Hidden Camera Footage Exposes Mugabe 'Vote-rigging'

As I argued previously, the only hope for the people of Zimbabwe, ironically, are cameras. Without video the media ignores oppression. And if the media ignores it the politicians and public ignore the horror.

Secret footage filmed by a Zimbabwean prison guard shows how a supporter of President Robert Mugabe rigged votes in his favour, British newspaper The Guardian said.

The hidden camera images apparently show one of Mugabe's so-called war veterans -- with the power to denounce prison workers as opposition supporters -- supervising their votes, logging each one against the voter's identification number and watching as they mark the ballots.

"It is believed to be the first footage of actual ballot-rigging," The Guardian said.

Harare prison guard Shepherd Yuda, 36, who filmed the clips, has since fled the country with his pregnant wife and their children.

The 10-minute film is on the British daily's website. It was filmed during the six days before the June 27 presidential election second round run-off.

The Guardian gave Yuda the camera to film the daily life of a prison guard but he found himself recording the overseeing of ballots by supporters of Mugabe's ZANU-PF ruling party.

- See the video here.