Zimbabwe state media predicted on Friday another victory for President Robert Mugabe in weekend elections. But his two main rivals are accusing Mugabe of having a sophisticated plan to steal the vote. The Herald newspaper says a poll suggests that Mugabe would win with 57 per cent of the vote, well ahead of his nearest challenger Morgan Tsvangirai.
The survey in the government mouthpiece does not tally with predictions of independent observers who believe the Mugabe is facing a real challenge for the first time since he became president in 1980. If there is no clear winner this weekend, a run off vote will be held in three weeks.
One of the problems with polls in Zimbabwe is that people are either unwilling or afraid to declare their true intentions, so the surveys lack credibility.
The Herald poll gives Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) 27 per cent; former Mugabe finance minister Simba Makoni would get 14 per cent.
Both challengers say the government is planning to rig the vote. They have complained that the electoral list is full of discrepancies. They have also said the state media have refused to carry their messages.
Tsvangirai, who claims that he was cheated out of victory in the last presidential election in 2002, says only vote-rigging would prevent him from winning this time.
"He (Mugabe) can only steal the election, he cannot win it. So much as he can boast, everybody realizes that he's run out of options," Tsvangirai told the Financial Times. He said any attempt at vote-rigging would trigger a strong reaction.
"Such will be the overwhelming groundswell of popular feeling he will not be able to contain it," he said.
Mugabe, 84, has dismissed talk of vote rigging as "lies", portraying his opponents as puppets of his critics in the West.
The election comes at a time when Zimbabwe is grappling with the impact of the world's highest rate of inflation - more than 100,000 per cent. It’s so bad prices of goods increase while standing at the checkout. And unemployment is at 80 per cent – just two of out every 10 persons who want to work has a job.
Zimbabwe was once the region’s breadbasket, but the country is now suffering from previously unheard of shortages of even the most basic foodstuffs such as cooking oil and bread.
Mugabe has blamed the economic chaos on the West which imposed sanctions intended to only hit his inner circle after he allegedly rigged his 2002 re-election.
"The British, the Americans and those who think like them, would rather see our children, the old and the infirm, suffer under the weight of their evil sanctions they have imposed as part of their desire to effect the regime change in our country," he said during a visit to Harare central hospital on Thursday.
"Non-accredited media houses like the BBC and CNN have set up broadcasting facilities at secret locations ... not for professional reporting but for fuelling negative stories to fulfill their prophesy of doom on their regime change agenda," said Ndlovu.
He said, the “Government will not take this imperialist propaganda kindly."
About 300 foreign journalists have been accredited to cover the election. But major international organizations such as such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Cable News Network (CNN) and the New York Times were all denied accreditation.
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