“Tsvangirai had 73% in 2008.”- Mugabe makes fatal ‘slip of the tongue’

A repressed thought  in Robert Mugabe’s unconscious reared its ungovernable head yesterday. President Robert Mugabe had a ‘slip of the tongue’ on Tuesday, while addressing service chiefs and the new executive of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association at Zanu-PF Headquarters. Referencing the 2008 elections President Mugabe said Tsvangirai 73% of the vote. Before he could mention how much he had, the room was filled with interjections of the War Veterans shouting,”47%! 47%!” He made the correction and said Tsvangirai had garnered 47% whilst he had 43%. 

Psychologists and research on speech science says the more the conscious mind (prefrontal cortex) wants to suppress a thought, the more the unconscious has to check to make sure we’re not thinking it; so we think about it more.

“We’re just trying to do the right thing and not make embarrassing slips,” says Wegner, and the conscious mind usually prevails. But sometimes it fails, the imp sabotages us, and the very thought we tried to suppress pops into our minds and rolls off our tongue.

Deception also shows up in other often-overlooked stylistic stuff of speech—if you know what to look for. A former FBI special agent homes in on words such as then, so, after, when, as, while, and next—so-called text bridges—because they span information gaps. And that is precisely where much can be found.

“Most liars tell the truth up to the point where they want to conceal something, skip over the withheld information, and then tell the truth again,” he says. Text bridges help by allowing speakers to omit information they’d like to conceal. To the trained ear, the same words serve as markers to locate withheld information.

Listen to Mugabe’s slip of the tongue yesterday

In the aftermath of the 2008 election riot police were patrolling the streets of Harare to head off any violent protests after the opposition claimed victory but complained that the final vote count would be fixed.

George Charamba, Mr Mugabe’s spokesman, warned Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader: “He announces results, declares himself and the MDC winner and then what? Declare himself president of Zimbabwe? It is called a coup d’état and we all know how coups are handled.”

Before the election, Zimbabwe’s police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, who was in attendance of Mugabe’s meeting today and the head of the armed forces, General Constantine Chiwenga, said they would serve only Mr Mugabe.

Tendai Biti, the then MDC’s general-secretary, said that Mr Tsvangirai was leading the presidential race with more than 67 per cent of votes, based on the returns from 35 per cent of polling stations, before the state agents started intimidating and threatening the MDC camp with unspecific action if they continued to claim victory. 

Biti added: “They want to rig. But we have our own database with results and we shall release them because the people have voted the dictator out.” The deployment of security forces in Harare’s suburbs, where many MDC voters live, was being seen as a sign that Mr Mugabe was prepared for violent protests by opposition supporters if, as expected, he declared himself and his Zanu-PF party the winners.

Firebrand Mr Biti said: “We made a mistake in 2002 by not claiming our victory. We made a mistake in 2005 by not claiming our victory.

“We will not accept the results of any stolen election as a party.”

Mr Mugabe, who rigged the election into his sixth term, said: “We don’t rig elections. I cannot sleep with my conscience if I have rigged.”