I have been accused of writing about the Mugabe dictatorship and the Copac constitution over and over again I was like a "broken record". I would like to answer my critics.
Do you know what a migraine headache is? I will tell you, it is recurrent throbbing headache often with nausea and visual disturbance. My step-grandmother, may she rest in peace, had migraine headaches and that is all she ever talked about - without saying a single word!
This Mugabe and Zanu PF dictatorship is a migraine headache of the worst possible kind; not the type that comes and goes but the type that is there all the time, 24/7. It is not the unlucky few who are affliction by this virulent disease but the whole nation; every Zimbabwean alive or yet to be born are suffering the ill effects of the three decades Zanu PF’s rampant corruption and relentless brutal repression.
The whole SADC region and many other countries all over the globe; who have been generous to welcome the millions of Zimbabweans who have forced to leave the country to catch a breath of fresh air and a moment of peace; are themselves feeling the ill effects of the foul air emanating from Zimbabwe!
Do you know that every Zimbabwean child born today; if he/she survives given the dark ages conditions offered by the country’s appalling health service; will inherit a debt burden of US$ 10 000, their share of the over US$ 10 billion nation debt piled up by this dictatorship?
Do you know that most Zimbabweans are malnourished, 1.6 million were totally dependent of foreign food aid or they would have starved to death, and that it affects growth and development including the development of the brain? So we have a lot of idiots out there but for no fault of their own! They are the real victims of the land grab that gave the few five or more farms but turning a country that used to export surplus food now unable to feed its own people!
"Wilbert, part of what you say makes sense and everyone knows it, don't remind us on EVERY story in this paper...," you say.
Well my friend that is comparable to telling my late step grandmother not to hold her head so everyone could see she was in pain! Until the nation's malignant migraine headache and heartache - i.e. this Mugabe and Zanu PF corrupt and oppressive dictatorship - is cured THERE IS NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, ELSE WORTH TALKING ABOUT!
I will tell something else too; this Mugabe dictatorship has survived and thrived because Zimbabweans were naïve to think that if they pretended the dictatorship was not there it will go away. Well it did not go away; instead it has grown into this overbearing monster eating us all alive!
Arguing that one should not talk about what Mugabe is doing to the nation in every story although that is the overarching reality behind every story is nothing but a variant on the same theme – let us all pretend the dictatorship is not there! It is the same naval gazing self-indulgence that has landed us in this hell-hole.
Unlike my step grandmother’s migraine headache for which I did not know the cure, I do know the cure of this malignant cancer, Mugabe dictatorship; the people have to stop this naval gazing self-indulgence and cut out the cancer! That my friend, is worth repeated a million times and a million times again in the hope that the message will get through!
“The fact is EVEN IF the new policies were put in law et.c etc., the real issue is that while you have ZPF running the ministries that enforce the law, no real chance will be effected,” you argue. “That WILL change when MDC win and put their own people in.”
Well my point exactly, all this naval gazing is doing your head in, you cannot think at all let alone think straight and hence the need for me to repeat myself a million times.
If Mugabe and Zanu PF is allowed to run everything as they have done these last 33 years, which you acknowledge they are – tick. So by virtue of all these dictatorial powers they are therefore able to use all the dirty tricks they can including using the country’s dominant print media and only radio and TV broadcasts for Zanu PF propaganda, tick - they are doing that; deliberately keep the voters roll in a chaotic state which they can then exploited to their own advantage, that is happening – tick; there are a number of other dirty tricks Zanu PF will use and so add another hundred ticks; and last but not least Zanu PF is free to use violence, Mugabe’s person weapon of choice, yes –tick!
With all these ticks in Mugabe and Zanu PF’s favor how then do you come up with the conclusion that MDC will win?
You have clearly failed to understand the whole argument on implementing the reforms. The reforms are aimed at cutting the umbilical cords connecting Mugabe to all these state organs like the Police, CIO, Judiciary, etc. to free them from political influence so they can perform their statutory duties in a none partisan manner.
Implement the reforms and you will dismantle the dictatorship brick by brick leaving Mugabe nothing more than a paper tiger. With the dictatorship dismantle Mugabe and Zanu PF will not be able to do any dirty tricks; the elections will be truly free and fair.
Even if MDC did manage to win these elections; no one should have to run the gauntlet of wanton violence just to exercise their right to vote! MDC should have had the reforms implemented so the violence of 2008 is never ever repeated, that is the point
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MP Mwonzora says the Copac constitution is the full loaf!
“It is not true that we are giving people half a loaf as claimed by one speaker here. We as a party are actually delighted that neither we nor our coalition colleagues got all they wanted during negotiations and if you add up what we got it becomes a full loaf for Zimbabweans.
“People will overwhelmingly vote for this document because its contents though compromised, by and large represent an incremental gain for democracy,” Mwonzora said in apparent reference to remarks by Mavambo leader Simba Makoni that Copac had given people half a loaf when they needed it full
This Copac Constitution can not deliver the basic right to free and fair election - free of violence - and the right to life! An innocent 12 year old was burnt to death in a gruesome reminder to us all of Zimbabwe's culture of political violence. This Copac constitution if it been approved and was the supreme law of the land, there was nothing it would have done to stop this heinous crime or making sure those responsible are punished.
How many innocent lives are we supposed to sacrifice every time we have elections? Christpower did not have to die and such a terrible death! If the reforms had been implemented as agreed then Christpower would be playing out there like every other 12 year old.
MDC agreed to this Copac rubbish because they had failed to get the reforms implemented because they too busy enjoying the benefits of being on the gravy train.No intellectual worth his/her salt should allow themselves to be a part to this pathetic act of betrayal of the people by endorsing this rubbish!
If this Copac constitution cannot deliver the right to vote and the right to light then whatever else it delivers it is not worth a crumb much less the full loaf loaf MP Mwonzora is wittering about!
Paul Mangwana was right to say the Copac Constitution gives a very comprehensive list of the human rights, that it does but what he was careful not to let slip is that Zimbabweans will have none of those rights!
Young Christpower Maisiri was murdered over the weekend, the right to life is without doubt the most important right of all; how would the Copac Constitution, if it had been enacted into law, have prevented that? How will the Copac constitution stop the Police acting in their usu-al partisan way, which is the root cause of this culture of political violence? To address these two questions and a host of other related question, one has to go back to the democratic re-forms, the reforms Mugabe has refused to implement.
In fact no one will ever enjoy any of these human rights until the reforms are implemented and we all know Mugabe has no intention of doing that ever.
So this Copac constitution is real more like a huge, elaborately decorated wedding cake made of blocks of wood. Even the icing sugar covering the blocks is not fit for human consumption because candle-wax was added to make it stick to the blocks and give it the glossy finish. This size of the cake is meant to impress all the guests and wet their appetite thinking “Yeah up, there is certainly enough for us all!”
That is why people like Paul Mangwana who supplied the wood blocks and made the “cake” are careful not to let slip any details about how many eggs were used or how the managed to bake the three metre diameter bottom tier! It would be wise not to give the expensive gift you brought until you have had you slice of the cake!
Mugabe is a con man per excellence; we should all know that by now; after all we have been waited for the slice of the independence cake for over these last 33 years. We should demand the implementation of the reform and a constitution that will guarantee free and fair elections – free of violence. We must not allow ourselves to be conned into believing this Copac con-stitution will deliver the moon after the elections when it is clearly failing to deliver the most basic and simple needs like life.
If Mugabe was sincere about wanting the best constitution for the people then why did he refuse to implement the reforms? No one is yet given a satisfactory answer to that and that is why Zimbabweans must vote no in the referendum!
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