Zimbabwe: By-election results raise questions over voter registration

Candidates from the ruling ZANU-PF party romped home with huge margins in by-elections held at the weekend, although accredited election observers voiced concern about the way the poll was conducted. The by-elections in the ZANU-PF bastions of Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central provinces coincided with celebrations marking the seventh anniversary of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and were widely seen as an acid test of the opposition's ability to penetrate government-held strongholds.