US embassy cable - 02HARARE1766

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001766 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZANU-PF DECLARED WINNER OF KADOMA MAYORAL ELECTION 
 
 
Classified by Chief of Pol Section Matt Harrington. 
Reasons: 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (c) Summary:  ZANU-PF was declared the winner of the July 
27-28 Kadoma mayoral election by a slim margin.   The 
pre-election period was marred by incidents of sporadic 
violence and the mass arrest of prominent Kadoma MDC members 
two days before the vote.  On the voting days themselves 
independent local observers noted that substantial numbers of 
individuals from outside of Kadoma were bused into the area 
and that many of them joined the lines of voters at polling 
stations.  MDC officials suspect that these individuals were 
allowed to vote even though their names did not appear on the 
official voters roll, and the officials criticized the use of 
supplementary rolls which were not made available for public 
scrutiny.  There were sufficient incidents of irregularities 
to cast doubt on whether this outcome genuinely reflected the 
will of Kadoma's residents.  The MDC has publicly denounced 
the results of the election. End Summary 
 
 
ZANU-PF WINS 
------------ 
 
2.  (c) Zanu-PF won the Kadoma mayoral election by a slim 
margin.  ZANU-PF candidate Fani Phiri polled 6,886 votes 
compared to 6,214 votes for MDC candidate Editor Matamisa.MDC 
Secretary-General, Welshman Ncube publicly declared the 
 
SIPDIS 
results fraudulent because of what he described as widescale 
irregularities on both polling days.  This was the first time 
the MDC has lost a mayoral election in the six races it has 
fielded candidates, beginning in May 2001. 
 
PRE-ELECTION VIOLENCE 
--------------------- 
 
3. (c) On July 29, poloff spoke separately with 
representatives from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network 
(ZESN) and Silas Matamisa, Chairman of the MDC,s Mashonaland 
West chapter, about the Kadoma election. Matamisa noted that 
there was sporadic violence in Kadoma in the run-up to the 
election.  On June 25, suspected ZANU-PF supporters 
firebombed the residence of initial MDC mayoral candidate 
Daniel Mugomba.  On July 22, MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai 
was forced to cancel his appearance at a rally for Editor 
Matamisa in Kadoma when ZANU-PF supporters took over the 
rally site and assaulted several MDC members. In the week 
preceding the polling, police arrested Kadoma MP Austin 
Mapandawana and ten other MDC members at an election rally 
that turned violent when ZANU-PF youth attempted to forcibly 
disperse the gathering.  Mapandawana and the other MDC 
members remained in police custody until the Friday before 
the election. Matamisa commented that the detentions and 
incidents of pre-election violence were aimed at disrupting 
the MDC,s ability to successfully mount an election 
campaign, and discouraging potential MDC voters from 
participating in the voting. 
 
TURN-OUT 
-------- 
 
4.  (c) Out of 38,739 registered voters, 13,161 cast ballots 
in the election, which represents 33.9% of eligible 
voters.This compares to the 45.3% of registered voters who 
voted in the 2000 parliamentary election in Kadoma,which the 
MDC won by 12,049 votes to 5,666. ZESN National Chairman, 
Reginald Matchaba Hove, speculated that the relatively low 
turn-out could be attributed to the episodes of pre-election 
violence and intimidation.  The turn-out in Kadoma was 
slightly higher, however, than voter participation in other 
mayoral elections in the past two years.  In the 2001 
Bulawayo mayoral race, for example, only 20% of voters 
participated, while in the mayoral elections in Masvingo and 
Chegutu,between 27% and 28% of registered voters cast 
ballots.The 38,739 voters on the roll in the municipality of 
Kadoma is remarkably close to the 40,882 voters on the roll 
for the much larger district of Kadoma Central in the 2002 
presidential election, raising suspicions about possible 
inflation of the numbers. 
 
5. (c) While both Matamisa and the ZESN observers agreed that 
the turn-out was heaviest on Saturday, the first day of 
polling, there were voting irregularities on both polling 
days that might well have inflated the number of registered 
voters that took part in the election. ZESN observer Prisca 
Mukwengi noted that on both days people from as far away as 
Chinhoyi (165km) and Sanyati (80km) were bussed into the 
area.  When ZESN observers questioned these individuals about 
what they were doing in the area, they replied that they 
&were going shopping8.  The observers  later saw many of 
these individuals blending into the lines outside of the 
polling stations.   Matamisa noted that on the polling days 
some ZANU-PF supporters were seen with supplementary voters 
roll,that had not been made available to his party or the 
general public.  He surmised that non-Kadoma residents were 
able to successfully cast ballots because their names 
appeared on these &unofficial8 rolls. 
 
KADOMA RESIDENTS TURNED AWAY 
---------------------------- 
 
6.  (c) There were reports of individuals being turned away 
from polling stations during the elections.  The ZESN 
observers confirmed that a relatively small number of 
individuals were denied the opportunity to vote,but,at 
present, they could not give exact figures.  Mukwengi and 
Chiseya noted that most individuals were turned away because 
they either could not produce proper identification or they 
were not on the official voters roll. 
 
COMMENT 
--------- 
 
7.  (c) ZANU-PF ran a vintage campaign in Kadoma.  While the 
relative lack of violence on the polling days was 
positive,there are many troubling aspects of the election. 
The arrest of Mapandawana and other prominent opposition 
members in advance of the election was 
 a clear attempt by the ruling party to hamper the MDC,s 
ability to successfully mobilize the vote.  In addition, the 
presence of significant numbers of non-residents at polling 
stations, and the allegations of supplementary voter rolls, 
along with the pre-election incidents of violence, raises 
doubts that the election results genuinely reflected the will 
of Kadoma's residents. These irregularities also belie 
ZANU-PF's claims that the Kadoma victory marks a fundamental 
shift in its fortunes in urban areas.  ZANU-PF may have been 
declared the winner, but true to form, they muddied the 
waters to the extent that the legitimacy of the outcome 
remains in doubt. 
SULLIVAN