HARARE – EMMERSON Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa, the two front-runners in the race for President in Monday’s elections, made their final pitch to voters with two big rallies a few kilometers apart in the capital.

Mnangagwa, enjoying the force of incumbency after seven months in the job, turned the National Sports Stadium into a sea of green and yellow, his Zanu PF party sparing no expense in buying regalia for its supporters.

After 38 years as a minister and Vice President to former President Robert Mugabe, the man he deposed in a military coup last November, Mnangagwa tried to put some distance between himself and his former mentor.

“We were finishing someone else’s term but with a five-year term, I guarantee you concrete change,” he promised. “We are heading towards a modern and prosperous Zimbabwe. We know that real change takes time and requires tough decisions, we are ready to take the steps.”

He claimed to have secured $20 billion in investment commitments to date. Some $850 million had found its way back into Zimbabwe after being “externalised” by individuals and companies, he claimed, even as banks are still failing to give money to depositors.

Final curtain call … Nelson Chamisa rallying supporters in Harare on Saturday

Over at Freedom Square, an open space near central Harare, his youthful MDC Alliance rival was hammering him for having been there for 38 years and having failed to deliver on the promises he was now making on the campaign trail.

“Mnangagwa and Mugabe same-same. Mugabe made mistakes, but they were Mnangagwa’s mistakes too,” Chamisa told tens of thousands of cheering supporters.

He promised to roll back on bond notes and return Zimbabwe to the multi-currency system; he assured civil servants that there would be no job losses but they would be “reoriented” to stop the conflation between party and state.

He said his party had struggled to finance the campaign, with individuals using their personal resources. Where Zanu PF was busing crowds to its rallies, his supporters were making personal sacrifices. “Our T-Shirts are your love,” he said.

“We have two days to Independence. If we miss our opportunity on Monday, we are doomed for life,” he warned.

He said Mnangagwa’s was the struggle for liberation that brought independence in 1980, but now the country yearned for change of leadership to fight the development struggle.

“The struggle of the liberation, that was your struggle,” he said. “The struggle for transformation, that’s our struggle.”

He said the MDC Alliance was confident of victory, predicting a share of 65 percent of the vote.

“Mnangagwa cannot wake up on Tuesday and say he has won. How?”

Tendai Biti, who spoke earlier, said the MDC Alliance would not accept being “cheated”.

“We will protect our vote. We will protect our choice on July 30. The people of Zimbabwe have spoken. As I stand here, I don’t know anyone who is going to vote for Zanu PF,” Biti said.

“I don’t have a relative who is voting for Zanu PF. So, we don’t want a miracle on July 30 [of a Zanu PF victory]. People have spoken, they want change, they want transformation, they want Nelson Chamisa.”

Green army … Zanu PF supporters at the National Sports Stadium for their final rally

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said it had delivered ballot papers at the 11,000 polling stations countrywide.

The MDC Alliance says it fears rigging, and has deployed 44,000 polling agents.

Britain’s ambassador to Zimbabwe Catriona Laing called on ZEC on Saturday to address opposition concerns about the “tabulation process” for the presidential vote.

The Election Situation Room, which brings together several civil society groups, earlier said: “At a minimum, ZEC must publish an excel spreadsheet that lists all the results by polling station as they are confirmed. There is still time to do this. Such a move will provide much needed assurance on the visibility and trust in the ZEC results process.”

ZEC should not simply issue out a tabulated total figure, but should publicly release the spreadsheet containing the presidential election results from each polling station underpinning the aggregated total presidential results.

“This level of transparency is in compliance with Zimbabwean law and fully in line with Zimbabwe’s regional and continental commitments to democratic elections,” it added.

And Ambassador Laing agreed, writing on Twitter: “I would urge @ZECzim to respond to this important call from civil society. Providing results data in this way would increase confidence in the results tabulation process.”

All campaigning was due to end at midnight on Saturday, and now the politicians are at the mercy of the voters.

“Zanu PF is in power and will continue to be in power,” Mnangagwa said in closing. “This coming Monday we are going to win the elections. We are voting for the future.”

Said Chamisa: “There will be no run-off in this election. Don’t be afraid. We are running over Mnangagwa. On Tuesday, there will be a new President, a new vision, new money, new living standards.

“We want peace in this election, and we want peace after this election. We are winning. God is in it. We will not accept to be cheated. We have done our best, and now God will do the rest.”