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If you're a journalist and you're not considered accredited by the government, you are a target for arrest, and that arrest sentence can carry up to two years in prison. So I am not accredited, I would probably never be accredited because I am considered a western journalist and therefore I have to go by a pseudonym and not my real name because I do not want to spend the next two years in a Zimbabwean jail.
IN WHERE YOU'RE BASED, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN SEEING IN PLACES LIKE GROCERY STORES OR BANKS OR EVEN POLLING STATIONS? WHAT IS THE SCENE LIKE THERE RIGHT NOW?
Grocery stores are empty, the shelves are bare, banks are, you can't even walk into a bank the cues outside are so long, there are just people all over the streets just kind of sitting around and waiting, they are unemployed, we have an 80% unemployment rate, the hospitals are out of medicine. Everyone seems to be waiting for something, they wait in line for bread, Mealy-Meal which is a staple diet, sugar, meat, they are very patient people but they seem to be waiting for Saturday, and everyone is talking about elections.
NOW SINCE YESTERDAY, PRESIDENT MUGABE ISSUED A WARNING TO ANYONE PROTESTING THE ELECTION RESULTS, HAS THIS ALTERED THE MOOD OF VOTERS AT ALL?
I don't think that they really care what he has to say anymore. I think that if they're going to vote one way, they've decided to vote that way and I think they're going to be very disappointed if they do not see the results that they desire. As far as altering the mood goes, I don't think these people care much because they don't have food in their stomachs, they don't have money, they don't have jobs, I think they just care about making things right in Zimbabwe and anything that president Mugabe says is inconsequential right now, to them.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
Thank you, it's been a pleasure.
INDEPENDENT POLLS VARY ON WHICH CANDIDATE IS IN THE LEAD. MARIAN TUPY, A POLICY ANALYST AT THE CENTER FOR GLOBAL LIBERTY AND PROSPERITY SAYS THAT THE ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS WILL BE RIGGED, AND THAT POLLS ARE IRRELEVANT.
It doesn't really matter what the real percentages are in the coming elections, I think that Mugabe will be declared a winner and that is because Mugabe cannot allow himself not to be in power, there are objective reasons why Mugabe has to stay in power for the rest of his life.
SUCH AS?
Well such as fear of prosecution. I mean here's a man who's responsible for attempted genocide of the Matabellas in the 1980's, he's killed and tortured members of the opposition, he shut down the free press, he has destroyed the economy and the standard of living in Zimbabwe, there are plenty of reasons why he should stand trial and the only reason he can avoid standing trial is that he's got presidential immunity.
ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY, IS THERE ANYTHING MUGABE CAN DO AT THIS POINT TO BRING ZIMBABWE OUT OF IT'S CURRENT CRISIS?
Well he's really boxed himself into a corner, um, he's using the Zimbabwean equivelent of the federal reserve bank to print vast amounts of money, you know, triggering 150,000 percent inflation, and 80 percent unemployment, and frankly, he's expropriated both domestic and foreign business owners. He has just declared that 51 percent of all private businesses in Zimbabwe have to be owned by indigeous Zimbabweans, which really means, black Zimbabweans, and he has also declared that one-fifth of all shares in mining concerns in Zimbabwe will have to be expropriated to the state. So, you know, as long as Mugabe remains in power and the people around him, I don't see why any domestic or foreign investors would be interested in putting their savings into, and their capital into Zimbabwean economy, I think it would be suicidal thing to do.
WOULD MUGABE'S DEFEAT IN THIS ELECTION SAVE ZIMBABWE?
Well Mugabe's not going to be defeated. Mugabe's going to be declared a winner, the question is what will the Zimbabwean public do once that becomes reality on Sunday or whenever it's going to be. My suspicion is that there may be some public protests, people may take to the street, and the big question is really, the one question on everybodies mind who watches what's happening in Zimbabwe is what will the military and the army do once Mugabe is declared a winner. Do they stand behind him? Or do they join in with the opposition and with the public in holding protests and demanding a rerun of elections or some sort of a power sharing agreement. Um, that's really the largest question before us, and time will show.
MAURIAN TUPY IS AN ANALYST SPECIALIZING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AT THE CENTER FOR GLOBAL PROSPERITY AND PEACE.