The campaign manager for the Movement for Democratic Change- Mutambara candidate during the 2008 elections complained to United States embassy officials that the votes that Vice-President Joice Mujuru got for the Mt Darwin West constituency was “dubiously high” for the support that she had.
Embassy officials seemed to agree with Raphael Shanya who was also the father of Joseph, the MDC-M candidate.
Mujuru polled 13 2236 votes to win the seat with the MDC- Tsvangirai candidate Madzudo Gora getting 1 792 votes and Shanya 887 votes.
According to a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks, “Shanya was convinced that ZANU-PF must have stuffed ballot boxes with votes because Joice Mujuru did not have this level of support given that the constituency had not benefited from her position as vice president and, in his opinion, most constituents favoured the MDC.”
Embassy officials said Shanya’s assessment tallied with theirs because a pre-election embassy observation team in the Mt. Darwin area found substantial pro-MDC and anti-Mujuru sentiment.
“Additionally, an analysis of the election results shows that the 83.2 percent of the vote Joice Mujuru captured in Mt. Darwin was considerably better than the 73.8 percent average ZANU-PF won with in the other three Mt. Darwin House of Assembly races.”
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08HARARE308, ZIMBABWE ELECTION IRREGULARITIES IN MT. DARWIN
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO7692
RR RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0308/01 1001541
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 091541Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2748
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1910
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1901
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2024
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0592
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1301
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1658
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2080
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4511
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1156
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC//DHO-7//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK//DOOC/ECMO/CC/DAO/DOB/DOI//
RUZEHAA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ23-CH/ECJ5M//
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000308
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SES-O
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
USAID FOR L.DOBBINS AND E. LOKEN
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2018
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE ELECTION IRREGULARITIES IN MT. DARWIN
REF: HARARE 00270
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JAMES D. MCGEE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B & D)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (C) Raphael Shanya, campaign manager for and father of
Joseph Shanya, the MDC Mutambara House of Assembly candidate
for Mt. Darwin West constituency in Mashonaland Central
province, reported to PolOffs on April 7 several problems
their campaign had encountered on Election Day. His primary
concern was that MDC polling agents had been denied entry
into numerous polling stations or only allowed in hours after
voting had begun. Additionally, he said many of the polling
stations in the constituency were not identified or
misidentified on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (ZEC)
map of polling stations. Therefore, there were no polling
agents or observers at these polling stations. END SUMMARY.
————————————–
Irregularities in a ZANU-PF Stronghold
————————————–
¶2. (C) According to Shanya, out of the 52 polling stations in
the Mt. Darwin West constituency (in which Vice President
Joice Mujuru was the winning candidate), seven polling
stations were not identified on the ZEC map and at least 10
polling stations were misidentified. Shanya, a life-long
resident of Mt. Darwin, told us that using the ZEC map as a
guide, he had a difficult time locating about 30 percent of
the polling stations on Election Day.
¶3. (C) Another problem Shanya highlighted was the difficulty
MDC polling agents had gaining access to some polling
stations, especially those located in commercial farming
areas. He said that war veterans (staunch ZANU-PF
supporters) were stationed at many of these polling stations
and did not allow or delayed entry of MDC polling agents to
observe the voting process. When he complained to the
election officials at one such polling station, he was told
to raise his objections at the constituency command center
which was over 30 kilometers away.
¶4. (C) Shanya pointed out that because MDC polling agents
were denied or delayed entry into several polling stations
there was no way to confirm that the ballot boxes were empty
when polls opened and that voting took place in a proper
manner throughout the day. He referenced the dubiously high
level of support Joice Mujuru attracted (13,236 votes/ 83.2
percent) compared with the MDC Tsvangirai candidate Madzudo
Gora (1,792 votes/ 11.3 percent), and MDC Mutambara candidate
Joseph Shanya (887 votes/ 5.6 percent).
¶5. (C) Shanya was convinced that ZANU-PF must have stuffed
ballot boxes with votes because Joice Mujuru did not have
this level of support given that the constituency had not
benefited from her position as vice president and, in his
opinion, most constituents favored the MDC. (NOTE: A
pre-election Embassy observation team in the Mt. Darwin area
found substantial pro-MDC and anti-Mujuru sentiment.
Additionally, an analysis of the election results shows that
the 83.2 percent of the vote Joice Mujuru captured in Mt.
Darwin was considerably better than the 73.8 percent average
ZANU-PF won with in the other three Mt. Darwin House of
Assembly races. END NOTE.)
——–
COMMENT
——–
HARARE 00000308 002 OF 002
¶6. (C) Shanya’s observations comport with MDC and Zimbabwe
Electoral Support Network (ZESN) complaints about the conduct
of the election in Mashonaland Central, the ZANU-PF
heartland. It is highly probable that ZANU-PF manipulated
the vote in Mt. Darwin and other strongholds to bolster
support for certain party big-wigs such as Joice Mujuru. It
also was an apparent effort to build electoral support for
Mugabe who faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from Morgan
Tsvangirai. The Mashonaland Central experience, as
SIPDIS
illustrated by Shanya, demonstrates the importance of polling
agents and observers at every polling station in the country
for the runoff election. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(44 VIEWS)
