What more must we do?
Sokwanele enjoys the privilege of being a non-partisan organization committed to achieving democracy through non-violent means. Over the years we have established a broad spectrum of relationships with political parties, civil society and NGOs. Following the harmonised elections we have continuously monitored the situation on the ground through our diverse networks. We have come to our own conclusion as to the final seat count of the House of Assembly results, extracted from both MDC formations and Independent candidates, cross referenced with ZESN findings and the independent Zimbabwe Election Result website (www.zimelectionresults.com).
MDC Tsvangirai – 99
MDC Mutambara – 11 seats
Independent – 1
ZanuPF – 96
(Please note that 3 bi-elections will have to be held following the unfortunate deaths of certain candidates, hence a total of 207 seats in the House of Assembly).
These results clearly show that the opposition coalition now enjoys a majority control of the House of Assembly. However, please be aware that should Mugabe steal the Presidential vote, according to the constitution he would have the power to dissolve the House of Assembly.
Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT) results have been compared to the “official” Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) figures. The “official” results are emanating from the government controlled body at a snail pace and indicate massive discrepancies in certain constituencies, a clear sign Zanu PF is desperately attempting to inflate results in their favour. This is being done to reduce Morgan Tsvangirai’s presidential vote to below the 50% plus 1 result required for him to win the race in round one.
Zanu PF are slowly building overall numbers in the House of Assembly to facilitate inflated Presidential votes for Mugabe. It must be pointed out that should it come to a presidential run off, the combined forces of Morgan Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni would ensure success for the opposition. However, one cannot be certain that Mugabe’s forces have sufficient resources to go to a run off and they may well attempt to rig completely in Mugabe and ZanuPF’s favour in this first round.
At this stage the most blatant discrepancy can be clearly seen in ex-Vice President, Joice Majuru’s Mt Darwin West constituency. She recorded 6071 votes in the PVT results to win back her seat, as compared to the ZEC declared results of 13270. This constitutes inflation of over 100%. In Mashonaland Central, Shamva North constituency, Nicholas Goche polled 4195 votes in the PVT results, but the ZEC declared his win as 10385, more than double the PVT figure.
The delay in the announcement of the official results by ZEC is being strategically planned in order to give the Central Intelligence Organisation the much needed time to manipulate the results. This is blatant rigging at its most iniquitous.
The people of Zimbabwe have spoken and it is now time for Zanu PF, SADC, all other African bodies and the rest of the world to respect and support the will of the people.
April 1st, 2008 02:13
Please know that the Zimbabwe elections are indeed being covered in the world press, and we are watching and waiting along with you. I hope the people of Zimbabwe will finally be able to have their voices heard, and that a peaceful transition will occur. Zimbabwe needs to find its true voice again — lost for the last many years — so that you can start down the path for a brighter future. Democracy is not easy. It must be fought for, watched, and protected.
April 1st, 2008 04:05
I pray so hard for Zimbabwe. You are a wonderful countr4y that needs to get rid of the evil infesting it now (Mugabe) DEMOCRACY NOW Sheila USA
April 1st, 2008 08:36
So how do we argue the different inflated figures that ZEC put out. What reason could there be for such a great disparity.?
Is there any one that can help to resolve these issues within an african government ?
April 1st, 2008 10:59
Zim situation must be fixed by the Zimbabweans themselves. I’m a Zimbabwean myself and it’s high time Zimbabweans stood up and stop waiting on other countries to help them.If the results go Mugabe’s way, God I pray…
April 1st, 2008 12:16
What everyone can do is keep the global interest alive. Blog. Comment. Visit the Zim websites and specially the big news websites eg. BBC, Al Jazeera, VoA and click on the Zim stories. The more interest they see in the Zim situation, the more news space they will allocate.
Write also to your own MP,circulate opinion pieces to all your friends, comment on FaceBook groups etc.. Keep the fire of our attention hot, hot and the spotlight bright. NO wriggle room for ZanuPF!!
April 1st, 2008 13:09
Last night on the BBC show Newsnight, Labour Minister (UK) Peter Haine stated that it was time the rest of the world stood up against the despot. Those of us in the UK with Labour MP’s should now start a campaign to get them to back what Haine said. The full programem can be viewd online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight.
April 1st, 2008 13:53
The best way to defeat Mugabe is by a barrel.People of Zimbabwe should now rise and be brave enough to this so called ZANU PF. I would suggest the same Kanyan scenario is the best this time. We are now tired of this evil Mugabe and his so called ZANU PF.He doesn’t want to accept defeat.He has always been cheating,stealing,cheating and killing.I would declare at this point in time to remove this dectator as simple as that!
April 1st, 2008 14:09
The elections were free and fair. What we are not so sure of at the moment are the results.The pace is too slow and we are all eagerly waiting to hear something since Saturday.This delay certainly would make us and even the rest of the world to wonder though nothing might be happening interms of cheating.
April 1st, 2008 14:52
I agree 100 000% with Victor. Robert won’t understand anything but the barrel language.And I repeat, we must never rely on Western help. We Zimbabweans and Africans can do it by ourselves.Like i said earlier…if Robert declares himself an outright winner…God I pray.