ZIMBABWE-VOTE

TO GO WITH STORY BY FANUEL JONGWE Matilda Mahlatini, 76, talks on March 15, 2013 in her village of Chinamhora, Zimbabwe. Mahlatini will not be joining hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans voting in a referendum on March 16 on whether to adopt a new charter to pave way for new elections and a possible end to a shaky power-sharing government. The widow who ekes a living on a small plot in Cheza village in Chinamhora, 60 kilometres north-east of Zimbabwe, says she only heard about the draft charter, has no knowledge about its contents and that her welfare takes priority over the vote. "I will be chasing away the monkeys and baboons," the grey-haired Mahlatini told AFP referring to the marauding animals that besiege fields in the village in search of fresh corn. "If I go to vote all of my mealies will be eaten and what am I going to eat myself ?" Her only hope is that the vote will change things "especially the economy." AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images)