25 the petition and upholds the election of Aaron Baloyi as Member of Parliament for Chiredzi South.xxv 5.8 J. Garwe: Chinhoyi The main allegation in this petition was that the first respondent, Zanu (PF) candidate Philip Chiyangwa, during the pre-election period, had attempted to procure votes by lending individuals money with the condition that the recipients vote him into parliament. Chiyangwa was also alleged to have promised food to destitute squatters at Shackleton Mine in an effort to influence how the mine’s inhabitants voted in the parliamentary elections. He allegedly fulfilled this promise sometime after the election, in a gesture “thanking” the residents for voting for Zanu (PF). The charge of bribery centred on loan applications issued by Chiyangwa and his campaign team in February and March 2000, during Zanu (PF) primary elections. These loan applications were apparently distributed across the constituency and offered loans only to Zanu (PF) members in possession of party cards. A former Zanu (PF) member, Willard Chimbiravora, testified that the office of Chiyangwa’s campaign manager had advised him that the loans would be disbursed sometime after the election. An additional, yet peripheral charge asserted that pre-election violence and intimidation caused undue influence over the electorate’s ability to freely exercise their vote. The main thrust of this charge alleged that commercial farming areas were inaccessible to the MDC because of the defensive and hostile stance of war veteran squatters. Indeed, white farm owners, fearful of retribution from these squatters, often prohibited all MDC activity in general. Also, electoral irregularities were sited. Poll monitors were allegedly ordered out of the polling stations, and two witnesses, both poll officers at Murerekwa Poll Station, testified that two individuals, Timothy Zuze and an unidentified woman, entered the station asking for the numbers of ballot papers. The Response Although Philip Chiyangwa admitted that the loan applications central to the bribery charge had been drawn up and distributed, he asserted that they were not drawn up for the purpose of illegally and corruptly, soliciting votes. Rather, the respondent had initially offered a sum of money to the ruling party for the disbursement to Zanu (PF) card-carrying members back in February 1999, when he had no political ambitions for himself. The loans were mainly intended to assist individuals who operated market stalls, and benefited persons in other provinces other than Mashonaland West, including Manicaland, Harare, Matabeleland North and South. When he was finally persuaded to contest the candidacy in Zanu (PF) primary elections, it came to light that none of the money he had provided to the party had been ever made available to applicants, mainly because none of the submitted applications had been processed. Consequently, Chiyangwa’s campaign manager drew up a new application form and gave the new forms to district chairpersons for general distribution. But, as a result of complaints from other Zanu (PF) nominees, Chiyangwa eventually ordered the termination of its distribution. For that reason, the forms were not distributed in the run-up to the June Parliamentary elections, and incidentally, had an application deadline of March 29, 2000. Chiyangwa also denied “thanking” the residents of Shackleton Mine for voting for him by distributing foodstuffs among that community. His motive underlying this gesture was purely xxv According to a Daily News article (5 December 2001, p.17), Aaron Baloyi was found guilty of public violence and sentenced by a Masvingo magistrate to 36 months in jail. On 15 December 1999, Baloyi incited a group of 400 Shanganispeaking people from Jeka village to assault all Karanga-speaking people in the area claiming that they were settled on foreign land. The villagers, acting on his instructions, attacked people, destroyed crops, and assaulted livestock. AMANI TRUST: Neither Free nor Fair: High Court decisions on the petitions on the June 2000 General Election.