Police in Bulawayo ordered to vote
Zanu PF

By Tererai Karimakwenda
May 30, 2008

Zimbabwe’s ruling party is reported to have ordered the entire police force to vote for Robert Mugabe in the presidential runoff election on June 27, in a desperate bid to ensure victory against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. ZANU-PF is apparently wasting no time. According to the newly elected MDC MP for Mkokoba, Thabitha Khumalo, police officers in Bulawayo were summoned to Donnington Police Station on Friday, where senior police officials said they were not happy that ZANU-PF did not receive the majority of votes in the first round of elections on March 29th.

Khumalo said those who were not on the voters roll were being secretly registered together with their families. This is yet another example of completely illegal rigging because registration was closed to voters on February 15th. “But this is ZANU-PF and they do they want”, said the MDC legislator.

Khumalo said that all police officers were ordered to cast their votes through the postal system. They are to fill in their ballot papers in the presence of superior officers, who will monitor who they vote for. They were also told that their ballot papers would have a serial number that identifies who they are and can later reveal who they voted for.

As more ‘motivation’ to vote for Mugabe, the police officers were told that the MDC plans to fire them all if they come to power, and return the country back to white rule. This is why they should make sure they keep their jobs and support their families, otherwise they should resign immediately.

Khumalo said the MDC has no plans to fire police officers if the party wins the presidential election, and they would not return the country back to colonial times as has been suggested by Mugabe in his campaign speeches. She described ZANU-PF tactics as shameful because they are denying the police officers their constitutional right to vote for the leader of their choice. She also said it was blackmail, because no-one in Zimbabwe wants to lose their job when unemployment is over 80 percent.

But it is still widely believed that Mugabe will lose the election, no matter what he tactics he tries. People have had enough of the misery.