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INSIDE AFRICA

Zimbabwe Eelctions

Aired March 29, 2008 - 12:30:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Isha Sesay. Welcome to a special edition of INSIDE AFRICA, "Nation in Crisis: Zimbabwe Votes." It's all over except for the counting. Zimbabwean voters have cast their ballots for the presidency. Two hundred ten Parliament seats, 60 Senate seats and 1,600 local council seats.
According to reports from inside Zimbabwe, turnout was heavy and relatively calm. The members of the Movement for Democratic Change accused the government of widespread voting irregularities. These elections have presented President Robert Mugabe with the strongest challenge yet to his 28 year reign.

Well here is a quick look at the major candidates. Mr. Mugabe has been in power since his ZANU-PF Party led the fight for black majority rule in the former Rhodesia in 1980. He lost a constitutional referendum to entrench his presidential powers in 2000. That same year he spearheaded the seizure of white-owned farms.

Simba Makoni quit the ruling ZANU-PF to challenge Mr. Mugabe. He was Mr. Mugabe's finance minister until he was fired in 2002 over a policy dispute. Makoni claims to have substantial support within the ZANU-PF and one faction of the split opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change.

Morgan Tsvangarai has long been the main MDC candidate. The party was founded in 1999 as Zimbabwe's biggest opposition party since independence. Tsvangarai was beaten and put in a hospital by police last year. Mr. Mugabe has been quoted as saying Tsvangarai asked for it.

Well, CNN is forced to cover these elections from South African soil. The Mugabe government has banned us along with most other Western news organizations from entering the country. And that's why Robyn Curnow now joins us from the South Africa-Zimbabwe border. Robyn, first up, what's the latest?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Isha. Well, indeed, we're in the far north of South Africa. That's the border post behind me. Beyond that is the mighty Limpopo River. Beyond that is Zimbabwe and it's there that millions of Zimbabweans have been voting in this crucial election day today. Polling is over. It's been closed for the last half an hour and as you said, we're banned from being there which is why we've been forced to report from this border post throughout the day. It's been frustrating because of course we'd like to bring our viewers live, up to date reports from the scene but all we have to rely on is the word of Zimbabweans coming through this border post, telling us what it was like to vote, what it felt like.

The atmosphere, according to a Catholic priest we spoke to, he has said it was quite peaceful, polling went smoothly but he said he was very concerned because there was a very heavy police presence both inside the polling stations and outside the polling stations.

But you know what, Isha, whether we're inside or outside Zimbabwe, I think at the end of this very crucial day, it's going to be very difficult for any of us to try and predict what is going to unfold in the next few days and the next few weeks. There are far more questions tonight than answers. For example, has Robert Mugabe rigged these elections? If he has, what will the opposition do about that? If he hasn't or if he doesn't manage to get that very crucial 51 percent majority, will he accept a run-off which is a huge likelihood? Will that then change the political landscape even more?

There are big questions about how this process is going to happen, where are the votes being counted, are they being centralized or are they being counted at individual polling stations?

Lots of questions, also, about how ordinary Zimbabweans are going to react to a vote, to a result. If the MDC wins, perhaps, will the security forces accept that the opposition has won and that Mr. Mugabe's time is over.

All these questions, not a lot of answers and also the real important fact is that how much more can Zimbabweans take after enduring so much?

SESAY: Indeed, Robyn. That is one of the crucial questions amongst a whole pile. What next for Zimbabwe if indeed Robert Mugabe retains the presidency?

CURNOW: Isha, like I said, there's more of the same. Any of the Zimbabweans I've been speaking to, you can see them behind me, they say how can we possibly have more of the same? Why would our fellow countrymen vote in somebody who has created such problems for us, who has made us poor, who makes life so difficult?

Just to put it into perspective, Zimbabwe was one of the most successful economies in southern Africa and now it has the worst economy in the world, an inflation rate of over 100,000 percent. Twenty five percent of the population has fled in recent years, most of them coming through this border legally to try and find jobs here in South Africa and some of them swimming across that Limpopo River, dodging the crocodiles, saying they'd rather take their chances with the crocodiles in the Limpopo to get in here illegally than live under Robert Mugabe's regime.

So will all those people go back, well, we don't know, but I think very uncertain times and whoever wins, there's a lot of fixing to be done across that border.

SESAY: There is indeed. Robyn Curnow joining us on the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa, many thanks.

OK. We've compiled some fast facts for you on the situation there on the ground in Zimbabwe. To give you a little more insight into conditions there. The economy, well, it's in freefall. According to official statistics, the annual inflation rate is more than 100,000 percent. An estimated 80 percent of Zimbabwe's 30 million people live on less than two U.S. dollars a day. And the average life expectancy is just 37 years of age.

Well, Zimbabwean opposition figure Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change is another major challenger for the presidency and he claims to have been the rightful winner in Zimbabwe's last presidential election. Our Colleen McEdwards spoke to him on the eve of these elections.

She asked him if he plans to include ZANU-PF in a unity government if he wins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, ZIMBABWE OPPOSITION LEADER: We realize that there are forces, there are reformers in ZANU-PF. There are forces in ZANU-PF who would like to destabilize the people's democratic objective. And I think that for stability we need to reassure everyone who feels insecure that what the country needs to focus on reconstruction and development and not retribution.

So I will be compelled to consider, and of course discuss with elements within ZANU-PF how best can we create a government that is going to provide that transitional stability in order to move the country forward. I think what is critical is to lay down the foundation of a democratic dispensation through a people-driven constitution.

Secondly, the economy is a critical issue. Our economy is a national disaster and we need to deal with those macroeconomic issues that will stabilize this economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: And we tried to arrange an interview with Morgan Tsvangirai about today's vote but he was not available.

For many Zimbabweans, Robert Mugabe is the only leader they have ever known. When INSIDE AFRICA returns, we'll look at his 28 year reign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Robert Mugabe's government blames western sanctions for Zimbabwe's economic collapse and it says western media organizations like CNN go out of their way to cast Mr. Mugabe in a negative light. Our Jim Clancy spoke with Zimbabwe information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: He's already been in power for 28 years. A lifetime for many young Zimbabweans who've known no other leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish (ph) the president would stay for many years.

CURNOW: After fighting in the civil war against the white Rhodesian government, Robert Mugabe was part of the independence negotiations. In 1980 he became Zimbabwe's first black prime minister. He was lauded as a liberation hero, someone with fierce intellect who presided over an African success story.

ROBERT MUGABE, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT: We can never, never, allow to rule this country (ph).

CURNOW: Nearly three decades on he's consolidated his rule over nearly all aspects of Zimbabwean life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the kitchen here.

CURNOW: And preside over a country that went into economic freefall after Mugabe ordered the seizure of commercially-owned white farms in 2000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so sad that a place that was just so lovely has been destroyed.

CURNOW: Mugabe himself speaking in an interview with CNN that same year gave some insight into his thinking on elections and power.

MUGABE: You've gone into an election competing with each and every other group in order to win, and win and govern.

CURNOW: A path, then, of political dominance, of iron fists and sometimes iron bars, where opposition groups are intimidated and threatened. Strong arm tactics that haven't changed much over the years says Zimbabwean newspaper publisher Trevor Mube (ph).

UNIDENTIFED MALE: His history of violence is there for everyone to see, and indeed, he has bragged about it publicly, that he has got degrees in violence.

CURNOW: But perhaps Mugabe's enduring legacy is already evident, rooted on the streets in the empty shops and in the battered classrooms. Martin Meredith has spent years covering Africa and has written extensively about Mugabe.

MARTIN MEREDITH, AUTHOR: The currency is worthless. Industry is collapsing. The schools no longer can provide an area for proper teaching. Hospitals are more kind of death camps than anything else. The infrastructure is collapsing. There are massive kind of power cuts. It is a country which is disintegrating day by day.

CURNOW: The causes, mismanagement and a systematic abuse of state agencies. But it seems no matter how bad it becomes in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe's grip on power endures. Robyn Curnow, CNN, Johannesburg, South Africa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: And we'll bring you our interview with Zimbabwe's information minister a little later on in the program. But as we mentioned, former Zimbabwean finance minister, Simba Makoni is one of the two major challengers vying for the presidency. He was a member of the ZANU-PF Party until a few weeks ago when he announced his bid for Robert Mugabe's job.

I'm pleased to say Mr. Makoni joins us now on the phone from Harare. Thank you so much for joining us on this day. First up, have these elections been free and fair in your opinion?

SIMBA MAKONI, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's premature to judge that. The environment before the balloting has had some impediments in the way of many of the contestants. The voters were (ph) was not available until the very last minute and not a very readable (ph) format. The number of polling stations in different constituencies were changing. It's verified (ph) to where people were going to vote. The access to the media of some of us was particularly (inaudible), was practically non existent.

There was still a significant measure of intimidation, not very brazen, not often but quite subtle and still effective.

So overall it was not a normal conducive environment but still we know our people are clear about what they want and we expect they will express their will explicitly.

SESAY: Mr. Makoni, the opposition MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai is already claiming their have been widespread irregularities. He is saying that they will announce their own election results on Sunday. Will you running as an independent candidate, will you accept the results put out by the Zimbabwean election commission?

MAKONI: We will wait and see the results come in. We will compare the pattern of results to the environment I have just described and determine our position in that light.

SESAY: All right. Simba Makoni joining us on the line from Harare. There we must leave it. Many thanks.

Now, the Mugabe government blames western sanctions for Zimbabwe's economic collapse and it says western media organizations like CNN go out of their way to cast Mr. Mugabe in a negative light.

As we were saying, our Jim Clancy spoke with Zimbabwe information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIKHANYISO NDLOVU, ZIMBABWE INFORMATION: We are turning the economy, the economy turnaround and you, the CNN, have the tendency of taking the old pictures from other African countries and Darfur and say this is happening in Zimbabwe and that is totally a lie which you have been perpetrating.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Excuse me, sir .

NDLOVU: Why don't you show the pictures .

CLANCY: You are the minister of information.

NDLOVU: Please, can you show the pictures?

CLANCY: Can we travel? Can I send correspondents tomorrow into Zimbabwe to cover the election, sir?

NDLOVU: Pardon?

CLANCY: Can CNN, tomorrow.

NDLOVU: I am the minister of information, yes.

CLANCY: Can I send - can we send our correspondents in there tomorrow to witness the vote and be there? Talk with you? Talk to President Mugabe, talk with the people of Zimbabwe? Can we come in?

NDLOVU: To talk to the president of Zimbabwe?

CLANCY: If he's available.

NDLOVU: That is unheard of because you are - listen, because you are already have prejudged perceived ideas, you have already an agenda, you are the .

CLANCY: So the answer, I take it, is no?

NDLOVU: You are the attaches.

CLANCY: So you say no?

NDLOVU: You are working for the opposition in our country. Yes, you are very much aligned with the opposition. And to follow up with the western imperialist press to denounce our government, to denounce all the good things we are doing, you are not showing the good farms we are running, the production of food, the farm mechanization.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Ndlovu went on to say that his government maintains the highest standards of education and health care for its people.

Well, the United States and European Union have taken a tougher stance against the Mugabe government than many of his African neighbors. More on the African approach, after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Making business news in Africa this week.

Economists believe South Africa's annual inflation rate rose above nine percent last month for the first time in five years. They blame increased energy and food costs. Plans by South African power company Eskom to raise tariffs on electricity by at least 50 percent are contributing to inflation fears. Economists speculate the central bank may resume raising interest rates in an effort to curb inflation.

And the Kenyan government is sharing the wealth. In an initial public offering, it put a 25 percent in SafariCom, up for sale. The government had owned 60 percent of the firm with remaining shares owned by mobile giant Vodafone. SafariCom is Kenya's largest mobile phone company.

SESAY: You're watching a special edition of INSIDE AFRICA, "Nation in Crisis: Zimbabwe Votes." Welcome back. In the run-up to this weekend's voting, Human Rights watch says Zimbabwe elections were likely to be deeply flawed but South African President Thabo Mbeki said he was confident they would be free and fair. Mr. Mbeki has consistently defended his own policy of quiet diplomacy and as Inkepele Mbuse (ph) reports, he is not alone in his softer approach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An economic disaster. Arrests and brutal assaults on opposition party members ahead of Zimbabwe's elections.

Southern Africa's leaders long pushed a policy of what they call quiet diplomacy to deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe. But international calls for more aggressive intervention became too loud to ignore. In March of last year, the regional group known as SADC held an emergency summit on Zimbabwe. There was public dressing down of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as some critics had hoped.

Instead, South African President Thabo Mbeki was dispatched to mediate talks between Mugabe's party and the opposition and for months there were discussions. Sticking points arose. But before the stalemate could be resolved, President Mugabe declared March 29 as election day, shattering any hopes of a negotiated way forward.

Mugabe once again reminding Africa and the world that he is in charge. The opposition criticized southern African leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In our view, SADC failed Zimbabwe by facilitating only instead of taking a leadership role and drawing a line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: SADC observers will be on hand to monitor the vote and human rights groups say they should do more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robert Mugabe and his government can no longer be allowed to flout international and regional standards and its own standards governing elections.

So it is up to SADC to stand up to them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Analysts warn there is much at stake in the region as Zimbabwe's crisis deepens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The regional impact is, of course, enormous. First there is a huge loss of confidence by investors in the ability of South Africa and of the southern African governments to solve their own problems.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as the Zimbabwean government is concerned, however.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: . tremendous success. A tremendous success.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the ZANU-PF?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the whole country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, with predictions of another flawed election, Zimbabwe's neighbors are left to debate the future of quiet diplomacy. Inkepele Mabuse (ph), CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: We'll be right back with more of this special edition of INSIDE AFRICA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA's special coverage of Zimbabwe's elections. Without a doubt, these elections posed the stiffest test yet Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's decades long rule. Even before the first ballot was cast, the opposition was claiming the vote had been rigged and as we're hearing that Morgan Tsvagirai's opposition MDC Party plans to release his own results on Sunday.

As to the vote itself, according to most results the election has taken place amid relatively calm conditions, though the security forces are out in force on the streets. CNN, of course, will continue to closely monitor the situation there in Zimbabwe.

And though we must leave this week's show, I'll see you back here next week with a new edition of INSIDE AFRICA.

We leave you now with some of the images of Zimbabwe's election campaign.

END

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