Categories: Stories

MDC’s parallel vote counting failed in 2008

The announcement by Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Tendai Biti that the party will announce its own election results has once again raised questions about whether it has improved its vote-counting machinery.

The system flopped in 2008 according to cables released by the United States embassy.

Two parallel voting systems were simultaneously being carried out in the 2008 elections, one by the Zimbabwe Election Supervisory Network which was funded by the United States government through the National Democratic Institute, and the other by the MDC and funded by Econet boss, Strive Masiyiwa.

Although Biti announced that party leader Morgan Tsvangirai had won the presidential elections, the parallel count by the ZESN said he had won only 49 percent of the vote.

The MDC’s American advisor Kathi Walters said the party’s parallel count had failed because they had only captured 80 percent of the votes.

(48 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe expects more foreign currency sellers to join the interbank market

The gazetting into law of the payment of quarterly taxes on a 50-50 basis in…

December 4, 2024

Zimbabwe 2025 citizens’ budget

Zimbabwe has today unveiled a ZiG276.4 billion budget for 2025 during which it expects the…

November 28, 2024

To go or not to go- Mnangagwa in a quandary

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has repeatedly stated that he is not going to contest a…

November 25, 2024

ZiG loses steam, falls against US dollar for five consecutive days

The Zimbabwe Gold fell against the United States dollar for five consecutive days from Monday…

November 22, 2024

Indian think tank says Starlink is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

An Indian think tank has described Starlink, a satellite internet service provider which recently entered…

November 18, 2024

ZiG firms against US dollar for 10 days running but people still do not have confidence in the currency

Zimbabwe’s new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), firmed against the United States dollars for 10…

November 16, 2024