Tsvangirai tours poll crime scenes

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai heads off this week on a campaign in two provinces where he suffered the heaviest electoral loss in a move designed to take his presidential challenge directly into areas President Robert Mugabe won resoundingly on July 31.

The provinces to be covered are Masvingo and Matebeleland all present strong opportunities for the former Prime Minister Luke Tambarinyoka said the MDC-T spokesperson.

The election ran smoothly enough to give the impression of democracy in action even while hundreds of thousands of voters were disenfranchised in what appears to have been a well planned exercise to rig the vote.

Independent monitors from the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network say the result will not be credible, but it will be the verdict of the African Union and the South African Development Community, the official observers, that will count.

Perhaps they will also cry foul but they have never really dared to challenge Mr Mugabe before.

 It is also far from clear whether Mr Tsvangirai would have actually won a free and fair election.

His party is divided and some of his former loyalists have been disillusioned by his performance as Prime Minister in the tense power-sharing government.

It is possible that Mr Mugabe might have coasted to victory without resorting to rigging, but he's never been a man to leave elections to chance.

After 33 years in power he is not ready to retire quietly so, instead, it's likely to be his old rival who will try to make a last stand before being forced from the political stage.