“I have said it and I have said it again and I am beginning to sound like a broken record now, but these elections are illegal, illegitimate, immoral, unfree and unfair.” – Tendai Biti speaking to Al Jazeera

Food and transport has been unstinting and in the process they have hired hundreds of buses, trains and trucks of every description. I heard they brought in 140 tonnes of poster paper and you can see that everywhere. A very young Mugabe peers out to us from every tree and lamp post. My wife saw one on the wall of a company and asked me who that was, I said it was Mugabe and she could not reconcile the image with the man we see every hour or so, on State TV. One other reason why the Zanu PF posters are so visible is that Zanu PF has had teams at work every night, taking down everybody else’s posters which are now almost nonexistent. Tear down a Zanu poster and you will find yourself in a Police cell and likely to remain there for some days before a Magistrate can be found to impose a fine. We have all complained to ZEC and the Police, to no avail.
- Eddie Cross

From Brian Raftopoulos:

Is Zimbabwe heading towards another disputed election?
29 July 2013

In September 2008 the three major political parties in Zimbabwe entered an inclusive government following a contested election in June that year. The Global Political Agreement (GPA), as it was called, was facilitated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the facilitation was led by the South African government.

After nearly five years under a very problematic and intensely contested inclusive arrangement, the people of Zimbabwe face another election on the 31st July in a battle for the presidency, parliament and council representatives. The setting of the election date was announced unilaterally by President Mugabe, following a decision by the constitutional court clearly directed by Mugabe’s party. This was contrary to the terms of the GPA which set out that this decision would be made by consensus of the three political parties, Zanu PF, MDC-T and the smaller MDC formation. Mugabe’s failure to abide by the terms of the GPA on this issue represented the latest in a long list of infringements by his party on the terms of the agreement.

Many of the key reforms envisaged under the GPA, such as media reform, substantive changes in the electoral laws and security sector realignment were blocked by Mugabe’s party in the last five years. The latter issue was particularly important given the fact that the security establishment effectively blocked the MDCs from translating their electoral victory into state power in 2008. As a result, the forthcoming election is taking place under conditions which once again bode ill for the conduct of a free and fair plebiscite. The combination of a shortened voter registration period and a voter’s roll which, according to recent reports contains serious irregularities, point to further problems around the electoral process. The chaos surrounding the recently conducted special vote for the security forces provided yet another indication of the lack of readiness of the national electoral body for the July election.

The current state of unreadiness for the election has also been a cause of continuous concern for SADC. Since 2011 a series of SADC summits has pushed the GPA partners to implement all the political reforms set out in the GPA. At its June summit in Maputo the SADC facilitator on Zimbabwe, South African President Zuma, once again stressed the need for all matters agreed on under the GPA to be implemented speedily in order to ensure adequate preparations for a level playing field for the forthcoming elections.

Among the range of issues raised by Zuma in his report was the key point that security sector realignment could not be postponed any longer. The summit also called on the Zimbabwe parties to seek an extension of the election date from the Zimbabwe constitutional court, in order to ensure greater readiness for the election. Once again Zanu PF ensured the constitutional court decision endorsed the 31 July election date. In response to the recent disorganised special vote process, SADC stated that it wished its advice had been heeded on the need for a delay. There have clearly been tensions between Mugabe and his SADC colleagues over the problems of implementing the GPA. Mugabe’s recent attacks on one of the SADC facilitatiors, Lindiwe Zulu, over her alleged criticisms of the electoral process, point to some longer terms problems that Mugabe’s party have had with Zuma’s arbitration.

Additionally the growing convergence between SADC and the EU since the beginning of 2013 over the conditions for a free and fair election, have triggered concerns in Zanu PF. For much of the 2000′s including the period of the inclusive government, Mugabe has skillfully used the division between SADC and the West over the sanctions imposed by the latter in the early 2000′s on the Mugabe regime, to maintain the support of the region. The gradual movement away from the sanctions position by the EU, from 2012, and the clear movement of the EU towards an EU-Zimbabwe re-engagement dependent on the status of the upcoming election have closed the ground between the EU and SADC.

The pressure is therefore on the regional body to carry out the mandate that it set itself when the facilitation began in 2007. In that year the SADC mediation set out to establish conditions for a generally acceptable election in Zimbabwe and to “ensure that everybody concerned accepts that the results of the elections as truly representative of the will of the people.” The facilitator at that time, the then South African President Thabo Mbeki, was keen to keep the West at bay and to push for an African solution to an African problem. That task remains to be completed in Zimbabwe, and the stakes in the forthcoming elections are high not only for Zimbabweans, but also for the credibility of SADC.

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.

In case its escaped you, these days the City of Harare has barely any street cleaners, and the few street cleaners there are probably get paid less for a month’s work than your chef bosses spend on a trip to the pub. So when I see all of your Zanu PF leaflets thrown out of whatever diamond money bought truck that you’ve been zipping around the streets in, I can only think that you’re screwed in the head, stoked up on a bit of election cash in hand.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T … for people who have to clean up after you, for the environment, and how about for yourselves?