Daily scenes of struggle with the world's highest inflation are the backdrop to an election tomorrow in which Robert Mugabe is fighting to prolong his 28-year-old presidency, outpolled by his main opponent, and accused of laying elaborate plans to rig the vote.
On 84-year-old Mugabe's watch, the country has gone from food exporter to being dependent on international food handouts and money sent home by many of the 5 million people - more than a third of the population - who have fled Zimbabwe.
"This election is about survival. . . . About empty stomachs and health and education that we are not getting for our families," said Elizabeth Chaibvu, a member of the Feminist Political Education Project.
People long cowed into silence by Mugabe's strong-arm methods are speaking openly against their leader, seeing the election as a last hope for the country where inflation is more than 100,000 percent a year.
But Mugabe is accused of stacking the deck against his opponents, redistricting voting constituencies, and delivering state-subsidized food only to his party supporters.
"Zimbabweans aren't free to vote for the candidates of their choice," New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
Amnesty International alleged "intimidation, harassment and violence against perceived supporters of opposition candidates, with many in rural regions fearful that there will be retribution after the elections."
The election is about more than just this Montana-sized country in southern Africa. Many other African leaders, seeking in varying degrees to become democratic and put the days of coups and strongmen behind them, are torn about how to deal with Mugabe.
They cannot ignore Mugabe's past as an icon of resistance to colonial rule, and they applaud when he says that "The West still negates our sovereignties, by way of control of our resources, in the process making us mere chattels in our own lands."
While the West has imposed limited sanctions, African governments have refrained from acting against Mugabe. Instead, led by neighboring South Africa, they have sought to help make the election a success and give Mugabe a measure of respectability.
