ZEC in fake letters storm between MDC-T and British envoy

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has been caught-up in a diplomatic row over a harsh letter purportedly penned by British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert to MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti, accusing the opposition party of misleading her on alleged rigging of last year's polls.

Biti also allegedly wrote back to Bronnert and "admitted" providing "blatantly false information" to the British embassy regarding the July harmonised elections won resoundingly by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

Both letters were posted on the ZEC website, but the British Embassy and Biti yesterday profusely denied writing the missives and claimed they were fabrications. The British embassy went further to say they would soon file an official complaint with the authorities against ZEC.

The British embassy went further to say they would soon file an official complaint with the authorities against ZEC.

"Those are fraudulent letters," Biti said.

"I am not a fool and have never written such a letter to the British ambassador."

Bronnert came under fire after elections when she told the international media that in one unnamed constituency, 10 000 of the 17 000 voters had been assisted to cast their ballots. The claims were vehemently denied by Zanu-PF.

In a letter on ZEC website addressed to Biti, Bronnert on August 10 2013 allegedly wrote: "The British Embassy would like to register its disquiet over misleading election information related to the July 31  polls received from your party. It has, however, emerged that such information was not correct. Unfortunately, based on this incorrect information the British Ambassador Her Excellency Deborah Bronnert went on to give comments on the July 31 polls. Unavoidably such comments exposed her to attacks from the state media much as it invited the wrath of the victorious Zanu-PF party."

But in a statement to The Zimbabwe Mail yesterday, the British embassy said the letter was fabricated.

"The letter is a fabrication that did not originate from the British Embassy.  We are taking the necessary steps through the formal channels to have the situation addressed by the relevant authorities," read the response to questions regarding the letter.

A senior official at the British embassy said Bronnert was in the process of raising a complaint with Zimbabwe's Foreign ministry.

"Those are forged letters and the embassy is not amused by the allegations made that actually defame us. Bronnert is seeking clarification from the ministry of Foreign Affairs," the official said. "The person who allegedly signed the letters, Madelaine Johnstone, is not allowed, given her status, to communicate with political parties. You also need to check the letterhead, it is not consistent because the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development (DFID) do not use combined logos."

ZEC chairperson Rita Makarau was not available for comment as she was not picking up her mobile phone, while the commission's deputy public relations director Tendai Pamire seemed surprised that the British and Biti had said the letters were fake.

"Is that what they are saying? Well, I would want to refer you to the chief elections officer (Utloile Silaigwana)," Pamire said.

Foreign Affairs deputy minister Christopher Mutsvangwa declared the letters genuine.

"I have no doubt that those letters are genuine, but just that the British and the MDC-T are embarrassed. The British will not even dare approach the ministry because there is no issue there, their policy to effect regime change in Zimbabwe has run aground. The MDC-T is in tatters and it is the British's biggest foreign policy defeat in a very long time," said Mutsvangwa.

According to the letters, Biti on August 20 2013 allegedly responded to Brnnert's missive and openly "admitting to the lies".

"The MDC wishes to give its sincere apology for providing you with apparently false and misleading information on the electoral malpractices that were witnessed during the July harmonised elections. Part of the information suggested that in one given constituency about 10 000 of the 17 000 voters were assisted to cast their ballots," the letter allegedly penned by Biti said. "It has come to our attention that such information was blatantly false and we take full responsibility for such a mishap."

Bronnert in ‘her letter' seemed to issue a subtle warning that such lies could result in strained relations.

"The embassy cherishes the continued relationship with your organisation and we do hereby urge your office to make sure that information channelled to us will be credible, factual and have little potential to damage the image of the embassy," reads the letter.

The MDC-T, Biti said, regretted that the lies had caused Bronnert to issue statements that attracted attacks from Zanu-PF.

"We, therefore, sincerely apologise for the embarrassment our ill-informed statistics have caused. We firmly assure you that in future such unfortunate and reckless misinformation shall be avoided," said Biti.

Since the electoral loss, the MDC-T has been in the throes of an acrimonious leadership renewal fight between deputy treasurer general Elton Mangoma, and party leader Morgan  Tsvangirai.

While Tsvangirai has harped on about the elections having been rigged by Mugabe and Zanu-PF,  Mangoma,  in one of his letters demanding that the veteran trade unionist steps down, said the party leadership needed to take responsibility for the loss.

Biti has attracted Tsvangirai's wrath by suggesting that the elections were not rigged, but that the MDC-T had been defeated because of a weak message that was elitist in nature.

Letters below: