Jestina Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, told United States embassy officials two weeks before the 2008 elections that access to food from the state-run Grain Marketing Board was reserved for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front members.
ZANU-PF candidates and traditional leaders were the only ones permitted to buy GMB food, which they later distributed or sold to ZANU-PF supporters at the ward level.
This was one of the ways that ZANU-PF was using to manipulate voters in the run-up to the 2008 elections.
According to the embassy, ZANU-PF was trying to buy the support of security forces, civil servants, traditional leaders, and rural voters with handouts of money and goods.
It had paid out security forces a pay raise of between ZW$1-ZW$3 billion (about US$50-US$150 at the parallel market rate at the time) depending on rank in their bank accounts.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08HARARE206, ZIMBABWE’S PRE-ELECTION CONDITIONS NOT FREE AND
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO4962
PP RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0206/01 0741101
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 141101Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2589
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1874
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1815
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1939
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0518
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1216
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1573
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1995
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4426
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1066
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC//DHO-7//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK//DOOC/ECMO/CC/DAO/DOB/DOI//
RUEPGBA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ23-CH/ECJ5M//
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 HARARE 000206
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S DESK OFFICER S. HILL
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: 03/14/2018
TAGS: ASEC KDEM PGOV PHUM PREL ZI
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE’S PRE-ELECTION CONDITIONS NOT FREE AND
FAIR
REF: A. HARARE 00180
¶B. HARARE 00162
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JAMES D. MCGEE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B & D)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (SBU) Prospects for a free and fair election in Zimbabwe
on March 29 are problematic. Voter rolls are suspect and
have not been audited. Prospective voters, particularly in
urban areas, have reported difficulties in registering.
Voter education has been minimal. The number of polling
places may be inadequate for urban voters, who favor the
opposition. Media access has favored the ruling party.
Violence and intimidation, while not as intense as in past
elections, continues against the opposition, particularly the
MDC. ZANU-PF, through the control of the state apparatus and
resources, is attempting to buy support with massive handouts
of money and goods such as farm equipment. On the positive
side, the opposition has been given more space than in past
elections to campaign, including the holding of rallies. And
the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network has been issued an
invitation for over 11,000 observers to apply for
accreditation. END SUMMARY.
———————————————
Severe Shortcomings In Electoral Preparations
———————————————
¶2. (C) The opposition and civil society groups have expressed
concern that the voter rolls were in “shambles.” To date,
Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN), an independent
local NGO, and the opposition parties have been unable to
secure a complete and useable electronic copy of the voters
roll to conduct an audit as allowed by the Electoral Act.
ZESN Director Rindai Chipfunde-Vava told us that a limited
analysis of the voter rolls for a few areas shows duplicate
names and names of voters that do not live in the area.
Tsvangirai MDC formation Secretary of Elections Ian Makone
SIPDIS
told us that he purchased a copy of the voter rolls for his
constituency and was given an electronic copy of scanned
images of the paper version. (NOTE: Although a complete
audit is impossible, the USG through NDI is conducting
analysis of the voters roll; results will be reported when
available. END NOTE.)
¶3. (U) ZESN has repeatedly complained to the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC), the government body responsible
for conducting elections, that the government’s voter
registration and education efforts have been inadequate.
ZESN claimed that mobile voter registration activities were
not well publicized or widespread. Opposition officials have
complained that documentation requirements for voter
registration were obstructive and meant to disenfranchise
opposition voters. For instance, urban citizens required
proof of residence such as a deed title or a letter from a
landlord. Many poor urban citizens do not own homes, and
getting a letter from a landlord was often difficult. Rural
citizens required a letter from the village headman, which
was routinely denied to suspected opposition supporters.
There also have been numerous reports that citizens who have
voted in past elections discovered their names had been
deleted from the voter rolls. As such, they were forced to
re-register, and in many cases, were not provided a receipt
as proof of registration (reftel A).
¶4. (C) As for the process of voting, ZESN pointed out that a
HARARE 00000206 002 OF 005
shortage of polling stations in urban areas disadvantaged
opposition voters. Harare, an opposition stronghold, has 379
polling stations for over 766,000 registered voters.
According to ZESN’s calculations, the average voter in
Harare, who like voters throughout the country will have four
ballots to contend with, will have 22 seconds to vote if all
expected voters are attended to. Cities like Mutare,
Bulawayo, and Gweru similarly have an inadequate number of
polling stations. By contrast, Mashonaland West, a ruling
party strong-hold, has 1,100 polling stations for 582,989
registered voters. In response, the Tsvangirai MDC formation
has asked the High Court to order ZEC to add more polling
stations in the urban areas to ensure that all voters have a
responsible opportunity to vote; there has been no response
to date.
———————–
Lack Of Voter Education
———————–
¶5. (U) In early February, despite not offering its own voter
education program sufficient to address the massive electoral
undertaking of holding four elections simultaneously, the ZEC
ordered ZESN to cease conducting voter education activities
until the group had sought and received permission. Until
that point, ZESN had deployed teams throughout the country to
conduct voter education and had found that many citizens were
not well-informed about voter registration procedures, the
boundaries of new constituencies, and the manner in which the
harmonized elections would be conducted. ZESN also noted
discrepancies and errors in information ZEC had distributed.
For instance, a ZEC brochure distributed in the Norton area
of Mashonaland West province incorrectly stated that proof of
residence would be required to vote on Election Day. After
ZESN complained, the ZEC apparently stopped distributing the
brochure.
——————–
Media Access Limited
——————–
¶6. (U) Although the Electoral Act provides that all political
parties should have equal access to public media, several
independent NGOs have reported that the state media
demonstrated partisan tendencies in its coverage of the
elections. The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
reported that during the month of February the state
television station ZTV afforded during its main news
bulletins a total of 202 minutes to ZANU-PF electoral
preparations, 26 minutes to Independent presidential
candidate Simba Makoni, and only nine minutes to the two MDC
formations. During this same period, ZTV aired 93 reports
about ZANU-PF (86 positive, seven neutral, and zero
negative), 15 reports about Makoni (five neutral and 10
negative), and four reports about the MDC formations (one
positive, one negative, and two neutral). The state radio
stations aired 118 stories about ZANU-PF (117 positive and
one neutral), and five reports about the MDC formations (one
positive, two neutral, and two negative). The main state-run
newspaper The Herald published 54 stories about ZANU-PF (all
positive), 24 stories about the MDC formations (12 neutral
and 12 negative), and 19 stories about Makoni (all negative).
¶7. (U) Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) released a
press statement on March 4 noting trepidation over the state
media’s biased reporting. Over the month of February, ZLHR
noted, the ZBC has shown “dissatisfactory and unlawful” bias
in favor of the ruling party candidates and activities. For
example, the ZBC carried a live broadcast of ZANU-PF’s launch
HARARE 00000206 003 OF 005
of its manifesto on March 29, but did not do the same for the
MDC formations or Independent presidential hopeful Simba
Makoni. In another instance, a ZBC news report informed its
audience in Masvingo province where to find transport that
would bring them to Harare for a ZANU-PF event. In news
bulletins, ruling party candidates were shown and named,
while opposition candidates in the same constituencies were
not mentioned. In many cases, ZLHR noted that the little
coverage given to the other parties was opinionated and
negative, and was meant to present them as disjointed.
¶8. (U) Another restriction on the media has been the
inability of independent journalists to acquire
accreditation. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
– Zimbabwe reported that the ZEC had refused to accredit any
journalists to cover the elections unless they had been
already accredited by the state-controlled Media and
Information Commission (MIC). However, the MIC ceased to
exist when the amended Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy ACT (AIPPA) was signed into law on January 11, and
its functions will not be assumed by the yet-to-be created
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) until after the elections.
It therefore appears that foreign journalists who cover the
election will have to enter the country as tourists, without
accreditation as journalists, and will be precluded from
attending “public events.”
——————————
A Hostile Political Climate…
——————————
¶9. (C) While wholesale violence may be down; the opposition
formations reported that arrests, abductions, beatings, and
intimidation were on the rise. The Tsvangirai MDC formation
provided us a list of over 100 arrests and assaults of its
candidates and supporters since the beginning of February.
Most incidents involved campaign workers being arrested for
allegedly tearing down ZANU-PF campaign posters, creating a
public nuisance by “toyi-toying” (dancing and singing) while
handing out flyers, and holding “illegal” meetings.
Mutambara MDC formation MP Job Sikhala told us that police in
the St. Mary’s constituency in Chitungwiza, a high-density
suburb of Harare, were arresting opposition supporters from
both formations for the slightest infraction as a form of
harassment. In most cases, the arrestees paid a fine and
were released.
¶10. (C) According to Reverend Ray Motsi, head of the National
Pastors’ Conference (NPC) and member of Christian Alliance,
violence has been taking place more on an individual basis/
local level rather than as a “directed” campaign. He added
that violence and intimidation were now so institutionalized
that police and youth groups did not need direct orders from
above to know that beating up one person strikes fear in
many.
————————————–
…But With Increasing Political Space
————————————–
¶11. (C) MDC leader and presidential candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai told us that there had been some opening of
SIPDIS
political space for campaigning since the beginning of the
year. He noted that his formation has held several large,
well-attended rallies without incident. For instance, the
Tsvangirai MDC formation campaign launch in Mutare on
SIPDIS
February 23 was attended by over 20,000 people and a campaign
rally in Bulawayo on March 8 was attended by an estimated 20
– 25,000 supporters. Embassy officers on pre-election trips
HARARE 00000206 004 OF 005
in Mashonaland provinces, traditional ZANU-PF territory, were
told by MDC candidates they have been able to hold rallies
and campaign. For example, on a pre-election assessment trip
to Mt. Darwin, a ruling party strong-hold and home to vice
president Joyce Mujuru, EconOff observed MDC campaign posters
throughout the area. MDC candidates from both formations
said that there had been less violence and intimidation than
in past elections.
—————————–
And Also On The Positive Side
—————————–
¶12. (U) Although the government refused to invite independent
international observers, ZESN learned on March 13 that the
Ministry of Justice had invited it to submit requests for
accreditation for almost 12,000 observers. These observers
will include such groups as the Christian Alliance and ZLHR.
With 8,200 polling stations, ZESN should be able to be an
effective presence throughout the country.
——————————-
Voter Manipulation And Pressure
——————————-
¶13. (U) There have been widespread reports that the ruling
party, through control over the state apparatus, has been
attempting to buy the support of security forces, civil
servants, traditional leaders, and rural voters with handouts
of money and goods. In order to pay for this largess, the
government has been printing money non-stop and further
fueling runaway inflation (reftel B). In February, for
example, security forces reportedly received a surprise pay
raise of between ZW$1 – ZW$3 billion (about US$50 – US$150 at
the parallel market rate at the time) depending on rank in
their bank accounts. On February 29, teachers, upset that
they had not received their entire negotiated retention bonus
and pay raise, went on strike throughout the country. In the
week that followed, the rest of the civil servants threatened
to strike for better pay as well. On March 12, facing a
complete shut down of government two weeks before the
elections, the government relented and announced a large
raise for civil servants. Teachers’ salaries reportedly
increased by a factor of 10.
¶14. (C) As during past elections, there have been numerous
reports that the government has tried to limit food aid and
other assistance to those with ZANU-PF party cards and to
deny assistance to suspected opposition supporters. Jestina
Mukoko, director of Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), told us
that access to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), the state-run
monopoly for mealie meal and grain distribution, was reserved
for ZANU-PF members. She said that ZANU-PF candidates and
traditional leaders were the only ones permitted to buy GMB
food, which they later distributed/sold to ZANU-PF supporters
at the ward level.
¶15. (C) There also have been reports that the ruling party is
once again pressuring traditional leaders throughout the
country to deliver support on Election Day. George Feza, an
election observer for ZESN told us that chiefs around the
Kadoma area of Mashonaland West province had received new
vehicles, farm machinery, and fuel from the government. In
exchange, they were expected to register all their
constituents to vote and to ensure they voted for the ruling
party. Tsvangirai MDC formation MP Amos Chibaya told us that
the chiefs in his constituency of Vungu in Midlands province
had told village headmen that they must bring their subjects
to polling stations at certain times to vote.
HARARE 00000206 005 OF 005
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶16. (C) The outcome of the March 29 elections will be
influenced by actions carried out well in advance, such as
registration obstruction, tinkering with the voters roll,
intimidation, and manipulation through handouts. Moreover,
the GOZ, through control of the ZEC and its country-wide
network, maintains capacity to creatively alter vote totals
after voting is complete. But there are some silver linings.
Simba Makoni’s candidacy has increased the strength of the
opposition by tapping into disaffected ZANU-PF supporters.
The presence of Makoni supporters in the ZEC and ZANU-PF
party structures throughout the country will make rigging for
Mugabe more difficult. Finally, although the presence of
independent international observers would have been highly
desirable, ZESN apparently will have observers at most, if
not all, polling stations throughout the country. These
factors will not necessarily prevent Mugabe from stealing the
election, but they will make it more difficult for “friendly
observers” like the SADC observation mission to ignore large
scale rigging. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(17 VIEWS)
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