Zimbabwe - 2002 elections

The Presidential elections in Zimbabwe were held between the 9th and 10th of March 2002,although extra hours made an extra third day in Harare and surrounding areas. President Robert Mugabe was declared the winner early Wednesday morning around 10am,local time. He won by 1, 685,212 votes as opposed to Morgan Tsvangirai's; 1,258,401 votes with the official turnout, 3,130,913 .

The election results dominated headlines around the world with the United States denouncing the results and the British amplifying their prophecy of Mugabe's dirty game plan which has seen him secure a re-election. At one stage, the election results almost became a racist issue with western governments (whites) condemning the elections while African governments (blacks) endorsed the results.

Observers on the ground recited diffirent views with Norwegians dubbing the conditions for a fair election as lacking while South Africa's observers stamped the re-election as legitimate. Independent Zimbabwean, Sadc and International observers condemned the elections as flawed voicing political violence, intimidation and general break-down of the rule of law. Defeated Morgan Tsvangirai was quick to condeam the results as not reflecting the will of the people and would challenge Mugabe's victory in court.

The lows of the election involved voters queuing for days to vote in Harare and surrounding areas. Election agents were also accused of incompetence with voters baring a name laying last in the alphabet suffering the worst. For example, a voter with the name, 'Zimbabwe' had to watch their name being searched from A going through all the names until they got to Z and Zimbabwe eventually. The government was accused for a deliberate attempt to prolong voting duration, mainly backed by the fact that the number of polling stations had been cut in urban areas. Many people who had not voted are said to have been turned away when the elections were closed!

On the other hand many people prised the people of Zimbabwe for their political maturity, patience and calm during the elections and turning out in thousands.