VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe's Rural Voters Deserting President Mug

By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
27 March 2008

For the first time, many people in Zimbabwe's rural areas have dropped their long-standing¹ support of President Robert Mugabe and the ruling ZANU-PF, which has depended on the rural vote for victory.  Peta Thornycroft reports that opposition² leader Morgan Tsvangirai has made inroads into Mr. Mugabe's traditional strongholds before elections Saturday.

Deep into the bush from the nearest village of Headlands, then across shocking roads into a remote rural area about 130 kilometers southeast of Harare, the landscape seems empty of people and livestock³.

The area used to be a prosperous commercial farming district, but most of the farms have been idle since they were nationalized during the past eight years.  Many people have fled to South Africa to look for work to support their families.

Disease has also ravaged⁴ the population.  Doctors say poor nutrition has taken its toll⁵ on those infected with HIV/AIDS.  One Harare doctor estimates about 10,000 young people are dying a week.

But in Headlands the topic of conversation is the upcoming election.  In the village, which is one short street, people in one shabby shop that has little to sell, agree this is the most peaceful election in many years.

Mununudzi Ghitsa, who is standing for local government office and loyal to Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, says his supporters can campaign easily.  He said for the first time in eight years people can wear political T-shirts without fear.

He said he was in a last-minute push to educate people about where to vote.

"Some of them they know, some need to be educated, so we are running around to educate them," he noted⁶.

Another supporter of the divided MDC, Patricia Kamembo, is loyal to founding president Morgan Tsvangirai.  She said her worry is about counting votes when 12 hours of voting closes Saturday.

Many district voters are anxious that votes for the presidential election will be counted in Harare instead of at the polling station.

"I am not happy if the counting is going to be done in Harare, since MDC has been losing, or any opposition party losing, because of this system of votes counted in Harare.  It is going to happen again," she said.  "The turnout in rallies, even if you speak to everyone, everywhere, hospitals, beer halls, buses everywhere, it seems as if everyone wants Morgan to rule."

She said the MDC had changed since the last elections, when it was a party of mostly young supporters.

"As I have been talking to several people, now even the old people want MDC to rule, so I am very sure MDC will win if anything does not go wrong with the counting," she added.

But Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa gave a long interview to state radio saying counting of all votes, including those for the presidential contest, will be done at polling stations.  The results would, he said, be posted outside the polling stations, and then transmitted to Harare.

Many in rural areas with no electricity, money for batteries for their radios, or newspapers will not find that out before election day.

Headlands is the home area of former finance minister Simba Makoni, who is running for president.  Political analysts⁷ say his late entry into the presidential race has changed the political landscape and divided the ruling ZANU-PF party.

He has credentials⁸ from the liberation war in the 1970s, which still has profound meaning to the generation who brought an end to minority white rule and independence from Britain in 1980.

One man, a 30-year-old peasant farmer whose father was resettled 16 years ago near Headlands village, was on his way to a ZANU-PF rally.

He was wearing a new ZANU-PF cap and a T-shirt supporting ZANU-PF parliamentary candidate Didymus Mutasa, the feared security minister.  Mutasa is also lands minister, and is accused of causing chaos⁹ in the land resettlement program.

He explained why he supported Didymus Mutasa

"I support him because I am on the land," he said.  "I was always a squatter¹⁰ from the beginning, so my father had land there, and I am growing tobacco and vegetables and different crops.  I manage to support even my kids, because of that land."

His father was part of an orderly resettlement program 16 years ago.  He began to laugh when asked about the opposition.

"Ah, the vote is my secret," he added.

Continuing to snort with laughter, he warned us that his ZANU-PF regalia did not match what was in his heart.  He confided¹¹ that he was protecting his land by going to Mutasa's rally, but that he was a supporter of Simba Makoni, because he had known him all his life.

But there are still some in the Headlands district who continue to support ZANU-PF and Mr. Mugabe.

Ephraim Gwatidzo and a group of about 12 mostly young ZANU-PF supporters were walking towards Mutasa's rally and stopped to talk to VOA.

They say they support ZANU-PF, because they were given land and because their parents supported ZANU-PF.  Two of them, both civil servants and deeply suspicious, walked away and did not want to talk to VOA.

Others wanted to sing war songs from ZANU-PF's extensive repertoire¹².  The first was from the war against white farmers in 2000.

Mr. Mugabe has warned repeatedly in the past week that Morgan Tsvangirai will "never, ever, ever" rule Zimbabwe.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

4 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 squatter   

n.擅自占地者

参考例句：

• The squatter settlements originally came into being through illegal land invasions. 违章建筑区最初是通过非法的土地占有而形成的。
• Squatter control is maintained by regular patrols and hut-to-hut checks. 当局定期逐户视察所有寮屋，以收管制之效。

11 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。