How Zanu PF pick-pocketed your vote

By Luke Tamborinyoka

Today is 31 July, exactly two years after the people’s vote was pilfered in yet another stolen election in this country.

Despite massive election promises of progress and prosperity, Zanu PF has dismally failed to deliver; the economy is on its knees while the country is facing severe food shortages.

All economic indicators are headed southwards as the party in government has no clue on how to deliver competent services to a despondent nation.

In yet one of his rambling weekly columns in the Herald, Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba, aka Nathaniel Manheru, conceded that Zanu PF was finding it hard to deliver on its election promises:

He wrote soon after the July 31, 2013 election: “The fastest casualty of electoral victory is the happy world of campaigning where everything is possible. After that world goes, in comes an imperfect and dismal one, a world where it can’t.”

In yet another candid installment, Charamba said Zimbabweans had since come to the conclusion that if you want Zanu PF to showcase its failure to govern, just let it win an election!

Soon after the election of July 31, there was a huge national funeral, with most Zimbabweans unclear about how their verdict had been stolen in broad daylight.

In a moment, Tsvangirai’s competence in government evidenced by fully stocked shops and functioning health and education system was history. By August 4 2013, as despondency set into the country, the good times of the MDC in government had become a distant past; indeed another country!

With painful memories today, we recount to the nation how the people’s will was subverted so that we can all draw lessons and vaccinate future elections from similar subversions.

Soon after the election on July 31 2013, the MDC published a report of how the people’s vote was subverted.

We realize that many Zimbabweans did not have access to that report and still do not have the intricate details theft of how the people’s mandate was pick-pocketed.

Today, my mission is to submit a summation of the MDC report, which is already in the public domain, on how Zanu PF stole your vote!

Only a small team was aware of the minute details of the rigging plot and to this day, the nation is still vexed. .

How the people’s vote was stolen in 2013

• Role of Nikuv and the Chinese Communist Party (CPC)
• Mugabe personally supervised and paid Nikuv for the rigging machinery
• Mugabe hosted Nikuv Projects CEO Emmanuel Antebi on June 20 and July 31, 2013 in Harare for briefings
• The CPC of China arranged and facilitated deployment of agents to assist in rigging
• Jing Huwao was deployed from China to Harare in June 2013 to help rigging.

The political command

• Emmerson Mnangagwa, Sydney Sekeramayi, Saviour Kasukuwere, Webster Shamu, Ignatius Chombo, Kembo Mohadi, Christopher Mushowe, Nicholas Goche and Obert Mpofu were delegated to the rigging command in October 2012
• Mnangagwa and team went on secret missions to Israel, China, Angola, the Central African Republic and the DRC
• Vast technical expertise and support was provided by Nikuv and the Chinese
• The Chinese were instrumental in development of special water marked ballot paper

• The Militarization of the election
• Serving and retired soldiers were at epicentre of management and implementation of the rigging machinery
• Air Vice Marshall Henry Muchena, Major General Douglas Nyikayaramba and CIO Deputy Director General Aaron Tonderai Nhepera led the committee of military personnel.
• The Chinese and Israeli experts trained military and intelligence officials on specific rigging tactics
• Major Chinese experts played a big role in training ZANU PF militia
• Militia trained in ballot stuffing, fake IDs creation and fake voter registration slips
• Secret rigging command centres countrywide were run by the military
• Ballot paper, fake IDs, fake registration slips stocked at command centres
• Military, intelligence officials controlled mobile voter registration process

© The (Non) Role of ZEC

• The Justice Makarau-led ZEC was rendered useless, forced to follow behind rigging agents
• Three commissioners have confessed that ZEC ceded authority and control to military rigging agents
• Military, intelligence personnel at ZEC directly took instructions from commanders in the management committee
• Senior CIO official Silas Nyanungo was deployed to ZEC HQ as Chief Operations officer
• Three ZEC commissioners raised concerns with Makarau in July
• On July 15 2013, Makarau met RG Tobaiwa Mudede over concerns that were raised by political contestants but was told to back off by Henry Muchena
• Makarau, ZEC kept in the dark about ballot paper printing and distribution
• ZEC commission forced to take instructions from rigging machinery leaders

• Registrar General’s role
• Working with Nikuv, the RG created one million ghost voters
• Used strategies such as delaying voter registration and frustrating urban potential voters
• Diluted urban constituencies by issuing documents to rural ZANU PF supporters
• Allowed RG Department voters’ roll team to relocate to KGVI army HQ on July 15, 2013
• The RG denied political parties access to voters’ roll until few days before election
• Surrendered both hard and electronic copy of voters’ roll to military and intelligence command

• The Funding of the Rigging Process
• The DRC, Equatorial Guinea Presidents personally paid $10 million each for rigging machinery (Curiously, 11 senior officials from these two countries were invited to Amai Mugabe’s birthday bash last weekend)
• Marange were diamonds siphoned, sold and proceeds used to buy votes by paying Nikuv and other rigging agents
• Numbers and figures
• $100 million was the total amount used to rig election
• $13 million was paid to Nikuv in secret transactions without the knowledge of Treasury.
• 3 million – ballot papers smuggled into army bases and marked by youth militia
• 1,5 million- fake names and names of deceased people on voters’ roll
• 1 million – potential voters disenfranchised
• 250 000 – people brought to Harare to dilute urban constituencies
• 35 000 – ZANU PF youth militia trained and involved in rigging
• 1000 – retired senior army and intelligence officials recalled in June to boost militarization

So this is the timeline of how the people’s verdict was stolen two years ago to the day.

And today, as we brace for the 2018 election, Zanu PF is trying to employ the same tactics. Only recently, Florence Chigwamba, a long time bureaucrat in the Office of the President and Cabinet, was recently appointed the chief elections officer.

It is important today, as we remember the fraud of 2013, to restate that as a party we will only participate in a truly free, fair and credible poll.

We will only participate in elections predicated on far-reaching reforms that will ensure a credible and legitimate outcome.

And this time, we will use all constitutionally permissible avenues to ensure that the granary of the people’s verdict is well protected from these weevils that have frequently gnawed away the credibility of our elections!

In the meantime, Tongai tione!

Luke Tamborinyoka doubles as the spokesperson to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Director of Communications in the MDC. He writes here in his personal capacity.