Posted on 03/09/2002 12:51:53 PM PST by Clive
Marondera - Impatient voters in the small town of Marondera who lined up for most of Saturday to cast their ballots scuffled with armed police on the first day of Zimbabwe's presidential poll.
Hundreds of tired, hungry, not to mention angry voters kicked up a storm when police barred their way into a community hall in the town, some 70km east of the capital Harare.
The hall which is acting as a polling station had already become crowded with hundreds of other disgruntled voters waiting to cast their ballots.
"I arrived here at 02:00, I am still here and not sure if I will vote today," said Ernest Makombere, who was waiting behind some 200 other people in the winding queue.
Most of those still waiting to vote in the sprawling township had spent half the night in the queue although polling booths only opened at 07:00.
Similar unrest occurred in the capital itself, where riot police beat and fired tear gas at restive voters in a southwestern suburb, injuring about a dozen people angry at the slow rate of polling in the country's key presidential poll.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused the government of President Robert Mugabe of reducing the number of urban polling stations by some 40% in a bid to frustrate its supporters.
In the Dombotombo suburb of Marondera, the town's largest, voters claimed that polling stations have been cut from five in the 2000 elections to one this year.
But despite the fatigue, hunger and being soaked by early morning rains, the voters displayed determination to cast their ballots regardless of the slow process.
"I arrived here at 03:00. I have sent for blankets because I am not leaving this place without voting. I am prepared to sleep here," said one voter who gave only her first name as Maidei.
"To us this queue should stop all the other queues we have had," said an accountant who called himself Natty. In recent weeks
Zimbabwe has experienced unprecedented shortages of basic foodstuffs.
"Some of us are employed but impoverished. We used to earn peanuts, but now we earn shells," said Natty, at the same time implying he wanted change and would vote for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Another determined auto electrician exclaimed: "Come rain, come thunder, I am going to vote."
Other hungry voters complained that they could not leave the queue to go and get food, because if they did leave the Mbuya Nehanda hall grounds, police would not let them back in.
Dorcas Zifambi, said she had left a seven-month-old breastfeeding baby at home at 03:00 hoping she would return home within reasonable time to attend to her child. Eleven hours later she had not yet cast her ballot and had not been back home.
Susan Gamunorwa, 60, who suffers from asthma and diabetes was lying on the ground next to the queue, saying she was feeling weak as she had not had recourse to either medication nor food.
Another woman said she had left her very ill sister at home who needed constant monitoring and was worried about her condition as she had not been fed.
the tyrant Mugabe will do anything to keep power
"I arrived here at 03:00. I have sent for blankets because I am not leaving this place without voting. I am prepared to sleep here," said one voter who gave only her first name as Maidei.
Another determined auto electrician exclaimed: "Come rain, come thunder, I am going to vote."
Boy, these people must REALLY love Mugabe to want to support him this way. I’ll bet he gets 80% of the vote.
I must consider a trip to Rhodesia, to invest in one of these farms I’ve heard so much about…
Owl _ Eagle
“Guns before butter.”
They are now the rule, not the exception.
The Constitution isn't meant as just a guide for learned men in black robes. It is a guide to allow citizens to know when those in government are acting legitimately and when the citizens need to employ corrective measures. Unfortunately, citizens have for so long ignored overtly unconstitutional acts by government personnel that it's unclear how to return to a fully legitimate constitutional government.
"Don't worry about coming to the polls to vote -- we have already marked your ballot for you!"
No, we wouldn't.
Disagree. What we had, have, and are in danger of losing, is a cultural heritage that encourages effort, responsibility, and cooperation. IOW, a civil society, which we got from English ancestors.
If you look at Africa, you'll see discord along tribal lines, and absolutely no history of a civil society. Mugabe runs his country as sub-Saharan Africans have always run their countries.
I fear that our own society is losing its civilized roots, and that we will have a lot of big cities looking a lot like Mugabe's Zimbabwe. It may become, if not the norm, at least very common.
Dorcas Zifambi, said she had left a seven-month-old breastfeeding baby at home at 03:00 hoping she would return home within reasonable time to attend to her child. Eleven hours later she had not yet cast her ballot and had not been back home.
Susan Gamunorwa, 60, who suffers from asthma and diabetes was lying on the ground next to the queue, saying she was feeling weak as she had not had recourse to either medication nor food. Another woman said she had left her very ill sister at home who needed constant monitoring and was worried about her condition as she had not been fed.
BUMP!
L
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