For the first time in its long rule since independence, Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF is heading to an election without a new manifesto – a list of electoral promises.
Instead, it is taunting deliverables achieved over the past five years under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, who is seeking a second and final term. The government cites infrastructural development including roads and boosting agriculture with dams built for irrigation.
However, Zimbabweans are grappling with the same problems that defined the last elections in 2018 – an economy in tatters, failing state structures and isolation by Western-controlled lenders amid sanctions.
Mnangagwa, widely known as “the crocodile”, was vice-president before rising to top job after long-time President Robert Mugabe was ousted in 2017. He then won a disputed election a year later.
His main challenger is almost half his age, 45-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, a preacher and former student leader, contesting under the banner of the newly formed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party. The pair faced off in the last elections in 2018.
Nelson Chamisa is promising a better economy and an improved health sector, which has seen an exodus of doctors to for greener pastures abroad.
A total of 11 presidential candidates have been cleared for the presidential race and the electoral commission says there are 6.6 million registered voters.
A candidate must score more than 50% of the total votes cast to be declared winner of the presidential election.
If no candidate can achieve this in the first round, a second round of voting will be conducted within two weeks with the top two candidates standing.
While the focus is on the presidential election, voters will also elect parliamentary and local municipality representatives.
Some analysts take a dim view of any knife-edge contest for the presidency. They say the ruling Zanu-PF party has retained its aura of invincibility despite suffering recent popularity shocks especially in urban areas.
The party is led by an old-guard generation who took up arms to fight for liberation of the country and have since independence entrenched themselves in public life.
“It’s the same old story. Repetition without change. Socially, economically and politically. The main opposition cannot unseat ZANU-PF for now,” Alexander Rusero, a political analyst based in Zimbabwe, told TRT Afrika.
What is at stake?
With high unemployment, a rapidly depreciating currency and high cost of goods, the state of the economy is a central concern for voters.
A survey released in June by research group Afrobarometer showed that only two in 10 citizens are optimistic that things will improve shortly.
Respondents gave grim scorecards on the government's ability to keep prices stable, create jobs, improve living standards and manage the economy.
“Few anticipate that the economic situation will improve, and many describe their living conditions as bad. Citizens give the government poor marks on economic management and job creation,” it said.
The survey added that Mnangagwa’s promise to introduce reforms to steer the country toward economic recovery had proven elusive.
“It’s dishonest to say Mnangagwa has not done anything. We have seen some shifts both at the domestic and international level,” Rusero observed.
Zimbabwe has Africa’s largest reserves of lithium, the chemical element used in rechargeable batteries of electric cars. It hopes to meet 20% of global demand for the chemical when it fully exploits the reserves.
But there are concerns that lithium exportation could be another missed opportunity as the country is already exporting platinum and diamond with little to show in public service.
Free, fair elections
The campaigns have been characterised by razzmatazz and celebrity endorsements. US Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather flew on a private jet to endorse the president's re-election. He also attended a campaign rally for ZANU-PF.
However, behind the glamour, rights campaigners and opposition politicians say political intimidation and violence were on the rise. An opposition CCC supporter was earlier this month killed during violent confrontations with alleged ruling party supporters. ZANU-PF has distanced itself from the incidents.
Police have been blocking and breaking up opposition campaign rallies. In one case, they cited among other reasons, the unavailability of toilets at venues.
The main opposition has unsuccessfully sought access to and an audit of the voters’ register. It followed complaints of anomalies that saw high number of voters in opposition strongholds being shifted from their traditional voting areas.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has dismissed the claims and said it will deliver free and fair elections.
"We have not reached there as Zimbabwe where the vote itself is weapon for change," Rusero opines.
Zimbabwe has a history of political violence. However, the authorities say they have prepared for peaceful polls.
‘’The Zimbabwe police have put in place a cocktail of measures to ensure that the elections are held in a conducive environment that facilitates free, fair, peaceful and credible elections,’’ Zimbabwe’s Commissioner General of Police Tandabantu Godwin Matanga said.
