It’s now nine days since Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Election, and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission STILL hasn’t announced the results for the presidential vote.

Given these delays and the possibliity of a run-off under violent and intimidatory conditions, MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai says “this is a time for strong action.” It’s time to make a stand, he reckons.

Which must be why, rather than staying at home addressing Zimbabweans, mobilising the MDC membership, or planning for the run-off – or the protest thereof, Tsvangirai’s gone to South Africa. Apparently he’s having private talks. By the way. They must be private – South African President Thabo Mbeki is in London . . .

At times I wonder what is really taking place in our beloved country Zimbabwe. It appears there is no one controlling one another. Who is in charge then – war vets, soldiers, ZEC, the police, the courts, Zanu PF, MDC, or Zimbabweans who participated in the presidential elections?

Surely, having voted some days if not weeks ago, whoever is said to be in-charge is delaying saying who won and who lost the race publicly. I must mention though that the race was clear to everyone on the terraces (voters), seeing who was leading who. The whole process was like standing naked in glaring sunlight against a white wall.

It was so clear and transparent that some even celebrated their victory before the official announcement by whoever is in charge.

Anyone who thinks that we’re not already living in a State of Emergency needs their head read. The vast majority of Zimbabweans keep stating that their life could hardly be worse, that something Has To Change, or they’ll die. Clear, or what?

One of our greatest tensions has been the pretense that we’re living in a democracy in Zimbabwe. We are not. We live in a country where so-called democratic elections are held but the dictatorship of Mugabe decides who wins. This has been happening for the last several years.

The police force and army are Mugabe’s; the courts are Mugabe’s; the public media is controlled by Mugabe.

We are living in a State of Emergency.

And a state of fear controls Zimbabweans.

Yes we could have enforced curfews, we could have more military and police patrolling the streets. But already people don’t have the money to move around as freely as they once did, and in the wake of the election we’ve seen an increased police presence.

So I’m not too sure how much we should let the fear of a state of emergency interrupt our legitimate right to protest the completely unacceptable delay in the announcement of the presidential election results.

I’ve just sent out the following email to a variety of political and civic leaders, and I’m hoping for a response from them:

News reports say that the MDC’s court case has been postponed until tomorrow when they will deem whether it is urgent enough to be heard.

In the face of the following:

- local, regional and global acknowledgment that the delay in the announcement of the presidential election is unacceptable

- the courts in Zimbabwe have no real authority

- the delay is allowing Zanu PF to re-group

- the delay is causing fear and despondency among Zimbabweans

surely the recently elected opposition MPs and Senators should publicly petition or peacefully protest this situation.

What a bold public and active statement it would be. It would also give the opposition forces in Zimbabwe a chance to visibly and publicly unite – inspiring confidence in Zimbabweans of a coalition in the event of a run off.

If the authorities over react we will have another March 11th for our regional brothers and sisters to condemn outright.

There is certainly more to gain than lose by a move such as this.

Zimbabweans need to see our political leaders stand up in ways other than calling press conferences and filing court applications.

Comrade Fatso’s latest blog comments on how Zimbabweans let loose their rage and I’m reminded of Amanda’s blog where she discusses how we ferociously cling on to our bag if a tsotsi tries to steal it – questioning why we don’t do similarly when our vote is stolen. Here’s some more Comrade Fatso for you:

The anger waits alongside our waiting. Today on a calm winter day, quiet and hot, there was a car crash at a market near central Harare. The car had collided with several market women and various stalls. The driver was lynched by the customers and passers-by. Beaten because he is an easy target. As we watched from my car parked across the road the crowd swelled as Harare’s waiting people gathered and joined into the nyaya, the story. Zimbabweans often give out mob justice like food at a ZANU (PF) rally. We tend to vent our life-anger onto a thief who dared to steal a bar of chocolate and a loaf of bread. We tend to leave the creators of our misery in the luxury of freedom. The anger waits alongside our waiting.

This is Comrade Fatso’s Daily Blog During the Zimbabwe Election Period. See www.comradefatso.com

Late on Saturday afternoon – after another long day of waiting for election results – the power went off. To be accurate, I was working through the last batch of Senate results released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (the zzzzzzzzzz.. elections, what elections?, commission) when the lights went out.

Normally power cuts in Zimbabwe are so common that they’re quite unremarkable. But this time, I was more concerned than usual. Why?

Well, true to their word, the Zimbabwe government managed to secure additional power supplies from some gullible nation (Mozambique I believe) to keep the lights on whilst the nation voted in the harmonized elections held on March 29, 2008. Since then the power had stayed on – maybe to make sure there was no hitch in the counting of the votes (ha,ha!). Seems like the ZEC has been blinded by the light because 8 days later they still haven’t announced the result of the presidential election.

Anyway, when the power went out on Saturday night I thought, “Oh no, ZEC has rigged the final result and announced Mugabe as the winner”. Lights out Zimbabwe. Or for those of us from a previous era – Tilt! Game Over.

It’s 192 hours after polls closed in Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Elections last week. There’s still no presidential results, but I’ve finally turned off my radio. If The Big announcement happens tonight, maybe I’ll miss it.

I’ve noticed campaign posters starting to come down – including the ones where Brenda showed someone her pink finger. But they might well be going back up again soon. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission hasn’t said anything officially yet, but it’s looking increasingly like a run-off is in the works, between current president Robert Mugabe, and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. I’m nervous at the prospect, concerned about increased levels of intimidation and violence. The war veterans, most infamously known for their campaign of violence after Zanu PF’s proposed Constitution lost in the February 2000 referendum, have begun their threats anew.

Ordinary Zimbabweans I’ve spoken with, and many of those sending in text messages to our SMS service, all say an adamant No to a run-off. The old man lost, they say. He’s no longer wanted. It’s time for him to push off.

My one hope is that the MDC can somehow convert this sentiment – and the popular conviction that Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential election by more than the stipulated 50% required to avoid a run-off – into a rejection of yet another election and an insistence that Tsvangirai be sworn in as President of Zimbabwe. The MDC has already begun to speak this way. But their success on the matter feels unlikely. Mugabe has repeatedly shown that he’ll resort to any means necessary to stay in power. And Zimbabweans have, in recent years, become increasingly less willing to engage in mass protests or street demonstrations. Perhaps now the stakes are high enough, and victory close enough, that with strong enough popular leadership they’ll reconsider.

A good start is the t-shirts I saw two young men wearing tonight. Whilst I have my own objections to the idea of wearing anyone’s face on my body, the slogan is exactly what we’ll need to see more and more of, if Zimbabwe is going to shake off the shackles of Mugabe’s dictatorship. “Morgan Tsvangirai – People’s President” they read.

A new road has been built near my house. When it opened, they closed off a bit of old road at the top of the new one. I know that no cars can come down this road, but still when I run down it I find myself looking behind me, nervous at having all of this space, certain that something will come and invade it. Metaphorically, the MDC needs to create and claim spaces exactly like that – and hold them long enough that we stop looking over our shoulders anticipating the klap, and instead look straight ahead of us, confident that the space is ours, that victory is ours.