wfn.org | Church observers work for democracy in Zimbabwe

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

March 11, 2002  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-21-31-71B{095}

By Dean Snyder and Jane Malone*

HARARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) - Church leaders from other African nations joined
members of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches to form a 100-member politically
independent, nonpartisan team of ecumenical observers for Zimbabwe's
presidential election.

After visiting a dozen polling places from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 9 and
10, each of some 20 observers assigned to Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, met
nightly in a downtown hotel to report findings and to strategize about how
to strengthen democracy in Zimbabwe. 

The weary church leaders, who had been granted observer status only days
before the vote, reported that the election was peaceful but stressful. One
South African observer called the situation "depressing."

Urban Zimbabweans are being disenfranchised by the election process,
according to observers. The number of polling places in Harare, for example,
was reduced by 40 percent since the last national election in 2000, while
rural voting sites have been increased. Lines in the city were so long on
March 9 that the Rev. Richard Chiza, pastor of the Mabelreign United
Methodist Church in Harare, said he waited 12 hours to vote.

Facing lengthy lines that day and the next, Harare's polls stayed open later
than the scheduled closing time of 7 p.m., and some were open all night.

Following the scheduled end of the election on March 10, with many voters in
Harare still standing in line, the Movement for Democratic Change filed an
appeal asking Zimbabwe's courts to extend the voting another day. Zimbabwe's
High Court agreed with the opposition party's request and extended the
election for a third day in a late-night ruling. All polls were ordered to
open again on March 11.

Church observers said that the reduced number of polling places almost
guaranteed that urban voters would be denied their franchise. Before the
election was extended, one observer noted that the scarcity of polling
places available to Harare's 850,000 voters would require that a voter vote
every 18 seconds during the two-day period to accommodate everyone
registered. Yet, at one poorly performing polling place, locating the name
of the voter in the registry book and completing the voting process required
almost 15 minutes, the observer reported. At that rate, those registered
would not be able to vote even if the polls stayed open all week, he said.

Many urban voters were discouraged from voting by the need to stay in long
lines in the hot sun without food or water, only to be required sometimes to
go home without having voted and return the next day.

Some observers suggested the difficulty of voting in urban areas may have
been intentional: the current ruling party ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African
National Union - Patriotic Front) and President Robert Mugabe reportedly
carry the rural areas, while urban voters tend to favor the Movement for
Democratic Change party and its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai. 

Tsvangirai's campaign is the first serious challenge that Mugabe has faced
since his election in 1980. Mugabe, a schoolteacher turned guerilla fighter
and war hero in the struggle for independence more than two decades ago, was
elected Zimbabwe's first president. He succeeded United Methodist Bishop
Abel T. Muzorewa, who served as Zimbabwe's first appointed prime minister. 
  
The Rev. Gladman Kapfumvuti of the United Methodist Church's Zimbabwe Annual
Conference said that people were determined to vote in the election. As an
ecumenical observer, Kapfumvuti visited 15 polling places in rural
communities outside Harare on March 9 and another 12 polling stations near
Harare on March 10. Kapfumvuti, who serves as conference council director
and assistant to Bishop Christopher Jokomo, played a key role in securing
observer status for the national and international religious community. 

The Zimbabwe Council of Churches had hoped to have 4,000 official observers,
one for each polling place. Until a few days before the election, the
council thought it might be denied any official role. But limited status was
granted, and the World Council of Churches provided church observers from
outside Zimbabwe. 

The ecumenical observers are permitted to visit polling places and interview
voters and officials. They have been granted no power to lodge complaints or
correct wrongs during the course of the election.

However, the observers will prepare a report with observations and
recommendations that they hope will strengthen democracy in future
elections.

Church observers were also able to have unofficial conversations with
election officials in order to encourage easier access to the polls for
Zimbabwe's citizens.

One observer from another African nation said he was confused by the
contrast between what he saw with his eyes and what he saw in the reports of
election officials. "I visited polling places where I saw 4,000 people in
the queue," he said, "but officials reported that only 1,500 people had
voted."

Other observers said they believed the need to wait in line for hours
resulted in a dramatic decrease of women voters in urban areas. After
standing in line for several hours, the women needed to go home to feed
their children and give them relief from the sun. Many never returned to
vote, especially those who have jobs that require standing up all day during
the week. Late in the polling, after the election had lost credibility with
female voters, some polling places managed the high volume of voters by
separating the waiting lines by gender; this resulted in interminable lines
for male voters and empty places for women who did not return.

The Mugabe government has attempted to build support by suggesting that
Europeans and Americans are Zimbabwe's enemies and that they are supporting
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe has said that
non-Zimbabweans should "mind their own business."

Extreme difficulty with credentialing the observer delegation from the
European Union resulted in the group leaving Zimbabwe before the election
began. Some applicants for journalist credentials from the United Kingdom,
elsewhere in Europe, and the United
States were denied entry into Zimbabwe. Except for official observers, most
tourists and business people are avoiding Zimbabwe during March for fear
that the election may be accompanied by violence.

However, most Zimbabweans, who have a reputation as a peaceful and
hospitable people, remain friendly to visitors.

A rare couple from the United States, taking a walk through Harare on Sunday
afternoon, the second day of the election, stopped by a stand to buy some
fruit. Because tourism has stopped and the city is empty, the vendors were
surprised to learn the couple was from the United States. One of them gave
the visitors some bananas as a gift.

He held up two fingers in a peace sign and quoted reggae singer Bob Marley.
"One love," he said.        

# # #

*Snyder is the director of communications for the Baltimore-Washington
Conference. Malone, a United Methodist laywoman and Snyder's spouse, is an
advocate for the removal of lead paint in affordable housing. They are in
Zimbabwe on a mission trip.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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