No time to vote!

A desperate shortage of polling stations means that thousands may miss their chance to vote on Saturday

The three-horse race for the Presidency of Zimbabwe, between Makoni, Tsvangirai and old Uncle Bob Mugabe himself, is still in the balance. What we do know is, many ordinary Zimbabweans, anxious to play their part in what remains of democracy in this country, won't get the chance.

Reports from the Independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network say that the prospect is for a repeat of what happened in the 2002 elections, when thousands were turned away when the polls closed.

Where will this robbery of your right to vote be most noticeable? In the big cities. Which party derives most of its support from the big cities? The opposition Movement For Democratic Change. Of course. What did you expect? This, remember, is Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. And here, if you're a voter in, let's say,  Harare or Bulawayo, is what you can expect to find on Saturday morning.

Put simply, you may queue all morning, even all day, and you still may not get to put pencil to paper. According to Noel Kututwa, head of the Network, there is a "significant discrepancy" in the provision of polling stations, with plenty in the rural areas, where we find the Zanu-PF strongholds, but just not enough in the cities.

Harare has 379 polling centres for about 760,000 registered voters, which means an average of 2,022 trying to vote at each station during the 12 hour period. In the event of a maximum turn-out, which is confidently expected, each citizen will have an average of 22 seconds to cast his or her votes.

And in one particularly hard hit city district, that time comes down to nine seconds, if all 4,600 voters show up.

By contrast, in the rural areas, where Mugabe's people are to be found, each polling station will be expected to handle only about 600 voters each.

What do all these statistics mean? Just that, with less than a week to go, the prospect of a fair and true election in Zimbabwe seems further away than ever.

Comments

[McPaul]

Unless Mugabe is subject of a misfortune ( perhaps a Julius Caesar scenario) between now and the 29th March, it is a forgone conclusion he will steal the elections. He clings on out of self preservation because as in most countries in Africa, power is absolute and non negotiable. Mugabe is old, paranoid, trusts no one and will probably be extremely vindictive, vicious and dangerous after the elections. But, the big question is how long can he hold on for?

[Jessica]

Looking forward to better days. Postivity will get us through.