Zimbabwe counting the un-inked thumbs.
international |
crime and justice |
other press 
Saturday June 28, 2008 15:44
by -
Zimbabweans today flocked to the polls. Not to exercise a choice - for there was none. But to make damn sure that after the secret ballot they had a bloody red finger.
No bloody red finger tonight means no democratic duty done today.
When the flock is shepherded by wolves it seems it prefers a bloody red finger to whatever else is on offer. Tomorrow Dr Richard Mugabe will be sworn in as President of Zimbabe. As one of the most articulate and poshest voices in African post-colonial history he will not feel the need to say fuck when he is sworn in. He will not besmirch democracy by cursing during his oath.
It is good to know the power of profanity. Thus we may read that "cultural values" are stopping other African states and leaders from speaking their mind on this. They have stopped the F word. They have silenced the uncouth C word.
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?are...m.php
international coverage
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN846191.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7478757.stm
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOi...=home
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/world/africa/28zimbab...login
Showing an incredible fucking progress in their counting skills Zimbabwean electoral officials who couldn't calculate the last ballots are now almost finished, done and dusted.
"Electoral commission officials said the first results from the 210 constituencies were expected to be declared in the afternoon and the final outcome was likely to be announced by Sunday at the latest. "Most of the counting has been completed," a senior commission official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP. "The first results should be between 1:30 and 3:00 pm (1130 and 1300 GMT) and we should have completed things by tomorrow at the latest."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hzIPq5e_pRkRHT4Ah0e...ALeqM
5hzIPq5e_pRkRHT4Ah0eCQS9MJaPg
It is now just a matter of identifying the clean un-bloodied hands.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/28/content_84...6.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/06/200862....html
This is the website of the Zim Electoral Commission. It is their constitutional duty to inform citizens where the secret ballot boxes are, who the canidadates are, where there constituency boundaries are, to count their votes thereafter, but not to identify those who didn't vote merely indicate where you'd likely to find large numbers of them.
http://www.zimbabweelectoralcommission.org/zec.co.zw/
This was not an Election. This Farce and Evil does not merit publication in Election reports or sections of news or encyclopedias. This was and is an affront to civilisation. Not even in our worst feudal past or lowest subjection to alien powers were we obliged to vote.
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1The first task of a prison guard or screw every morning is to count their prisoners.
UK's "Guardian" # Duncan Campbell and Paul Lewis claimed a world media exclusive today with the video files of former Zimbabwean prison guard Shepher Yuda.
"A film that graphically shows how Robert Mugabe's supporters rigged Zimbabwe's election has been smuggled out of the country by a prison officer. It is believed to be the first footage of actual ballot-rigging and comes as Zimbabwe's president faces growing international pressure.
Shepherd Yuda, 36, fled the country this week with his wife and children. He said that he hoped the film, which was made for the Guardian, would help draw further attention to the violence and corruption in Zimbabwe.
Much of the footage was shot inside the country's notorious jail system. Yuda, who has worked in the prison service for 13 years, was motivated by the intensifying violence directed towards the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the murder, two months ago, of his uncle, a MDC activist."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/jul/04/elect...babwe
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/04/zimbabwe1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/05/zimbabwe
""""The first task of a prison guard or screw every morning is to verify the night count of their prisoners and report or hide any deaths""""
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