campaigns were positive portrayals of the ruling party. Four (10%) reports were on the MDC while the remaining three (7%) were on the independent candidate Silas Mangono’s attack on the opposition. Other independent candidates and smaller parties were not covered. Notably, while the four reports on the MDC deviated from the usual vilification of the party as a stooge of the West, the opposition party was denigrated in most of the stories about the ruling party.43 The Government is not content simply to rely on such partisan use of the state media. SW Radio, a station sympathetic to the opposition, has been broadcasting to Zimbabwe over shortwave frequencies. A few weeks before the election, it has been impossible to receive this station owing to a single 1khz tone continuously broadcast over the same frequencies as SW Radio. According to the MMPZ, the signal emanates from the ZBC’s broadcasting post in the Gweru area and is part of jamming equipment obtained from China44. Such actions are contrary to the SADC Guidelines. In addition, the same comment made in regard to the printed media also applies here: to allow the MDC limited access to the state-owned electronic media for a few weeks prior to the election, when election observers are in the country, is not conducive to a democratic election. Conclusion It has not been possible in the limited space available to highlight the many other aspects of the impending election that fly in the face of accepted democratic norms - such as the fact that the Government has arrogated to itself the sole power to conduct voter education programmes and that legislation recently passed by parliament has severely curtailed the operations of civil society organisations. The intention here is simply to outline some key aspects. Much of the damage to the democratic process has already been done. The chief culprit, this time around, ahead of violence and the closure of democratic space, is the politicisation of food handouts. If this is not effective, there is a danger that the defective voters’ roll, the voting process and vote counting will be manipulated to secure a ZANU (PF) victory. 43 For a more detailed analysis of airtime see the MMPZ report at http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/media/050320mmpz.asp?sector=MEDIA 44 According to the MMPZ, although government has denied jamming SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, a report by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) revealed that the jamming appears to emanate from Zimbabwe using Chinese equipment at Thornhill in Gweru. The IBB report states that three jammers are being used to jam the three short wave frequencies used by SW Radio Africa. "One kHz tone is used to jam the broadcasts; and is continued till the transmitters become too hot; then 'noise' is used to avoid over driving the jamming transmitters...", says the report. The BBC Monitoring Services also confirmed the jamming saying the "the interfering signals were present only for the period of the SW Radio Africa programming" see http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/media/050318mmpz.asp?sector=MEDIA 17