Shocker: Mugabe Rigged Zimbabwe Vote

The Guardian has the video evidence. When you think about it, Mugabe really has nothing on those Chicago Democrats.

A film that graphically shows how Robert Mugabe's supporters rigged Zimbabwe's election has been smuggled out of the country by a prison officer. It is believed to be the first footage of actual ballot-rigging and comes as Zimbabwe's president faces growing international pressure.

Shepherd Yuda, 36, fled the country this week with his wife and children. He said that he hoped the film, which was made for the Guardian, would help draw further attention to the violence and corruption in Zimbabwe.

Much of the footage was shot inside the country's notorious jail system. Yuda, who has worked in the prison service for 13 years, was motivated by the intensifying violence directed towards the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the murder, two months ago, of his uncle, a MDC activist.

Initially he intended to chronicle secretly what life was like inside Zimbabwe's jails but he found himself present when a war veteran and Mugabe supporter organised the vote-rigging by getting prison officers to fill in their postal ballots in his presence.

Using a hidden camera, Yuda filmed for six days prior to last Friday's run-off election in which Mugabe claimed victory with 90% of the vote. Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, had earlier said his party would not be participating in the run-off because of intimidation.

"I had never seen that kind of violence before," said Yuda, of the run-up to the election. "How can a government that claimed to be democratically elected kill its people, murder its people, torture its people?"

Obama Boldly Wades Into Zimbabwe Mess, Expresses 'Deep Concern'

A real political masterstroke here. Watch as Zimbabwe descends into such utter madness that even the UN finally condemns Robert Mugabe, then boldly step out on a limb and call for the U.S. to urge postponement of an election scheduled for Friday.

This is what we need. Clear, decisive leadership.

Welcome to the party, Senator Obama.

He even claims to have contacted Morgan Tsvangirai to express his deep concern.

Robert Mugabe obviously takes him seriously.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has vowed to press ahead with Friday's run-off presidential election despite growing international condemnation.

Speaking to supporters, he said London and Washington could "shout as loud as they like" but the vote would be held.

For what it's worth, John McCain hasn't exactly shown leadership said much himself about Zimbabwe, probably because he would have been told to stay out of their business.

The sad fact is, the entire world community has done pretty much nothing for years, and anything said now rings hollow.

Mugabe Wins!

Apparently it helps if you murder opposition supporters before a run-off.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe on Sunday, saying a free and fair poll was impossible in the current climate of violence.

Speaking only hours after his opposition Movement for Democratic Change reported its rally had been broken up by pro-Mugabe youth militia, Tsvangirai called on the United Nations and the African Union to intervene to stop "genocide" in the former British colony.

"We in the MDC have resolved that we will no longer participate in this violent, illegitimate sham of an election process," he told reporters in Harare.

The MDC and Tsvangirai, who beat Mugabe in a March 29 vote but failed to win the absolute majority needed to avoid a second ballot, have repeatedly accused government security forces and militia of intimidation and strong-arm tactics to ensure a Mugabe victory in the June 27 poll.

Tsvangirai repeated this on Sunday, saying there was a state-sponsored plot to keep the 84-year-old Mugabe in power.

"We in the MDC cannot ask them (the voters) to cast their vote on June 27, when that vote could cost them their lives," he said.

International poll monitor James Earl Carter was unavailable for comment.

Seriously, this is an abomination. The world sits idly by while Mugabe's goons rape and murder opponents, all while Zimbabwe is in virtual economic collapse. What once was the breadbasket of Africa is now the basket-case of the world.

Leftist economic policies and brutal Communist thuggery in action.

Mugabe Goons ‘Chopped up Wife' of Opponent

Lovely. The silence you hear are the world's leftists, American Democrats and the UN.

They don't care. If they do, they sure have a funny way of showing it.

Campaigners in Zimbabwe have spoken of the 'horrendous' violence used against them by supporters of the Robert Mugabe regime.

One report claimed the wife of an opposition leader had been 'chopped up' and buried after fighting the 84-year-old president's rule.

Election observers from across Africa are investigating reports of beatings and intimidation in the run-up to the 27 June election.

Marwick Khumalo, head of a 64-member Pan-African Parliament observer mission, said: 'We have heard so many horrendous stories. Now violence is at the top of the agenda of this electoral process, and that is regrettable.'

He added that independent observers had been taken to see the grave of a woman who was cut up, apparently by Mugabe supporters.

'Certain elements are indicating that there will be war,' he said. 'Beating the drums of war is not acceptable in any situation.'

Zimbabwe is going to the polls for a second time after the March presidential-election results were contested.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, claimed it had won more than 50 per cent of the vote against Mugabe's 43.8 per cent. But the regime authorities said that was not enough to secure a majority and called for the run-off.

No Hope For Change in Zimbabwe

Perhaps Barack 'Icarus' Obama can have some dialogue with his fellow traveler and ask him why he's arresting political opponents. After all, it's the candidate of change who's been arrested.

And isn't it all about change?

ZIMBABWE'S opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been detained by police at a roadblock while campaigning in a run-off presidential vote, according to his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

"We are currently held up. They are saying there's a commanding officer whom we should wait for," Mr Tsvangirai's spokesman, George Sibotshiwe, said.

"They are not saying why they are holding us up. It's not an arrest but illegal detention. It appears they want to disrupt our campaign program."

Mr Tsvangirai was detained at 1000 GMT (2000 AEST). Police searched all vehicles and inspected documents.

The MDC says 50 people have been killed by President Robert Mugabe's supporters since the first round vote. Today, it said soldiers and ZANU-PF activists had beaten and threatened to shoot Zimbabweans who wanted to meet and support Mr Tsvangirai.

More from Ed Morrissey.

When All Else Fails, Mugabe Goes After the White People

Considering how well the seizure of white landowner's property went the first time around, I'm surprised this monster hasn't completelty confiscated all their land already.

Militant supporters of Robert Mugabe descended on some of Zimbabwe’s last white-owned farms yesterday in an orchestrated campaign of intimidation designed to keep him in power.

The invasions, which sparked memories of the farm seizures that ultimately brought the economy to its knees, got under way as the ruling party and the Opposition both launched legal battles over the release of election results.

Lawyers for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) appeared in court to press for the immediate release of presidential poll results, more than a week after the election. Mr Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF), meanwhile, hit back with a demand that results be withheld and a recount taken.

MDC leaders reacted with disbelief at the Zanu (PF) petition, questioning how the party could dispute results yet to be released. Zanu (PF) has already demanded a recount of 16 seats it lost in the parliamentary contest — enough to overturn the majority won by the Opposition in its shock victory.

The MDC believes its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the presidential contest outright with more than 50 per cent, but on Friday Zanu (PF) paved the way for a second round run-off, when it endorsed Mr Mugabe for the fight. Fears that Mr Mugabe would launch a “dirty war” of violence and intimidation ahead of the vote materialised in southern Masvingo province on Saturday when drunken war veterans invaded six white-owned farms, ordering the farmers to leave.

A thousand veterans marched through Harare on Saturday in a show of force for Mr Mugabe, vowing to defend the country against a new “white invasion”. State media last week began a campaign claiming that ousted white farmers were returning in droves after Mr Mugabe’s apparent defeat. The feared mob of former bush guerrillas and young armed militia led the bloody takeover of white-owned farms beginning in 2000.

In Masvingo, state-run television filmed as livestock and farm machinery were looted and ranchers forced off the land. Attackers also forced owners and staff to flee Paynanda Lodge, a game lodge. Police later intervened, however, and persuaded them to leave, a sign that rank-and-file security forces may not be prepared to carry out Mr Mugabe’s will.

Senior security officials, many of whom are now the owners of confiscated farms, have backed Mr Mugabe’s bid to cling to power, fearful of their own future should the regime fall. But ordinary police and soldiers have seen their real incomes plummet as hyperinflation, now at an unofficial 250,000 per cent, takes grip, and may be less willing to shore up the regime.

In the northern town of Centenary, veterans were reportedly still laying siege to two white-owned farms. Hendrik Olivier, the head of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, said: “I’ve got one farmer and his wife with two children and people banging on windows, ululating and telling them to vacate.”

Civil-rights activists across the globe were unavailable for comment.

Mugabe Negotiating Exit?

Let's hope this report is true. I have other things in mind for this monster, but as long as the suffering people of Zimbabwe no longer have to be subjected to him, then it's a start.

Advisers to President Robert G. Mugabe of Zimbabwe are in talks with the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, amid signs that Mr. Mugabe may be preparing to resign, a Western diplomatic source and a prominent Zimbabwe political analyst said Tuesday. The negotiations about a possible transfer of power away from Mr. Mugabe come after he apparently concluded that a runoff election would be demeaning, a diplomat said.

A resignation by Mr. Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, would be a stunning turnabout in a country where Mr. Mugabe has been accused of consistently manipulating election results to maintain his lock on power.

There is no guarantee the negotiations will succeed and the situation could still unravel. But a Western diplomat and a political analyst said the opposition was negotiating with Zimbabwe’s military, central intelligence organization and the country’s prisons chief..

“The chiefs of staff are talking to Morgan and are trying to put into place transitional structures,” said John Makumbe, a political analyst and insider in local politics who has spoken in the past in favor of the opposition.

A spokesman for Mr. Tsvangirai, George Sibotshiwe, said “I don’t know anything about such meetings.”

Mr. Tsvangirai scheduled a news conference for 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

The diplomats said the joint chiefs had urged the negotiations after becoming convinced that there was no palatable alternative to a transfer of power and that a run-off would lead to defeat for Mr. Mugabe. One Western diplomat said the heads of the armed forces advised Mr. Mugabe on Monday to engineer a second round run-off in the presidential race but Mr. Mugabe responded that a run-off would be a humiliation to him.

More than three days after the vote, the government had still not released any results of the presidential balloting. Under Zimbabwe’s election rules, a runoff would be required if no candidate got more than 50 percent. However, Reuters quoted unidentifed sources in Mugabe’s party as saying it had projected Mr. Tsvangirai got 48 percent of the vote, vs. 43 percent for Mr. Mugabe.

His party has conceded losses already.

He's got to go.

'Barring a Miracle, Mugabe Can't Win'

A torn poster of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since it gained independence in 1980 and is running for a sixth term in office. John Moore/Getty

If early results are any indication, there is hope the vile Robert Mugabe is on his way out in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has lost elections, the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party said, citing early results posted at polling stations. The official outcome hasn't been announced.

The party, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, garnered 67 percent of the 30 percent of votes so far counted, Secretary General Tendai Biti said in an interview today from Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. The MDC leads in Mashonaland Central province and won a majority in the province of Masvingo, both strongholds of Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party, he said.

``This is just an example of what we're getting from every province,'' Biti said. ``Barring a miracle, Mugabe can't win.''

Vote counting began last night as Mugabe, 84, seeks to extend his rule of the southern African nation, which he has led since ousting the white-minority government of the country then known as Rhodesia in 1980. A program started in 2000 of seizing white-owned farms, which bolstered Mugabe's rural support, sparking a decade of recession and the world's highest inflation rate of 100,580 percent.

Tsvangirai, 56, and Simba Makoni, a 58-year-old former finance minister, were Mugabe's main challengers. Final results may only be known later this week.

``It would be a massive, massive development for Zimbabwe and the region'' if Mugabe lost, said Anne Fruehauf, an analyst at Control Risks in London. ``The next few days will be very crucial in terms of whether a crisis momentum will build.''

More from Time.

Overview of counting.

Condi Rice calls Mugabe a disgrace.

Delays in results cause concern.