Luke-ing the Beast in the Eye: The by-elections charade

Tomorrow, there are supposed to be by-elections in 28 parliamentary constituencies and some 105 wards strewn across the length and breadth of our beloved country.

But given the massive irregularities that have emerged so far, tomorrow’s events can only be no more than a gigantic charade.

This treatise will argue that whatever the outcome of these by-elections, they are still a sham unless and until we plug all the holes to hold truly credible elections that pass the test, especially as we prepare for what is set to be a watershed plebiscite in 2023.

Ahead of a crucial poll next year, these by-elections were always going to be an important dry-run. But the signs so far are that even the election of the chairperson of a burial society by some drunkards under a tree at a beer-binge in the village is likely to be a less contentious affair than tomorrow’s so-called by-elections.

A chaotic voters roll, a contentious ban of cellphones in the polling station, bizarre reports that ZEC will allow contesting candidates to second only one polling agent into the polling station, overtly biased public media coverage, the banning of some CCC rallies ahead of the polls while the Zanu PF campaign progressed undisturbed, arbitrary arrests, unmitigated violence and the brutal murder of Mboneni Ncube in Kwekwe in the run-up to these polls all serve to show that this is nothing more than a grand charade, if not a circus.

Whatever the outcome, these will certainly not be by-elections but a monumental sham dressed in election robes. For political parties contesting against Zanu PF, this certainly gives a clear message that the 2023 elections can only be worse.

Last week, I warned of blood on the political dance floor. Given the huge CCC crowds we saw in Sakubva in Mutare and at Rujeko stadium in Masvingo, this regime can only resort to bludgeoning the people in a vain attempt to tame the huge momentum for change in the country. Chances are the regime will fail to stem the momentum. But they will certainly recline to their natural default-setting of violence because of this imminent defeat that is staring them in their ugly, contorted face.

The massive irregularities we have witnessed so far ahead of these by-elections are the clearest evidence yet that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Rigged polls are a beast that ought to be Luke-d in the eye. Any sham of an election will breed yet another pandemic of illegitimacy, on top of the underlying illegitimacy that we have carried over from the contested Presidential poll of 2018.

We certainly cannot afford another ailment given our underlying condition; another sham masquerading as an election.

The Constitution is clear on these matters. Under the Founding Values and Principles in our Constitution, section 3 (2) (b) clearly states that in this country, we have a multiparty system. This is important as the conduct of the State and all its agents in the run-up to these by-elections has given the impression that Zimbabwe is a one-party State. The same section states that the principles which bind the State and all its agencies at every level include an electoral system based on universal suffrage, free, fair and regular elections and respect for the rights of all political parties, among other exhortations.

Chapter 7 of the Constitution is comprehensive in terms of what ought to be the character and quality of our national elections. The charade tomorrow, whatever its outcome, certainly falls far short of the Constitutional expectations.

Section 155 (2) (c) urges the State to ensure all contesting parties and candidates in an election get reasonable access to all voting material and information regarding the same. The furore over the voters roll, in which some political parties and candidates seem unsure which of the many voters rolls available will be used tomorrow, points to the fact that this provision has been breached.

Section 155 (2) (d) is unequivocal that all contesting parties and candidates in an election must get equal coverage. This provision has equally been breached. Mnangagwa and Zanu PF have received live coverage at their events while CCC leader Nelson Chamisa’s rallies have not been covered.

For the few seconds he has been granted coverage, the coverage has been negative, with the ZBC reporter often giving a voice-over in a crudely false interpretation of his message.

That is on the rare occasions he gets the coverage, which coverage has barely exceeded 20 seconds before analysts are wheeled in for quite some time to viciously attack him on their own deliberately false interpretation of his message. This palpably skewed coverage is yet again a violation of the Constitution.

But then, they have the power. Coercive State power. The power to abuse people, to abuse and vilify contestants and to emasculate both State institutions and independent Institutions.

My colleague and former workmate in the Prime Minister’s Office, Alex Tawanda Magaisa, has written a poignant treatise on the geography of State power. I wish to add however that in our case, we may need to interrogate and understand more than just the geography of State power in Zimbabwe.

We may need to look at the history of power, the literature around power as well as the math ie . the statistical and numerical distribution of power retention agents across the vast spectrum of the State.

The biology of power is also pertinent, especially considering the deployment of control levers in the entire anatomy of local government structures from the Provincial Administrator right down to the village.

Power is a complex concept both in politics and in international relations. Power is contextual. And power, like love, is difficult to define. We have to be clear what power we are talking about at any given moment. There is power as a means and power as an end and as a goal. Power as influence. Power as security. Power as capability. Power as ownership of resources. Power is multi-dimensional and in its multiple dimensions and variegated forms, power differs in scope, domain, weight and costs. Power is either structural or relational.

The calculus of State power is variegated and it is continually reflected in various forms: military power, economic power, nuclear power, cyber-power or technological power. I wrote last week that the world has largely moved from the utility of hard coercive power to soft persuasive power.

There is also the notion of smart power, which is a fusion of both coercive and persuasive power. It is the latter, the morbidly fused power of coercive and co-optive instruments which Zanu PF has deployed to steal these by-elections in preparation of the grand theft of the people’s will in 2023.

In these by-elections, Zanu PF too are on a dry-run in preparation of the grand heist next year.

Unpacking the charade : the bitter exchanges across the durawall

I have mentioned earlier the issues that make these by-elections a charade. The issues include violence and murder in the run-up to these polls, a biased public media, a secret voters roll, Chamisa’s banned rallies in Binga, Marondera, Gokwe and Epworth among others. Chamisa’s Masvingo rally could only proceed after a High Court order was sought.

Added to all the sham is ZEC, a supposedly impartial referee who has thrown away the whistle and unashamedly joined the other team.

Maybe it was always pure madness on our part to expect the ZEC team to be impartial. For someone who has an amorous relationship with a member of the Executive, the independence of ZEC was always a non-starter. Chigumba might know what and who I am talking about. For one cannot be romantically entangled in several physical ways with the Executive and still be professionally autonomous. Yes, there is this very senior woman at ZEC who remains entangled both professionally and physically, legs flailing as both herself and ZEC remain under the firm but amorous clutches of Zanu PF!

I rest my case on this one.

And we have institutionally been writing to ZEC over some of these contentious matters that make these by-elections a charade.

Yes, there have been several exchanges across the institutional durawall.

On 4 November 2021, secretary-general Charlton Hwende wrote to ZEC ahead of the voter registration blitz initially scheduled to start on the 6th of December 2021. Hwende asked about an update on the delimitation process, the schedule of the proposed registration centres as well as for ZEC to provide confirmation of the participation of party agents and independent observers, the availability of ZEC-seconded Commissioners of oaths and the measures the Commission had put in place for the virgin voters to procure IDs during the same blitz.

On 1 December 2021, Hwende wrote to ZEC again, this time requesting a copy of the updated voters roll in analysable and searchable format. No response. But the CCC still managed to procure a copy of the voters roll from ZEC itself, which copy had many irregularities including, but not limited to the massive unilateral transfer of voters from the constituencies they had voted in 2018.

On 24 February 2022, Ian Makone, the Elections champion in the Citizens Coalition for Change again wrote to ZEC, querying the many irregularities unearthed on the procured roll. He urged ZEC to implement corrective measures on the raised queries. He also requested a meeting to discuss the raised matters. The following day, 25 February 2022, Makone wrote again to ZEC, asking about the status of the ballot printing ahead of the elections, the total number of ballots being printed, the name of the printer contracted to do the job and the date and place where stakeholders could meet to view the samples.

ZEC responded on 28 February 2022 and said they would publish a notice in the newspapers in due course. Suffice to say the public notice never answered the raised queries and the stakeholders, specifically the CCC, were never shown the specimen ballot they had requested

Early this week, on 21 March 2022, Makone wrote again to ZEC following up on the issue of the chaotic voters roll. He told ZEC the contentions around the voters roll brought into question the integrity of the by-elections themselves, considering there were many different voters rolls flying around, each obtained from the same ZEC offices. ZEC responded the same day saying the voters roll had closed on 8 January and that was the copy that would be used. For local government elections, ZEC said the copies varied depending on the day the council seat became vacant.

On 22 March 2022, Makone wrote to ZEC again, asking about the stringent Covid protocols and the recording of the names of the parties’ polling agents, expressing the fear that they could be targeted as has happened in the past. He said the CCC has been under a systematic attack from the State and Zanu PF. He also expressed concern that ZEC had banned the use of cellphones in the polling station itself a gadget of utility in the digital 21st century.

In its response on the same day, ZEC was adamant that it would record names and cited SI 21 of 2005 which they said proscribed the use if cellphones in the polling station whose use in any case they said was disruptive and therefore discouraged.

So there has been engagement with ZEC but the critical issues at the core of the by-elections have not in any been resolved, especially the chaotic voters roll, violence, murder and the CCC’s banned rallies while other political parties were allowed to run uninterrupted campaigns.

These are grave matters that affect the credibility of elections.

Perhaps the shocker was in Chitungwiza where in short ZEC is saying the same house is located in two wards. The Zanu PF candidate for the ward 21 by-elections in Chitungwiza, Irene Murinzi, stays at House Number 22001 in Unit A Extension.

According to the delimited and gazetted boundaries, the house is situated in ward 19. But Zanu PF’s Murinzi and one George Kaseke, whose address is the same house number 22001 Unit A Extension, are registered as being residents of the same house that ZEC says is located in ward 21 where Murinzi wants to contest as the Zanu PF candidate.

And yet Nyakudziwanza Stanley Munashe and Lucia Hokonya who reside at the same address are rightfully registered in ward 19, where the house is situated at least according to the gazetted delimited boundaries.

The chaos here is that ZEC is basically saying the same house is in two different wards.

In another disconcerting case in Mbizo ward 12, there are reports that the base of a Zanu PF terror gang, a place known as Black Wadada, is actually a polling station in the by-elections. Known Zanu PF thugs involved in the disruption of the CCC rally in Kwekwe a few weeks ago, namely Tapiwa Dzawo and Tapiwa Muganhu, are Zanu PF polling agents at the same polling station which happens to be their terror base.

These by-elections in many ways are a charade. Mnangagwa has been all over the country in an overt vote-buying spree, drilling solar-powered boreholes, giving food and deploying mass capital equipment to rehabilitate roads only in those wards and constituencies where there are by-elections.

Indeed, Mnangagwa’s office has been on the forefront of the crusade to purchase votes. His office has patented all programmes and even God-given blessings all to achieve an electoral dividend for the Zanu PF candidates in those areas were there are by-elections.

The decibels and delivery in these areas with by-elections has been high. We have seen Presidential inputs, Presidential boreholes, Presidential water, Presidential wheat, Presidential fisheries, Presidential road-rehabilitation, among other programmes. All these have happened mainly in areas with by-elections. At this rate, we could soon be having a Presidential condom and sanitary wear scheme. Everything has been Presidentialised.

Yet the sad despicable reality around us remains unpatented and unPresidentialised, when it is clear it is all a result of ED’s glaring incompetence. The truth is that we have Presidential unemployment, Presidential potholes, Presidential corruption and a Presidential neglect of the dire plight of the civil servants.

There have also been Presidential murders orchestrated by a security system to which he is the Commander-In-Chief. And this makes him liable.

That is the package he ought to have been selling in these by-elections. A Presidential rot. And Zimbabweans know it.

Whatever the outcome tomorrow, these by-elections remain a sham. They are a charade, even if the CCC wins them. The point is that if you eat a poisoned meal and somehow don’t get sick, it would be foolhardy for you to start considering poisoned meals as your staple diet.

Conclusion

Regardless of this grim reality around these by-elections, Zimbabweans must still turn out in their huge numbers tomorrow to express their sovereign will. A huge turnout is good for sending a certain message to this regime

What is clear is that this dry-run has exposed the fact that ZEC, as currently constituted, is incapable of running a credible election in Zimbabwe.

As we stand on the cusp of a watershed election, the reform agenda must be the national chorus. As we inch towards 2023, we must draw a line in the sand and say never again to charades.

We must not for a single day entertain the idea of boycotting elections. Hell No We must insist and force this regime to implement the comprehensive reform package that is needed to ensure a truly free, fair and credible election.

This country belongs to the citizens These elections are for the citizens. And we have said we are placing the citizen at the centre of all our politics

We have the citizens behind us and the citizens are a form of soft power. Let’s citizenise the reform agenda and de-elitise it. The citizens must themselves demand these reforms in a manner they know how.

The reform agenda must now be removed from letters and from boardrooms. The citizens are not in those elite spaces. They are in the streets

How about streetifying the demand for reforms, for once? Indeed, section 59 of our Constitution allows it.

Luke Tamborinyoka is a citizen and a change champion in the Citizens Coalition for Change. Tamborinyoka, a multiple award – winning journalist and ardent political scientist, can be contacted via his facebook page or the twitter handle @ luke_tambo.