Professor Jonathan Moyo may be a “serial political turncoat” as Thelma Chikwanha said; still he is raising a very important question here. Is President Zuma aiding the West’s “regime change agenda” in Zimbabwe?
It is a simple enough question and one President Zuma’s Chief Adviser Lindiwe Zulu should answer. For her to dismiss Moyo as distraction just because he is not in Zanu PF’s negotiating team is a feeble attempt to avoid answering the question.
Mugabe recalled Moyo “from the (political) abyss to the Party” as Morrison Makuvastine rightly pointed out because he is a shrewd strategist. Who would have thought Mugabe would do such a thing after all Moyo had said and done; describing Mugabe as “unelectable he could lose to a donkey”, the Tsholotsho “coup” of 2004, etc. Mugabe had to put his huge ego aside and recall Moyo because if it was not for the Professor Mugabe would have certainly lost the 2000 and 2002 elections. The forthcoming elections are going to be the toughest ever and Mugabe will need all the shrewd strategists he can get.
“Mugabe made a mistake (in appointing Moyo)”, Makuvastine said. Well you could not be more wrong!
Mss Zulu is wrong in dismissing Moyo because, although he is not in Zanu PF’s negotiating team, what he says counts. Chimenasa and the rest of his team might just as well be taking direct instructions from Moyo particularly after the Zanu PF team was roundly criticised for giving in to security sector and other key reforms during the last GPA talks.
In Zanu PF we have a political party that now firmly believes that they have the right to use all means necessary including intimidation, rape and murder to ensure elections do not result in regime change. Sadly SADC, the South African facilitating team and much less MDC have all shied away from addressing this point head on.
Elections are not some meaningless ritual nations have to perform every so many years. Elections are the very heart of what distinguishes us humans from all the other creatures; our rights and freedoms. Every human being has a right to a meaningful say in the governance of his or her country is just as important as the right to life!
Indeed when hundreds of thousands of our people have been murdered for no other reason other than that they dared demand free and fair elections and a meaningful vote it goes to show that the denial of one right or freedom has always resulted in the denial of all the other rights and freedoms.
Elections are always a gladiatorial affairs between those in power and those challenging to take their place in which the electorate are the arbiters whose vote will decide the winner. Like every other contest, there must be rules governing the contact elections stating what all the participants can and can not do. The use of violence against the opposition and the electorate, for example, is unacceptable. Elections should be gladiatorial clash of ideas not Police batons hitting innocent and defenceless people as has become the norm in Zimbabwe. Of course it is right that there should be Police reforms to end this outrage.
Freedom of expression and free press gives the citizens to opportunity to question and criticise those exercising political power on their behalf. Elections gives the citizens the chance to replace, if they so wish, to replace those to hold public office. Yes one can call it “regime change” because that is what it is and there is nothing wrong with it.
Mugabe became Prime Minister and the Executive President of Zimbabwe in April 1980 and has remained in office to this day, over thirty years! In that time USA has had six presidents and Britain other democratic nations have had a similar change of leaders.
It is the democratic nations’ ability to hold meaningful competition and to change leaders that is behind their dynamism and prosperity. Zimbabwe like all nations is which tyrants have stifled debate and change has suffered from stagnation and rot.
Regime change is not a dirty phase as Mugabe, Moyo and the rest in Zanu PF would have us believe. It is the only way out of a political stagnation, years of corruption and economic melt down and the only way to restore the dignity and hope of the people of Zimbabwe. Using violence and other repressive means to frustrate the electorate’s democratic wishes is treason and serious crime against humanity. People like Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and now Lindiwe Zulu have repeatedly shied away from taking a bold and unequivocal stand against Mugabe’s lies and bullying tactics and thus failed the people of Zimbabwe!
1 comment:
Moyo is wrong to say the GPA was signed "after an inconclusive 2008 parliamentary election". The two MDC factions had the majority of the parliamentary seats.
The GPA was signed after the international community refused to recognise Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s “legitimate” head of state following the sham presidential run-off elections. Moyo has himself argued that Tsvangirai should not have withdrawn for the race even in the face of increased political violence against him and his supporters. Clearly the international community did not see things that way.
At the time, Tsvangirai accused Mugabe and Zanu PF of “declaring war” on the people of Zimbabwe because of the intensity of the political violence. With the talk of fresh elections, the curse of violence has once again raring its ugly head. GPA stands for Global Political Agreement but could as well stand for Global Peace Agreement given Zanu PF has already renewed its “war” against the people!
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