MDC-­‐A  is  solidifying  themselves  from  an  alliance  into  one  party,  they  will  need  to  do  more  if   they  are  to  win  back  these  crucial  votes.       •   Voting  for  the  opposition  has  failed  to  help  Matabeleland,  particularly  in  a  context  where   the  nation  as  a  whole  continues  to  be  run  by  ZANU  PF:  having  an  opposition  MP  in  such  a   situation  is  in  fact  disempowering,  as  your  constituency  then  may  have  nobody  able  to   intervene  at  Politburo  or  Cabinet  level  in  defence  of  your  development  needs.   o   Even  at  the  provincial  level,  it  can  be  useful  to  have  a  ZANU  PF  MP,  who  might  be   able  to  intervene  to  protect  constituents  from  violence  or  promote  development   that  might  be  instigated  at  that  level.     •   It  is  the  route  of  least  resistance  to  give  in  to  pressure  to  vote  for  ZANU  PF,  and  people  are   tired  and  demoralised.     •   There  was  a  perception  that  with  Mugabe  gone,  voters  should  “give  ED  a  chance”  to  create   a  different  kind  of  ZANU  PF,  which  his  campaign  claimed  he  could  do.       •   The  opposition  was  not  visible  during  the  campaign  period  and  what  they  represented  was   not  clear.  ZANU  PF  was  very  visible  and  campaigning  throughout  the  area.     •   In  three  constituencies  in  Matabeleland  South,  the  MDC-­‐A  candidates  were  not  even   currently  resident,  and  were  known  to  be  living  and  working  in  South  Africa,  while  a  fourth   was  only  recently  returned  from  UK  and  was  not  considered  that  rooted  in  the  community.   Voters  felt  they  were  not  being  taken  seriously,  being  expected  to  vote  for  someone  they   had  never  heard  of  and  were  unlikely  to  ever  see  locally.       •   The  government  provided  seeds  and  fertilizer  and  introduced  a  ‘free  cow/heifer’  system   throughout  the  rural  Matabeleland  provinces  during  the  campaign  period.29  This  was  widely   perceived  as    ‘gifts’  from  ‘ZANU  PF’,  the  conflation  of  ‘state’  and  ‘party’  being  almost   universal,  it  appeared.  This  was  seen  as  simultaneously  a  carrot  and  stick:     o   a  carrot,  reminding  one  that  ZANU  PF  has  the  power  to  provide  resources,  which  the   opposition,  never  having  held  the  levers  of  power,  patently  has  never  had  to  date.   o   a  stick,  reminding  one  that  ZANU  PF  has  the  power  to  withhold  resources  from  those   not  perceived  to  support  it,  which  in  a  region  that  every  single  year  requires  food   relief,  is  a  large  stick  indeed.  While  there  was  no  reported  political  bias  in   distribution  of  seeds  and  other  inputs    in  Matabeleland  during  the  campaign  period,   such  political  bias  has  certainly  existed  in  the  past  and  could,  in  people’s  minds,  do   so  again.                                                                                                                 29  Voice  of  America,  “Mnangagwa  ‘dishes’  out  cows  ahead  of  forthcoming  general  elections”,  23  June  2018.   https://www.voazimbabwe.com/a/mnangagwa-­‐dishes-­‐out-­‐cows-­‐ahead-­‐of-­‐elections/4451338.html.  Accessed  26   September  2018.  Also  authors’  own  observations  of  seed  and  fertilizer  distribution  in  Matabeleland.     24