Mozambique election in chaos as Zanu PF loyalists flood polling stations across the country

A lot of Zanu PF supporters voted in Mozambique’s elections on Saturday. This happened in many places like Masvingo, Chegutu, Mutare and Harare. People are worried this might affect the fairness of the election results. Frelimo, the ruling party in Mozambique, has close ties with Zanu PF. They helped Zanu PF during Zimbabwe’s fight for independence. Now, it seems Zanu PF is returning the favor by helping Frelimo win the election.

One voter, Spiwe Maparanyanga, said after voting in Masvingo: “We have just voted in the Mozambique elections so that we might also cross the border safely when we want to go and buy goods for resale. We also like Frelimo, which we voted for.”

Young and old people were given real Mozambican ID documents and told to vote for Daniel Chapo, the Frelimo candidate. Even though the results aren’t out yet, people say Chapo faced tough competition from Venancio Mondlane, who is popular with young voters.

A former Zanu PF councillor, Edison Manyawi, openly talked about voting for Frelimo. He said: “We are happy with what we did because Mozambique is our neighbour and helped us during the liberation struggle, so we would not hesitate to help them win the elections.”

Job Sikhala, an opposition politician, thinks Zanu PF is causing problems in the whole region. He said: “This political party has become a danger to all SADC countries. We saw them in South Africa’s elections where all parties voiced their disapproval on their presence in their country, during the May elections. Here we are having them voting in Mozambique’s elections.” Sikhala also thinks Zanu PF is trying to mess with elections in Botswana and Zambia. He said: “In Zambi, they are trying to resuscitate the dead and scandal riddled Edgar Lungu. They have no shame.”

Lungu used to be friends with Zanu PF, but he lost power to Hakainde Hichilema. Hichilema has been giving President Emmerson Mnangagwa a hard time, so Zanu PF wants to help Lungu. Hichilema was the first leader of SADC to say bad things about Zimbabwe’s elections. This made things worse between him, Mnangagwa, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who all support each other as former freedom fighters.

This situation shows how Zanu PF is trying to keep power not just in Zimbabwe, but in other countries too. They’re using their connections from the past to influence elections now. This is making people worry about how fair elections are in the region. The news about Zanu PF supporters voting in Mozambique came out first in The Mirror, a newspaper in Masvingo. It’s made people question if the election in Mozambique was really fair.

This kind of thing isn’t new. Zanu PF has been accused of messing with elections before, both in Zimbabwe and other countries. But this time, they’ve been caught red-handed, with people openly talking about voting in another country’s election.

It’s not clear what will happen next. Will there be any consequences for Zanu PF or the people who voted illegally? Will other countries in the region speak up about this? These are questions that many people are asking now.