Zimbabweans falsely registered to vote in Mozambique's 2024 election?

Masvingo, Zimbabwe  -  In early 2024, journalists working in Zimbabwe's Masvingo province began hearing troubling rumours: Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu-PF, was allegedly registering supporters to fraudulently vote in Mozambique's October presidential election. Initially met with scepticism, persistent reports and firsthand investigations revealed a coordinated campaign that blurred national borders and electoral integrity.

By April 2024, a team from the Masvingo Mirror visited a voter registration station at the Masvingo Rural District Council offices in Nemanwa, where hundreds were queuing to register as Mozambican voters. Journalists themselves joined the queue, had their fingerprints and photos taken, and were issued glossy Mozambican voter ID cards despite being Zimbabwean citizens.

Similarly, Walter, an editor from the Zimbabwean fact-checking platform ZimTracker, was also able to register and was told by officials that attending Zanu-PF party meetings would explain how to "help Frelimo win the election." On Mozambique's election day, October 9, 2024, two journalists who had registered voted successfully, despite hostility from local Zanu-PF activists who threw stones at them while filming.

Interviews with 20 Zimbabweans who registered - many of whom voted - unveiled a broader pattern of cross-border electoral manipulation. The Zanu-PF-Frelimo alliance, rooted in their shared liberation struggle history, played a central role. Facing rising opposition from parties like Renamo and Podemos, Mozambique's ruling Frelimo party sought Zanu-PF's electoral experience and grassroots support.

Months before the vote, Frelimo's presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, visited Harare and met President Emmerson Mnangagwa and senior Zanu-PF officials. "We know Zanu-PF is experienced in terms of elections. We want that campaign spirit in Mozambique," Chapo said during his June 2024 visit.

Mozambique's electoral commission approved 60 polling stations in Zimbabwe to facilitate diaspora voting, which Zanu-PF exploited to mobilize large numbers of Zimbabweans, many registering out of party loyalty or personal gain. Some voters cited hopes of economic benefit, such as opportunities to shop in Mozambique's markets or gain freer travel via Mozambican IDs.

One registrant, EM, a banana plantation worker, received a Mozambican ID despite never having been to Mozambique. "I didn't care it wasn't true because now I could travel freely to Mozambique," EM said. Others, like SN and LK, echoed hopes of freer trade, while DM, whose mother is Mozambican, believed he was helping a country he felt connected to.

Zanu-PF officials have offered conflicting responses. Initially, spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa defended the registrations as rights exercised by dual citizens but later dismissed inquiries as irrelevant after Chapo's international recognition and substantial US funding. National spokesperson Farai Marapira denied fraudulent registration allegations, suggesting misinterpretation by journalists.

Frelimo spokesperson Pedro Guileche called the reports "truly fake," asserting the party enjoyed broad Mozambican support. However, observers note that the 2024 election's credibility was already heavily contested, sparking months of violent protests that left hundreds dead and thousands injured.

The fallout has prompted ongoing negotiations between Chapo and opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who maintains he won the election legitimately.

This investigation highlights how political alliances and ambitions can extend beyond borders, undermining democratic processes and igniting unrest in the region. The Mozambican election crisis, therefore, cannot be fully understood without examining the cross-border political dynamics and electoral interference involving Zimbabwe's ruling party.