Soldiers and police have been ordered to cast their postal (absentee) ballots for President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's Daily Newsclaimed today.
The report said several soldiers and police officers approached the paper, which is openly sympathetic to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and said that they had been ordered to vote for Mr Mugabe in the presence of their superiors.
The Daily News quoted a soldier it could not name "for his own safety," as saying: "I honestly feel this matter should be investigated as it could lead to rigging of the elections". The soldier, in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, said he was made to cast his ballot in the presence of his superior.
A soldier in Harare also said he did not support the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) but was ordered to vote for Mr Mugabe, the paper reported. Two policemen in the capital also said they had voted for Mugabe against their will.
But the government has strongly denied the claims made in the report. Mr Mugabe's spokesman, Mr George Charamba, told AFP: "That's absolute gibberish and they're aware of it. They're now trying to prepare the world for the defeat of the MDC". The registrar general of elections, Mr Tobaiwa Mudede, also denied the story.
Mr John Gambanga, news editor at the Daily Newswho signed the article along with Ms Sandra Nyaira, stood by the story. "Members of the police have come here personally and told us," he said. "It's not like we initiated the story".
He said the paper had received about 10 calls "from soldiers who are very happy about that story," because they wanted the alleged practice exposed, Mr Gambanga said.
Mr Thomas Bvuma, spokesman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Supervisory Commission, told AFP: "I've heard the allegation. We're in the process of trying to get some information on that".
AFP