The latest episode of the farce which is Zimbabwe’s 31 July election aired this weekend. 14-15 July were the designated dates for “special voting,” in which members of the police and armed forces, who will be on duty on election day and thus unable to go to their regular polling station to vote, are given an opportunity to vote.

As a tweet from @SirNige aptly summed it up, “The special vote currently taking place in Zimbabwe is definitely very special #ZimElections.”

Ever since the Constitution Court said Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Election was to be held as soon as possible, and should be before 31 July, Zimbabwe’s election – which was never going to be without its eyebrow raising moments – has reached new lows.

The fact that the president’s proclamation of the election date was announced and scheduled in an illegal and unconstitutional manner was conveniently swept under the carpet when the same Constitutional Court postponed arguments against the election date, and then waited until after Nomination Court had sat to dismiss the cases.

Add to that, the Constitutionally mandated ward-based mobile voter registration process was reduced to a district-based process, with the government claiming it didn’t have sufficient funds to follow the directive of its own constitution. The voters’ roll coming out of this process is equally problematic, with the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) noting serious irregularities with the voters’ roll, particularly the under-registration of urban and young voters. This is consistent with criticisms from organisations like the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), Election Resource Centre (ERC) and Youth Forum on the mobile voter registration exercise.

Meanwhile, a court case on the weekend’s special voting process was meant to be heard today – but was postponed until Wednesday, rendering the court case largely academic as Nehanda Radio points out, since special voting is scheduled to be wrapped up by then.

A 31 July election date meant that special voting had to be held no later than this weekend. As human rights lawyer @tzhuwarara helpfully explained via Twitter, “In terms of Sec 81A(1)(a) of Zim electoral law ZEC MUST set two days only 4 special vote, the last day hz 2 b at least 16 days frm Jul 31.”

But this special voting – which many thought would be a non-event, with police officers lining up to vote as their commanding officers instructed them to – has proved a farce. According to the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, many polling stations around the country received material late yesterday, or even today, compromising the polling at these locations. ZESN also noted that some polling stations in Harare were using informal hand-written lists of voters.

These irregularities highlight the inability of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to prepare the necessary logistics for the special vote. But from the beginning, Zimbabwe’s 31 July election has been compromised. It might not be marred by the violence witnessed in 2008, or even experience the types of human rights violations the RFK Centre and Amnesty International note it is vulnerable to.

Napoleon allegedly once said “never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence.” Whether through malice or incompetence, Zimbabwe’s 2013 election has been subjected to an illegal process and unprocedural time frame which undermine the legitimacy of this election, and thus the country’s prospects of democratic governance.

Diamonds are a Chef’s Best Friend
(With apologies to Marilyn Monroe)

The poor are glad to share their food,
They love to sing and dance;
But I prefer a man who’s good
For an interest-free advance.
A shake of the hand
May be quite sentimental
But diamonds are a Chef’s best friend.

A view may be grand
But it doesn’t squeeze the rental
From the sick and lame,
And sanctions – sanctions are to blame.

Comrades cry,
Comrades die -
There is nothing for them in the end;
But these rocks infernal
Will give me life eternal;
Diamonds are a Chef’s best friend.

Marange!
Chiadzwa!
Chimanimani!
Kimberly Process!
Talk to me, Cecil John Rhodes -
Tell me about your lodes.

There may come a time
When a dude needs to borrow,
But diamonds are a Chef’s best friend.
There may come a time which some fools call ‘tomorrow’,
Try to stop the clock…
But get those rocks or lose your socks.

Fools will fly
When stocks are high,
With nowhere to go when stocks are low.

It’s then that they panic
And become quite manic;
Diamonds are a Chef’s best friend.

I’ve heard of teachers
Who come out on their wages,
But diamonds are a Chef’s best friend;
And I think that preachers
Who enrich themselves by stages
Are better bets
If they let it get bigger yet.

Time goes by,
The people cry
All the same – sanctions are to blame.

Diamonds!  Diamonds!
Pear cut or square cut -
Diamonds are a Chef’s best friend.

My vision of transition in Zimbabwe all along has been following a model and blueprint of anger and retaliation by the masses like what we noticed in Libya. This however clashed with my utopia of a Gotham Zimbabwe where people could live in harmony within their communities and where the governor respects the governed.

After pondering upon the story within the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, I also saw my wish being quashed to favour a more Zimbabwean like and dignified but yet painful way (to our adversaries) of making political transition in Zimbabwe.

I felt so touched and at the same time jubilant by the events in the Anglican saga in Zimbabwe. From that moment in December 2012 when Bishop Chad Gandiya held a cleansing ceremony of the cathedral, I have always felt that the same demon that had manifested itself in the church is the same, although with additional tricks, with the one that is currently besieging the political side of our country.

For a new era to be officially declared in Zimbabwe, incense should burn in exactly the same way that happened at Harare cathedral to exorcise a demon and scourge of repression and corruption that had manifested itself in our politicians and held the whole country to ransom for far too long. The overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans are Christians therefore I feel that it will be the right call for the whole nation to come together in unity to pray and cleanse our nation of this decade long totalitarianising evil by a gang of greedy kleptomaniacs.

Romans 12v20-21 clearly teaches us that, “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

It’s always fascinating trying to understand why people choose to vote for a particular party, and as the political rallies hot up with Mugabe scaling down his itinerary, political party colours have become vogue, never mind that some wear these T-shirts emblazoned with party leader effigies for reasons that have nothing to do with political affiliation but everything to do with the area they find themselves in.

But it is another thing altogether to get convincing responses concerning how one arrives at choosing the political party to support.

I sat with two young men over the weekend who were preparing to go to an MDC-T rally somewhere in the capital.

They proudly wore the party colours and were literally fired up for the occasion. Opposite them sat another young man who wore a Zanu PF cap that bears the image of Robert Mugabe.

And then the two young men felt compelled to pour out to me why they were so passionate about the party they had chosen to support.

I was told one was a pharmacist, while the other said he had done some management degree at the University of Zimbabwe.

“Look at me my brother, I am wearing my younger brother’s jeans because he has more money than me but I am more educated than him,” one of them with the UZ education said. I looked at him and indeed the pair of jeans was that kind of tight fit with “borrowed” written all over them!

“For me, the MDC-T is the only party that might give me a chance to get the job I trained for. Look at this guy, he is a pharmacist but works at a supermarket,” he said referring to his colleague.

And the colleague went into a long tirade about his circumstances, why he felt Zanu PF had outlived its usefulness, if it ever had any.

These were two angry young men for whom the future of the country rests in new ideas that will spring them from their misery despite all the education they boast.

The other chap wearing the Zanu PF cap seemed amused and had no input whatsoever, but then it turns out these are chaps from the same neighbourhood for whom tolerance of divergent political views perhaps comes naturally.

As we sat, along came this other guy who told a third older man that there was a Zanu PF rally across the road, “why don’t you come along?”

The older man responded, “look who I am sitting with,” pointing at the red T-shirts the young men were wearing. “You should join us instead. Why are you going to the Zanu PF rally in the first place?”

I saw the chap blush and he responded: “Ah, ndinongondzwa chiyifarira.”

And that was the end of it.

It got me thinking about all the manifestos that the parties have put out, if at all the ordinary party supporters actually read through them to decide their vote, yet some of the issues that came out from encounters with these young folks were based on the pragmatic, such as the demand for jobs by these two “educated” lads.

That’s why many find it laughable that a party that has been in power for 33 years can today talk about unlocking a USD2 trillion economy.

These become nothing but wild numbers that the new crop of young voters will interrogate and when a guy like Kasukuwere says “we are emancipating our people,” the younger voters laugh and dismiss him as a fraud.

Yet, as everything during elections, politicians will say all sorts of nonsense to woo voters, and what this country certainly needs right now are enlightened voters. But then a corollary of that would be, are there any enlightened political parties?

/It is always sad to come face to face with young people who choose to own other people’s anger and vindictiveness without interrogating the implications of their choices and actions and where such behavior affects the way we are governed and the future of democracy in our country. From Grace Mutandwa’s memoirs, The Power and the Glory/.

These are the personal stories of what voting means to everyday Zimbabweans. Each edition of My Vote Zimbabwe features one person’s story in his or her own words. There’s no presenter, no interviewer – nothing to get in the way of their most memorable moments at the ballot box. Yolanda first voted when she was 19 and at university. She recalls, a bit sheepishly, the criteria she and her friends used to select their student council candidate: his looks. Today, three years later, she has different criteria…

Yolanda; My vote

My name is Yolanda, I’m 22 yrs old and I’m from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. I was 19 years old when I voted for the very first time. We were voting for the SRC.
My friends were voting, that’s what drove me to vote

In the queue when we were voting the candidates pictures were posted on the wall. As we looked at the posters we were laughing. We were picking at all the candidates, giving them points. We were ranking them and rating them and making fun of them. This is 1/10, this is 4/10, this 9/10.

Oh man I think the candidate that made us laugh had the biggest nose and he had big ears also at the same time. He was kinda like a caricature to us, we were laughing at him, we were picking at it and making fun of it.

Then we saw another poster of this handsome candidate. So he had this nice curly hair, beautiful skin, and his eyes, I think his eye made him unique, made him handsome. His face made the whole poster light up.

When a guy is handsome its easy for girls to get swayed. I was there in the queue with my friends and we all voted for him coz he was handsome. I believe none of my friends cheated but we all told each other we’re going to vote for this guy.

From my point of view he was handsome. I can’t say I had a crush. It was just that oooh, he’s handsome. We talked about it together b4 we voted, ‘Guys we cant have him ok, so we’re going to vote for him.

After I cast my vote for the good looking guy I realised he wasn’t the candidate I should have voted for. When I saw the other candidates, coz some of the other candidates had won, and they were actually doing something for us. So I just realised we made a mistake, we just voted for a face and he was actually doing nothing.

I was supposed to vote for a person who’s going to air my views. Who’s going to enlarge my voice, a person who was going to be of service to me, and I realised his face wasn’t going to be of service to me.

The other candidates had better policies, they had great manifestos, they knew the problems that students were encountering, but I was ignorant my friends were ignorant. We didn’t vote for them.

If I ever see a good looking candidate again, I won’t be swayed by his face, but I’m going to look at what the person is about. How is he going to serve me. I’m going to look at his party, where he’s coming from, read about them and know about them what they are. How are they going to help me, so that I can make an informed decision than before.

Even if he looks like Will Smith, I won’t vote for him, I won’t be swayed by the face. Even if he’s tall, is a hunk, no. That is how I’m going to cast my vote next time,

I’m voting for a better me, and a better country.

Hey! You can listen to Yolanda here

And, if you want to share your voting story get in touch with Shaun Matsheza at Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Email Shaun at: shaun.matsheza [at] rnw [dot] nl

Kubatana subscribers have been sharing their reports on the local environment as Zimbabwe gets ready for Harmonised Elections 31 July. In their own words:

• In farms in Bindura North we are being intimidated by Zanu PF with death and people are afraid for their lives. Where are observers because there are rallies daily in our area until election day.
• Guys there is a lot of fighting between Zanu PF candidates in Bikita West. People are being intimidated, the situation is so tense.
• Because of politicians who are inconsiderate of our education and solely concentrate on power, students are now being affected as they are now forced to close school on the 26th. How can we put the same person who ignores our concerns in power? Food for thought.
• In Bulawayo, Zanu PF has distributed tshirts and caps to all civil servants, whether you like or not, signalling beginning of intimidation.
• There is an advert on Radio Zimbabwe against hate speech and they are publishing speeches that were made by Morgan Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti. Now my question is, why are they not giving us reasons why those people came to say that, also I attended a rally yesterday in Vic Falls where Obert Mpofu used hate speech against Morgan Tsvangirai, and that will not be published. Is there justice there?
• Many people attend Zanu PF rally at Kuwadzana Holland because of artist that used be zanu for campaigning, i talk with several people and they say we are here becoz of sulu and jahprazy. And some they say cde betty kaseke will win at 31 July.
• Long queues are being noted at Wedza Police Station for those waiting to cast their special votes, so too at Sadza Police Post in Chikomba. But little did I know that there are so many police officers at these two stations.
• In Gweru Mkoba its so annoying to realise that our MP did noting with the funds meant 2 develop our community. I expected him to repair a water tank which has not been working 4yrs, to service high level areas instead of relying on NGOsto2 drill boreholes. He moves with a car worth 35 000.There is no hope in Zim
• Kuno Mutare south, Dora Dombo, villages (Mundembe & Bvirindi, chief Zimunya Bvirindi is forcing every house hold to attend to a Zanu PF rally being addressed by Pemhenai candidate for Zanu PF on Sat 13/07/2012.
• Here at Ngezi we are crying for Zanu pf strategy to cause the people of Turf complex of Zimplats Ngezi unregister. Please help us we want to vote for a better change. But PM @ our MDC officials you must have one rally at Ngezi mine pliz do us our   favour because we are tired of Zanu pf. We are here to vote for MDC-T.
• WeZanu wari kubvarura maposter eMDC vachiisa awo it shows hawana patrotism (Zanu supporters are tearing down MDC posters and putting up their, shows they have no patriotism)
• I live in my farm near Triangle pamberi nababa vedu vamugabe
• Why is it Mugabe ari kuda kuvandira kumapositori kwamarange (Why is Mugabe using members of the apostolic sect in Marange)
• Today 1hr ago Tabeth Kanengoni was mobilising people 2 vote 4 her on the coming election. She is Z.A.N.U.P.F Candidate for MP Mashonaland Central. Amai Gezi was there Chimukoko the mudert. They said if we loose, runoff & war. Why?
• MDC posters are being torn by Zanu so it shows kuti they are afraid the outcome
• Solders were wearing Zanu Pf regalia at Mutoko Growth Point they torn down MDC ~T that was worn by D KANYONGO in front of ten policemen who had come to solve the reported case
• All civil servants should vote on the special vote.
• I don’t know that our MP was given 50 thousand dollars such a big amount. No development in our constituency. People who were given money for projects were asked to return after use. In our ward we got nothing.
• Gutu district Masvingo province voters cant cast on their votes because ZEC failed to transport ballot papers in time up to now no ballot papers
• I stay in Ascot Gweru .The Gweru Urban MP, Rodrick Rutsvara did nothing for e benefit of e constituency instead he is using e funds to Build a Nite Club in Ascot
• Kutyisidzirwa kuMajongwe  kwanyanya  ward31  mt  north  mkumbura (Intimidation is high in Manjongwe ward 31 Mt North Mkumbura)
• Gutu west polling station Gatenel close at 1900hrs without ballot papers since 6am
• Chikomba East Constituency, Sadza Council Hall Polling Station – Voting in special voting started for Chikomba Central officers only. The rest are still waiting for ballot papers. Worrying is the presence of a white landrover truck without number plates being parked at the polling hall carrying on its sides&back posters of Zanu PF’s candidate for Chikomba Central, Felit T. Mbona.