Saturday 28 May 2011

Tsvangirai taunts his GPA Prince Charming, Mugabe a murderer!

“My hands are very clean and my conscience is clear. I did not kill anyone during Gukurahundi. I did not kill anyone during Operation Murambatsvina and I did not kill anyone during the 2008 presidential elections run-off.“I challenge Mugabe to come out in public and say the same,” he said to enthusiastic applause, reported the Daily News.

When Tsvangirai entered this political marriage with Mugabe three years ago it was a love of a lifetime. He was dazzled by the prospect of being Prime Minister he forgot that it was a tyrant he was marrying, the same man he is now calling a murder!

Tsvangirai should have resigned for dragging the nation into this stupid GNU and allowing Mugabe to continue with his murderous reign. He should be talking of how he and his party were going to stop this madman terrorising and murdering our people. Calling Mugabe a murder may bring a moment’s conform but it is not doing anything to stop him.

Tsvangirai was speaking at a party to celebrate Moyo of MDC’s win of the Parliamentary Speaker’s position. An empty victory really given that it is JOC who exercise all real political power in Zimbabwe not parliament. Years of Zanu PF corruption have undermined the country’s democratic institutions; this parliament had its work cut out. And yet this GNU parliament has not changed a single thing in three years.

MDC’s leaders cheered Tsvangirai’s murderer jibe at Mugabe and yet everyone of them were relieved when they got back home unmolested by Zanu PF thugs or the Police. If these leaders faced the same level of political violence as the ordinary MDC supporters and the public faced, none of them would have cheered just as none of them would have agreed to share power with a murderer!
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A Daily News reporter forced to leave a public Zimbabwe Republic Police cadet pass-out parade officiated by Mugabe.

“You cannot cover this event, you were not invited. After all your stories and cartoons are damaging the President. Go away now. This is our area,” the State Security Agent told the reporter. Signs of the things to come as the prospect of the national elections looms.

Zanu PF will have their elections this year.

In the 2008 elections thousands were raped, hundreds were murdered and the whole nation was traumatised to secure a Mugabe "victory". The dictator has since reorganised his terror machine and it is well oiled with Marange diamonds money. The juggernaut will leave tsunami type destruction!

To think Mugabe was politically dead after the sham 2008 elections and, by signing the GPA, MDC gave the tyrant this Lazarus moment!

Sunday 22 May 2011

Retire Chihuri and Chiwenga and Zanu PF - Medousa - will grow new snake heads!

Here we go again, MDC making confused, contradictory and, frankly, nonsensical demands.

“The current leadership in the security sector has in the past shown that they are partisan. In our view, the best way to realign the security sector is to retire at the very minimum the Commissioner-General of Police Augustine Chihuri and the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) General Constantine Chiwenga,” the MDC’s policy document states.

It is Chihuri’s sworn duty to investigate all unlawful activities and arrest all those responsible. During the three months to the June 2008 presidential run-off over 500 people were murdered and yet no one has ever been arrested. Does MDC really expect Chihuri to up hold the rule of law because he made a public commitment to do so when he failed to do so after taking an oath!

The simple act of forcing Chihuri and Chiwenge into retirement will not transform these partisan institutions into democratic ones. One can even add the retirement or death of Mugabe himself in the mix and still this Zanu PF dictatorship will survive and thrive. These individuals are the public faces of the dictatorship; they masterminded all the intimidations, rapes and murders and supervised the executions of these heinous crimes. Still they are buts the visible snakes growing out of the mythical Medousa’s head. Cut one snakehead off and two will grow in its place.

The years of economic mismanagement, rampant corruption and, in the last ten year, the all out looting – the three ugly beasts behind Zimbabwe’s economic collapse and then total melt down - has costed Mugabe and Zanu PF dearly in terms of public support. Zimbabweans have desert Zanu PF and voted for alternative in droves, knowing they risked the wrath of Zanu PF. Corruption and looting have allowed the unscrupulous individuals to prosper and allowed the party to generously reward the ruthless individuals who have carried out its dirty work. Mugabe and others planned the murders but it was the ruthless that have the blood on their hands. The unscrupulous and ruthless constitute the body and soul of the Zanu PF dictatorship; they have as much to lose from regime change as Mugabe, Chihuri and all the others.

MDC should have pushed for democratic reforms the very next day after the signing of the GPA and not to do so now, a few months before fresh elections. And worse still push for the reforms by making an empty gesture. At this critical stage in our history when the nation is literally dying for meaningful democratic changes the last thing we wanted is more endless posturing from MDC.

As if having a ruthless dictatorship was not bad enough but MDC’s sheer incompetency in all this is make one’s blood boil!

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Given the man-hours the South Africa government has invested in the Zimbabwe crisis and its critical importance to the economic and political stability of SA and the whole region there must be more to President Zuma’s failure to attend the Namibia SADC meeting than that he had another commitment. It would have taken a couple of hours of his precious time to fly there address this single item on the agenda and fly back.

In Zambia President Zuma had tried, the first time, to put his foot down and rein in Mugabe. The later had responded by becoming even more arrogant and belligerent and thus called President Zuma’s bluff. President Zuma knew the Namibia meeting would be tough.

With SADC’s demands for more political reforms still ringing in his ears Mugabe knows he must push for elections to be held this year. Instead of taking SADC head on and resist reforms he wants to avoid the reforms by making sure that there was no time to see them through even with the best will in the world.

SADC and more so MDC should started pushing for the democratic reforms soon after the formation of GNU. They were slow off the start and three years is a long time to prepare for fresh elections particularly when all parties agree the GNU is not working!

President Zuma knows Mugabe has a strong hand and he really does know what to do next. Delaying the discussion on Zimbabwe has bought President Zuma more time but of course the hesitation would have heartened Mugabe.
If push comes to shove Mugabe will force the holding of election by withdrawing his party from the GNU and the GPA says the GNU will collapse. President Zuma will have to forget his demands for elections to be held next year to allow for meaningful democratic reforms. He can do so quietly now or be forced to do so later!

Friday 20 May 2011

Mugabe and his entrourage flew five times to Singapore for cataract op - sick joke!

This is a sick joke! So Mugabe had to go all the way to Singapore not once; five times for something as simple as an eye cataract operation? I know the country's health system has but collapsed (and we know who is responsible for that), still the money Mugabe and his entourage spent on one trip to Singapore alone would have paid for a state-of-the-art Eye Hospital in Zimbabwe. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans today are blind when only they needed was a cataract operation.

This is a sick joke! So Grace Mugabe is in China being treated for a dislocated hip. There is no doctor in Zimbabwe who can treat that? No doubt it is the Zimbabwe taxpayer who is paying her bill. And no doubt her bill is comparable to what government is spending running all the clinics catering for all the health needs of hundreds of thousands including hundreds with dislocated hips!

This is a sick joke! So Bona Mugabe is still studying in Hong Kong and, I suppose, still staying in the mansion worth US$5m. She must be aiming at having seven degrees, like her father. The Mugabes have reportedly more than 13 farms each worth millions looted from the white farmers and lots of other assets and wealth besides. But no doubt it will be the Zimbabwe taxpayer who pays, directly or otherwise, all Miss Mugabe’s bills. Her annual bill will no doubt be comparable to what government spends on all the students at UZ in a month!

After all the billions of dollars the nation spends educating the children and relatives of the country’s ruling elite one would think these students would be going back to Zimbabwe. None of them are doing that if they can help it. The late deputy CIO Director’s children are reportedly applying for political asylum in UK.
Mugabe has destroyed Zimbabwe’s education and health system and by flying his wife and himself to distant lands for treatment of even the most basic ailments and by sending his children and those of his cronies out of country for their education he is acknowledging this. And yet when the ordinary people with no money to seek their health and education needs outside the country and have paid dearly for his misrule ask for regime change; he is ruthless in his fight to maintain the status quo! How sick is that!?

Thursday 19 May 2011

The signing GPA did not help avoid "conflict" it was stupid!

“Mugabe and long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government two years ago to avoid a descent into full-fledged conflict in the aftermath of a bloody presidential run-off election,” reported News Live. That is a myth not found on falsehoods!

If Tsvangirai had refused to enter into the power sharing arrangement Zimbabwe would have NEVER descended into conflict.

In 2008 Mugabe and his thugs had just orchestrated a ruthless campaign of terror, rape and murder to force the Zimbabwe people to ensure there would be no regime change. At the time the tyrant did not care what anybody else said about his electoral methods. He did after when the international refused to acknowledge his electoral victory as the legitimate. Even the AU Election Monitoring Team, known for declaring fraudulent elections a clean bill of health, could not do anything but condemn the Zimbabwe elections. None of Mugabe’s own follow dictators attended his swearing in ceremony; no doubt they too did not want their own nationals drawing parallels with the Zimbabwe tyrant!

With the whole world shunning after the sham elections Mugabe was as keen as mustard to recast himself as a statesman who would not hurt a fly. He disbanded his party thugs so quickly some were reportedly stranded far from their homes. The last thing on Mugabe’s mind was to continue the terror, etc. Against whom and to what end and purpose?

Tsvangirai has done some stupid things in his political career but signing the power sharing agreement with Mugabe was the rake-madness. It was the act of signing the agreement that gave Mugabe the legitimacy he was craving for. Indirectly, that also legitimized Mugabe’s acts of terror, rape and murder. No one with an sense of pride and principles would have done that, no one!

And Tsvangirai allowed Mugabe to enter State House through the back in return for what?! It was clear even before the agreement was signed that there would be no meaningful power sharing since Mugabe retained all the dictatorial powers. The America Ambassador to Zimbabwe at the time described the agreement as “full of hole”! Tsvangirai paid no heed to all advice not to enter into the agreement; his eyes were set on being Prime Minister.

Time has proved beyond all doubt just what disaster the GPA has been for Tsvangirai and the nation at large. No good was ever going to come out of keeping Mugabe in power with all his dictatorial powers.

Tsvangirai’s spin doctors, notably Professor John Makumbe, have span the yarn claiming Tsvangirai entered into the GPA to save the country from political violence. What nonsense! The violence stopped soon after 27 June 2008 when Mugabe was declared the “winner” of the sham election. The peace lasted throughout the negotiations but restarted again before the ink on the signed GPA had dried.

Tsvangirai’s spin doctors have had to work even harder on their yarn to cover up all the negative things that have been coming out ever since the signing the GPA!

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Mugabe can never win free elections and hence the mad rush to have elections before any democratic reforms in Police, Media, etc. can be pushed. Pushing through the reforms should have been Tsvangirai's top priority but sadly for two years he has done nothing. He was napping again as usual!

Tunisia is holding elections in July this year, six months after the demise of the country’s dictator. By end of the year Zimbabwe would have had over three years to hold fresh election. The political playing field will not be level but with Tsvangirai championing reforms; it is hard to see how that can ever happen; Mugabe is just too cunning for him!.

Monday 16 May 2011

Tsvangirai promise to sweep securocrats' misdeeds under the carpet: what a cop-out!

Instead of demanding far reaching reforms in Zimbabwe's public media to end Zanu PF's monopoly and openning it to serve all Tsvangirai in the GPA asked that the public media stopped calling him a puppet! He really did not care that Zanu PF continued to brainwash the people with its propaganda and deny them their basic right to freedom of expression. It did not take long before the Herald reports were back to calling Tsvangirai puppet! One would think he learnt his lesson.

Tsvangirai is back at it again selling the nation's rights and future to appease Mugabe and his thugs. This time he is offering to sweep the Zanu PF dictatorship's heinous crimes under the carpet if the Police and Army promise to salute him!

Tsvangirai said if his party forms the next government, he will ensure that no one harbours feelings of revenge for past misdeeds.

"We are grappling with so many traumas, our liberation struggle was not easy. We went through that trauma - Gukurahundi was not easy, the Murambatsvina was not easy, and the violence against the opposition political parties was not easy. In finding a solution to that trauma we need balance," Tsvangirai said.

"You cannot have balance as a nation if we say an eye for an eye. If we do that, we will all be blind."

Some great people like Mahatma Gandhi of India have used this quotation “an eye for an eye and the whole world going blind” to stop the use of violence to end violence. But this is the first I have heard it used to encourage violence and lawlessness.

The root cause of Zimbabwe’s history of political violence on which Zanu PF’s de facto one-party state is founded is that those committing these heinous are above the law. What makes these crimes totally unforgivable is that these crimes were not committed by some rogue criminal or small time mafia gang but by the State using State Institutions like the Police, Army, the Courts, etc.

What Tsvangirai should have been doing for years now is send a clear message that crime does not pay and the law will get you sooner or latter. Yes, even if you are committing these crimes for those in the highest offices in the land.

As for those in the Police, Army or the other State Institutions Tsvangirai should have been reminding them no nation worth its salt can have Police Officers, for example, breaking their sworn duty to maintain law and order by not just turning a blind eye to political violence but playing an active role in the lawlessness.

Most of the lowly paid people in the Police, Army, etc. are coerced by the regime to prop up the dictatorship they would stop doing so if anyone could offer them a way out. They have all suffered from the economic melt down and have been the victims of the repression just like the rest of the populous.

Only Mugabe and his inner circle have benefited from the dictatorship and have an invested interest in maintaining the status quo.

So Tsvangirai is offering to have all Mugabe and his criminal henchmen are the political crimes swept under the carpet in return for these criminals’ promise to salute him? Will he also allow them to keep all the wealth they looted too?

Zimbabwe has a real chance to once and for all put an end to this corrosive political system that has allowed mafia thugs to occupy the highest seats of office in the land and rid rough shod of the public and get away with it by the simple act of making sure that those responsible for past crimes held to account.

Upholding the rule of law and establishing precedence that those who do not will be held to accountable is not being vengeful but being responsible and visionary! If Tsvangirai ever gets into State House and is allowed to sweep under the carpet what Mugabe and his thugs have done to the people of Zimbabwe throughout the years as if their sufferings and all the deaths count for nothing then that would be the worst cop-out and dereliction of duty in human history.

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Gentlemen

We had all hoped against hope that events in North Africa and the Arab states will spur Zimbabweans to finally get rid of Mugabe. We can now safely conclude that the much wished for Zimbabwe's Arab Spring moment was a none-event!

So brave Zimbabweans tried to organised a copy cat public protests and within minutes the Mugabe's Police had the organisers all rounded up and thrown in jail.

Two weeks ago Ezra spoke of the little interest Zimbabweans paid to the numerous independent newspapers launched in the last year. I too have found that I can talk to many Zimbabweans be they here in UK or back home for hours on end if we talk about football, especially the English teams. Talk about the tragic events back in Zimbabwe and the discussion in end in two minutes flat!

So why is it that Zimbabweans are more interested in the fortunes of Arsenal than their own life tragedy that has left 90% of the nation out of work and destitute? Why was it that the North Africa political awakening failed to spur our people out of their dinosaur like slumber? And, more significantly, what should be done to finally arouse this nation after decades of sleep-walking into the abyss? This must be one of the challenges of our time.

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@Mcritic you have hit the nail bang on the head; JOC have the thugs primed to intimidate, rape and murder the electorate into voting for Zanu PF. The thugs, who include members from the Police, Army and CIO have been deployed already so why wait?

It has finally dawned on President Zuma - he is a bit slow on the take - that there can not be free elections as long as Zanu PF is free to use violence and hence the drive to depoliticise the Police, Army and CIO. Delaying the elections will give President Zuma the time he needs to push for the security sector reforms. Mugabe and JOC know that.

Before this new development it was operationally convenient to have elections this year, now it is a matter of survival! If the reforms are carried through Mugabe and his JOC cronies will lose a lot more than political power; there is the small matter of the sudden drop and quick stop at the hangman’s hands to consider.

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Professor Makumbe cheered when Tsvangirai signed the disastrous GPA; he is still at it.

If SADC was being influence by events in North Africa, then elections must be held this year. Tunisia and Egypt’s dictators were deposed this year and elections are set before the end of the year. Zimbabwe’s GNU has had two years already to do the same. Tsvangirai should have delivered democratic reforms long ago and not be asking SADC to do it. We are NOT impressed he has “beaten” Zanu PF in this!

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Another Mugabe loyalist former Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Boniface Chidyausiku is entangled in a messy divorce with his wife. She is claiming a share of the family’s wealth in settlement; The wealth include eight residential houses, farm, cars, etc. It is not as impressive as Minister Chombo’s wealth; his wife is too demanding a cut in their divorce.

Ambassador Chidyausiku will forever be remembered for his staunch support of Zimbabwe’s sham 2008 presidential run-off in which the nation was subjected to the worst cases of political violence in which at least half of the nation was subjected to some form or other of violence including beatings, rape and murder. Over 500 people were killed. No one has ever been arrested proving – proof was required – the violence were all orchestrated and sanctioned at the very top! And of course, it was none other than Mugabe himself who was the principle beneficiary of the violence. The level of violence was such that Tsvangirai could not campaign and was forced to withdraw from the race giving Mugabe a clear run!

People like Chidyausiku do not understand Zimbabwe had a total economic melt down in the last tens years and is yet to recover. How can they, they have become multi-millionaires in their own right in the same period. That is the reality of looting; the lucky few become millionaires over night and over night millions are condemned to abject poverty!

Sunday 15 May 2011

Tsvangirai to appoint 15 "kitchen cabinet" loyalists into MDC National Executive - the Zanu PF rot setting in!

MDC leader Tsvangirai is reportedly considering expanding the party’s National Executive by as much as 15 loyalists from his “kitchen cabinet”. The Congress elected 12 members and the party’s constitutions says 7 can be unelected. The MDC leader is seeking to more than double the number of unelected members!

MDC disregarded the party's constitution stipulating that the president could only serve a maximum of two terms thus allowing Tsvangirai to remain leader. Of course this gentlemen agreement applied to everyone else and hence, other than Mudziri, the top brass in the party remained in office after the May 2011 party Congress. And not contend with that, the party is bringing back the few marginal individuals the party Congress had pruned off.

“MDC has a winning team, why change it!” parroted the party chief propagandist, Nelson Chamisa.

There is no real debate and competition for leadership position in MDC turning it into a party of deadwood. The party was formed eleven years ago and its track record is already a liturgy of monumental lost opportunities and blunders.
MDC will never bring economic prosperity in Zimbabwe just as Zanu PF’s promise of mass prosperity – “gutsa ruzhinji” – has turned out to be mass poverty. The two parties’ ethos stifles competition depriving themselves the critical ingredient for a dynamic and progressive government. The only thing differentiating MDC from Zanu PF is the latter’s history of brutal repression. But do not hold your breath MDC the party has not had the opportunity of being in office to abuse it. Indeed the party has already shown they too can resort to brute force in the dog fight for party positions; a taste of what to come!

Saturday 14 May 2011

Reforming Zimbabwe's security sector is necessary for free elections but there are challenges!

Yes security sect reforms are a must if there is to be free elections. What I find infuriating about Tsvangirai is why he has done nothing on the matter for the last two years. Thank God President Zuma has taken this up; still there is a limit to what even he can achieve in the few months before elections.

President Zuma faces three main challenges; the biggest and immediate challenge is time. The writing of the new constitution has taken over two years already and there is still little to show for because Zanu PF kept throwing spanners in the works. It suited the party to do so. Now that the party has decided to have fresh elections this year, the nation will be whipped into a stampede to make sure that happens. The party does not want to see any democratic reforms pushed through and making sure there is no time is one way to ensure they achieve this.

Second, whatever reforms President Zuma force the three parties to sign to in the roadmap have a snowball in hell chance they will not be honoured on the ground; particularly when they can not be enforced by law. Mugabe will see to it that any proposed laws threatening his dictatorial powers are kicked into the tall grass!

Last but by no means least; no nation can hope to have peace and to prosper when those entrusted with the duty of keeping law and order and themselves guilty of breaking the law. The rule of law is the foundation of peace, justice, freedom, liberty, economic prosperity; all the good things we all seek in life! Zanu PF has used all manner of ways to coerce and corrupt our people into doing things they know are wrong and are damaging to the common interest including their own person interest. The overwhelming majority in the Police, Army, etc have suffered greatly from the madness of this Mugabe dictatorship as have the rest of us.

The Police Officers and the Soldiers, deployed throughout the country, to intimidate, rape and murder know that it is Mugabe and his cronies who stand to gain from all this; they are not stupid. They have allowed themselves to be a key part of this madness because no one has yet presented to them an alternative vision of Zimbabwe freed of this madness.

Waving some piece of paper signed by some up starts in Cape Town saying a Police Officer must enforce the law regardless of political affiliation will not be enough to restore law and order. To win this war, there has to be boots on the ground to sell the democratic Zimbabwe brand. It is not a hard sell, God knows it sells itself, and yet MDC, who should have been selling it, have failed miserably to do so. Can not see what President Zuma can do on this one.
Reforming Zimbabwe’s Police and Army are a must for democratic elections but, sadly, that is not going to happen; with Mugabe determined to have elections this year, it is a bridge too far!

Thursday 12 May 2011

Mugabe's arrogance has force Zuma to demand free elections - still Mugabe has the trump card!

Everyone can see there can not be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe in the current environment. This is so not because the nation has not been given the time to create the right political environment and hence the call for elections to be post pone to next year. This GNU has had over two years already to prepare for fresh elections and the political environment is worse now than ever. Yes the nation has no money but there is no cause to believe its financial position will any better next year.

We are in this situation because there was no political will to create an environment in which there could be free elections. It is not in Mugabe's interest to do so and Tsvangirai lacked the common sense to push for meaningful reform.

SADC, particularly President Zuma’s kid-glove handling of Mugabe has been pathetic. The Zimbabwean tyrant has repaid the favour by poking his finger right into President Zuma’s eye. Well that definitely did hurt and the South Africans have since taken off the kid-gloves. President Zuma’s name is mud – rightly so too - if he can not deliver free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.

At last President Zuma has finally decided to take Mugabe on. Game on!

Yes the elections must be moved to 2012 or better still 2013. The South Africans will need all the time to push Mugabe to carryout the necessary reforms.

Mugabe will be more determined than ever to resist all democratic reforms because free elections will mean regime change. He can not stand that! His game plan now is to accelerate the writing of the new constitution, hold the referendum and then fresh elections; all before the end of the year! The stampede this will cause will force his critics’ eyes off democratic reforms and with the new constitution and referendum done and dusted President Zuma will have no reason to delay holding elections.

If the worst comes to the worst Mugabe can always withdraw Zanu PF from the GNU sighting lack of progress on lifting of the sanctions, for example. That would trigger elections; the GPA clearly stated that the GNU will collapse if one of the three parties withdrew.

The game is on but it seems Mugabe still holds all the trump cards!

Monday 9 May 2011

Tsvangirai found GPA "frustrating" - it the people it a complete disaster!

“It is the most frustrating experience of my life to have to negotiate with somebody who lost an election, and then forced to negotiate an arrangement where the loser comes through the window in order to claim the same rights like somebody who has won,” Tsvangirai has admitted.

For the people of Zimbabwe, who have bore the brand of your stupidity, Mr Tsvangirai it has been a complete disaster. Many people have lost their lives to get Mugabe out of office and, by your simple act of signing the GPA – frustrating or not – you let Mugabe back into office by the back door. The signing of the GPA by Tsvangirai was the single most disastrous act in Zimbabwe’s history. After the sham 2008 presidential run-off Mugabe was on the hook; the whole world refused to recognise him as “legitimate” head of state. But by signing the GPA Tsvangirai got the ruthless dictator and murderer off the hook!

Yes the country has enjoyed some degree peace and economic stability for the last three years but at what price? The dictator has used the time to reorganise his thugs, most of whom are now on full civil service pay to coerce the Police, Army and CIO into taking playing an active part in the political violence and lawlessness to promote Mugabe and Zanu PF’s struggle on power; to build a war chest from the sale of diamonds looted from Marange; etc. Like it or not Mugabe has had his “Lazarus Moment” as Jason Moyo of Mail and Guardian so aptly described it.

What would have happened if Tsvangirai had refused to enter into this shotgun marriage of convenience? The nation would have had to hold fresh free and fair elections which Mugabe have lost – the dictator knew he could never win free and fair elections. In short Mugabe would have been finally buried politically and not brought back from the died as has happened! The politics of fear, repression and murder would have been buried with him. And there will be peace, freedom and justice at long last.

With Mugabe and his dictatorship out of the way and the nation finally free to act and end the lawlessness, take away the idle farms and all the other resources looted by Mugabe and his cronies and put them all back into full productive use, etc; the nation would be on its way to full economic recovery.

The GPA has allowed the political violence to die down compared to what was happening before the run-off election but the threat of it all coming back has remained hanging over the nation’s head. And on the economic front the empty shops have filled with goods – imported goods. The country’s industries have continued to close down and Mugabe’s continued anti-West rhetoric has continued to scare away would be investors. Unemployment has remained stubbornly high, 80% plus, throughout and basic services like health and education which had all but collapsed by 2008 had hardly functioning for lack of funds.

Of course, whatever little political and economic gains GPA had brought will all be wiped out as the nation falls back in the tight grip of the dictatorship.

“But I think you reach a stage where, given the level of collapse, you may have to forego, whether you have won or not and say what is the best solution for the people,” was Tsvangirai’s feeble excuse. This is more than spin, he actually believes in this nonsense!

Mugabe’s excuse for destroying the nation’s economy and for his barbaric denial of the people’s rights and dignity to satisfy his greed for wealth and power is that it was all done to protecting the country’s “independence and sovereignty”. When Mugabe offered Tsvangirai the chance to be Prime Minister – (it was not for the dictator to give offer but a simpleton like Tsvangirai did not appreciate that) even when it was clear there was to be no real power and authority behind the position (again the simpleton did not see that) – was all too much for the later How can bringing back to life a ruthless dictator so that he can continue to torment rape and murder our people be “best for the people”?!

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Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa sought refuge behind black wheelie bins on Saturday as angry refugees and activists in South Africa disrupted a planned ZANU PF anti-sanctions rally, reports S W Radio Africa.

It is a great pity that it is not only Mugabe and Zanu PF who believe that thuggery is the only way of expressing one's point of view. MDC has the numbers on its side in SA and the party's supporters did not hesitate to use violence to silence Minister Mutasa. MDC is becoming more and more like Zanu PF as the party becomes more and more powerful politically. What we want is to end the cycle of violence and intolerance Mugabe fostered on the nation and have freedom, democracy and rule of law. We do not want to see one repressive regime replace by another repressive regime.

MDC’s “an eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth mentality” will only result in Zimbabwe blind and toothless!

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Zimbabwe’s representative to the three main political parties in the GNU plus President Zuma’s facilitating team are meeting in Cape Town to find a road map to Zimbabwe’s political crisis. The issue of violence is proving to be one sticking point the other is the reform of Zimbabwe’s security organs; the Police, Army and CIO who have been playing any increasing role in instigating the violence. The top brass in these organs have publicly said they would not salute any political leaders with no liberation strangle record even if they did win elections.

So reform of the security organs to free them from the shackles tying them to Zanu PF is a must. To hang on to power Mugabe and Zanu PF can not afford to have law abiding Police, Army, CIO, etc. So the battle lines are drawn.

The people of Zimbabwe’s position are equally simple; they want reforms to restore their basic and fundamental right to have a meaningful say in the governance of the country freed from fear and violence. If their free vote should result in regime change so be; that should and must be accepted with no for apology or explanation!

If one accepts the security reforms will ensure the exercise fundamental rights and freedoms – and they are all fundamental and indivisible - what then is there to negotiate!

MDC’s position should be the same as that of the people but in the past the party has traded fundamental rights as readily as a fruit seller.

The Zanu PF negotiators have already been instructed by their party not to give an inch on security organ reforms.

“These puppets and their masters will not be allowed to reform something they did not form using the cover of the GPA negotiations under misplaced SADC facilitation which the UK government apparently wants to use to dictate regime change in the country,” wrote Professor Jonathan Moyo in local media.

Mugabe and Zanu PF’s position is simple enough; they will accept all reforms as long as they do not result in regime change at the end of the day. Any changes that will result in regime change is considered a western agenda and therefore not a violation of the people’s fundamental right. As far as Zanu PF is concerned the people of Zimbabwe would not possible seek regime change although the violence and abuse are all directed at the people and not the West.

No doubt Tsvangirai and President Zuma would give away some things to appease Mugabe – why else would one seek to divide things that are indivisible. At the end of the day Mugabe will take the concessions and demand more beside. As Professor Moyo rightly pointed out what ever is agreed by the negotiators is not enforced by a Court of Law because the negotiators do not have any legal power to pass laws in Zimbabwe. Not that there would have stopped Mugabe and Zanu PF in any way, they have always disregarded the law when it suited them to do so.

Mugabe is not interested in the twists and turns in the proposed road map what he has set in stone is its final destination – no regime change! Meanwhile Tsvangirai and President Zuma can amuse themselves drawing the roadmap as long the destination remains the same. Everyone knows the Mugabe dictatorship do a lot worse than calling those who dare cross swords with it “puppets”!

Friday 6 May 2011

MDC in scramble to find post for deposed Mudzuri - just as Mugabe would have done!

“The sources said the party was worried that keeping Mudzuri in the political wilderness would send the wrong message to party members as he held a significant position in the party and that his loss should not be construed to mean that he is now dead and buried,” reported the Daily News.

According to the report, MDC are proposing appointing Mudzuri to the party’s National Executive Committee.

In Africa, it seems once someone is elected into any position of power and authority they immediately go through some form of metamorphosis; transforming them from the ugly caterpillar munching leaves and crawling on its belly into the drop-down-gorgeous butterfly feeding on sweet nectar and honey and floats around gracefully and effortlessly on rainbow wings. To these politicians once a Minister, Prime Minister or President the idea of going back to being an ordinary citizen is as unthinkable as a butterfly going back to being a caterpillar again!

There can be no doubt that political leaders like Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo genuinely shared with the rest of the black majority the sense of injustice and frustration at the exploitation and oppression of backs by the white colonial government. Like the rest of the population the leaders hunger for freedom and dignity for all. But unlike the masses, these leaders were positioning themselves, long before the country finally gained its independence, to takeover power. And nothing, absolutely nothing was to be allowed to stand in their way; not even the basic freedoms and rights of the people, not even the right to life.

The fighting for power intensified after independence with those in power using the State machinery as an extension of the party to be used to promote and protect party interest instead of the common national interests.

Of course no leader in the world wants to be criticised and much less lose power. When the Conservative Party decided to replace Mrs Margret Thatcher as its leader and Prime Minister, the Iron Lady fought like a deranged cat. She did not want to go. The fact that she had been in the top job for an unprecedented 11 years already at the time, made no difference. She did not want to go; period. In democratic countries like the UK leaders become “first amongst equals”, the caterpillar to eat the tender shots and with the brightest colours; yes. But the most important thing is they remain caterpillars like the rest of the populous. They do not lose their common touch. So when they lose power; it is not as shocking to the system as a butterfly turning back into a caterpillar!

In Africa the leaders and the commoners are the same genetically just as caterpillars and butterfly are the same but to compare the extravagant lifestyles of those in power to the daily drudgery of the commoners the differences between them could not be more striking. The ruling elite have commandeering the nation’s entire wealth and resources for their exclusive use and benefit; they have everything and the rest of the population have absolutely nothing. The lack of competition and debate in the one-party state system was bound to result in the criminal waste of resources, brutal repression and tragic human misery as seen in Zimbabwe today.

One-party-dictatorship appealed to leaders like Mugabe because it was the only system that gave me security of tenure in State House. He and his Zanu PF friends have been in power for over thirty years. So yes; as far as keeping Mugabe and his friends in power the dictatorship has worked. The price Mugabe has had to pay for remaining the top dog was the solid rock guarantees he gave to those who would otherwise have challenged him for the position that their respective leadership position was assurance. Except for the unlucky few like Edgar Tekere most of Zanu PF’s founding fathers have too been Minister or some such powerful position for donkey-years. He has been quick to create new posts and super numeral posts in the bloated army, civil service, local government, State owned companies, etc to accommodate the every expanding ruling elite. These individual were appointed regardless of merit or, worse still, whether or not there was really anything for them to do. It was a recipe for certain economic disaster because of the criminal waste of material and human resources through mismanagement and corruption. These two evil got worse and worse as the nation was forced to dig deeper into its reserve to try and satisfy the ever demanding and expanding ruling elite. In 2000, Mugabe short of anything else of value to give his cronies instigated the looting of the white owned farms precipitating the country’s economic melt down!

All this scramble by MDC to create a spare for the deposed Elias Mudzuri, the only one of the MDC’s founding fathers to have lost his leadership position after the party’s congress is exactly what Mugabe has been doing all these years and, worse still, it is exactly what stifled meaningful debate and competition within the country and the party denying the nation the political dynamism to prevent the political rot that destroyed Zimbabwe. Of course the scramble is necessary as it will assure the rest of the leaders in MDC that their on position on the feeding trough is secure – including Tsvangirai’s own position which explains why they all allowed him to remain leader beyond the two terms stipulated by the party’s own constitution.

It is this totally misplaced brotherly love by African leaders for a follow leader that made AU and SADC leaders rally behind tyrants like Mugabe again and again.

Finding Mudzuri a position within MDC may help the later maintain some semblance of the Minister lifestyle he had tasted and clearly enjoyed. What this move will do is make it near impossible for MDC to remove any deadwood within the party now or in the future. What the people of Zimbabwe need desperately is a way out of the hell-hole Mugabe landed us. An MDC full of deadwood is certainly not going to get us out of here!

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And what has Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai done in the last three years since the sham elections of 2008 to ensure the violence that characterise the elections are not repeated? Sadly, nothing! We all know the “a modicum of political and economic stabilisation” he is talking about will disappear like mist once Mugabe's thugs, already deployed throughout the country, step up their terror campaign!

Thursday 5 May 2011

MDC disregarded party law restricting leaders to two terms - trust them not to do the same again!

Another interesting "Question Time" yesterday, Lance (S W Radio Africa). I listened to it twice, it was that good!

I do not know whether you will have Mr Nelson Chamisa as you guest again next week. I would have wanted him to answer the following questions:
1) Does MDC the party of excellence endorse the now universally accepted position that the State President should serve a maximum of two teams?
2) Was it out of fear of leaders clinging to power, for Mugabe 30 years as Head of government and over 40 years as first secretary of Zanu PF, that MDC stipulated the same fixed maximum teams for leaders in its party constitution?
3) It was you, Mr Chamisa, who justified the disregard of the party's constitution, the party's supreme law, to limit the number of terms leaders should serve before the Congress was even held by claiming MDC had "the winning team"! And long behold the same team that has led MDC for the last ten years was retained largely untouched on 1 st May 2011 to lead for a further five, ten, twenty years - who knows! Why should the nation believe MDC not disregard the country's constitution demanding that leaders serve a fixed maximum term too; after all the party will still be led by the same "winning team"?

MDC claim they are a party of excellence. Nothing could be further from the truth. The party has made some unbelievable blunders the worst one of which was getting Mugabe off the hook by entering into this GNU. USA Ambassador Chris Dell was right; Tsvangirai is a "flawed and indecisive character". MDC had a chance to elect some quality leaders during its Congress in Bulawayo but once again the members fluffed it. By re-electing the same mediocre leaders the party is doomed to go down the same path of failure and waste and, as happened with Mugabe and Zanu PF, ruthless repression so many leaders and political parties in Africa have travelled. The challenge before us all now is to ensure that MDC does not take the nation down with it!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

MDC chose Tsvangirai for party leader: Voters have the blunderer for President!

MDC have just completed its third party congress which saw the re-election of ALL the party’s top leaders except for Mr Elias Mudzuri. For a party than has blundered, dithered and made a complete mess of things ever since it emerged of the Zimbabwe political scene twelve years ago; one had hope that party would seize this opportunity to renew and reinvigorate itself by electing some quality leaders. So why did MDC decide to re-elect Morgan Tsvangirai a man described by former USA Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Chris Dell, described as “flawed and indecisive”?

The most immediate answer would have to be that the MDC party membership view Tsvangirai as a very complete leader and have never seen any of the blunders and shortcomings the rest of the world is talking about. These individual have refused to see the signing of GPA which allowed Mugabe back into power through the back door for no political gain for MDC and at great price to the nation at large for the tragic blunder it is. They console themselves with the excuse that Tsvangirai was forced to go down this route.

The same individuals are quick to point out to the shops, previous empty, now full of goods and the comparative economic stability of the last two years and they credit MDC for it all. The single most important event that has brought the greatest economic change in Zimbabwe has to be the scrapping of the Zimbabwe dollar and it was Mugabe’s Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinemasa, who did that. Even if one credited MDC for all the economic benefits of the last three years; the fact remains that the much anticipated economic recovery and, of course the political stability have remained a pipe dream. For his part, Tsvangirai and a few of his MDC friends were appointed Prime Minister and into a few ministerial positions. None of these positions, as it turned, were to carry any really power and authority; Mugabe and JOC retained and exercised all the real power and authority.

So by signing the GPA Tsvangirai traded in the country’s real chance to end Mugabe’s dictatorial rule for misery economic gains and a few meaningless ministerial jobs. Of course we were short changed; anyone, especially those purporting MDC is a party of excellence”, can see that.

“Seek political power and the rest will follow!” advised Kwema Nkrumah, Ghana’s first post independence President.

Frankly MDC members who re-elected Tsvangirai and the rest of the mediocre MDC leadership even consider how badly the party had performed in the past. The performance or none performance of an individual is almost irrelevant indeed in Africa’s warped social culture being a mediocre performer is often a distinct advantage.

There are mediocre leaders like Simon Muzenda who were promoted far beyond their level of competency. Dictators like Mugabe like to surround themselves with such individuals because they are too dull to ever challenge their authority. Others, for the sake of keeping their position, have learnt to “sit” on their brain.

The greedy people can not think straight; they can not reason or think logically. Greedy is a deadly disease that kills brain cells and replace them with mud!

As a people, blacks do not like competition. Whilst other people welcome competition as the foolproof method of distilling the leaders, ideas, solution, etc every time. We view competition as divisive and so have again and again found ourselves being frog matched into hell. We have suffered but still said nothing. We would rather suffer and die than question the wisdom and sincerity of those leading us regardless of the overwhelming evidence of their competency and selfishness.

Of course they are those who will never see the benefit to society and to themselves of open debate and competition. The lens cap to their intellect has been super glued by ignorance, prejudice or greed.

Just as Zimbabweans to the last man, woman and child are now determined to limit the terms of President to two terms, free and fair elections, etc; we should insist that the same conditions should be extended to all political parties who want our vote. If this was adopted then the nation would not be facing this totally meaningless electoral madness of having to choose between a tyrant or a blunderer. We want neither!

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On Sunday 1 May 2011 Zanu PF militia burn down a village in Cashel Valley, in Chimanimani according to a report by SWA Radio Africa.

P M Morgan Tsvangirai has continued to ignore this issue of political violence and thus has done nothing to ensure it is stopped. For the last three years the violence has continued and will, no doubt, get really ugly come the elections. Tsvangirai is leading the nation straight into yet another blood bath - like sheep to the slaughter. And surprise, surprise MDC claim it is a party "of excellence" and they are ready to "govern" the country. This is a nightmare!

Monday 2 May 2011

Tsvangirai promise democracy and 10% GDP growth rate - blunderer will never deliver anything.

Tsvangirai owes the people of Zimbabwe an apology for dragging the nation into this meaningless GNU that achieved absolutely nothing. Until the last few months he insisted the GNU was working; a blunder that has allowed Mugabe to have his "Lazarus moment", Jason Moyo of the Mail and Guardian called it.

And now that Mugabe has risen from the dead politically, Zimbabwe’s political future is as grim as ever. The threat of political violence remains as real today as it was in during the nightmare days of 2008 presidential run-off. Since then Tsvangirai should have left no stone unturned to ensure the country was spared of this scourge. He did nothing hoping it will all go away. Well, the scourge has become even more virulent.

Since 2008 Mugabe has been busy reorganising and strengthening his terror machine. His 2009 Zanu PF Congress passed a resolution committing the Police, Army and CIO to play a leading role in the political violence and lawlessness the only course of action the party has left to retain power and avoid the dreaded regime change. Mugabe has stubbornly refused to have public control and scrutiny of the diamond mining in Marange. He will, no doubt, use the wealth from the Marange diamonds to pay the party’s militia and War Vet – the party’s foot soldiers in its war of terror, rape and murder - and pay for all the other unsavoury activities to deny the people of Zimbabwe their democratic rights and hope.

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Here is the man who by his blundering incompetency allowed Mugabe back into State House through the back door and into years of misery and, God forbid, more blood shed. Instead of burying his face in shame has the impudence to talk of himself as a man of vision!

“I have a vision to create a society where the rule of law is paramount, a society where property rights are respected, a society where people enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of association and other rights guaranteed in our Constitution,” said Tsvangirai.

“It is only an MDC government that has capacity and support to grow this economy by about 10 percent every year,” promised Tsvangirai.

It has been Zimbabwe’s great misfortune and curse to have been ruled by a ruthless dictator for three decades. It would be unforgivable if this nation’s fate should be decided by blundering idiot! Tsvangirai will never deliver democracy and 10% GDP growth rate no more than Mugabe delivered freedom and mass prosperity – “gutsa ruzhinji”! Democracy was within his reach but failed dismally to deliver that was within ease reach. Zimbabweans must not be fooled by empty promises of a blunderer.