Africa Policy Journal

By Mpumelelo Nxumalo

6 August 2013

After presiding over economic decline marked by hyperinflation which brought Zimbabwe to its knees, president Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party have emerged as victors in the recent harmonized elections in Zimbabwe. Mugabe got 61% of the vote and his ZANU-PF party won 158 of the 210 parliament seats, giving it a two-thirds majority in the legislature. In order to understand what this means for Zimbabwe’s future, the Harvard Africa Policy Journal has obtained an exclusive telephone interview with the outgoing member of parliament of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from Bulawayo, Mr. David Coltart.

David Coltart, an MDC Senator, has been a human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe since 1983. He was first elected to represent the Bulawayo South House of Assembly constituency in June 2000, and was re-elected in March 2005. In March 2008 he was elected as a Senator to represent the Khumalo Senatorial constituency in Bulawayo. Senator Coltart was sworn in as Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in February 2009. He lost his seat in the recent election and has conceded defeat to Thabitha Khumalo of the MDC-T, and will not be seeking a recount despite a narrow margin. We discuss the Zimbabwean election and more below.

HAPJ: What is your opinion of the way the elections were conducted first in your constituency in Bulawayo and overall? 

DC: Whilst the election is one of the most peaceful, we have been subjected to electoral fraud on an unprecedented scale. I have seen it in my own constituency but I have also seen evidence of that countrywide, and to that extent it has thrown the country into a state of extreme crisis.

HAPJ: Please describe these incidences of electoral fraud and any breach of electoral law? Have you brought these concerns before the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer missions, and what has been their response?

DC: Well, even prior to the election on Tuesday (July 30^th) I met with the head of the SADC mission here in Bulawayo, and presented a letter detailing six fundamental breaches of the electoral law. Since then there have been a variety of breaches of the electoral law and the constitution. There are six breaches I have identified (which took place prior to the election).

Firstly the initial proclamation of the election itself was illegal in that president Mugabe did not consult the cabinet in setting the date of the election. Secondly, the laws used to run the election using the Presidential Powers Act were in breach of section 157 of the constitution. Thirdly, the voter registration exercise was not done in compliance with the constitution. Fourthly, the section relating to state-owned media communication was regularly breached as there was failure to provide a fair opportunity for the presentation of divergent views and opinions in the run up to the election. Fifth, there was a biased application of section 152 of the Electoral Act (the provision which deals with election materials). The opposition MDC people were arrested for taking down posters of the ZANU PF despite lack of evidence. In contrast, ZANU-PF went on a wholesale campaign of tearing down campaign material sometimes in full view of the police but they were not arrested. The sixth issue is probably the most serious and absolutely critical was the breach of section 21:6/7 of the Electoral Act by the Zimbabwe Election Commission – the provision that obliges the Electoral Commission to supply each candidate one electronic copy of the constituency voters roll. This was a key element of this election that was never complied with. We are four days after the election and I still have not seen the said copy.

All the above happened prior to the election. On Election Day (July 31^st) it became apparent that the absence of an elections voters roll was exploited. I saw hoards of shaven-head young men in my constituency, and we did not understand the full impact of what they were doing until the evening (See this video of Minister Biti facing what appears to be similar problems in his constituency on election day). There were seven polling stations that were located within a 2 kilometer radius of Brady Barracks, and when the results came out, they bore no relation to historical trends in that area. ZANU PF in those particular polling stations got ten times more votes than I did, which was completely disproportionate to what happened in other areas. The next thing is that hundreds of people were turned away in my constituency on allegedly not being on the voters’ roll. These were people that have voted before. There is a further provision of the Electoral Act that says that during the count, police are not permitted to be present. Yet in every single polling station police were present.

You see it is not just one issue; there are multiple reasons why this election was illegal and violated the constitution.

HAPJ: The two leading African observer groups –the AU, headed by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and the SADC– have said the elections were free and fair. What recourse does this leave the MDC and MDC-T going forward?

DC: The AU has a completely different attitude to SADC and it is not surprising that (the Zimbabwean election) has been given a clean bill of health by them. They were focused almost exclusively on whether or not the elections were violence-free. They did not focus much of the legality of it. So to that extent, their coverage is not surprising. SADC has not given a completely clean bill of health, and does not want to jump to any conclusion. They have not said to their knowledge that they found it fair. But ultimately, you asked what our options were. We have limited options, because we have seen how the courts have ruled (on matters like this) in recent times…But I think, ultimately, it is going to come down to economics, i.e. how they (ZANU-PF) are going to govern the country with such low confidence. There is a mood of depression right across this country. One would think that having won a landslide victory with 61% of the vote there would be a joyous mood in this country. It is just the opposite; there is a mood of extreme depression across the country.

HAPJ: What can ordinary Zimbabweans do? Has there been any civilian action?

 DC: I’m not sure there is any civilian action that can be taken. Tragically, now they (the ZANU-PF) are going to have to govern…We will be interested to see how they will do it.

HAPJ: The MDC-T leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has warned that this election will plunge Zimbabwe into crisis. Do you agree with this sentiment?

DC: I think Zimbabweans are in an extreme state of crisis. I know as Minister of Education how little money there was to run the education sector, and I don’t see anything changing in the short term. The only option is if those ZANU-PF officials who have been so corrupt stop being corrupt and channel more of the diamond resource revenues towards the education and health sectors. But I think that is unlikely.

HAPJ: Going back to the race in your constituency. You have already conceded despite what some have called a narrow victory for Thabitha Khumalo (MDC-T). Please explain your decision not to seek a recount?

DC: Given the narrowest of victories like this one can seek a recount. I had a very good team of polling agents including chartered accountants and people of that caliber. So I am pretty confident that they counted correctly. Also, my battle has never been against MDC-T. I was a founding member of the MDC-T. Had it been a ZANU-PF candidate, I probably would have sought a recount, and quite frankly in parliament it is not going to make too much of a difference whether I am there or Thabitha Khumalo is. I don’t think it is worth going to the extent of a recount. But I think there is a minimal chance of the figures changing and had I less confidence in my polling agents then I would have sought a recount.

HAPJ: We have spoken about what you see in the future for Zimbabwe. What about you? Do you plan on staying in politics in Zimbabwe after this?

DC: I have been involved in politics all my life, and God-willing, I don’t see this as the end of the political road for me. It is a time to regroup. I have been at this battle for thirty years against this regime and thirteen years in parliament. Over the next few weeks I will consider my options, whether I go back to law. But, generally I think that we need to regroup, not just myself. There is no doubt that the failure of the two MDC factions to reach a coalition agreement – although it would not have won the election – certainly handed a variety of seats over to ZANU-PF on a platter. We need to regroup and I will devote more of my energy to try to strike common ground with democrats in this country.

First Things

By Luke Foster

5 August 2013

Millions went to the polls last Wednesday in the small Southern African nation of Zimbabwe in a general election that pits the incumbent, Robert Mugabe, against a divided opposition. Mugabe has held power since 1980, and, at 89, he shows no signs of yielding it. As David Coltart, member of the opposition and Minister of Education, Sport, and Culture, urged his supporters last Tuesday night:

Good people of Zimbabwe—get to bed early this evening. Then, early tomorrow, get up and go, every last one of you, to do your bit to end tyranny. We all have a role to play—even if you are not registered and unable to vote encourage those who can vote, to go and vote—and if you can help them get to the polls, do so.

There is much concern about Zanu PF plans to rig but the best way to overcome that is to get every last person to vote. The more legitimate ballots in the boxes the more they have to stuff and the harder it is for them!

God bless Zimbabwe.

“Ending tyranny” is no hyperbole in Zimbabwe’s case. The British colony of Southern Rhodesia until 1965, Zimbabwe vividly remembers the oppressive years of white-minority rule from 1965 to 1980. Ian Smith led the 5 percent of the population who had settled in the colony from Britain in attempting to perpetuate their own power by ignoring the Commonwealth procedures for democratic transfer to majority rule. Mugabe waged a brutal guerilla war of reprisals and counter-reprisals in which civilians, black and white, sustained most of the casualties. He successfully undermined the Rhodesian government and nominally achieved the creation of a liberal, democratic Zimbabwe after a 1980 peace deal brokered by Margaret Thatcher’s British government. His actions neatly fit a post-colonial narrative of national liberation. Acclaim poured in for the hero of Zimbabwean freedom: Queen Elizabeth II knighted Mugabe, the University of Massachusetts gave him an honorary law degree, and capital cities throughout Southern Africa renamed prominent avenues after him.

But the tribalism, racism, and authoritarianism that have been so characteristic of President Mugabe in recent years were apparent from the beginning. Mugabe and his base of support are members of the majority Shona ethnic group in the north and east of Zimbabwe. From 1982 to 1987, Mugabe’s elite 5th Brigade (honed in brutality in North Korea) conducted terror killings of 20,000 ethnic Ndebele in the west to solidify power and discourage dissent.

From then until the late 1990s, Zimbabwe was relatively tranquil. Commercial farming—a sector dominated by white settlers—flourished, earning Zimbabwe the nickname, “The Breadbasket of Southern Africa.” Rumor has it that the First Lady in those years, Sally Hayfron, had a moderating influence on Mugabe. I remember very fondly my visits to Harare and Mutare, Zimbabwe’s major cities, during that period. The prosperity and opportunity to be found across the border contrasted favorably with the destitution of my home Mozambique.

But peace and order are always fragile. In 1998, Mugabe ordered thousands of his troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ostensibly an intervention on the side of a government under attack by rebel groups, the foreign adventure served to secure mineral wealth to senior officials in Mugabe’s government while emptying Zimbabwe’s coffers.

In 2000, mounting criticism by the new Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party left Mugabe increasingly embattled. “Land reform” proved a welcome distraction, as the president and his allies increasingly drew on a sense of grievance from Zimbabwe’s colonial past to create a siege mentality. Disagreeing with the president was labeled Western-backed subversion, and former guerilla soldiers began to forcibly evict white farmers from their land. This alienated international financial institutions and drove away foreign investment, sparking hyperinflation that rendered the Zimbabwe dollar worth less than the paper it was printed on. Stringent laws requiring “indigenization” of all companies operating in Zimbabwe further alienated Western investors, leading Mugabe to align himself with China, exchanging mining concessions for infrastructure and weaponry. Millions of Zimbabweans—up to a quarter of the country’s population, and many of the most skilled and educated—left the country in despair, often seeking to rebuild their lives in neighboring countries or the United Kingdom.

President Mugabe has managed to hang on to power despite his fierce unpopularity (especially in urban areas and among the Ndebele). Mass fraud marred the 2002 general elections. And Mugabe’s men have stooped to dirtier and more direct tactics since: infiltrating the opposition MDC to split it in 2005, beating up presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai and then defending the deed as “deserved” in 2007, and beating hundreds of MDC supporters—and killing many—during the 2008 election cycle.

Since then, the country has seen some signs of hope: a power-sharing deal that has given the MDC some chance to govern, an inflation reduction accomplished by adopting the U.S. dollar, and a new constitution that limits presidential powers. Yet the build-up to these elections has been marked by harassment, intimidation, and tampering with the voting roll. This cycle, hundreds of thousands of eligible voters were reportedly denied registration while names of long-deceased people were added instead.

The official results from yesterday’s election will be released on August 5th, but the MDC, including David Coltart, has alleged fraud. Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party is claiming a two-thrids majority in Parliament. Foreign observers have remained noncommittal, and investors are nervous, jeopardizing the recent fragile economic growth.

Stories like Zimbabwe’s are saturated with extraordinary evil and despair. But it would wrong to miss the myriad glimpses of hope and redemption that God’s people bear witness to: the courageous work of Pius Ncube, Archbishop of Bulawayo, in spending thirty years prophesying against Mugabe’s deeds (Mugabe himself was educated by Jesuits and once claimed to be a devout Catholic); the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace’s careful documentation of abuses of power; the faithful worship and practice of the Union Baptist Church; and the compassionate outreach of Celebration Ministries International. The faithful work of Minister Coltart to achieve improvements in Zimbabwe’s education system has been a perennial sign of hope for racial reconciliation in a scarred nation. But now Coltart has reportedly been unseated.

One hundred and sixteen years ago, Enoch Santonga, educated by Methodist missionaries, wrote a great hymn,  praying that the incarnate Creator might bless his continent. Now part of the national anthem of South Africa, his isiXhosa lyrics are particularly apt for Zimbabwe’s travails:

Nkosi, sikelel’ iAfrika
Malupakam’ upondo lwayo;
Yiva imitandazo yetu.
Lord, bless Africa
May her horn rise high up;
Hear Thou our prayers and bless us.

Chorus
Yihla Moya, yihla Moya
Yihla Moya Oyingcwele
Descend O Spirit
Descend, O Holy Spirit

Nkosi Sikelel, Afrika;
Cima bonk’ ubugwenza bayo
Neziggito, Nezono zayo
Uwazikelele.
Lord, bless Africa
Blot out all its wickedness
And its transgressions and sins,
And bless us.

Luke Foster is a summer intern at First Things.

Southern Eye

By Nduduzo Tshuma

4 August 2013

ZANU PF leader President Robert Mugabe was yesterday declared winner of last Wednesday’s presidential election, garnering a massive 61% of the more than three million votes cast.

If the 89-year-old Mugabe serves his full term, he will be 94 and would have led Zimbabwe for a continuos period of 38 years.

Announcing the results, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson Justice Rita Makarau said Mugabe had polled 2 110 434 translating to 61,09% of the total votes, with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai garnering 1 172 349 votes, translating to 33,94% of the total votes cast.

MDC leader Welshman Ncube polled 92 637 votes (2,68% of the total votes) while Zapu president Dumiso Dabengwa received 25 416 translating to 0,74% of the votes.

Kissinoti Mukwazhe of the Zimbabwe Democratic Party, who pulled out of the race, still managed to get 0,29% of the total vote, polling 9 931 votes.

Makarau said 3 480 047 had taken part in the national elections.

In 2008, Mugabe polled 1 079 730 meaning that he gained 1 030 704 more voters in this year’s elections.

Tsvangirai’s tally reflected that the MDC-T leader’s popularity had fallen slightly compared to the last poll, as in 2008 he had 23 213 votes more than what he received in this year’s elections.

Makarau paid tribute to the African Union (AU) and Sadc observers for their presence in the country to observe the polls.

She also praised ZEC staff for their “hard work” in ensuring that the elections went on smoothly.

Addressing journalists at the State House in Harare, a day before the elections, Mugabe expressed confidence his party would score a landslide victory.

However, Tsvangirai has dismissed the election as a farce citing irregularities in the polls ranging from the failure by ZEC to provide him and other political parties with electronic copies of the voters’ roll on time and pointing to the alarming number of assisted voters.

Similar sentiments were raised by MDC secretary for legal affairs, David Coltart, who said the electoral process was fraught with irregularities.

Zapu, two weeks ago, submitted complaints to the AU over numerous discrepancies in the voters’ roll, claiming there were more than 21 000 names of people who are more than 100 years old and over 100 duplicated names.

The party said gender for five people could not be established.

The cries of election fraud have so far fallen on deaf ears, with South African President Jacob Zuma challenging Tsvangirai to produce evidence.

Zuma said his country was more worried about violence possibly rocking the elections and was happy that the polls had been peaceful.

Southern Eye

By Vitalis Moyo 

4 August 2013

THE much-anticipated Heath Streak consultancy and sports development initiative was officially launched on Thursday evening at a local hotel.

The hallmark sporting ceremony in the City of Kings was graced by former Zimbabwe national team players like renowned cricket commentator Mpumelelo “Pommie” Mbangwa, Grant Flower, the current national team batting coach, as well as Wayne James, who made appearances for Zimbabwe in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a stylish batsman and excellent fielder, as well as Dirk Viljoen, among others.

Addressing delegates at the gala fundraising dinner, Streak said he was overwhelmed by the support he had received from the corporate world.

“I am honoured and overwhelmed by the amount of support that this initiative has received from Rajesh Modi and the corporate world. I am proud to be able to share the knowledge I have gained in the past 20 years as a player and a coach with the young cricket players. It is important that we as Zimbabweans give our children an opportunity to dream big and I believe that this initiative will improve the quality of life of these children,” Streak said.

Guest of honour outgoing Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart hailed Streak for setting up the initiative saying it would play a key role in restoring Zimbabwe cricket back to being one of the producers of the best players in the world.

“Heath Streak’s initiative steps in where the government and Zimbabwe Cricket have failed, that is in developing the sport of cricket. This initiative will play a major role in restoring cricket in Zimbabwe to the heights we have seen before. I will also commend Rajesh Modi and other corporates for supporting the initiative and I hope you will continue to support it,” Coltart said.

Modi, the major sponsor of the initiative through his retail company. Bellevue Spar, bemoaned the lack of social responsibility by corporates in the country.

“It is the responsibility of the corporate to give back to the community what they have gained. If they chose to sponsor at least five children at $1 000 each, I believe that the country could produce more Heath Streaks in the years to come,” Modi said.

Joseph Rego who has been Streak’s agent for the past 14 years and is the chief executive officer of the Heath Streak Consultancy, said he was determined to sustain the initiative and draw more support for it.

Other dignitaries present to witness the launch of this ground breaking initiative included members of the Sports and Recreation Commission, members of different sporting boards, Zimbabwe and India national cricket team players as well as various representatives from the corporate world.

Southern Eye

By Southern Eye Reporter

2 August 2013

MDC Bulawayo East national assembly aspirant David Coltart yesterday conceded defeat to incumbent Thabitha Khumalo of the MDC-T, although he cited irregularities in the election process.

Coltart said he lost to Khumalo by a close margin and said the election was fraught with irregularities.

“I confirm that it appears I have lost the Bulawayo East Constituency to MDC-T’s Thabitha Khumalo, although the final official result has not been announced,” he said.

“While I obviously congratulate her and wish her well and stress that my comments are not directed against her, the entire election was fraught with serious irregularities.”

Coltart said before Wednesday’s election, he handed a letter to the head of the Sadc observer mission in Bulawayo detailing six breaches of the Electoral Law and the Constitution.

“In my view the entire election is illegal. For example, I still have not received a copy of the electronic voters’ roll, which I was entitled to and which was a key mechanism to counter rigging,” he said.

The outgoing Education minister said he became increasingly suspicious of what was going on in the seven polling stations located by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), within a 2km radius of the army’s Brady Barracks.

“Suffice to say that the election was lost in those seven out of 40 polling stations in the constituency with results coming out of those polling stations, which bear little relation to voting patterns in them and the areas they cover in the last decade,” he said.

Coltart said it had been impossible for him to analyse voters who were resident in “these areas of concern because I do not have the voters’ roll”. He said reports that Zanu PF had dominated in Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland South were a clear that the entire election was fraudulent and puts his loss into context.

“I could not understand how (President) Robert Mugabe could be so confident in his Press conference on Tuesday when his main opponent (Prime Minister) Morgan Tsvangirai had, the day before, held one of the biggest political rallies ever in his backyard,” Coltart continued.

“I was astounded to read in The Herald yesterday that Zanu PF was looking at obtaining a two thirds majority in Parliament, which defied all reasonable projections,” he said.

“It is now clear why there was this confidence. Zimbabwe has been subjected to electoral fraud on a massive scale.”

Southern Eye

By Nduduzo Tshuma

2 August 2013

THERE was outrage yesterday when indications showed that Zanu PF had won in most parts of the country in Wednesday’s election.

MDC-T leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai declared the election null and void.

Tsvangirai dismissed the election as a huge farce, saying he would not accept the results which Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was yet to announce.

“It’s a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people,” he said, pointing out to a number of what he alleged were irregularities.

“In our view this election is null and void. This election has been a huge farce.”

The fuming MDC-T leader said the manner in which the poll had been conducted was likely to plunge the country into chaos.

“The shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis,” he said.

Tsvangirai’s allegations are to be dismissed by President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party, which has in the past brushed off the MDC-T leader as a cry baby.

At his Press conference at Harvest House, Tsvangirai said the election had been marred by administrative and legal violations, which affected its legitimacy.

He said the election did not meet Sadc, African Union (AU) and international standards for a credible, legitimate, free and fair election.

“I have met with the chair of the AU observer mission, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, head of the Sadc observer mission, minister Bernard Mmembe and I have given a diplomatic briefing,” Tsvangirai said.

“The message we have given is that this is not a credible election. It does not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe.”

The MDC-T leader said thousands failed to register and were disenfranchised. While also lamenting that the voters’ roll was not released timeously as required by law and there was no proper inspection of the electoral register to verify its authenticity.

“In our view, the outcome of this election is illegitimate,” he said.

“We, therefore, call for Sadc and the AU audit teams to look into this process, in particular the voters’ roll, the ballots and the manner in which the whole process was conducted.”

Some of the reasons noted by Tsvangirai in dismissing Wednesday’s election included duplication of names on the voters’ roll.

The MDC-T leader bemoaned what he called militarisation of the electoral process saying it was, “under the effective control of security personnel”.

Tsvangirai said there was lack of transparency in the supply of ballots, as well as over-printing of ballots by more than 35% and lack of accountability for ballots.

He said there was lack of transparency and double-voting in the special vote and use of the postal voting system.

However, MDC treasurer Paul Themba Nyathi was reportedly critical of Tsvangirai’s stance, describing it as toao hasty.

“I think Tsvangirai has spoken too soon, he needs a quiet corner to reflect and I think the right course is to concede and move on,” he told Newzimbabwe.com.

Meanwhile, the party’s secretary-general told SABC that the election represented, “the mother of all rigging”.

“(It is) the mother of all shenanigans, to begin with the voters roll was shambolic, it excluded two million Zimbabweans, in Harare alone it excluded 300 000 people,” he said.

“There were people in that voters’ roll whose names appeared four times with different identity documents and even as we voted yesterday (Wednesday) political parties especially the opposition did not have copies of the voters roll.”

Tendai Biti alleged that there were cases of intimidation in Mashonaland provinces, were voters were asked to pretend that they were illiterate so that they could be assisted to vote by officials.

“We saw situations in places like Mt Pleasant (Harare) of thousands of people being bussed from rural areas and other places to vote in certain marked constituencies,” he said.

“This has been a very tragic election, in which once again the people of Zimbabwe have had their vote stolen and regrettably this will plunge our country into further crisis.

“It has been a case of one step forwards and two backwards.”

The outgoing Finance minister said the rigging of elections was self-evident and expressed hope that the Sadc and AU observers will mention it in their final reports.

MDC legal affairs secretary David Coltart and Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa have also complained about the state of the voters’ roll.

News Day

By News Day Reporter

2 August 2013

EDUCATION minister David Coltart yesterday conceded defeat in the battle for the Bulawayo East constituency House of Assembly seat, but cited irregularities in the entire harmonised elections that took place on Wednesday.

Coltart, who lost to MDC-T candidate Thabitha Khumalo by 19 votes, congratulated her, but pointed out that the whole poll was “suspicious”.

He did not disclose the votes Khumalo polled against him.

“Whilst I obviously congratulate her and wish her well and stress that my comments are not directed against her, the entire election was fraught with serious irregularities,” Coltart said. “In my view, the entire election is illegal — for example, I have still not received a copy of the electronic voters’ roll which I was entitled to and which was a key mechanism to counter rigging.”

Coltart said on the eve of the election, he had written a letter to the head of the Sadc observer team in Bulawayo detailing six serious breaches of the electoral law and Constitution.

“On Wednesday, I became increasingly suspicious of what was going on in the seven polling stations which had been sited by Zec (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) within a two-kilometre radius of Brady Barracks. The results coming out of seven out of 40 polling stations in the constituency bear little relation to voting patterns in them and the areas they cover in the last decade,” he said.

He said President Robert Mugabe’s confidence during his Press conference on the eve of elections was also suspicious, especially after his main opponent Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had the day before held one of the biggest rallies ever in Harare.

“I was astounded to read in The Herald yesterday (Wednesday) that Zanu PF was looking at obtaining a two-thirds majority in Parliament, which defied all reasonable projections. It is now clear why there was this confidence. Zimbabwe has been subjected to electoral fraud on a massive scale,” Coltart said.

All Africa

By Nomalanga Moyo

2 August 2013

Outgoing Education Minister and MDC legal secretary David Coltart has said the context in which Zimbabweans went to the polls has been fraught with many irregularities that render the whole process ‘illegal’.

Coltart was speaking to SW Radio Africa Friday after he raised concerns of massive rigging in the Bulawayo East Constituency, which he had hoped to represent in the next parliament.

Coltart lost the bid to the MDC-T’s Tabitha Khumalo.

In a statement conceding defeat, Coltart noted what he said were serious irregularities and breaches to the Electoral Act, especially the absence of an electronic voters’ roll prior to the election.

He told SW Radio Africa: “But on the (polling) day, we started to see why the failure to make us have the voters’ roll was so critical, and I saw it in two ways.”

“Firstly, earlier in the morning I became aware of a strange number of shaven youngsters around the Brady Barracks area, and that had been allocated seven polling stations all within a 2-km radius.

“The results that came out of those seven polling stations were completely out of keeping with the historical voting patterns in an area where ZANU PF has always lost,” Coltart added.

“Secondly, many people were turned away from polling stations, with their names not appearing on the roll. 85 at a station close to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.”

Coltart said this doubtless affected the election result. He also cited the involvement of police officers in the vote counting process as another Electoral Act breach that occurred on polling day.

“The law is clear that the police should neither be inside the counting station nor be involved in the counting process, yet in Bulawayo East, they were.

“So it is all of these breaches to the law and the constitution which make us say that the entire election has been unfair and illegal,” Coltart said.

Asked why both MDC formations went ahead and participated in an election whose lead-up was already discredited, Coltart said it was a difficult decision to make, as they would have been blamed if they had not.

He said the parties did all they could to raise the issue of the compromised electoral environment to SADC, including at the June 15th Maputo summit.But to no avail.

Coltart said it would be pointless to challenge the election result in the courts: “If you look at the electoral challenges from the 2002 election, none of them have yielded any meaningful change to the result or the system. And to that extent, going to court will be an entirely fruitless exercise.”

The outgoing minister called for calm despite this “massive electoral fraud”. He added that ZANU PF had this time overplayed its hand and, having engineered the result, will have to answer to the people to whom it owes its “landslide victory”, by reviving an economy it has consistently run down.

MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti, who came face-to-face with some youths who had been bused in to vote in Mount Pleasant, has described the ZANU PF poll victory as “monumental rigging”: “It was done in a manner so crude it is unbelievable,” said Biti.

Daily News

By Wendy Muperi

2 August 2013

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called Wednesday’s vote a “huge farce,” a day after his latest attempt to end President Robert Mugabe’s 33-year rule.

Tsvangirai’s views were also shared by David Coltart of the smaller MDC faction who described the election as a farce adding the entire election was fraught with irregularities.

The visibly dejected Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) presidential candidate told a press conference yesterday the election was heavily manipulated and did not meet minimum election standards for the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the African Union (AU).

“The shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis,” Tsvangirai said.

“Its credibility has been marred by administrative and legal violations which affect the legitimacy of its outcome,” he added.

“It is a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people.”

The MDC leader called the election a huge “farce.”

“I am sure you know the developments around the election and what is emerging throughout the country but the conclusion has been that this has been a huge farce. It is a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people,” he said.

“It is our view that this election is null and void, it does not meet Sadc, AU or international standards for a credible legitimate free and fair election.”

Administrative and legal violations, challenges related to the voters’ roll, manipulation of the voter’s choice through voter assistance, intimidation, abuse of voter’s slips as proof of voter registration, militarisation of the electoral process, lack of transparency in ballot paper printing and double voting are some of reasons constituting Tsvangirai’s basis for disputing the legitimacy of the outcome.

The Daily News investigations team on Wednesday lifted the lid on electoral fraud that ended with a team of 20 Zanu PF youths being detained at Hatfield Police Station for distributing fake voter registration slips.

Some used the slips to vote in Hatfield.

A sombre atmosphere engulfed Harvest House, the MDC headquarters, as depressed MDC polling officers trooped into the offices.

Riot police were deployed outside the party headquarters.

The MDC leader, who had hoped for a landslide victory supported by several surveys, decried the implications of the outcome on the generality of Zimbabweans.

“Zanu PF may have this clarion victory as they would want to claim but I want to assure you that the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis has never been so near because we know at the end of the day Mugabe and Zanu PF are not going to put food on the on the table,” Tsvangirai said.

“We also know that the country, facing this myriad of problems cannot be resolved by these shenanigans,” he said.

Tsvangirai accused Zanu PF of subverting the people’s vote.

“Let me also say some of us believed that in spite of some of the hurdles that had to be overcome, that this election will resolve the political and economic crisis the country is facing,” he said.

“Once again Zimbabweans have been short-changed and they will have to bear the economic, socio and political consequences undertaken by Mugabe and Zanu PF,” he said adding: “MDC MPs who are celebrating that they won, this is not the moment to celebrate. It is a moment to be sad.”

The outspoken PM — though disturbed by the poll — still expressed hope for the future.

“For us we want to assure every Zimbabwean, that this is the beginning of the end,” he said.

Coltart said: “Even prior to the election on Tuesday, I handed a letter to the Head of the Sadc team in Bulawayo detailing 6 serious breaches of our Electoral law and Constitution which stands as record.

“In my view the entire election is illegal — for example I have still not received a copy of the electronic voters’ roll which I was entitled to and which was a key mechanism to counter rigging.

“That news along with news of the loss of Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland South to Zanu PF makes it clear in my mind that the entire election is fraudulent. It also puts my loss in context.”

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn), a coalition of local non-government organisations monitoring elections in the country, described the poll as “seriously compromised.”

“Up to a million voters were disenfranchised,” Solomon Zwana, the chairman of Zesn, told a press conference yesterday.

Zanu PF’s spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo, rejected allegations that the poll was rigged, saying it was part of a plot by Americans and Europeans to discredit the vote.

Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, head of the African Union observer mission, told reporters on Wednesday night that he felt the vote was provisionally “free and fair”.

“From what I saw, and the reports that I’ve received so far from our observers who went out in the field, the conduct of the elections everywhere they went to was peaceful, orderly and free and fair,” Obasanjo said.

Rita Makarau, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), conceded “a few minor logistical problems” where voting started slowly, and appealed to people to put forward any evidence of irregularities.

SW Radio Africa

By Nomalanga Moyo

2 August 2013

Outgoing Education Minister and MDC legal secretary David Coltart has said the context in which Zimbabweans went to the polls has been fraught with many irregularities that render the whole process ‘illegal’.

Coltart was speaking to SW Radio Africa Friday after he raised concerns of massive rigging in the Bulawayo East Constituency, which he had hoped to represent in the next parliament.
Coltart lost the bid to the MDC-T’s Tabitha Khumalo.

In a statement conceding defeat, Coltart noted what he said were serious irregularities and breaches to the Electoral Act, especially the absence of an electronic voters’ roll prior to the election.

He told SW Radio Africa: “But on the (polling) day, we started to see why the failure to make us have the voters’ roll was so critical, and I saw it in two ways.”

“Firstly, earlier in the morning I became aware of a strange number of shaven youngsters around the Brady Barracks area, and that had been allocated seven polling stations all within a 2-km radius.

“The results that came out of those seven polling stations were completely out of keeping with the historical voting patterns in an area where ZANU PF has always lost,” Coltart added.

“Secondly, many people were turned away from polling stations, with their names not appearing on the roll. 85 at a station close to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.”

Coltart said this doubtless affected the election result. He also cited the involvement of police officers in the vote counting process as another Electoral Act breach that occurred on polling day.

“The law is clear that the police should neither be inside the counting station nor be involved in the counting process, yet in Bulawayo East, they were.

“So it is all of these breaches to the law and the constitution which make us say that the entire election has been unfair and illegal,” Coltart said.

Asked why both MDC formations went ahead and participated in an election whose lead-up was already discredited, Coltart said it was a difficult decision to make, as they would have been blamed if they had not.

He said the parties did all they could to raise the issue of the compromised electoral environment to SADC, including at the June 15th Maputo summit.But to no avail.

Coltart said it would be pointless to challenge the election result in the courts: “If you look at the electoral challenges from the 2002 election, none of them have yielded any meaningful change to the result or the system. And to that extent, going to court will be an entirely fruitless exercise.”

The outgoing minister called for calm despite this “massive electoral fraud”. He added that ZANU PF had this time overplayed its hand and, having engineered the result, will have to answer to the people to whom it owes its “landslide victory”, by reviving an economy it has consistently run down.

MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti, who came face-to-face with some youths who had been bused in to vote in Mount Pleasant, has described the ZANU PF poll victory as “monumental rigging”: “It was done in a manner so crude it is unbelievable,” said Biti.