What happened in Zimbabwe is happening in Mozambique and looks to be heading for Botswana too.
For the last two decades, general elections held in Zim have been disputed by the opposition and of late the regional body, SADC, due to rigging allegations and mismanagement of the whole process.
The same is happening in Mozambique and it has the hands of Zimbabwe all over it, not surprising right?
Last week, there were reports some Zimbabweans were able to vote in Mozambique’s elections earlier this month after acquiring IDs of that country; obviously they voted for the ruling party’s candidate.
And in yet another unprecedented move, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is the current SADC Chairperson, has congratulated Mozambique’s ruling party (Frelimo) candidate, Daniel Chapo for their resounding victory.
This, despite the fact that the country’s electoral body is yet to announce the results!
Mozambicans went to the polls on October 9 and official results are expected today (Friday).
However, the elections have already been disputed by observer missions, with the European Union saying some results have been altered.
Results were also expected to be posted on the electoral commission website for all to see but it has been inactive since last week with claims of cyber attack – the same happened in Zimbabwe by the way!
On Tuesday, riot police had running battles with scores of opposition supporters protesting against alleged election fraud.
Vote buying, voter intimidation and inflated voter’s roll in ruling party strongholds have been reported in that country and again, that smells of Zimbabwe.
Today (Friday), Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) supporters were expected to march to the Zimbabwe Embassy in protest against Zimbabwean involvement in Botswana General Elections Rigging.
There are fears among opposition members that the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) will, with the help of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), rig the October 30 elections.
In February, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) went on a two-day bench marking trip to Harare, a visit which was slammed by the opposition considering Zimbabwe’s record of electoral fraud.
In the last Zimbabwe general election in 2023, there was a widespread shortage of ballot papers mainly in the opposition strongholds, which led to voting delays, in some stations by 24 hours.
This was seen by many as yet another scheme to frustrate voters and eventually manipulate results.
Early voting in Botswana, which was held last Saturday, was also marred by shortage of ballot papers, a development which is a concern to many considering IEC had ample time to prepare for the elections.
Could this be one of the things they learnt from ZEC during the bench-marking exercise, that there should be a shortage of ballot papers? Maybe, maybe not!
