Well it is just a few hours before Zimbabweans go and vote but would this be another protest vote to expose the ridiculousness and the insanity in the manner in which the electoral process has been conducted so far? Political parties contesting in this year’s election are yet to receive the final version of the voters’ roll. The delay in issuing a voters’ roll to political parties is a reminder of the 2008 scenario when the nation had to anxiously wait for more than six weeks to get final results. Responding to questions raised by Violet Gonda of 1st TV on why as a party the MDC is participating in an election full of irregularities Welshman Ncube highlighted that the only strategy available is to fight ZANU-PF from every arena of the struggle. This raises questions on whether this fight is about ZANU-PF or the whole system. But if the strategy of not walking away from a fight on the reasons that it’s an unfair fight works for MDC how then was it difficult for Professor Ncube to share his views with Zimbabwe on comments made by AU Chairperson on electoral process being satisfactory. To rubbish the question and say he is not an analyst contradicts with the irregularities MDC leader he been raising throughout the interview. As much as Welshman Ncube insists on not to being compared with Tsvangirai in condemning the AU chairperson’s statement doesn’t change the fact that he is still participating in the same election to protest the irregularities.

The excitement of tomorrow’s poll is just too palpable, with one chap saying rather loudly this morning that “we are getting rid of this party that has ruled for 33 years. 33 years vakomana. Now we can say whatever we want and not this nonsense where we have been afraid to speak our minds because there is a Zanu PF supporter close by!”

Oh boy, I said to myself.

And he did have a point, and for anyone to be able to say that in public, is enough to tell us a lot about the credibility of opinion polls peddled by state media that predict a Zanu PF landslide.

Of course sentiment expressed by folks in a public lift cannot stand the rigours of scientific scrutiny as representative of wider public opinion, yet it has become so current in the past few days with one chap saying today that he has stopped listening to people who trash Mugabe because some of them did not even register to vote.

It is thus interesting that because ZEC frustrated millions of people, denying them their democratic right to vote, how then does this reflect on the reliability of the public opinion surveys about people claiming they support Mugabe when in fact many failed to register?

One cannot dismiss the possibility that even Zanu PF supporters failed to register despite the widely accepted view that ZEC was particularly bent on disenfranchising MDC-T supporters. Talk about Zanu PF being hoisted on its own petard. It might as well have frustrated its own supporters from voting!

Talk about poetic justice, but then it’s going to be an intense next few hours as “excitable” voters already begin their celebration of Zanu PF’s exit, because like the other fellow commented: “I’m 33 years old and the only leader I have known is Mugabe, is that normal?”

Yet another chipped in with his own wisdom, insisting that “dai ndiri ini ndinopinda panyanga, no MP would live in Borrowdale, they would live in their constituencies and with potholes and cholera like the rest of us!”

With sentiments like these, if Mugabe steals the election, he could unwittingly be inviting street protests, yet the same holds true about a Tsvangirai victory as ZANU PF’s Jabulani Sibanda has already made it know they will “go back to the bush” if the MDC-T wins.

Some Afro-pessimists have previously opined that African elections only lead to political instability, and Zanu PF’s perpetual war mode certainly epitomizes that dystopia, so where does that leave us?

We will soon know.

So this morning I woke up with no Internet connection on my phone – I am an Econet subscriber. When I realised my phone had no Internet at first I thought switching it off and on would do the trick. But alas this did not solve the problem. On my way to work in a kombi I decided to remove my line and battery and connect them again hoping this was the final trick to solving the Internet connection problem.

Just as I was doing that I realised the guy sitting next to me was doing the same thing. We then realised we were facing the same difficulties. Some of my friends I just spoke to say their connection is very slow and switching the phone off and on again is helping them but its still irritating. Many subscribers have taken to the Econet Facebook page to raise this issue of limited or no data connection.

It would help to get an explanation over why we have no access to the mobile Internet service!!!

Funny how Econet has a Facebook page but screws up mobile internet connectivity which is what the bulk of those who follow this page use.

What’s going on with your Data today Econet, don’t you think you should notify your subscribers somehow… Bad service!

However, Econet who update their Facebook page on a regular basis have kept mum on this issue. No explanation whatsoever has been given. We hope whatever is going on at Econet will be rectified.

Just two days before Zimbabwe’s 31 July Harmonised Election, Zimbabweans continue to share their observations and experiences with Kubatana. You can view our map of crowdsourced election experiences, and also read other comments here, here and here.

• Mapurisa akavhota nezuro kuno varikuvhotera panzvimbo iprivate kuGlendale (Police voted yesterday at a private location in Glendale) frm yesterday and today.  Election daylight robbery.
• 3 days ago I was chased by ZPF district chairman at the meeting held at Chikundu Growth Point and accused of being an MDC supporter.
• Rigging has started with ZEC moving teachers from wards they registered to be polling officers outside their wards. Are they going to exercise their right to vote?
• Chirumhanzu Zibagwe have opened a base. ZPF youths singing around the community scaring people.
  Polling officers some of them are youth officers so this will also intimidate people as they are some people who were involved in beating people up last time.
• Mudzi DA is like a thorn in a cow dung he is causing havoc to anyone whom he suspects to be from Red team crew.
• About 600 students on presidential scholarship summoned at state house to vote
• Serious flaws discovered upon opening postal ballot papers in Rusape Makoni Central constituency. Ward 1: 11 registered voters 17 envelopes received, Dombo Building: registered 55, envelopes received 145, ward 8: registered 1, envelops received 3.
• I m not feeling comfort with what is going to be the results of my party
• Having seen the attendance of today’s Zanu pf rally in Gweru I cast out doubt on his praises from masses of people. I used to see people coming for his rallies by force thus why they were coming in big numbers not this time, but on their own its one which may doubt early change. Some who did not attend are crying about his age. History is his shield that people may say he love Zimbabwe but why committed to such an age raises eyebrows.
• Never never allow ballot boxes to be moved before they are counted. Command centre for what? They want to rig never allow them
• Help, here in Zvimba North Zanu pf District chairman Owen Muronzi and Tichaona Mugeri are polling officials they led the political beatings in 2008 and have been involved in Friday the 26 burning of Citrus Inn in Raffingora belonging to a Miriam Chombo supporter
• In Mt Darwin town people are being forced to cast their votes in designated poling stations according to the political branch they belong to. You can not choose a poling station even if its in the same ward.
• Hello Zimbabweans. Its less than 3 weeks when i warned you that violence can start anytime in Mberengwa.  Look at what happens yesterday. The president of Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe who is the Mdc-T candidate for Mberengwa North constituency was attacked . He was severely injured on the face. His car was also damaged. When i told you, some of you failed to believe.
• I am in Doma farming areas and i have attended a lot of patrotic front meetings and leaders are telling people that they must write down the serial number or crame it so that it wil be easy for them to identify where the person hv voted. Also that the people must go to vote of the same village with their subchief. That the people must not mix with other villages.
• At mdc t rall even zanu pf members where there without harased imagine if it was a zanu rally
• Quite a number of polling offcers a not going to vote due to them displaced frm their areas is this fair

From the crew at Kalabash:

Now there’s not much rallying left to do so get your gear on and go see what the fuss is about. Make sure you don’t dress too quickly. This is important. If you happen to throw on your Manchester United home kit and wind up at a ZANU rally it may be taken the wrong way and you’ll look like a bull’s eye in a sea of yellow and green. Back slowly out of the arena and go back to your wardrobe. This is a harmless mistake but just so you don’t make it again here’s what not to take to a rally for either of the 2 main parties:

What not to take to a ZANU rally
-Blood-red sneakers or pumps for the ladies
-Red soccer kits: Arsenal, Manchester United, rather go for the Chicken Inn kit, that’s a winner
-You just got your new red G-Shock watch, leave it at home
-Caps: don’t worry you’ll get one there
-On the flipside, if you’re buying a take-away then Chicken Inn packaging might appear to be aligned with the rival party, rather grab a neutral sadza in a Styrofoam container
-Your drink depends on your taste of course but Spa-Letta’s berry flavoured pop might be pushing the boundaries. Grit your teeth and have a sickly sweet but highly patriotic Pine Nut

What not to take to an MDC rally
-Yes you may be a Zimbabwe football fan but sadly today is not about your country, it’s about your party so hang it back in the cupboard
-Housewives/husbands must ensure that they remove their Marigold gloves before leaving the house, this is an easy mistake that would make you look highly suspect
-Even if those flashy yellow earrings really bring out your eyes today don’t risk it, rather hide them behind bright red shades
-Now, as lunchtime approaches and you want an energy boost stay away from those uplifting banana bunches, you’ll look like a party rival with boxing gloves, rather go for an egg and discretely consume the yellow centre
-Finally your drink, luckily for you freezits should be available and at least the indecision you face between red and green doesn’t come into play. Choose red, it’s the right thing to do.

31st of July is going to come and pass but nobody knows what the future holds for Zimbabwe. If one of the contesting parties claims victory in this coming election speculation is high on the fate of the losing candidates and their supporters. As a nation I believe it is high time we go into this election with the mind of a gambler. Win or lose we just have to move on and not to go back to another 2008 era.

My friends in Kenya always tell me that Zimbabwe is like a copy of everything Kenya, and I tried to argue but when I was taken through all the political transitions Kenya went through, and Zimbabwe followed suite I got the picture but I wasn’t convinced on the point of leadership. Kenya was involved in a bloody and disputed election in 2007, which was later, resolved through an inclusive government. A few years later Kenya passed a new constitution and after that they held elections which some may say was peaceful whilst others blamed the invisible hand, which helped propel Uhuru Kenyatta to power. Well I noted the argument on rigging was based on the political affiliation and tribe these two friends of mine belonged to in Kenya. I was told African politics also has roots in tribe and religious beliefs just like what we are experiencing here in Zimbabwe when a running candidate was labeled a tribalist just because he is fighting the injustices people from his region experienced in the past 33 years.

Zimbabweans voted in 2008 and the dispute over the election result brought about the inclusive government and we now wait for elections on the 31st of July under a new charter, which was endorsed earlier this year. The only difference in our transition phase to that of Kenya is in the change of leadership. Just like ZANU-PF which has been in power for the past 33years, Kenya’s Kenya African National Union (KANU) ruled for nearly 40 years since independence and was defeated by the National Rainbow Coalition. If this is the same fate, which is going to face the revolutionary party, then maybe it could be true that were copying everything from Kenya.