Waiting somewhere visible
Along with Bev and the rest of the team at Kubatana.net, not to mention the vast majority of our SMS subscribers, I’m impatient with this non-release of the presidential result from our March 29 election. It’s now 12 days since we voted, and the High Court judge hearing the MDC’s petition to force the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the results reckons that, maybe, if he exerts himself, he might have a decision by next week Monday about whether ZEC has to tell the people of Zimbabwe what the outcome our so-called democratic election.
Hundreds of our subscribers have been emailing and texting us with their frustrations, all of whom are gobsmacked at this interminable delay. What was the points of us all going to the polls if we’re never told what the result is?
For example, Brian, one of our subscribers wrote recently, saying “Still waiting. Why not wait some where visible?” We put this comment in our newsletter today, and another subscriber wrote back:
I for one absolutely agree with Brian. Let us go out there and wait somewhere everday. Simply got to the ZEC offices sit outside and wait. Nobody goes to work. We wait. I’m tired of the arrogance. Nobody should be allowed to mess with a nation’s collective voice, the ballot!
I couldn’t agree more.
So I was gratified to see WOZA, at least Doing Something, and not just sitting back and waiting. They held a demonstration in Bulawayo yesterday to protest the delay and to call on ZEC to release the presidential results immediately. Around 800 members held a peaceful protest, toyi toying through Zimbabwe’s second largest city to the steps of the Bulawayo High Court. The police, as they put it, arrived late (like ZEC), and only managed to arrest a few flyers and placards.