The right to support and vote for a political party of one’s choice is a fundamental right and per se a right one should not give up. Indeed one should never give up. In Zimbabwe the price of exercising this right has always been high; the Mugabe regime has been brutal and ruthless in its drive to create a de facto one-party state.
The regime has undermined the country’s democratic institutions like the print and electronic media and the judiciary by appointing party loyalists to run and/or control these institutions. Freedom of expression was stifled and the rule of law was no more. Fear not reason ruled the land.
The price oppressive regime pay for stifling debate and competition so that, right across the board, loyalty to the leadership and to maintaining the status quo is valued above merit and ability has allowed the scam, not cream, rise to the top. Thirty years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and wholesale looting, an even more ravenous cancer to sweep the nation in the last ten years, has completely destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy. In the six years period 2002 to 2008; the Zimbabwe economy has shrunk by a staggering 84%!!
It is the Zimbabwean people who have suffered and paid the ultimate price of a repressive dictatorship; on the political and social front, they are been denied the basic and fundamental rights and freedoms and on the economic front, millions now live in abject poverty. The situation in Zimbabwe has driven the people into despair and desperate for change. The regime, true to form, has responded by slamming its repressive machine into overdrive. And as a reward for all those willing to do its dirty work, party loyalists have been given the green light to loot at will. There are hardly any white farms left in the country for them to loot and so the thugs have turned their beady eyes on the few businesses left. Of course, this last bout of looting will drive the national economic into the very depths of hell! The natural response for people would be to scream and demand change even more loudly.
The scene is therefore on the one hand set a regime set in its repressive ways determined more than ever to retain power at any cost. On the other hand a people whose very lives depend on bring about the very thing the regime dreads – regime change. We have the regime, a juggernaut, set on its destructive path and gathering momentum with each passing day and a defenceless people determined to stop it. The out come is clear there will be a blood bath!
Still, I do not believe having a blood bath is not the only way out of this political nightmare. Zimbabweans should denounce Tsvangirai and his MDC party and all the other opposition political parties and join Zanu PF in droves. The people in Matebeleland and Midlands did this before the 1985 elections, at the height of the Gukurahundi massacres. Mugabe was itching for a fight and as long as he regarded the ordinary people in Matebeleland and the Midlands PF Zapu supporters he wanted to political cleanse the country of PF Zapu and showed them no mercy. He only relented when there were bonfires of PF Zapu membership cards everywhere.
In the 1985 elections still PF Zapu garnered more votes than the party’s decimated card carrying membership ever suggested; much to the annoyance of Mugabe.
After the elections Mugabe continued with his political cleansing scheme; some people would say, with vengeance. Still, there can be no doubt that by joining Zanu PF on mass the people of Matebeleland and Midlands stole Mugabe’s thunder! We can do this again.
Mugabe knows that the majority of Zimbabweans will not vote for him in a free and fair election. He has amassed the misguided and overzealous Zanu PF Youths and the War Vets backed by the Police, CIO and soldiers to force people to vote for him. People should not just join Zanu PF but the Youth, Police, etc and play a very active role in the running of the party machinery. What better way of ensuring there will be no blood bath than confronting Zanu PF thugs with Zanu PF membership card! In the past MDC supporters have held red card to Mugabe; they must now hold Zanu PF cards to save their own lives in the coming days.
No comments:
Post a Comment