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Election aftermath
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2005-12
Tuesday April 5th - Sunday April 10th 2005

THE parliamentary election dominated media coverage during the week with focus mainly on the confusion surrounding the two sets of election figures released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), follow-up stories on the observers' reports and incidents of politically motivated retribution.

a) Election Results and observers' reports
The government media continued to celebrate ZANU PF's victory and amplified the election outcome as a true reflection of the will of the people in 104 reports. Fifty-four of the stories were on ZBH stations (ZTV, Radio Zimbabwe and Power FM) while the rest appeared in government newspapers. The MDC's concerns over the possibility of electoral fraud were dismissed out-of-hand and the party was presented as a sore loser.

For example, ZTV's 28 stories on the conduct of the election only highlighted endorsement of the poll by observer missions, electoral authorities, ZANU PF officials and selected members of the public, among others, without balancing such opinion with a fair assessment of the allegations of election rigging by the MDC. This unprofessionalism resulted in the government broadcaster selectively using MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's campaign speeches to portray him as a "chameleon" that could not be trusted. For example, ZTV (5/4 6pm and 8pm) carried two stories contesting that although Tsvangirai now claimed that the election was rigged, he had actually assured his supporters "on several occasions" that "people will speak come March 31". As a result, it added, the opposition leader's claims that "the outcome of the recent poll doesn't reflect the will of the people shocked many observers and analysts". However, neither of the two stories quoted commentators supporting this assertion nor was Tsvangirai or his party given a right to respond.

Rather, the station (6/4, 6pm and 8pm) carried two more stories in which it reported analysts telling the MDC to accept the election result since even Tsvangirai had agreed that government had "created a level political playing field with no room for rigging..." Again, Tsvangirai was not accessed for comment. But to support its argument the station showed file tapes of the MDC leader telling his supporters, among other issues, at rallies in Chinhoyi and Masvingo that "this time around the election will not be rigged as the MDC had been tipped on the tricks of the trade by none other than Professor Jonathan Moyo (former Information Minister)". How such comments constituted an admission by Tsvangirai that the elections would be held under free and fair conditions was not explained. Radio Zimbabwe's 12 stories on the matter and Power FM's 14 were not different: they either echoed or amplified the ZTV stories.

The government Press followed suit. The papers used regional observers' reports to endorse the election outcome but dismissed Western countries concerns on the matter. For example, The Herald (7/4) portrayed the US judgment of the election as hypocritical by presenting its observations as contradictory. The paper claimed that an initial statement issued by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice commending Zimbabweans for turning "out in great numbers" on election day contradicted that country's post-election statement condemning the poll. The paper claimed Rice's statement showed that the US would have endorsed the outcome if the MDC had won, but had only changed its view because the opposition had lost. However, an analysis of the statements displayed no such contradiction as Rice had only commended the peace that characterised voting day but criticised the electoral process, as did the other US' statement. But The Sunday Mail's pro-government columnist Tafataona Mahoso still maintained that the US had issued "contradictory statements" on the poll.

Although the government Press' sourcing pattern seemed diverse as Figure 1 below shows, all but the MDC endorsed the election outcome.

Fig 1 Voice distribution in the government Press

Notably, the MDC was only quoted in passing and its concerns on the conduct of the election were drowned in comments that approved the poll. ZBH's sourcing pattern, as shown in Fig 2, was no different from its Press counterparts.

Fig 2 Voice distribution by ZBH

None of the voices, even those of the MDC, were critical of the conduct of the poll. Notably, the three MDC voices, all by Tsvangirai, were merely cited in the context of the opposition party leader encouraging party supporters to vote in the poll.

The government media's unwillingness to fairly discuss the irregularities that marred the electoral process was further exemplified by the way it suffocated open debate on the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC)'s unclear explanations on the discrepancies in the initial figures of the total votes cast the commission announced in 72 of the 120 constituencies and the final results. Although ZBH reported on the matter, it subordinated the discrepancies debate to ZEC's certification of the poll as having been conducted "properly and in peace", ZTV (7/4, 6pm).

The government Press, which gave the issue more coverage, did not report it any better. For instance, The Herald and Chronicle (8/4) passively quoted ZEC chairman George Chiweshe saying the initial voting figures were "preliminary results" adding that only the final figures should be considered as "no other figures...come to play". The papers tried to lend credibility to the figures by reporting an "unnamed" MDC official as having agreed that ZEC's final figures were correct. To protect the ZEC's credibility, The Sunday Mail carried a puff interview with Chiweshe allowing him to repeat his claim that the figures his commission initially issued after the close of polling were "not official" but meant to inform the public on the "voting trends" and "that at such and such a time we estimate that in a certain constituency or province so many people would have gone to the polls". The paper, like its sister publications, failed to ask Chiweshe why his commission had not categorically stated this when it announced the initial figures. Neither would it ask Chiweshe why his commission had not released 'estimates' for the remaining 48 constituencies, which were not given after the announcement was stopped abruptly, or why ZEC had not publicised results of each polling station, if indeed the whole process was as transparent as he claimed.

Instead, the government papers carried 15 opinion pieces endorsing the poll result and vilifying the MDC. However, they were not alone in their slavish endorsement of the elections. The Mirror stable also carried five stories and four opinion pieces that endorsed the election outcome while being dismissive of the MDC's concerns. They too reported passively on Chiweshe's attempts to clarify the cause of the two different sets of election figures released.

Other private media were more probing. For example, in one of 14 stories Studio 7 (7/14) carried on the topic it reported that two opposition parties in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Party, had criticised the declaration by the SADC observer mission "that Zimbabwe's polls were 'peaceful, transparent and credible' before verifying allegations of fraud" raised by the MDC. It also publicised in three stories the concerns on the fairness of the election by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the National Constitutional Assembly and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network.

In addition, Studio 7 carried six stories related to the irregularities surrounding the poll, four of which were on the MDC's evidence of the alleged rigging and its subsequent threats to boycott Parliament. The rest were based on ZANU- PF's response to the MDC's threat of a parliamentary boycott and the ZEC's dismissal of the opposition party's rigging claims. Despite its denial of poll rigging, however, the ZEC was unable to furnish Studio 7 (7/4) with the total number of people who had voted in the poll, with Chiweshe only reported as saying: "He did not know as the figures would be provided in due course."

Similarly, the Zimbabwe Independent (8/4), in one of the 23 stories the private Press carried on elections, noted that Chiweshe's statements were unconvincing because he had failed to adequately explain the exact discrepancies in the election figures. It noted, for example, that Chiweshe failed to explain how his commission compiled its initial figures. Neither would he confirm whether all polling agents were allowed to witness counting, particularly at stations located at the homesteads of chiefs. The paper also revealed that contrary to the impression created by the government Press that the region had unquestioningly endorsed the results, SA President Thabo Mbeki was reported to be "investigating" the discrepancies.

In fact, Studio 7 (9/4) and The Standard (10/4) exposed more evidence of poll irregularities when they reported that Zaka District Administrator Nyashadzashe Zindove was found with seven ballot boxes and ballot papers at his home. In addition, The Standard reported that a presiding officer in Zaka West was also arrested after she allegedly "lost" a ballot box in unclear circumstances. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena was quoted by the privately weekly confirming the incidents. However, he later claimed in The Herald (12/4) that he was misquoted saying he never "talked about ballot boxes allegedly found at the DA's residence" but only on investigations "in which ballot papers were lost". However, the Studio 7 report claimed that Masvingo police confirmed Zindove's arrest, saying the DA was nabbed as a result of "a tip-off provided by his wife following a domestic dispute".

The Financial Gazette seemed to be a victim of the government Press' misrepresentation of issues when it reported that the African Union observer team, "which initially hailed" the elections as "free and fair" had made a "U-turn" and called for investigations into alleged irregularities. But nowhere in its statement did the AU say the election was 'free and fair'. It was only the government media that contrived the continental body's relatively cautious report to mean that it had unequivocally endorsed the election. Actually, the AU's recommendation to investigate electoral irregularities was in the same statement that it issued immediately after the election. Although the private media were more critical in their approach, they, like the government media, failed to extract the elusive truth about the total number of people who cast their ballots and those who were turned away and resorted instead to providing percentages of the total number of registered voters the figures constituted. Neither did they provide the total number of spoilt ballots nor take to task ZEC's failure to announce credible total figures of voters per constituency and those who were turned away.

The Daily Mirror (4/4), which came close to covering this aspect, merely reported that "over half of the electorate did not vote" but did not give definitive statistics. The constituency results were published in The Sunday Mail and the Sunday News (3/4), but incredibly neither paper provided any total number of voters nationwide in their front-page stories declaring ZANU PF's two-thirds majority. Nor did they give a breakdown of the number of votes for the two major contesting parties. They merely confined their stories to the "inroads" ZANU PF made into MDC territory, citing a selection of the ruling party's victories. Nor was there a coherent national percentage turn-out given. In their constituency lists, the papers' figures disagreed in several cases with those given for the 72 constituencies on ZTV in the early hours of April 1st and there were some incredible results regarding spoilt papers, where for example, The Sunday News reported that there wasn't a single spoilt paper in Mberengwa East. It is important that the media seek clarity on the issue because the final election results tabulated by the Press were inconsistent - and the ZEC has failed in its duty to provide the nation with unequivocal figures that match.

b) Political Violence and Retribution
ZBH carried 16 reports related to politically motivated violence, four of which were reported by ZTV and six aired apiece by Radio Zimbabwe and Power FM. The ZBH stations recorded five incidents of politically motivated violence perpetrated by alleged MDC supporters against ZANU PF supporters, members of the public and facilities. Almost all of the cases (ZTV (one) and two each by Radio Zimbabwe and Power FM) originated from the police. One of the cases, reported by all three stations, was on the alleged violence committed by MDC youths during their demonstration in central Harare against alleged electoral fraud.

However, ZTV (5/4, 6pm and 8pm) only reported the demonstration in retrospect, basing its story on assurances by police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena that the police would remain on "high alert" in the "face of MDC threats to unleash a reign of terror" following the police's arrest of 10 MDC activists in Harare in connection with "disturbances" that resulted in some shops being "looted". ZTV's footage did not show its audiences any evidence of looting. Such biased coverage by the government broadcaster was also evident in the way it (5/4, 7am) reported Bvudzijena's reiteration that winning candidates in the poll should "celebrate responsibly to avoid provoking others" but continued to report unquestioningly on the mock burials of losing MDC candidates.

For example, in its main bulletin (2/4) ZTV showed footage of ZANU supporters in Gwanda provocatively celebrating Abdenico Ncube's victory over MDC candidate Paul Themba Nyathi by carrying a coffin inscribed "P.T. Nyathi Rest in Peace". On the other hand, government newspapers and the Mirror stable seemed to have largely ignored reporting cases of politically motivated violence. The only incident both covered (The Herald and Daily Mirror 6/4) was on the assault of MDC candidate for Hurungwe West Biggie Hamadziripi Haurobi by his polling agents for allegedly failing to pay them. The Herald's report (5/4) on the MDC demo claimed that "rowdy" MDC supporters went on a "rampage in Harare... beating up people and stoning shops in an illegal demonstration".

But besides a dark picture of a section of the Intermarket Bank, which was allegedly stoned, and a personal account by the paper's reporter, who was allegedly beaten up, no substantive evidence was provided to back up the paper's claims that the MDC had "unleashed violence". Rather, the paper and its sister publications carried nine follow-up reports on the police warning the MDC to desist from engaging in violence and the arrests of those suspected to have been involved in the protest including the party's youth leader Nelson Chamisa.

In comparison, the private media carried several stories highlighting cases of political retribution perpetrated by alleged ZANU PF activists against suspected MDC supporters. The Independent and The Standard carried three reports on the issue and recorded eight incidents. Six of these appeared in one story in the Independent and the remainder in The Standard. Three of the eight incidents were confirmed by the police while the rest were only based on the MDC and the victims' claims. The incidents ranged from the assault of MDC supporters, the burning down of their homes and the denial of food to suspected opposition supporters.

Similarly, Studio 7 carried seven stories on post-election related violence and rights abuse and recorded four incidents. The crimes were reported as having been committed by ZANU PF supporters and the police against MDC supporters. They included torture and beatings. Only in one case did the private radio station seek police confirmation, although it tried to balance its stories with comments from both ZANU PF and the MDC as shown in Fig 2.

Fig 2 Voice distribution on Studio 7

In contrast, ZBH heavily depended on police voices for their stories, which they quoted 14 times against none for the opposition party.

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