It is difficult to imagine how the presidential election can be won by anyone other than President Robert Mugabe.
From the Editor’s Desk by Nevanji Madanhire
The playing field is so grossly slanted in his favour that it will take a miracle to defeat him. Public radio and television are under his control; more than 90% of programmes extol his virtue while denigrating all who stand in his way.
Public newspapers are also doing the same, spewing propaganda and using abusive language to assassinate the character of his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai. The uniformed forces — the police and the army — are at his beck and call and are involved at all levels in the electoral processes including the printing and distribution of ballots.
Intimidation has once again resurfaced in the rural areas; this is obvious considering how hundreds of thousands of people have been commandeered to Mugabe’s election rallies against their will.
Contrary to the new constitution that forbids traditional leaders from participating in politics, they are at it again.
But it is simple things that might change the course of history, come election day.
Those who have read Greek mythology might remember the story of the Minotaur. The Minotaur was a monster conceived when a bull coupled with human. It was therefore a man with the head of a bull. It was shut up in a labyrinth and young lads and maidens were sacrificed to feed it. Anyone who dared to enter its lair and fight it never made it because of the impossible maze that guarded it.
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But it was the simplest of things that enabled its eventual slayer to defeat it. Theseus was given a thread by a maiden who had fallen in love with him. He pinned the thread at the entrance and unrolled it as he hunted the Minotaur. The thread enabled him to retrace his way out of the labyrinth after he had defeated the Minotaur in single combat.
Mugabe can be compared to the Minotaur; there is maze of laws and state agencies shielding him and making it impossible to defeat him in a fair contest.
But again, a simple message can be the game changer: “Your vote is your secret.” The message has not been hammered enough into the heads of voters especially the less sophisticated of our brothers and sisters living on the farms and remote rural outposts.
It’s a simple message which does not need any gadgets to convey. Many people are enthralled by the use of social media to spread political messages but these are useless as far as mass communication is concerned.
Much has been said about the effectiveness of Facebook and Twitter in spreading revolutionary messages during the Arab Spring but discerning analysts are beginning to doubt whether they played the decisive role in the revolutions that changed the face of North Africa. Many think the word of mouth was hugely more effective.
The story is told how, in Egypt, revolutionists would jump into taxis and, in fake mobile telephone conversations describe in detail their plans.
The taxi drivers would then convey to whoever hired them on that day what they had heard and, so the messages were spread.
If each one of us told the person next to him that his or her vote is secret and no one will ever know how they have voted, the game changes immediately.
How does the game change? It is the fear that someone will know how one has voted that is at the core of our tainted electoral democracy. It is what makes intimidation effective. Intimidation is illogical; you can’t beat people up and expect them to love you and vote for you. It only works when it has been taken to its logical conclusion, that is, when the voter feels watched while in the ballot cubicle.
Once the message has sunk that no one will ever see how you vote, that there are no gadgets that are used to watch you as you vote, that there are no cameras, cellular phones or satellite dishes that record how people vote, then the fear will dissipate and people will freely express their will.
But once this message remains in the grey area in which it dwells presently, people will continue to fear that they will be murdered or their property will be taken away after the elections as has happened in the past and fear is still all pervasive.
The partisan role of traditional leaders will continue to influence how people in the rural areas vote. The mere presence of security forces in certain areas will continue to intimidate unsophisticated voters, forcing them to vote in a certain way.
Once people are convinced their vote is secret, political violence will cease to be a useful tool of recruiting voters. Traditional leaders’ role in intimidating their subjects will fall away and all voters will refuse to be assisted to vote by these leaders and instead, in genuine cases where assistance is needed, the voter can demand that only his close friend or relative should come to their help.
Everyone knows what has gone wrong with this country and would like to play a role in correcting the mistakes. Everyone knows who is responsible for the sorry state we find ourselves in and would like the country to have a new beginning.
Unfortunately, fear stands in the way of a new beginning. There is a cabal of political sharks who have benefited from the common people’s fear and would like the status quo to continue. The truth of the matter is that we can stop them in their tracks on Wednesday if we get rid of our fear.
Elections have failed to bring any change in the past 30 years, leading lots of people to doubt their usefulness. This doubt has led to apathy; millions of people have withheld their vote and will probably abstain from voting on Wednesday.
They should be told clearly that a large voter turnout makes it nearly impossible to manipulate the ballot; therefore it is important that anyone who is registered to vote should do so. Again, this message, like the one of voter secrecy, needs to be conveyed quickly.
Let’s all vote on Wednesday and see what happens!
