ZEC cannot be more Catholic than The Pope

I do not trust Zanu. I do not trust the MDC. You know what, I don't even fully trust ZEC. But I do trust the scores of international observers coming to decipher if these elections are free or not.

The EU observers have been here now for weeks. They have been watching carefully, from the printing of the ballot papers to the campaigning of the parties. So far so good. SADC have been in and out on numerous occasions sending both high level and low level delegations. So far so good.

The Norway, Switzerland and Canada - with the EU - are now set to deploy about 140 observers. Yes, you read that right, 140! In addition, the United States, hardly a friend of Zanu-PF will be sending a joint team of more than 30 monitors from the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute.

The African Union too is dispatching 54 observers, in addition to SADC and the Commonwealth.

So let us all take a deep breath and trust the observers.

Let us not be carried away by Fake News headlines like we've seen in Newsday; one day suggesting that there are 3 million ghost voters, the next a few hundred thousands, and on other days none. Over the last few weeks we've heard the opposition cry that 'ED is refusing to meet me' and then 3 days later, 'ED is begging me' to meet. We hear daily that ED rigged elections for Zanu, and then read in the same paper how he lost elections twice to Chebundo in Kwekwe'.

We are told by the MDC that unless they win, elections must have been rigged! This is not how democracy works Mr. Chamisa. The MDC has also called on SADC to run the elections for his. But something is wrong here. Chamisa won't accept SADC's claim that ZEC are prepared and ready, but will let SADC run the election in ZEC's place! Either you trust SADC or you don't?

But perhaps the most dangerous inconsistency of Nelson Chamisa's claims today is his attitude towards the Mugabes; a horrible and upsetting inconsistency for anyone who thought they were going to consider voting for Chamisa. After years of (correctly) ridiculing and criticising the old man and his wife, it appears that the politically cynical contender has done the unthinkable. He has jumped into bed with Mugabes; he has allowed them into the alliance. He has sold his soul to fund a few billboards.

So we should be careful of the contradictory statements we are hearing on a daily basis by Mr. Chamisa, especially about ZEC. He is not great with the truth, as his statements about meeting the Trump administration, and the fictitious 15 billion dollar 'promise' revealed.

We must remember that no elections are perfect. Even in America, and across the EU, democracy is a messy system. But we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We cannot expect ZEC to be more catholic than the pope.

Let us be patient and trusting. We have heard the calls for peace and unity from the president and subsequently we have enjoyed the most peaceful election campaign in our history. Those who are irresponsibly shouting about rigging before the elections have even happened are opening the door to violence. While Chamisa may be preparing his Vanguard for war, we cannot let him use ZEC as the scapegoat. We must all demand peace.

Nelson Chamisa called for us to trust the international community. I say to him, 'stand by your words'. Wait for the election, the process, and the judgement of the international observers. With hundreds of them here to witness our democratic process, we too have a role to maintain the peace, vote with our feat, and take part in this historic moment for the new Zimbabwe.