To appreciate the difficulty of safeguarding Saturday’s elections in Zimbabwe against massive state-sponsored fraud it is necessary only to drive to the northern perimeter of the capital, Harare, to a small plot of red earth on the edge of the swanky suburb of Borrowdale.

The plot is marked on the map as Stand 10108. On the ground there is nothing but an empty wooden shack. The nearest neighbours said on Friday no one lived there. But the voters roll gives a very different picture: it says that Stand 10108 is the home of 75 registered voters.