It was one of those things that get you both angry and surprised.

Empty polling stations; unemployed young men who hang around local pubs and are forever asking for beer alms saying voting is for suckers; short queues moving at a snail’s pace; bored polling agents getting animated seeing a single soul passing by; all this became part of the July 31 kaleidoscope.

And this was in Bulawayo, a city long known for its strong anti-Zanu PF sentiment, yet here were some people eligible to vote staying away, choosing instead to leave the country to the Fates.

Bulawayo has some 367,178 registered voters against the disputed 2012 census that put the city’s population at 655,675, but despite the widespread frustration during the voter registration exercise, some actually said they had no reason to vote as the poll outcome had been decided a long time ago.

While this kind of talk infuriated those who had braved the cold to queue and exercise this important constitutional right, the same chaps today feel vindicated!

Yet those who did vote saw it as The Coming of the long-awaited transition to a post-Zanu PF political dispensation and the stories I listened to bordered on the hilarious as folks firmly believed that their vote would indeed make a difference.

One chap told colleagues he was saving USD150, – a lot of money by any standard – to purchase a goat to celebrate “independence,” another, a man in his fifties who has a ready story to narrate about his torture by the Fifth Brigade during Gukurahundi, went home after casting his vote and blasted his stereo in celebration of what he saw as a sure Mugabe defeat; another bought a round of beer for anyone in the bar who was sitting next to the counter: that was the mood in some parts of Bulawayo, and the excitement was just fantastic.

And then I met some folks on Friday 2 August as it became clear that Zanu PF had bamboozled the MDC-T and it was like a funeral!

A chap I grew up with who has been flirting with mining said he couldn’t take it and was contemplating leaving the country; the fellow who had planned to buy a goat to celebrate an MDC-T victory simply said: sizafa sihawula – we will die poor. He was in no mood for the animated chit-chat of 31 July; men and women feeding their families as “flea market” trader said, “And we were only beginning to realise something out of this (flea market). We are facing tough times ahead.”

These folks did not need to explain the gloomy predictions of their economic future by referring to Erich Bloch or Tony Hawkings but know from experience where they are from and, with such frustration with what are seen as very flawed political and electoral processes that have come to define Zimbabwe, they are not cursing Tsvangirai and the MDC-T but a system thought to have allowed such incredible results.

Everywhere one went the sentiment was that this was a classic case of daylight robbery, and grown men could be seen literally drowning their sorrows by taking generous quaffs of bottles brown, green and other liver melting stuff.

Another asked between sips: “so this means another five years of Zanu PF?”

Yes.

Feedback from On The Ground:

Dear Kubatana, What a disputed poll. The just ended poll was a sham, illegitimate, unfair & unfree. Firstly, intimidation & harassment of voters were rampant especially in rural areas by traditional leaders & war veterans. Most rural voters were forced to declare themselves illiterate particularly those suspected of supporting opposition parties or threatened not to go to vote. Also, the voter registration exercise was selective, intimidatory, ill-informed & short. Of concern was lack of voter education & inspection of the voters’ roll due to no or short time allocated to the two respectively. – Chikomba East

Is anyone wondering why the polling stations were kept open for 5 hours from 7 to 12 when most queues had disappeared by 7pm? Why not 1 hour or 2 hours if still queues? Does this add to the theory of the vanishing ink Nikuv style?

When we went to the polling station my name was missing imagine that I was told we can’t find it a lot of people failed to vote just becoz their names were missing in the voters role. WILL I EVER GET MY DESIRED JOB. I was shocked  knowing that maybe no change will ever come.

When I voted I took down the numbers of each of my voting slips. When the results came out in the Ballantyne car park pics were taken of the results sheets. I have compared my NA voting number to the list of book numbers they had written down. The NA numbers reflected numbers 06 35701 to 06 36700. But my number wasn’t there. Maybe these book numbers are not meant to tie into voting slip numbers! Can you enlighten?

There is a lot that remains to be said – some add “and done” – about the poll furore, but the most radical that I have heard is that the MDC-T is no longer the party that will lead Zimbabweans to the Promised Land.

I sat among some of the country’s respected senior citizens over the weekend as they mourned the death – once again – of credible elections and one thing one of them said rather angrily was that he did not want to discuss what went wrong but wanted to ponder the question: “what’s next?”

Indeed “what next?”

These are men who spoke fondly of Charles Chikerema, Authur Chadzingwa, men who recalled the politics of George Nyandoro, and exchanged stories about the bad turn the country took despite all the promise, and these elections became an opportunity to talk about the past, the present and the future of Zimbabwe.

One angry old intellectual said despite his loathing for Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF, he felt the country could do well with a new political party that would make sure to succeed where the MDC-T had failed, opining that Zanu PF had actually exercised some kind of selective magnanimity by “letting” some MDC-T candidates win and also extending the same to Zanu PF whom the revolutionary party “let” lose!

It was a strange conversation to be part of, but as one said, Zanu PF has no shame, yet I found myself musing over how all this anger being palpably felt across the country will be dealt with amidst concerns that what Zanu PF seeks is any excuse available to unleash the wrath of the security forces on civilians.

Yet one of these enlightened senior citizens was of the view that no soldier or policeman would act on such instructions to beat up any marchers because the same police and soldiers are fed up with the system that has taught nothing but hate and suffering.

This is disturbingly interesting considering the eagerness of the uniformed juniors to cast their vote during the special vote chaos.

I asked how the MDC-T lost Mbare for example, and an old professor said, “I know the guy who won for Zanu PF, he is a cruel man.” The response was loaded in that the old professor said nothing about the tactics that were employed to win but rather the kind of people who have been made guardians of our public life and space.

It was the kind of frustration with the election results that has you thinking, “If these old enlightened men are feeling this way, what of the younger people for whom this election was meant to provide a new beginning?”

One of the favourite occupations of many an analyst during the run-up to the poll was wide guesses about possible post-election scenarios, and like many such occasions, no one seems to have a clue about what’s likely to happen now that Mugabe has once again stunned everyone.

Besides the MDC-T changing its leadership, one suggested that Zanu PF had actually began destroying the MDC-T in that in forming a new government, it would invite some winning MDC-T MPs despite Tsvangirai’s position that these MPs must have nothing to do with a Zanu PF government.

And because we already know how eager everyone was to occupy cabinet posts during the GNU, this could indeed present problems for the MDC-T where its members appointed to cabinet positions through Mugabe’s magnanimity will see no reason why they should not take up the posts.

It then it becomes a matter of principle, but such appeals are always problematic in that such men and women sorely lacked when the GNU was birthed.

Meanwhile, like many Zimbabweans, the old wise men retreat to their own spaces and watch Zanu PF’s next move, because honestly, no one has a clue where we are going from here.

According to today’s NewsDay, the price of fuel has gone up from around $1.50 / litre for petrol to $1.70 / litre for petrol following last week’s election. It seems pretty hard to believe that this is what Zimbabweans were hoping would be the most immediate result of a Zanu PF win. If you haven’t already read it, check out the Zanu PF 2013 election manifesto. Since they’ve got such a resounding victory, they shouldn’t have any problems making good on their promises to develop, empower and employ Zimbabweans.

Update 6 August: Herald headline – Fuel price increase reports false: Zera

Zimbabwe’s dry winter months may mean that the veld fire danger is high. But the risk of people power exploding in the streets is low. The weather is cold, the sky is grey. Despite the MDC’s announcement that Zimbabwe’s 2013 harmonised election was illegitimate, it’s business as usual in Harare today.

From the Economist

The results have left the MDC’s supporters in shock. Some of its leading figures have lost their seats. Yet the party went into the election campaign knowing that the voters’ roll (as well as the broadcast media) would be biased against it. Mr Mugabe had decreed a snap election that left little time for voter registration, analysis of the voters’ list, or a correction of any irregularities. The MDC contested the elections anyway. Even on election day its leaders still seemed confident that disgust with Mr Mugabe’s often violent rule was sufficient to level the playing field.

Did they miscalculate?

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