the result could be released soon thereafter.
Chiweshe said much of the recounting in the 23 constituencies had been completed and that only five constituencies remained.
"These five are also on the verge of completion," he said. Of the 10 constituencies recounted up to Friday there had been no significant changes to the initial results: MDC-Morgan Tsvangirai, 99 House of Assembly; Zanu PF, 97; MDC-Arthur Mutambara 10; Independent one.
In the Senate, Zanu PF 30; MDC-MT 24; MDC Mutambara six.
Ambassador Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo, head of the South African observer mission, said their assessment of the recounting exercise was that it had not impacted on the initial results announced soon after the elections.
Chiweshe spent a greater part of the press conference explaining the delays in announcing the presidential election results.
He said, they had to check 36 000 V11 forms nationally and there were delays in receiving returns from Matabeleland, which were eventually airlifted to Harare via Bulawayo.
He said court action brought against the commission had contributed to the delay by two weeks.
"However, we were to a large extent during that period unable to inform the electorate as to what progress we were making as doing so would have entailed discussion of issues still pending before the courts."
It might have been a coincidence, but yesterday's press conference came as Sadc warned it would not accept more excuses from the ZEC if it failed to release the results of the presidential elections by yesterday.
The announcement yesterday would appear designed to respond to SADC's concerns and impatience.
Sadc sent its observer team back to Harare last week to observe the recount of 23 disputed constituencies.
Sadc had said beyond Saturday it would not accept claims that the release of results had been affected by logistical difficulties.
Another warning for Mugabe was in the Mail & Guardian's report that President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, the AU chairperson, had said privately he would be willing to explore the option of convening an AU summit on Zimbabwe's delayed presidential poll.
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Hi Folks !!! I think at one point Africans are still to wake up from slumber.With all the harfship and human right abuses in this once enviable country called Zimbabwe, I wouldn't have imagined that some people will still stand behind Mugabe.
Many think it's because cMugabe is hostile to the whites that his name is soiled,but far from that. He has really buried that nation in an abyss which even a high tech crane will find it difficult to retrive.Infact we Africans are trying to cry more than the berieved in the case that some myopic creatures in Zimbabwe still believe in the Mugabe miracle. Sorry for you.!!!
The same fate is awaiting countries like Cameroon , Equatorial Guinea,Chad and Gabon. In these countries, motions of support and funny rubber stamp parliamenterians endanger the lives of a whole people. They continue to support evil and have become blind to reality.
I even envisage a second colonisation because situations are proving that some African countries aren't ripe enough to rule themselves. The military in these countries is meant to hunt the oposition and not to safegaurd the interest of the people. At one point the army can come in to salvage the people from these dictators but can they? I think we need the backings of the west for this action.
I have always wondered why it often happened in Nigeria , but today I think their approach has been the ideal thing to do. Kudos to the Nigerian army which can't tolerate such foolishness. Is there hope in the horizon???? God help us.
When is the last time you've been to Zimbabwe? It's pretty obvious that your comments are made based on nothing but Western propaganda. The reason that so many Zimbabweans still stand by Mugabe despite the hardships caused by sanctions and the collusion by white-owned businesses in Zimbabwe, real Zimbabweans support one of the few African leaders with enough guts to do something in the interest of indigenous African people. Of course this is dangerous to the Western (white) world because if Mugabe succeeds in permanently returning stolen African land to the Africans it may cause a domino effect in other parts of Africa. Thus we have the biggest lying campaign against an African leader in years. How do I know that it is a lying campaign? Because I'm in regular contact with people who live in Zimbabwe. That, plus the intelligence to understand that much of what the Western media is saying just doesn't add up.
djoser, you are so right. If one really thinks about all these stories being fabricated about Zimbabwe THEY JUST DONT ADD UP! It is so sad that people can demonise Mugabe so much. It's not rocket science to figure out that it DONT ADD UP.
There is a storm brewing, taking everyone by surprise. Even Mugabe and his security services underestimated the power of the storm. The movement is gathering pace. There will be blood. Mugabe, Perence Shiri and Augustine Chihuri you will be executed. Mugabe and his supporters are stumped by the attention the world media is paying to the situation in Zimbabwe. They think this is a conspiracy by the west to re-colonise Africa hahaha you delusional fools. As the saying goes out of sight out of mind Just because we cant be seen does not mean we dont exist. It doesnt mean we cant be felt!!! Think about it in the past 10-12 years, Zimbabweans in there millions have fled their homes for greener pastures. There are an estimated 5.5 million Zimbabweans living in Diaspora. This does not include those that left during the 1980s. Do you really think that us Zimbabweans are sat on our backsides doing nothing? Do you think that because we have no right to vote in the elections we are powerless??? How many Zimbos are currently serving in the British army? How many Zimbos are journalists writing for top newspapers around the world? Who do you think the CEO of Macmillan Publishings is? Who do you think the editor of the Economist and Ex Head of the bank of England is (Rupert Pennant-Rae)?? Thats right they are all zimbos. We are working every minute of the day, lobbying in parliament and the US senate, raising money and gaining sympathisers. Forget tobacco, forget gold, forget platinum what do you think is the biggest source of foreign currency to Zimbabwe? That s right, it is the money earned by the Diaspora. We havent forgotten you brothers and sisters of Zimbabwe. We are coming. The storm is coming. The MDC will have its vengeance and those who stand in the way of the storm be prepared you could loose your head!!
It is good to see that Africans are leading the way in dealing with African problems. The notion that "the West" is somehow pulling the strings in Zimbabwe is disingenuous at best. The cry of racist colonialists has been ringing ever more hollow on Mr. Mugabe's lips such that it no longer carries any sort of weight except with his own stooges or with the brainwashed. Nonetheless the West SHOULD indeed stay out of the picture out of respect for Africans and for African leadership, allowing this debacle to be handled to those most in tune with what's going on. Mugabe has ruined a country which should be among the leaders in Africa in many ways and instead finds itself worthy only of pity in terms of its current condition. Long live a Zimbabwe well rid of Mr. Mugabe and his murderous thugs!
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