I’ve just come back from a Friday lunchtime prayer meeting organised by the Christian Alliance. When Amanda and I got to the Baptist Hall on Fife Avenue there were hardly any people in the room. We swayed to and fro listening to the singing. Soon the room filled to capacity with Zimbabweans in every chair, leaning up against the walls and sitting on the floor.

The mood was defiant and outraged. Declarations of protecting the vote thundered from the people gathered. We left just before the meeting ended and sat outside eating frozen red freezits to cool down. As the congregation emerged from the hall a procession formed making its way into town down Second Street. But around the corner came a swarm of blue uniformed, helmeted, baton and teargas wielding riot police. Menacing doesn’t come close.

My response, almost everyone’s response, was Fear. The most immediate reaction was to Run. People scattered, and then re-formed and then scattered again. In town the riot police positioned themselves in large groups at intersections, waiting and watching.

Now I’m sitting at my desk, back in the office, drinking coffee under slow turning ceiling fans and listening to that jet fighter buzz our sky again. Anger, fear, outrage, fatigue, dismay – a gamut of emotions flood me. But I’m also in awe of the people who gathered today, who were passionate enough to show up and in solidarity say, we object.

In another worrying development, we’ve heard from a Kubatana member in the legal profession that there are plans to reopen ballot boxes in Mutare West, Chimanimani West, and possibly other constituencies as well on Friday 11 April. This is ostensibly in connection with recounts for these constituencies. Apparently the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has notified the winning Members of the House of Assembly of this plan, but has not informed local observers and others with a right to witness this reopening of the ballot boxes – and the recounting of the ballot papers inside them.

However, Section 67A of the Electoral Act allows a recount only at ZEC’s own initiative, or if a complaint is made by a losing candidate or party within 48 hours. There has been no credible indication that such a complaint has been made. And ZEC has not said why it wants to reopen boxes, or what boxes it intends to open. In either case there must be reasonable grounds to believe there was a miscount. The arrests of isolated officials do not justify a recount, as any error or fraud here would have needed to have a lot of people being complicit in it, including police and party agents.

As our subscriber pointed out:

The polling process had precautions against fraud during counting and adding, with vote counting done by 11 officials in the presence of party agents, police and observers, and each result then being signed and posted at the polling station. Any fraud at either stage would have required the complicity of numerous people including the police. Every polling station record was made with 6 signed copies & under such supervision that no-one could have hoped to commit a fraud in counting or collating undetected. No complaints were heard from ZANU-Pf during this process. Various observers praised the process. ZEC delayed its own announcements confirming constituency results for days, saying it was checking all the results before doing so. When it announced them, ZANU-PF and state media still voiced no criticism.

In other words, if these recounts are occurring, is there any reasonable suspicion that votes were stolen from Zanu PF? Given the number of observers present at most polling stations, and the transparency of the process of transferring polling station level counts to constituency level tabulation forms, this seems highly unlikely.

With so public a process, there surely can be no reasonable suspicion that Robert Mugabe has been robbed by anyone. Why now open the ballot boxes?

Read more on this issue here

Even though the presidential results haven’t yet been announced, post-election violence and retribution by Zanu PF has begun across Zimbabwe, including Mashonaland East where local MDC officials were beaten by members of the Zanu PF militia in their area. View more images

Kubatana received a comment today which clearly outlines how ridiculous, unacceptable, and intolerable it is that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has not yet released the result of the Presidential Election. It is a blatant violation of the law, including the Electoral Act, and is clear evidence of the insulting disregard the regime has for the democratic will of the people of Zimbabwe. As Morgan Tsvangirai said today, “This is, in a sense, a de facto military coup. They have rolled out military forces across the whole country, to prepare for a run-off and try to cow the population. It’s an attempt to try to create conditions for Mugabe to win.”

The analysis reads, in part:

The collation and verification is done in the presence of the candidates, so again it must be taken that the legislature assumed that the Chief Elections Officer is sufficiently numerate not to require days for the process. Once the constituency returns are added together the Chief Elections Officer shall forthwith declare the person with the most votes (provided the majority is absolute) duly declared elected president with effect from the day of such declaration i.e. immediately. The President assumes office immediately after taking the oath of office but in any event not later than 48 hours. Not after Grace has had enough time to remove all her ferrogama shoes to Malaysia. Immediately.

Thus the time given for announcing the presidential result is as long as it takes to verify 210 constituency returns and then add them together. The announcement is made immediately that is done. Not when Mugabe says if the results are OK it can be done. Not when ZEC says when we are ready. Not when ZEC says we want to check out what happened in a polling station in Chitungwiza, not when the CIO says when we have finished ferreting around amongst ballots which are supposed to be sealed and finished cooking the books. Not when the Mugabe’s thugs indicate they have had enough time to soften up the rural populace before observers arrive for the run off. Immediately.

We, however, are supposed, says Mr. Mbeki, to be patient, stand back and watch the master thief violate the clear provisions of the Act. If Tsvangirai has won with an absolute majority, which may well be the case, then the failure to announce the result can be described in one word: coup. QED.

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Maybe, as Zapiro pointed out today, it’s taking so long to release election results because they’re still busy forging them

We got this amusing letter in from a subscriber today. Maybe that’s what’s taking so long – Bob is still busy finalising his farewell speech.

Dear All

I am happy I finally got the words, courage and guts to write this note. It has been a great pleasure ruling Zimbabwe for the past 28 years uninterrupted, though I must admit that my new country and home is more comfortable than your old State House where Tongogara and Chitepo’s ghosts kept knocking the sense out of my head. Zvidhoma zvine nharo izvozvo! Bvunzai Grace!

I would like to thank all those who supported me during and after all those painful years, the Liberation War, the Matabeleland Chaos, the Land Reform, the Referendum, Murambatsvina and lately the Price Slashing. It almost turned nasty. I could have written more but I have reserved it for my new book, I hope I will release it before my next birthday. Please keep in touch and pray that this silly MDC doesn’t donate the country to Gordon Brown, and that 2008 be a great year for every Zimbabwean where ever they may be hibernating. I hear you have decided to prosecute Gideon Gono for all that he did to you. I didn’t know that guy was so afraid of me until I gave him a job at the central bank. He was also so fond of a certain Printer that I had to order another one for his new home in Borrowdale.

I don’t want to say much about the Politburo, but 1 thing for sure I miss you guys, except this gentleman who used to brag about Harvard University. He was so naughty! It’s always good to have a bunch of old men who can’t say “NO!”. The kids are fine but Grace is increasingly becoming rude. I will ask Kunonga to pray for her!

Till we meet again, may God bless you all.

Regards

Robert Mugabe