It’s exactly two weeks to elections, and the excitement is reaching fever pitch. The political landscape seems to be shifting before our eyes, and the balance of power seems to be shifting in confusing ways. But that’s in my humble opinion. The President is of course the assumed strong candidate, and we are reminded every night when we watch the news on the local TV station (yes, we have just the one, and I had given up on watching it until now, when it makes compelling if irritating viewing). There is a whole lot of propaganda… And along with it, sudden changes in government policy towards its citizens (our government has noticed us!). Traditional chiefs have been given thousands of litres of fuel (petrol or diesel). Civil servants have been given a massive pay rise this week (which has ended the strike by teachers in the civil service- they have been away from work for the best part of the school term, which ends in a few days). A few days ago on the news, we saw pictures of huge trucks full of grain which the government has bought from South Africa and Zambia. There have been so many promises made by the government in the past few days, mostly to do with the economy, and how much work is being done to make things right. And so on. All the usual election campaign white noise that we hear all over the world when it’s the season… And I am angered, because where has the government been for the past three years, while people suffered? Where were they last year, when there was no food in the shops? Then, all we heard from them was a deafening silence…

Regardless… The campaigns have been interesting to watch. Only in the last few days have we seen adverts in the media for Simba Makoni, the ex-ZANU-PF man. He has been travelling around the country, speaking to rural voters seemingly at what we call growth points (small business areas in the rural areas, where you might find a shop or two, a bus stop, perhaps a bank, and for certain a “beer hall” or three). To be honest, I still don’t know what he stands for, except that he is anti-Mugabe. Like a good amateur journalist, I took a walk to his base in Bulawayo, to sort of snoop around, and also hoping to get a manifesto. (I am terrified of going to the MDC-Tsvangirai base because of who may be watching, waiting to put my name on some kind of black list!). I was struck by how little was going on. I asked for printed material, and was given fliers… While I was there, someone from the MDC-Mutambara faction came in to get posters to put up in his area of Bulawayo, and was told that they had run out of posters. It would seem that Simba Makoni’s campaign is very short on funds, a major disadvantage when you are up against the well-oiled ZANU-PF machine, and the almost-as-well-oiled Morgan Tsvangirai machine… All this has made me realise how important funding is, and has made me see the Hillary Clinton/ Barack Obama race in a new light.

Morgan Tsvangirai seems to be doing pretty well, too. Whenever he has a rally, he has a good-sized crowd chanting and cheering him on. I think he’s a very credible threat to the current president’s rule… But who knows. A friend (who is white, and a former farmer) has been walking around dressed in red for the past month (if you didn’t know, MDC’s colour), and is solidly behind him. The reason she gives? He has shed blood for the people of Zimbabwe, and anyone who has sacrificed as much as he has deserves to win. I do wish he would campaign more among the rural voters, with whom ZANU-PF has the greatest support, and who always swing the vote in ZANU-PF’s favour. In that respect, Simba Makoni is doing the right thing. Tsvangirai may be preaching to the converted.

In the meantime, prices in the supermarkets this week have hit a new high. Milk was ZD 23,000,000 a litre yesterday, and a standard loaf of bread (which, to be honest, is neither standard nor bread, lol) was ZD 11,000,000. The government probably doesn’t need that so close to elections… People who are not solidly behind ZANU-PF are a little confused as to who to vote for. Voting for Morgan Tsvangirai worries some, because he does not seem to be great president material, and some believe the MDC leadership might eventually turn out to be just like the current leadership. Voting for Simba Makoni may split the anti-Mugabe vote, allowing him to win. And then there was a rumour in the early days that perhaps Makoni was a Mugabe man… But I am not convinced he is. Especially after seeing how little money his campaign has.

Image: some of the adverts in the newspapers.