Thursday 24 December 2015

For their independence present povo got the box minus the free vote and since Mugabe has stolen a lot more!

My four year old nephew, nicknamed Bob (did not say it out loud because my sister would have been mad at me) got a battery operated toy car for Christmas. His baby brother got a toy car too but a much cheaper version. Bob was quick to notice that his baby brother was quite content playing with the empty toy box and so the little brother ended up with the two empty toy boxes whilst Bob had the two toy cars.

I nicknamed the four year old Bob because he reminded me of a certain Bob I know only the latter is the embodiment of evil hence the reason any parent would be mad to have their child compared to him.

When Zimbabwe attained her independence in 1980 everyone thought they would enjoy freedom, liberty, justice, human rights and human dignity the white colonialists had until then denied them. But before the ordinary people even got to open their independence day gift Robert Mugabe had stolen from their boxes the most valuable item of all – the right to free, fair and credible elections.

When the people of Zimbabwe went to cast their vote in 1980 few had any illusions this was about electing leaders they believed are best able to rule the nation. They knew this was about voting to end the civil war; Mugabe had it known that if Zanu PF did not win the party will not accept the results and the civil war would continue.

In 1980 Zimbabweans voted “to end the civil war”, said Professor Jonathan Moyo in his book Voting for Democracy. He was a man of the people then but ever since he became a minister he has served the dictator with all his heart and soul.

As soon as Mugabe got into power in 1980 he has worked tirelessly to undermine the independence and professionalism of state institutions like the Police and Judiciary to establish and retain his de facto one party dictatorship. The systematic denial of the people’s freedoms and basic rights, including the right to a meaningful democratic vote and even the right to life itself, has now been institutionalized. Mugabe has legalized his taken the pearls and everything of value out of our independence box, keeping them for himself and the ruling elite; whilst the rest of us have to be content with nothing.

35 years of absolute power have left Mugabe and his cronies filthy rich; Mugabe is getting as much as $2 billion a year from the looting and plunder in Marange alone. Meanwhile 35 years of misrule have destroyed the nation’s economy many companies have closed forcing unemployment to soar to nauseating heights of 90% plus. The majority of the people now live in abject poverty they cannot afford even one decent meal a day.

People can see that the Mugabe regime has failed them and in a healthy democratic country they would have been able to remove the regime and replace it with one more responsive to their needs and aspirations. Zimbabwe is not a democracy, Mugabe has ruthlessly imposed the no-regime-change mantra on the nation and the people have never had the free and democratic vote. Never ever!

We are stuck with Mugabe and his corrupt and tyrannical dictatorship. As long as he remains in power, as long as there is no-regime-change, there will be no end to our economic misery.

When the nation attained her independence in 1980 povo got the present but without the single most valuable thing, the right to a meaningful vote; Mugabe stole that away beforehand. In the years to follow Mugabe has stolen one thing after another from the people, so that today he has absolute political power and unfettered access to the nation’s assets and resources to loot and plunder as he please. Meanwhile the populous languish in poverty and despair but have no political muscle to stop the criminal waste.

For how many more years are Zimbabweans going to pretend the Zimbabwe Mugabe has delivered is the same they dreamt of and wanted?

Zimbabweans have yet to realize that it is not in the nature of tyrants to give up power. If the people want their freedom, liberty, justice and human rights independence bestowed on them then they must demand the restoration of their right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country. Without the free vote nothing can be done to end the misrule and criminal waste of the nation’s human and material resources.


It is one thing for a two year old boy to fail to distinguish the true value of a toy from that of the empty box; it is most disconcerting that a whole nation fails to see the critical importance of the right to a meaningful vote in securing one’s independence, humanity and even the right to life itself. 

5 comments:

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Nhamodzenyika

My parent's generation thought they would have the chance to cast a free vote when the nation attained her independence in 1980. Sadly that was not to be; many have since gone to their graves without ever casting a vote in free, fair and credible elections.

Both my parents were spared the madness of the wanton violence of 2008 when Mugabe removed all the pretence of Zimbabwe being anything else other than a nation ruled by ruthless savages. Both my parents had their reservations about the quality of some of our nationalist leaders, they were not naive; but they really believe in the good heartedness of most of the freedom fighters. They would have been broken hearted to see war vets playing such a major role in the savagery of 2008 and beyond.

My parent's generation got the independence present with the right to vote removed. During Gukurahundi and in 2008 Mugabe revisited the present and have the right to life removed giving himself absolute power. Mugabe is now pocketing $ 2 billion a year in a country so impoverished that it cannot afford to have no clean running water. We, the people, are so powerless we pretend Marange and Chiadzwa are not in Zimbabwe!

With such wealth Mugabe and his cronies can rig elections for many, many generations to come; that is the legacy you and me are leaving our children and grandchildren!

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Rakanga

Well we should tell Mugabe, his wife and cronies that we know we have an empty box and they took out all the goodies. Our fight to have our freedoms and human rights restored must start today and start with demanding the implementation of the GPA reforms, the pre-requisite for free, fair and credible elections.

A free vote is not a privilege to be given to some and denied to others; it is birthright of every Zimbabwean and we must demand it with the conviction the matter demands.

Zimbabwe Light said...

What is happening in the Army, Police, CIO, etc. concerns us all and it is therefore nonsense that we should be told that it is no business of ours. Minister Mushohwe is used to ruling by fear and the idiot is therefore failing to realize that the nation is in this mess precisely because of this stupid culture. The big thing the nation needs right now is to end this culture and not be dragged even deeper into.

Zimbabwe will be ruled by law and reason and not fear!

Zimbabwe Light said...

The new constitution failed its single most important task; to delivery free, fair and credible elections which MDC assured the nation repeatedly that it would. So for anyone, let alone someone from ZLHR who the nation looks up to for advice of these legal matters, is shocking. And yet Dzimbabwe Chimbgwa, a senior ZLHR officer admits there are more than 400 laws that this regime has failed to align to the new constitution three years since the new law was approved in the March 2013 referendum. Worse still Zanu PF has not shown any interest in aligning any of these laws!

If the new constitution was working, as Chimbgwa tells us, then why has it failed to deliver our people’s freedoms and basic human right?

Chimbgwa should know that no one can take Mugabe and Zanu PF to task on a charge of violating the constitution because new constitution is so weak and feeble the regime can argue that it has done nothing to violate the new constitution! If Chimbgwa doubts that then why has ZLHR not sued the regime?

Zimbabwe is in a serious political and economic mess because the nation has had the great mis-fortune of having corrupt and incompetent leaders in the ruling party, in the opposition and, to make matters worse, in civic society too. Only a corrupt and/or incompetent lawyer would say Zimbabwe’s weak and feeble 2013 constitution is working!

Zimbabwe Light said...

Mugabe’s nephew, Minister Zhuwao, insists the indigenisation laws will be enforced!

Mugabe is holding the whole nation to ransom in insisting on this law forcing foreign investors to sell up to 51% of their shares. Only Zanu PF ruling elite would benefit from this policy the only way the ordinary people would benefit is through these companies creating employment opportunities and paying tax.

Mugabe does not care that the country has lost in the last two areas all he cares about is that his cronies get shares. He is able to do this because the tyrant is more accountable to his fellow ruling elite that he is to the ordinary Zimbabweans. We must fight for free, fair and credible elections if we are ever to change this pathetic situation!