Sunday 2 December 2012

Democratic reforms are the only path to freedom and economic prosperity; no short cuts!


Democratic reforms lay at the very heart of everything; without meaningful democratic reforms Zimbabwe will never get out of this political and economic hell-hole. These include a democratic constitution and not one open to abuse by the ruling elite; reform of the security sector so the Police do their duty of maintaining law and order and not turn a blind eye to lawlessness; a free media committed to freedom of expression and not a public media brainwashing the people with Zanu PF propaganda and a private media muzzled by AIPPA and POSA; a clean voters roll so every Zimbabwean can vote and not one where hundreds of thousands of voters were deliberately left out whilst thousands of dead people's names still remain on the roll and even "vote"; the restoration of basic individual rights and freedoms including the right to a meaningful vote and the right to life; etc. Sadly Tsvangirai has failed to deliver none of these things.

 

Nothing can be done without first carrying out the above democratic reforms to think otherwise is to delude oneself. MDC has often boosted of "stabilising the economy" of saving it from "falling over the edge"; that is all nonsense!

 

The two things have brought some sanity in the Zimbabwe economy since 2008; the scrapping of the Z$ in November 2008 by Zanu PF’s Patrick Chinamasa and then the removal of all price control by MDC’s Tendai Biti. These two policies were carried through because Zanu PF approved. After the hype inflation fuelled by the printing of worthless Z$, the party realised this was NOT a sustainable way of running a national economy.

 

To get the national economy on a meaningful economic recovery required other bold changes like not just putting an end to the disastrous farm seizure which had triggered the economic melt-down in the first place but to take away the seized farms and put them to productive use again. Mugabe and his Zanu PF did not want their loot touched, indeed the looting continued.

 

Tsvangirai and MDC had foolishly signed on to an arrangement in which they had no meaningful political power to stop the corruption and looting.

 

In June 2009 Andrew Marr on a BBC programme highlighted Tsvangirai his political weakness. Tsvangirai was boosting about of his magnanimity in agreeing to form the GNU with Mugabe and even compared himself to SA’s Nelson Mandela. Andrew reminded Tsvangirai that President Mandela had agreed to work with F W De Klerk only when it was clear that apartheid was dead and buried; the same could not be said of Mugabe and Zanu PF. Sadly Tsvangirai did not get the message even now, with hindsight, he still does not understand the critical importance of good governance in effecting meaningful change.

 

Last week MDC unveiled its latest economic program, The Jobs, Upliftment, Investment, Capital and Environment Plan, or JUICE which will deliver 1 million new jobs in five years, etc., etc. The program acknowledges that Zanu PF’s indigenisation policy was one thing that has held back national economic recovery and therefore would be scrapped. Zanu PF has already responded and said indigenisation is “irreversible”. And since all the evidence on the ground show the next elections will not be free and fair and thus Zanu PF is assured of victory it was clearly pointless concentrated on JUICE whilst doing nothing to ensure the elections were free and fair!    

 

The way MDC supporters keep blabbering about “give us the alternative” every time anyone points out yet another blunder by the party shows just how shallow minded they really are. An intelligent and rational person will not hold back acknowledging a mistake because he or she has not figured out the alternative because the acknowledgement itself is a necessary first step in the search for the alternative!

 

It must have taken USA Ambassador Chris Dell one or two meetings with Tsvangirai for him to conclude the MDC leader was “a flawed and indecisive leader”. 13 years of endless blundering has been water off a duck’s back with many Zimbabwe; they still considering Tsvangirai a great leader who should be rewarded with a “sack full of Marange diamonds”. Is it any wonder the country is in this hell-of-mess and at this rate the prospect of ever getting out are naught!  

 

Thank you very much Savagehunter, you and your equally myopic MDC and Zanu PF friends are doing your bit to hold Zimbabwe down. 33 years with Mugabe and now 13 years with Tsvangirai and still have learnt nothing. Tigere hedu! Waiting for alternatives not that you will see any since you have your eyes closed anywhere.

2 comments:

Zimbabwe Light said...

@Savagehunter
Before independence the white colonialist controlled the Police, the Army, etc just as Mugabe and Zanu PF controlled the Police, CIO, Army, etc in 2006 and to this day: that does not change anything. The national agenda before independence, in 2006 and now remains the same: WE DEMAND MEANINGFUL DEMOCRATIC REFORMS AS STATE ABOVE!

As a nation we may have struggled with finding "the first steps in dealing" with the white colonialists and then later with Mugabe. We clearly did first the first steps and triumphed; gained our independence in 1980 and defeated Mugabe in the 2008 elections. What should occupy your whole being is why Mugabe failed to deliver the freedom, the peace, the prosperous and all the hopes and dreams of the whole nation after independence in 1980 and then why Tsvangirai failed to do the same after 2008.

We all know why our erstwhile leaders failed to deliver on their promises to deliver freedom, etc., of course; they got on the gravy train and forgot about it. What you are struggling with is accepting this simple fact because you cannot accept the leaders betrayed us.

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Mudanhire

The vote has become the raison d'état of our politics; politics has become the raison d'état of the masses' grinding poverty and political repression and, in a twist of fate, the fear of the grinding poverty by the ruling elite has become the raison d'état of no-holds-barred grab for votes. We are caught in a vicious circle and it will take vision and resolve on the part of the leaders and the electorate to break the mold to create a just and democratic political system!