A Christian Aid partner in Zimbabwe has called on neighbouring countries to press for the publication of the presidential election results.
Representatives of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) are meeting with political and religious leaders in South Africa, Zambia as well as Tanzania.
‘They must also exert diplomatic pressure to avert any violence if we have another round of voting,’ said Useni Sibanda, the ZCA representative who travelled to Zambia.
This call was reiterated by the ZCA’s Bishop Levee Kadenge who said intervention to prevent bloodshed was the highest priority of the organisation’s mission.
The ZCA consists of church leaders working towards a restitution of good governance and the return of the rule of law in the country.
Nation in limbo
The political situation in Zimbabwe remains fluid. More than a week after the elections Zimbabweans still do not know the winner of the presidential vote.
Results for the lower house show that opposition parties won 109 seats while the ruling ZANU-PF party won 97 – the first time it has failed to win a majority in the 28 years since independence.
President Robert Mugabe’s party has now asked for the presidential poll results to be delayed even further to check ‘errors and miscalculations’.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) maintains its presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai won outright.
Fears of violence
The MDC fears a second round could see an unleashing of state violence.
Professor John Makumbe of the University of Zimbabwe and a member of the ZCA coordinating committee says there is growing anger that the results have not been published.
Each day suspicion increases that the results are being tampered with.
‘The people smell victory and they will not let go but they are trying to avoid violence,’ said Professor Makumbe. ‘They know they must not be seen to break the law.
‘But our big fear is that there will a crackdown if there is a run-off, we know the government is already mobilising its youth militias. It will do anything to make sure Mugabe wins.’
Vote rigging?
According to Mr. Sibanda, attempts to rig the possible run-off have already started.
‘A pastor in a town just outside Bulawayo phoned me to say that a number of his parishioners told him they had been offered money to vote for ZANU-PF,’ he said.
There is an uneasy calm in the capital Harare as the waiting game continues but Prof Makumbe says that however Mr Mugabe tries to play it, he has lost.
‘Mugabe can try to postpone the day of reckoning as long as he likes, but it is coming and effectively it is here.
‘Zimbabweans are not willing to endure another five years of pain and suffering.’