By Cris Chinaka

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabweans began voting on Saturday in the most crucial election since independence from Britain in 1980, with veteran President Robert Mugabe facing the biggest challenge of his 28-year-rule.

Some voters slept at the polling stations while others began queuing before dawn. Voting began just after 7.00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. EDT) and was scheduled to end 12 hours later.

“I can’t say Zimbabweans are cowards or that they are cautious, they are peace loving people, but if Mugabe steals the election there will surely be trouble in this country,” red-eyed Leo Kariwo said as he waited to vote in Harare’s low income Mufakose township.

With the once-prosperous nation’s economy in ruins, former guerrilla leader Mugabe must defeat a formidable two-pronged attack from veteran opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and ruling party defector Simba Makoni.

His two rivals believe they can finally end Mugabe’s iron rule because of an economic meltdown that has reduced most of the population to misery, including those in his traditional rural strongholds.

Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket, now suffers the world’s worst inflation at over 100,000 percent, a rampant HIV/AIDS epidemic that has contributed to a radical reduction in life expectancy, a virtually worthless currency and chronic shortages of food and fuel.

“I want to vote because things are so bad, and maybe this election will help change that,” said a 35-year-old security guard who left his post at a shopping mall and had been walking two hours to his township to vote.

He declined to be named or say who he will be voting for, for fear of intimidation.  Continued…