Erections … and their outcomes Part 1
For the second time in a row, my name was missing from the voters’ roll.
In 2005, my name was missing from the roll, and although I registered again, I went to Avondale Primary School this morning and well, sure as shit, my name could not be found.
Again.
It’s also been pretty quiet down here. Avondale Primary had quite a few people in the morning, but I’ve driven past there twice since lunch-time and the place is virtually deserted.
And even in my trips to the shops and everything, I haven’t seen a single pink finger.
Low turnout, anyone? Or is it just here.
Update: I’ve been following coverage of the count and announcements, and will be posting updates in the comments section
March 30th, 2008 at 05:15 am
Glad to see you doing your civic duty. Who was you goin vote for, so we can all collectively shake our head in shame?
March 30th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I’ll give you a guess, babes. LOL
March 30th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Do you know how I can get info on results as they are being released. I cant get SW radio on my computer, and ZBC(unts) doesnt seem to have an internet link
March 30th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Sheet … you’ll have to subscribe to the news feed from News24.com I suppose … they’re pretty good at keeping up with our shit.
So turns out MDC reckon they’ve won the fucking thing. Hmmm.
That scares me. State of emergency, anyone?
Oh, there’s really nuffink on local news at the mo, they’re not announcing/releasing. Yet. (Hmmmmmm)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/30/zimbabwe1?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
March 30th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Chiredzi
Chiredzi Gvt A Primary Sch. Polling Station
Presidential: MDC 99 / ZPF31 / SM25
House of Assembly: MDC83 / ZPF 28 / IND 38 / MUT 7
Senate: MDC 89 / ZPF 44 / IND 23
Chiredzi Gvt B Primary Sch. Polling Station
Presidential: MDC 110 / ZPF 44 / SM 22
Parliamentary: MDC 79 / ZPF 44
Senate: MDC 102 / ZPF 19 / IND 21
Marondera Urban
Godfrey Huggins Polling Station
Presidential: MDC 144 / ZPF 39
Parliamentary: MDC 137 / ZPF 48 / Mutambara 7
Borradaile Polling Station
Presidential: MDC / 254 ZPF / 74 Makoni 40
Parliament: MDC 250 / ZPF 8
March 30th, 2008 at 14:05 pm
Yeah, but this is how it started out in 2002, then they announced the results for UMP and then it was just downhill from there. It was like the government were just throwing the MDC a bone. I remember staying up late into the night excitedly waiting for the results, after the 330 000 UMP Zanu votes, I just called it a night. Incidentally UMP has an adult population of less than 50 000 if anyone is wondering why that may be significant.
March 30th, 2008 at 14:09 pm
These aren’t even announced … they’re initial counts from polling stations. MDC are trying to pre-empt any issues when official announcements come, so they’re announcing straight from the polling stations count.
March 30th, 2008 at 14:10 pm
Hmmm, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission spokesdude just made a statement, begging Zimbos to be patient and wait for the results to be collated and “verified”, then officially announced.
March 30th, 2008 at 14:48 pm
The kind of verification that requires the truth to get a full-fledged makeover. Was reading about the PAP finding 8000 voters registered under a tree and a shack, but for all that, the election will be described as ‘generally free and fair’. Thanks for the updates bro, keep them coming. I am stuck in an information warp and its really frustrating.
March 30th, 2008 at 14:52 pm
If SW Radio is to be believed, seems the great uncle lost in his own home town, Zvimba. Now isn’t that a kick in the teeth.
March 30th, 2008 at 17:55 pm
http://zimbabwemetro.com/2008/03/29/2008-election-results/
March 30th, 2008 at 19:34 pm
News coming in is that it’s a major landslide. But apparently Uncle did better than expected in Borrowdale. But still lost.
Blackout from the official side, and info is patchy from the MDC. Will update as received.
March 30th, 2008 at 19:43 pm
Robert Gabriel Mugabe ZANU PF 168 642
Morgan Tsvangirai MDC -Tsvangirai 196 731
Simba Herbert Stanley Makoni Independent 147 397
Langton Towungana Independent 8248
Not official.
March 30th, 2008 at 19:44 pm
You and me both mate, gutted i wasnt on the list…doesnt make any sense, eish!
And can’t tell fact from fiction regarding these results, will wait until the morning…day of reckoning and all of that!
March 30th, 2008 at 19:47 pm
We’ll see who the April Fools are, hey? You look lovely as always, by the way.
March 30th, 2008 at 20:03 pm
Apparently, 31 constituencies have reported. And all 31 have gone to MDC-Tsvangirai. Apparently.
There’s a lot of tension and emotion in Harare, all the people I’ve spoken to about it reckon Morgan has it, but are of course worried about the reaction from the gov’t.
Interestingly, I was driving from Borrowdale and encountered a kombi, with all the people in it chanting ‘Morgan, Morgan’. Whether that was an MDC group or a mish-mash of commuters, I couldn’t tell.
March 30th, 2008 at 20:13 pm
The Eastern borders have been closed. The source is credible, but I have NO VERIFICATION at all, so treat this as a rumour.
March 30th, 2008 at 20:15 pm
SABC just showed pictures of ZEC chair Justice George Chiweshe being virtually chased through the Meikles hotel, by what appear to be reporters trying to get election results.
Still a blackout.
March 30th, 2008 at 21:03 pm
Zimbabwemetro.com reports Morgan having a 4:3 lead over Uncle so far. They also have Uncle doing 9:8 over Simba. Interesting.
Those are rations by the way, I’m cooking so can’t be arsed to format and post the actual numbers. Which are, of course, unofficial hearsay.
March 30th, 2008 at 21:05 pm
Oh, by the way Liverpool won. Comfortably. Thank you Everton.
March 30th, 2008 at 21:18 pm
SADC election observers report that the election is credible, according to a statement by two dissenting members of the observer who have refused to sign it. The two are RSA’s opposition Democratic Alliance.
The DA said the SADC report had concluded that “despite a number of concerns, the elections were a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe”.
“It is noteworthy that the words free and fair have not been used, which is the only standard with which to judge an election.” says one.
So, SADC rubber-stamps a Zimbabwean election? Are we surprised?
March 30th, 2008 at 22:00 pm
Acoording to the ZEC, the results are now in ‘verification’.
March 30th, 2008 at 23:18 pm
I hear Mai Mujuru lost her seat. That will teach her not to be true to her convictions. And this from SW Radio. Warning: it makes for very depressing reading.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/news300308/military300308.htm
March 30th, 2008 at 23:42 pm
Idle curiosity: any thoughts on which way the Makoni votes would have gone had he not contested? Coz he must have appealed to the disenchanted of both parties.
March 31st, 2008 at 00:02 am
The chair of the elections commission, George Chiweshe, told reporters the first results would not be announced until 06:00 (04:00 GMT) on Monday.
March 31st, 2008 at 00:11 am
Unofficial numbers say MDC-T have 199 out of 210 constituencies. Of course it’s unofficial and unconfirmed.
March 31st, 2008 at 00:13 am
Also according to unofficial numbers from polling stations, Elliot Manyika, Ignatious Chombo and Joyce Mujuru have lost their parliamentary seats.
March 31st, 2008 at 00:30 am
The story about service chiefs instructing Chiweshe to announce Uncle as winner no matter what, but to wait a few hours for them to deploy, is still an unsubstianted rumour at this point (and a rather far-fetched one, imho).
But they did have a meeting this afternoon, apparently.
March 31st, 2008 at 00:42 am
There are riot police on patrol in the city centre and some suburbs. People in Mabvuku have been told to stay indoors.
March 31st, 2008 at 00:59 am
According to ZBC the ZEC will release results “at their earliest convenience.” They say this time they’re handling 4 different elections concurrently, so of course it’s taking long.
March 31st, 2008 at 01:01 am
Ha ha. COMESA observers endorse election, and ask people not to confuse / incite people by announcing results before the official numbers come from ZEC.
Hmmm.
March 31st, 2008 at 01:11 am
Okay, I’m not getting any fresh news so I’m going to bed until 0600, then see what hapns.
March 31st, 2008 at 02:16 am
Cookery. The government should conduct a mastercourse. Michelin would undoubtedly award them 4 stars as opposed to the usual 3.
March 31st, 2008 at 06:08 am
0600hrs as promised, and there’s no results on the radio.
March 31st, 2008 at 06:15 am
ZEC chief George Chiweshe says they’ll only start announcing the results sometime ‘early this morning’.
March 31st, 2008 at 06:20 am
Extremely unofficial results.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe ZANU PF 393 112
Morgan Tsvangirai MDC -Tsvangirai 682 309
Simba Herbert Stanley Makoni Independent 257 072
Langton Towungana Independent 9758
Handle with care.
March 31st, 2008 at 06:23 am
Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, warned Tsvangirai not to declare himself president because that “is called a coup d’etat and we all know how coups are handled”.
March 31st, 2008 at 06:50 am
In my opinion, this delaying tactic is pretty worrying. It seems they may be waiting for the pressure cooker in the cities to boil over. If there’s any rioting, if any people take to the street, that could be an excuse to declare a State of Emergency. Thus killing the election results.
Still a blackout from the ZEC, even the Herald reported announcements would start at 0600. Election observer missions also appear to be getting antsy.
March 31st, 2008 at 06:53 am
Announcements are on
March 31st, 2008 at 06:57 am
They’re only announcing House of Assembly results at the mo. They’ve selected an even spread, it appears. Just a few constituencies announced so far. They appear cherry-picked, as ZANU-PF has done prittttty well.
March 31st, 2008 at 07:05 am
Of the seven constituencies reported, ZANU-PF takes 4, MDC-T takes 3.
March 31st, 2008 at 07:53 am
Hmmm, either I’m deaf or something, cos News24 is reporting MDC won 4 out of six results announced.
March 31st, 2008 at 08:04 am
According to sources, town is pretty quiet and life is normal in the city center.
March 31st, 2008 at 08:06 am
In the interests of wild speculation, here are more results from a separate ‘Independent’ source.
Morgan Tsvangirai 467,000 58%
Robert Mugabe 300,000 37%
Simba Makoni 43,000 5%
This is from zimelectionresults.com
March 31st, 2008 at 09:13 am
Any idea if Jonathan Moyo retained his seat? Unofficially of course
March 31st, 2008 at 09:54 am
Apparently Jonathan Moyo also lost his seat.
March 31st, 2008 at 09:58 am
Apparently, Mutambara’s MDC faction was also wiped out, including Trudy Stevenson and Welshman Ncube. Coltart carried his constituency.
Apparently.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:01 am
ZBC news is reporting that of 6 results announced so far, ZANU-PF has 3, MDC-T 3. Go figure. No results since of course, blackout again.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:22 am
They’re being careful to announce with an even split between ZPF and MDCT.
Jameson Timba won MT Pleasant constituency. Wonders never cease.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:23 am
Yeah, heard about Trudy and Welshman. Ncube did well, I guess it goes to show that cult of personality does have its merits. I love the sight of all those Zanu heads rolling though. Chinamasa, Mutasa, wonder if Mnangagwa’s will be available to put on a stick to parade somewhere anytime soon. Heard that MDC-T won 190 senate seats and 80 odd percent parliamentary. It would make it impossible for the great uncle to govern.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:24 am
Patrick Chinamasa was whipped by 3000 votes in Makoni Central.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:25 am
The ZPF candidate (Mudariki) won Uzumba by 11,000. Lol
March 31st, 2008 at 10:29 am
Sounds like (Brig) Ambrose Mutinhiri and his wife with both sit in Parliament.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:53 am
UMP will be the death of us I tell you. Are results still trickling in or have the floodgates opened?
March 31st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
There’s no results coming in. The constituency count is 12 apiece.
March 31st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Fact is, there really is no credible information available.
There is speculation about Generals planning something, and dividing the votes among the candidates.
There is talk of military units advancing on the capital.
There is talk of SADC heads of gov’ts begging the JOC to accept the ‘landslide’.
Some say Uncle has hightailed it aboard a military jet to parts unknown.
Yet more say the ZEC is going to announce the Pres results this evening, in a scenario where Morgan and Uncle will have a run-off after 21 days.
It’s all horse-shit. There is no information. There is nothing on the radio.
We wait with bated breath.
March 31st, 2008 at 13:06 pm
News. Sort of. Apparently, according to the MDC at the command center, 128 constituencies have been counted and 96 are theirs.
Morgan 60%, Mugabe 30% and Makoni 10%.
This is apparently from Tendai Biti at the ZEC command center.
Still, take it with a pinch of salt.
March 31st, 2008 at 13:11 pm
Why do even Zim elections have to be so dramatic. Neck and Neck, what ever happened to clear leads. And whatever happened to ZAPU?
March 31st, 2008 at 13:24 pm
Gala. Honestly. When was the last time you picked up a newspaper?
March 31st, 2008 at 13:24 pm
‘Better for you to be quiet and people think you are a fool, than to open your mouth and confirm their belief’.
March 31st, 2008 at 14:18 pm
Sorry Anon, had just checked the BBC News website and JB’s last update. That’s the latest they had at the time.
March 31st, 2008 at 14:37 pm
rumours abound, facts hard to come by. these elections are way more interesting than any i’ve ever experienced. oh and joe i’m still around in avondale until at least tomorrow. maybe i’ll holla at ya later.
March 31st, 2008 at 14:58 pm
anon, if you’re going to flame someone here, don’t expect to get off lightly
Alias I’m still trying to sell fuel lol.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:00 pm
Is that your gauntlet that you have just thrown down Joe Black. Let me feel the thread of your fabric my friend.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:06 pm
Official Maramba-Pfungwe just came in … 14,000 ZPF, 1,000 MDCT, with a 66% turnout.
So that’s 27,000 votes to ZPF, 3,000 to MDCT. Wow.
UMP does it again, returns hard for the Party.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:12 pm
This is interesting. All their announcements are like clockwork. So rigid as to be suspicious.
They announce one MDC-T winner, one ZPF winner, one MDC-T, one ZPF …
… so evens at this stage.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:15 pm
The tally appears to 19 - ZANU-PF. 19 - MDC-Tsvangirai.
They must be cherry-picking the results they’re announcing. I just wonder if they’ll do ZPF ZPF ZPF ZPF in the middle of the night when people are tired and sleeping.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:21 pm
See what i mean about drama. By the way, I am confused between Comments 65 and 67. Is anyone winning or not.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:27 pm
Apparently the results notices outside polling stations in Chombo’s consituency (down Zvimba way) have all been removed.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:30 pm
And they say he was caught in possession of ballot boxes. Unverified.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:35 pm
Izvi zvinokandisa mapfumo pasi vasikana! jThis from the BBC ‘Zanu-PF security officials met in Harare to decide who should tell Mr Mugabe he has lost; ‘. Now, to have been a fly on the wall for that little conversation. As the hags in Macbeth said, Bubble bubble, toil and trouble. The great uncle is in the kitchen.
March 31st, 2008 at 15:41 pm
Now Mbeki is not going to like this, all subordinates must sing with one voice:
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_2297448,00.html
March 31st, 2008 at 15:52 pm
Don’t believe the BBC, ZimDaily, or whatever website claims to have a story right now. They did meet, but no-one knows why.
It’s all speculation and rumour, with no confirmed sources and opinion spun as ‘fact’.
Remember, these sites’ currency is articles, and if they don’t “update” every so often they lose readership. Hence advertising.
There is NO new information, we are in a news blackout from the official side at moment. Except the occassional dragging results announcement.
March 31st, 2008 at 16:06 pm
Are we still on 19 all? Like a penalty shootout that should just be put out of its misery
March 31st, 2008 at 16:10 pm
Apparently there’s questions being raised at the ZEC command center now. People are asking how you can announce 1 city, 1 rural, then another are.
They’re like, stop cherry-picking and give us everything, in order, by area, and alphabetical, as always. Not picking from the whole table and doing a penalty shootout.
March 31st, 2008 at 16:14 pm
I hear tempers are flaring at the Rainbow Towers (Sheraton). That’s where the ZEC has their command center, and people are asking tough questions.
March 31st, 2008 at 16:19 pm
And rightly so, they have been given a smooth ride for far too long. In this day and age of modern technologies, how can they fail to just reel off a list of numbers. Just tell us, and the we will be the ones to decide what to do with the information. I can understand them trying to safeguard their interests, hell, for most of them the gravy train ride is over, but there is no point in postponing the inevitable. Que sera, sera. The great uncle needs to commandeer his last air zim flight quickly and get the hell out of dodge, coz things are sure hotting up in hurr.
March 31st, 2008 at 16:55 pm
Nhamo will now definitely be taking a front row seat in Chenhamo Chimutengwende’s household, seeing as how he has fallen off the gravy train and lost his bid for another 5-year meal ticket.
March 31st, 2008 at 17:44 pm
I am not sure how to feel ….I am really nervous to say the least especially when i am hearing stuff like this …………from a chat room - SKYNEWS
“The rumour circulating that Mugabe met with the millitary last night and has ordered the ZEC to declare him the winner is true i now believe. The results will be announced in phases and in the end he will come out the winner with 53% of the votes, thats the plan. Who nows(sic), people will wake up tomorow and he will have been declared the winner. The man will not give up power even if it so obvious he lost the elections! ”
I was at a party this weekend in (london) where people were discussing thier plans to go home as soon as the opposition wins. I am starting to fear that these are just pipe dreams
March 31st, 2008 at 18:10 pm
JB, I think this whole matter deserves its own page. Notice how the whole issue only warranted a single
Sounds Serious to me. 
March 31st, 2008 at 20:35 pm
Swradio suggests sending an email to the following address to complain about the unacceptable length of delays:
zecpr@gta.gov.zw
Will SADC still continue in its allegations of a credible, free and fair election I wonder?
March 31st, 2008 at 20:37 pm
This election is officially slipping away. Travesty, tragedy, heartrending, I dont know which word to use.
March 31st, 2008 at 23:10 pm
35-31 now, MDC. I think the people may wake up to a ZPF parly and another Mugabe presidency.