was transparency. In Bulawayo, Felix Magalela Sibanda (aka Felix Mafa), accused MDC-T leadership in Bulawayo of tribalism after he was dropped as an elected candidate for Pelandaba constituency. Mafa claimed that the Gorden Moyo led Committee denied him victory after he had been declared the winner. The leadership claimed that they “miscounted” some votes and after a recount, ousted Mafa by three votes. Voter registration Despite the fact that there was a “deafening outcry” at the manner in which the Registrar of Voters conducted the previous mobile registration process, ZEC as mandated by the new constitution embarked on a thirty day voter registration exercise ,however the same challenges of secrecy and partisanship continue to mark the process. For example on 18 June at Matezwa school in Musikavanhu constituency, Zanu PF activists reportedly dictated to ZEC officials as to who or not to register after they developed a code which had to be endorsed on all letters, proof of residence and affidavits. Bearers of letters, affidavits which did not bear the code were turned away. In Mutoko South, at Kushinga Secondary School in Hoyuyu Resettlement Scheme, village 16, police assaulted villagers purporting to be controlling the queue during a registration of voters. Nomination Court In pursuance to the election proclamation, a nomination court for aspiring legislators, councillors and Presidential candidates was held on 28 June. The nomination court began at the same time as serious intra party political conflicts over the election process and result, between the two major political parties MDC-T and Zanu PF surfaced. After the nomination court, a new term describing those who dared to challenge the MDC-T/Zanu PF establishment were coined “Rebels” and many faced serious political backlash from their parties with threats of dismissal from the parties being peddled. Some quickly retracted their candidacy like Mike Madiro and Dorothy Chitima. Major sources of conflict From the onset, the period under review was marked by heightened political tensions. Former green zones such as Matabeleland provinces turned yellow on the violations map. Only one district, Rushinga in Mashonaland Central remained ‘green’. Inter and intra party fights for the right to represent parties in the coming elections, constituted a major cause of conflict. Political tensions brought about by primary elections were the main borne of contention as political actors attempted to win the ticket to represent their parties in local government or parliament. Zanu PF and MDC-T remained the major actors and the conflicts were mostly internal. However, as a result of the conflicts having manifested internally, the battles fought were dirty and unprincipled. For both Zanu PF and MDC-T, rigging claims and violence were rampant The majority of incidents documented included harassments and intimidation, forced attendances of political party meetings mostly by Zanu PF, and harassment by traditional leaders of people perceived to be MDC T. Another source of conflict was the clamp down on political space of other players such as the two MDCs and Civil Society organizations. This was coupled with the selective application of law in favour of Zanu PF, which saw the detention of ZimRights staffers, by police on 4 July 2013 at Mutare central police. The two staffers where accused of holding voter education workshops In June, ZANU PF Deputy Minister Edward and Chairman of the Committee that reported on the diamond sector stated that Chindori-Chininga died in a mysterious car accident. Rumors had begun surfacing on Facebook two weeks before his death that he would be assassinated for exposing government corruption. His death followed the release of a parliamentary committee report about Zimbabwe’s diamond sector, with details about the involvement of ZANU PF officials and allies in the industry. The report exposed the level of corruption evident at the Chiadzwa diamond fields, where millions of dollars in profits, meant to be earned by the national Treasury, were unaccounted for. According to Alan Martin 21