Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who represented then-MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa in the 2018 presidential election challenge at the Constitutional Court, has dismissed the collation of the 2023 presidential election results published by Freeman Chari.
Chari, a US-based software engineer and long-time opposition activist, had claimed to have collated results from 84% of the V11 forms (the official vote tallying forms) and asserted that President Emmerson Mnangagwa won the election by well over 50%.
In a statement released on Friday, August 23, 2024 – exactly one year after the polls – Chari said his team had “done the best we could to collate results” and that citizens had “amazingly” sent in V11 forms from their polling stations.
He stated that within the first two days, they had collated about 75% of the polling stations, eventually reaching 10,250 stations, representing around 84% of all polling stations used. Said Chari:
We did the best we could to collate results. And citizens did amazingly great by sending us the V11s from their polling stations.
Within the first 2 days, we had collated about 75% of the polling stations. We eventually were able to collate 10 250 polling stations in which we could verify their results.
These represent about 84% of all polling stations used. We did receive a lot of results from other polling stations which we could not authenticate or verify…
We got a lot of dubious results from Mashonaland East, Central and West. Those polling stations have been excluded.
However, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, August 26, Mpofu strongly dismissed Chari’s election results.
He argued that the figures published by Chari were the same “compromised” results that had been released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Furthermore, Mpofu rejected Chari’s claim that he had utilised an election-monitoring app, Mandla, during the voting process, saying the app was never actually deployed. Said Mpofu:
The results published by Freeman Chari are explicitly identified as ZEC results, derived from the stamped V11 forms, which have been compromised. These results merely confirm what we already know and do not provide any new insights.
Importantly, since these results are from ZEC itself, they cannot be used to validate the accuracy of ZEC’s own announcements. August 2023 remains a fraud.
Interesting fact: Freeman Chari and MANDLA were never affiliated or associated with each other. Moreover, MANDLA was never actually deployed or utilized in any capacity in August 2023.
Meanwhile, UK-based Zimbabwean lawyer Brighton Mutebuka said Chari and his team for “an exceptional job under extremely hazardous circumstances.” He wrote on X:
Take Aways From The Partial Zim August 23 Election Results Published By Freeman Chari
1. Freeman & his team did an exceptional job under extremely hazardous circumstances.
2. They tried to deploy technology, ingenuity, hard work & teamwork to outsmart the regime.
3. Covering verified 84% of the Polling Stations to a high degree of accuracy is highly impressive given the conditions on the ground. They nearly achieved the impossible.
4. The remaining 16% is perhaps the last yard in achieving the impossible dream.
5. Great scientific, human & technological resources can be deployed to cover that ground if the commitment is there to achieve democratic change in our lifetime.
6. Great care should be taken to ensure that in looking at these “results”, we don’t forget the following.
7. FAZ’s strategy in brazenly intimidating villagers in rural areas through noting down their names before & after voting at Polling Stations. Some registered voters in opposition strongholds were even turned away.
8. ZEC’s criminal conduct in conspiring to disenfranchise huge numbers of registered votes in Harare, Bulawayo & other opposition strongholds via very late deliveries of ballot papers & botching extending the voting time.
9. Charges of FAZ manned Polling Stations sprouting last minute in hidden & inaccessible locations, including farms of War Vets & ZANU PF politicians.
10. The above should be revisited once the ground has shifted so criminal charges can be preferred.
11. The above means that the scale of the prejudice cannot be numerically quantified, rendering the result a sham.
12. ZEC itself failed to publish verifiable results.
More: Pindula News