Minister Walter Mzembi is in UK to promote tourism in
Zimbabwe. In an interview on the BBC Hardtalk programme the Minister talked of
not just repairing and reconstructing Zimbabwe’s collapsed infrastructure back
to its pre-independence state but to do more. He talked of increased power
generation to meet the nation’s energy requirements, most of the nation’s roads
will be dual carriage way, build a new boom tourist town in Victoria Falls
complete with casinos and Disney theme park, etc., etc. All these projects will
be completed and fully operational by 2018.
“You
make it sound so rosy, with everything fixed in a short space of time,”
remarked Stephen Sackur. “I wonder whether you and the Zimbabwe government live
is an alternative parallel word!”
Stephen
Sackur, the BBC interviewer, reminded the Minister of the economic reality that
Zimbabwe has failed to attract any meaningful foreign direct investment for
decades because of its objectionable indigenisation laws and lawlessness, could
not borrow any money for IMF or any other institute because it already a $10
billion debt it was failing to service, etc.
Stephen
Sackur’s remarks had no effect on the Minister who continued in his artistic
endeavour to paint a glorious bright future for all Zimbabweans! Of course
there is no chance of any of the projects coming to fruition to have any
meaningful impact of the lives of the long suffering people of Zimbabwe let
alone restore their standard of living to what it was in 1980.
Yes the
Minister and the Zanu PF government live in their own world; like all
politicians the world over they too have to promise the electorate a better
life but unlike everyone else, they do not have to deliver any of their
promises and hence can afford to make the most outlandish promises they can.
The Zimbabwe economy is in total meltdown unemployment is Mount Everest high
and millions are already living in abject poverty so it is important that the
regime conjure a glorious bright future to count balance the crashing depths of
misery and despair the nation has sunk into.
Zimbabweans
have been conditioned to believe that the greater the suffering and misery
today the brighter their tomorrow will be. Mugabe has told them, their tomorrow
is always just behind the horizon. One thing is clear to all, except for the
few ruling elite, their todays have been decidedly worse than their yesterdays
and yesteryears.
Of
course there is a limit to what the placebo of hope can do even with a naïve
and gullible electorate – the Zimbabwe electorate is one of the most naïve and
gullible in the world. Mugabe and Zanu PF have managed to stay in power for
over 34 years regardless of the regime’s proven track record of never delivering
on their promises; the regime promised mass prosperity but has delivered mass
poverty and worse; because the regime is not accountable to the people. Indeed,
if anything it is the people who are accountable to the regime.
Mugabe
and Zanu PF have made it clear that they will not tolerate any regime change.
They have instituted a political system to safe guard their ‘no regime change’
mantra; they lead the electorate by the nose like a bull and a savage yank on
the nose-ring has had the electorate on its knees dazed from the excruciating
pain.
As long
as Mugabe and Zanu PF can resist all attempt to have the democratic reforms,
necessary for free, fair and credible elections, implemented then the party is
assured of electoral victory in the next elections. The party will still have
the nose-ring on the electorate and another savage yank will have the nation on
its knees, bleeding and dazed.
Morgan
Tsvangirai and his MDC friends should have implemented the democratic reforms
when they had the parliamentary majority, SADC backing and five-years of the
GNU’s life to do so. Zanu PF now holds all the trump cards; forcing the
tyrannical regime to accept implementing any reforms now is going to be a
Herculean task.
The
Zimbabwean electorate will have to first of all take their understanding of
democratic change beyond the present superficial level of rally slogan of
repeated chanting “Change! Change!” without knowing what exactly they wanted
changed. Understanding the required changes for free, fair and credible
elections is not rocket science although one has to put some effort.
The people of Zimbabwe expect that Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP) to arrest all those who disturb the peace, for example, because that is
what the citizens the world over expect the Police to do. Yet in Zimbabwe Zanu
PF thugs have been allowed to intimidate, beat, rape and even murder people for
no other reason than that they dared to belong to another political party other
than Zanu PF. The democratic reform required here is to ensure ZRP is
independent to carry out of its duty to maintain peace and rule of law without
the partisan bias.
At present it is the State President alone who has the say in
the appointment and firing of Police Officers making the ZRP beholden to him/her,
his/her whim and political party. Parliament must have the power hold senior
Police Officers to account for the performance of their duties and block the
appointment of those considered unsuitable and get those not up to scratch
removed from office.
If the Zimbabwe electorate had understood the
importance of the reforms then they would not have elected a bunch of
individuals who are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent to carry out this
important task, in the first place. Second, the electorate would have forced
MDC, corrupt and incompetent as they are, to implement the reforms.
11 comments:
@ Freedom fighter
I am not weeping for Mai Mujuru, Rugare Gumbo or any of the others in her faction! They are all getting their just deserve.
I am weeping that the other faction, equally corrupt and oppressive is still in power and causing all the mischief, misery and heartbreak. The nation still has the real challenge of getting these rats out too.
@ wiser than u
If that was so then the corrupt cow should have resigned the day he died or better still join him in the cof-fin!
These thugs killed him just to prove that he was as invincible as you say he was. They both helped estab-lish this Zanu PF dictatorship and maintain all these years convinced they are untouchable. Now we all know that he was as mortal as you and me and that is why he would have been better off establishing a democratic society where the rights and freedoms of all are respected and guaranteed.
She has benefited from this corrupt and oppressive tyrannical regime as much as everyone and that is the reason she never tried to change it. Now the thugs have turned on her. Those who have ruled by fear and blood shed will in turn be ruled by fear and bloodshed.
Now it is her turn to know that she too is mortal and keeping thugs was a dangerous thing to do. She will soon join her corrupt and oppressive husband in hell; they will have plenty to talk about and all the time to do so!
@ Bluntboy
They are all going. Whichever faction survives the butchery that is going on now will have to rig economic recovery or they too will be booted out!
@ furious
Now you know what absolute power does; look what it has done to Mugabe and he has allowed his fruit-cake wife with no brain but mash and no wonder she has gone raving mad!
@ Mavusana2
Correction Zanu PF is a party of ruthless thugs who have denied the people of Zimbabwe a meaningful vote otherwise they would have booted the lot out of office a long time ago. No regime change is Zanu PF's mantra and they imposed it on the nation; the people never subscribed to that nonsense that is why the demand for free, fair and credible elections is still on the national agenda.
Some people may feel sorry for Mai Mujuru, Rugare Gumbo and all their followers because it is not a pleasant sight to see anyone hunted down like an animal; even those who have up to now been hunting down innocent people. But feeling sorry for someone is not the same thing as saying someone is popular; the two are poles apart and should never be confused – except by those who are already confused and have already forgotten that Mai Mujuru is as corrupt and oppressive as the rest in Zanu PF!
@vamoose
Only a thief would say "let us deal with the exposed corrupt extortionist" and forget them. The more ra-tional person will deal with the corrupt and tyrant caught in the net so she/he does not get away but al-ways bear in mind that there are there are other corrupt and ruthless tyrants out there they must be caught and brought in if the nation is ever to recover.
You will not get away R G Mugabe, Mnangagwa and the rest of your follow corrupt and murderous thugs! You are always on the nation's mind; always!
By lifting the sanctions the EU gave in on their demand for Mugabe to hold free, fair and credible elections which they made when the imposed the sanctions back in 2002. The EU has condemn Zimbabwe's last year elections, which is why the Union did not lift the sanctions until now although it said it would do so if elections are free and fair. So lifting the sanctions now means the EU has given up on free and fair elections and thus condemning the Zimbabweans people to tyranny!
This Zimvigil petition has the whole hearted support of every thinking Zimbabwean who cares and understands the importance of good governance!
The trouble with war vets like of Jabulani Sibanda and those who have followed them blindly is that they have never ever what freedom of expression really means. So when the talk of 'we fought for a Zimba-bwe that recognises freedom of expression’, they do not have a clue what they are talking about! How did they help the recognitions of freedom of expression by intimidating, beating, raping and even murdering those who dare oppose Mugabe?
If these guys are going to have another Entumbane then they must know that they will be fighting for Zanu PF dictatorship or to settle their own selfish scores and nothing to do with the freedom of the ordinary Zimbabweans!
Zimbabwe went through a severe economic crisis which peaked in 2007. The crisis was described by the World Bank as the worst in living memory.
Critics blame the economic crisis on mismanagement by President Mugabe but the veteran Zimbabwean leader denies the charge blaming targeted sanctions imposed by Western governments for the collapse.
Zimbabwe was ranked at position 163 out of 174 countries by Transparency International on its Corruption Perception Index, according to a 2012 report. In 2011, Zimbabwe was on position 154.
This regime has blamed sanctions for everything that has gone wrong in Zimbabwe and no wonder the country has sank to these world record breaking depths of despair. And still the blaming game continues and with it goes all hope of addressing the real causes so we can finally start the climb out of this hell.
@ mindloz
She will not survive and too will many of her supporters. Many of them had risen to the great heights of power and it is a long way to fall - if the thugs do not murder them the economic hardships and shock will. After years of worrying about putting on weight (not that they managed to do so, they were doing it as a class thing) now they will have something worth worrying about - having nothing to eat!
@EDITOR THE ZIMB
I CANNOT FAULT YOUR ARGUMENT FOR ZIMBABWEANS TO MOVE ON WERE NOT FOR THREE REALITIES THAT YOU ASSUMED/IMPLIED:
1) YES THE EU HAS REMOVED ALL THE COMPANIES AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON THE SANCTIONS LIST AND HAS AGREED TO RE-ENGAGE THE ZANU PF REGIME BUT THAT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE "A FAIT ACCOMPLI" BECAUSE THE USA, AUSTRALIA AND CANADA HAVE MAINTAINED THE SANCTIONS.
2) TO SUGGEST THAT ZIMBABWE CAN NOW GET THE MUCH NEEDED ECONOMIC RECOVERY IF WE ALL PUT OUR BACKS INTO IT FEEDS TO THE ZANU PF FALSEHOOD THAT IT WAS THE SANCTIONS THAT HAD CAUSED THE ZIMBABWE ECONOMY TO COLLAPSE. THE SANCTIONS WERE AN INCONVENIENCE TO THOSE ON THE LIST NOTHING MORE. EVEN IF ALL THE SANCTIONS WERE LIFTED THE ZIMBABWE ECONOMY WILL NOT RECOVER UN-LESS THE REAL CAUSES OF MISMANAGEMENT AND CORRUPTION ARE ADDRESSED.
3) EVEN IF ALL THE SANCTIONS WERE LIFTED AND THE PROBLEMS OF MISMANAGEMENT AND CORRUPTION ADDRESSED THERE ARE STILL THE PROBLEMS OF THE UNACCEPTABLE INDIGENISATION LAWS AND ZANU PF'S REPUTATION OF CONTEMPTUOUS DISREGARDING OF PROPERTY RIGHTS. THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE ANY FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AS LONG AS THESE PROBLEMS ARE NOT ADDRESSED.
THE ONLY MEANINGFUL WAY TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS IN 2) AND 3) ABOVE IS FOR MUGABE AND ZANU PF TO STEP DOWN SO FRESH FREE, FAIR AND CREDIBLE ELECTIONS CAN BE HELD. THE BALL IS FIRMLY IN THE REGIME'S COURT AND OTHER THAN PRESSURE IT TO STEP DOWN THERE IS LITTLE ELSE THE INDIVIDUAL CAN DO TO ACHIEVE ECONOMIC RECOVERY.
IT SEEMS THE EU LIFTED THE SANCTIONS AND FORGOT THE DEMAND FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS KNOWING THEY WILL STILL DEMAND THAT INDIRECTLY. THE EU IS HEADING OFF MUGABE AT THE PASS!
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