ZIMBABWE ELECTION IRREGULARITIES IN MT. DARWIN

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 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM ASEC ZI 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