President Robert Mugabe faced the greatest challenge of his 28 years in power as hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans queued before dawn to vote in yesterday’s elections, apparently determined to oust him.

Faced with the world’s highest inflation and lowest life expectancy, they turned out to support opponents of the 84-year-old leader. Yet many feared the election had been sewn up by Mugabe before the first vote was cast.

“It’s not about who you vote for, it’s who they rig for,” said a voter in Harare, the capital. After losing three flawed elections in eight years, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claimed it would not be cheated out of victory this time.

Last night the MDC was locked in a race with the regime to announce early results in an effort to expose the expected rigging of the official count. Party agents equipped with cattle counters and mobile phones were trying to call in figures from polling stations across the country.

“We are seeing an overwhelming landslide throughout the country,” said Roy Bennett, treasurer of the MDC, last night. “It will be very difficult for them to rig to that extent.”

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