Whispers in groups at street corners, text messages on mobile phones and unconfirmed facts from "reliable" friends and relatives have become the channel for communicating yesterday's Zimbabwe's election result.
The message is the same, a huge MDC (Tsvangirai) victory, including in rural areas once considered a Zanu PF stronghold. Voting ended around 1900hrs yesterday and the only national broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), monopolized by Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party, announced early today that they will start broadcasting the results in the morning.
It is now well after 1600 hrs and the anxious crowd is still waiting impatiently for the first set of results from the 11, 000 polling stations around the country to be officially announced. Counting at most polling stations is well over.
In Gweru, Zimbabwe's third largest city, officials from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, at the Provincial election command center refused to shed any light on the outcome, saying the powers to announce are with officials at the national command center in Harare.
But a polling agent from a ward in the Gweru Urban constituency who spoke on condition of anonymity to this journalist said they have already finished counting the results. The agent said MDC House of Assembly candidate for Gweru Urban Rodrick Rutsvara leads by a big majority. Tsvangirai is leading by a wide margin in the presidential category. Even the MDC councillor in this ward won.
Reports from sources in Harare say MDC is leading by 66% of the total cast votes. Even the neighbouring South Africa Broadcating Corporation (SABC) has reported an MDC victory in the major urban centers of Harare and Bulawayo. People are wondering why the media in neighbouring countries should announce the election outcome for them. Many say they fear a ploy to rig the election.
"I got a text message from a friend involved in this election business that MDC has trounced Zanu PF by a wide margin in the capital Harare. They promised they would start announcing the results on national television and radio early this morning. Its now evening and I wonder what's taking them this long. We fear they might delay and tamper around with the results," said a man who only identified himself as John.
There is mixture of excitement and fear as people go about their business. Many are convinced that MDC has swept to victory across the country. What they are not sure of is what Robert Mugabe and his allies are plotting. There are reports, unconfirmed, that MDC has won a seat even in Mugabe's rural home area, Zvimba, where the opposition has never won before. There are more reports coming of MDC victory in the rural areas of Masvingo and Mashonaland, in areas once considered Zanu PF areas.
People are uncertain. Nothing is official yet despite early promises. But the words on the populace in the streets is if Mugabe wins this election this time around he will go "in the Guinness book of records," as the first president in the world to win an election with annual inflation at more than 100, 000 percent, with basic goods and foreign currency not available on the official market, with inadequate fuel supplies, electricity blackouts and no currency for more than three years. The country currently uses ‘bearer cheques’ printed by the central bank, The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) as money.
Whispers in groups at street corners, text messages on mobile phones and unconfirmed facts from "reliable" friends and relatives have become the channel for communicating yesterday's Zimbabwe's election result.
The message is the same, a huge MDC (Tsvangirai) victory, including in rural areas once considered a Zanu PF stronghold. Voting ended around 1900hrs yesterday and the only national broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), monopolized by Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party, announced early today that they will start broadcasting the results in the morning.
It is now well after 1600 hrs and the anxious crowd is still waiting impatiently for the first set of results from the 11, 000 polling stations around the country to be officially announced. Counting at most polling stations is well over.
