green jackets

There's a knock at the gate and a flurry of barking. The limegreen jackets beat a hasty retreat. "Those are big dogs," the two women say when I reach them.

They have luminous waistcoats on with the words Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in black capital letters. ZEC is the government elections body. The independent one is ZESN, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network.

"I'm Alice and this is Rumbi. We are doing voter education," one of them says. She's middle-aged with a pleasant smile and a big tent dress. A teacher, I'd guess. M. -- one of my teacher friends -- is manning the voter registration desk at the local convent school today. Many teachers are on strike anyway this week over abysmal pay (recently hiked to somewhere around 140 million Zimbabwe dollars = £14 a month or seven if you use the Fair Value Hard Boiled Egg exchange rate), so it makes sense to earn a bit extra. Whichever side you're getting it from.

"You mustn't be frightened," Alice says, eyeing a rotter's muzzle poking through the gap between the wall and the hedge. For locals, black dogs can represent bad things in your past, things that come back to haunt you. "You must vote. You must make your voice heard. You mustn't just talk about it round the dinner table. Your workers too, they must take their IDs and their proof of residence."

It sounds so easy but it's not. The authorities have changed the boundaries, changed the wards. How do you get proof of residence when even your landlord's renting, subletting his rooms out one by one? This weekend the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (the country's longest serving rights body) says the March 29 vote is very unlikely to be free and fair. "Cumbersome" procedures mean many people haven't been able to register, the commission says. A few countries up, more than 1,000 people have died over disputed election results. There are prayers and pleas every week -- some printed in the official government newspaper -- for there to be no Kenya here.

"No-one will get killed," Rumbi offers. She taps her wrist. "We have different colour skin but we are all the same." One of her front teeth is brown. Last year, the authorities found fake toothpaste in the shops: it caused mouth infections rather than lessening the risk of them. Rumbi looks like someone's grandma. For a moment, I'm placated. If the elections were really in the hands of people like these, it'd be OK.