likely translate to vote buying and ultimately violence as beneficiaries
fight hard to protect the system. Thus, going to the polls, ZPP will also
continue to closely monitor the distribution of government aid and other
benefits not only to register incidents of discrimination but more
importantly as early warning signs of electoral fraud and/or electoral
violence.
Localised nature of violations and absence of state actors: Most of
the violations recorded in the period under review, as observed earlier,
were quite localised. They were mainly at the district level and below
and were perpetrated mostly by local political leaders, local traditional
leaders or local party supporters. The victims too were largely local
residents. Notably, there was minimal involvement of state actors like
government officials, the police or the military. The few cases involving
the police mainly related to the maintenance of public law and order and
were not political.
Figure 3: Zanu PF leader taking down serial numbers on voting registration slips
These general factors, on the face of it, suggest that the
violations – save for the demands for voter registration slips – were not
part of a coordinated central plan. The violation, at least for now,
appears not to be part of some centralised plan emanating from the top.
Likewise, they do not appear to be institutionalised as has been the
case in the past when state actors were implicated directly in human
rights violations for political purposes. This should therefore make it
easier to control the abuses. The local culprits can be controlled first,
by engaging the law enforcements agents and; second, by engaging
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