What now comrades 2?

Kenny Rodgers is probably one of the greatest voices this world has ever heard. In his compilation of hits there is one particular song known as The Gambler. Its setting is a ride on a train bound for nowhere and it peaks with an interaction with a gambler on this locomotive. As the sun sets the two set to a game of cards and to the singer immortal words of wisdom are imparted. The Gambler takes a sip of his whisky and says:

 "If you're gonna play the game, boy,
You gotta learn to play it right.

You got to know when to hold 'em,
Know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away,
And know when to run.
You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealing's done.

Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away
And knowin' what to keep.
'Cause every hand's a winner,
And every hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for
Is to die in your sleep."

(lyrics copied verbatim)

Please give Chamisa a dose of this wisdom. The opposition must know how to play the game right. They must know their friends and foes alike. Without much talk let me say the enemies of the opposition in particular and the people in general is ZEC and ZANU PF. In part one of this article the author elaborated the game at play. ZEC is the disguise to the rigging whilst ZANU PF and the imported expertise from abroad does the actual rigging. ZEC is not in control of the electoral process ZANU PF is.

Once this is understood then we can start playing. Electoral contestation has always been between MDC and ZANU PF fronted by Tobaiwa Mudede, this was problematic for ZANU PF in that that the decoy was to too close to home. Media is gripped with the tug of war between ZEC and the MDC now. Everyone wonders why ZANU PF is so quiet, this is exactly what they wanted. The opposition against an independent body not them. This is so that after rigging Zanu won't be on the charge sheet but the corrupt ZEC.

You need to understand these roles dear reader to disentangle this rigging conundrum. You need to see this to dispel the imbroglio of lies and deceit from ZEC and ZANU PF. The opposition from now onwards must not deal with ZEC as an independent ‘thing' rather as an accomplice to this crime. The chief facilitator and conduit for the rigging. ZEC and ZANU PF must be seen as two sides of the same coin. ZEC and ZANU PF is one thing.

Having gotten that out of the way. The second stanza of ‘The Gambler' impresses the need to know one's wins and losses. What really is a win or loss. In our context we should have an appreciation of how we are rigged. How the machinery functions. What are the vital cogs to this sham? Every play of the enemy must be put in context of the ultimate rigging heist. What has been lost so far?

1. Poor registration turnouts in Harare and Matabeleland.
2. The MDC-Tsotsi /Thokozani problem.
3. Double MDC alliance parliamentary aspirants.
4. Failure to understand fully the rigging process.
5. Zec working in cahoots with ZANU PF.

What does the opposition have to its advantage?

1. It has managed to bring back the revolutionary spirit amongst the masses.
2. MDC -Tsosti has no supporters to talk of.
3. It has raised the alarm bells before the election starts hence the outcome in case of a ZANU PF win is well less than credible.

Given the above not all is lost and it's not yet time to run away a good gambler would advise. They can't count their money right now because there is still a long way to go. Item 4 on the opposition's shortfalls is quite interesting to look at.

The Exposé….

To me this is the fatal wound to the opposition's campaign and hope of winning. MDC failed to invest into investigating the rigging of 2013. The same tricks are being used evidently. Look at how Team Pachedu unearthed many copy and paste entries from the 2013 voter's roll to the present one. This trail of evidence shows the voter's roll is the chief cornerstone in this rigging plot. I really don't believe it's a moving X to blame for the rigging.

Look, ZANU PF went through hell to ensure ED is first on the second column of the ballot paper. The blatant violation of the V10 form requirements and outright desperation in cheating that way weakens a chromatography argument. If Chamisa has any evidence to substantiate that suspicion now is the time to make it known. I am quite sure there is none. If Chromatography was the stratagem then there was no need to aid his visibility by illegally designing the ballot paper in that way. They would have been content sticking ED even at the back of the paper if the ‘X' would find its mark. Putting him in an unenviable position on the ballot paper would have aided ZANU PF in their rigging game since it would give the opposition a false sense of fairness which the chromatography theory would then exploit by ensuring a shocking and resounding win for ZANU PF.

It's not the ballot paper being a chemical booby trap. It is the voters roll. Never has ZANU since Mudede given us the voter's roll. It must be the roll damn it!

How is the voter's roll used is the billion dollar question. Team Pachedu earlier alluded to is a team of experts who have unearthed massive irregularities in the voters roll. Minimally the roll has a quarter million ghost voters. That is a minimal figure mind you which was reached after identifying people with unique surnames i.e without any relative, and ID numbers that are nonexistent or cooked up. It's a number that can turn the election in ZANU PF's favour.

Our obsession now should be how they get these voters to vote come Election Day. In the 2013 election it was easy since all one needed was a voter slip and phony ID. From the report mentioned earlier on the Registrar General's office in Uzumba has evidently run about two million IDs contrast that with less than one million in Harare. This is the Uzumba of the astonishing figures in vote tallies in the past elections. This is the remote Uzumba with two more names Maramba and Pfungwe! The most populous rural area in Zimbabwe! There is the rigging trail. Issuance of phony IDs and voter slips.

This time around there is no room for voter slips hence Zanu could only stuff the voter's roll with fake voters. We will have voters with multiple identities voting on Election Day. This means they have to be transported somehow. The indications therefore will be much bussing of people and brand new IDs hopefully with the same issue date if Mudede's often consistent clumsiness prevails. The opposition therefore must have roving teams of agents to identify these bastards and expose them. You might be thinking the indelible ink will carry the day. The author personally voted in the 2013 election around 8 in the morning and by one o'clock my little finger had no trace of the ink. The ink is not going to be indelible.

Another avenue of rigging this election would possibly be creation of virtual polling stations. These polling stations are most probably going to have stuffed ballots, it stands to reason that there must be a meticulous vote tallying process at various polling stations. It also comes down to educating agents on the voting process.

I really feel that the very gameplay of Zanu PF is not clear and that opposition forces are caught in sixes and sevens in as far as the system of rigging is concerned. It is worth noting however that if it was a large scale operation including civilians we would know. It seems the process really involves a few well-placed individuals who owe Zanu PF their life. Winning this election depends on what is done in this last week to dismantle this cheating puzzle. Remember the last words of the gambler…

That the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away
And knowin' what to keep.
'Cause every hand's a winner,
And every hand's a loser,