“MBARE’s renowned terror groups linked to Zanu PF have
re-emerged with reports of harassment of residents ahead of make-or-break
general elections expected in the second half of 2018,” reported Phyllis
Mbanje.
“There
are reports of violent door-to-door campaigns by hordes of rogue Zanu PF mobs
with residents expressing concern at the wanton disregard for human liberties. Meetings, rallies and late night vigils have
begun amid reports that some overzealous party youths were now forcing people
to attend and participate in the meetings.”
Zanu PF used wanton violence
to overturn Tsvangirai’s March 2008 73% victory (reduced to a manageable 47%
after six weeks of recounting by ZEC), by President Mugabe’s own admission, to
landslide 85% victory for President Mugabe in the July 2008 run-off.
Zimbabwe has always had a
culture of political violence especially during elections but the 2008 violence
was the worse the country had ever seen. SADC and AU election observers, known
for turning a blind-eye to elections irregularities in the past, could not
bring themselves to overlooking what had happened in Zimbabwe. They refused to
endorse the July 2008 result as a true reflection of the free democratic wish
of the people.
SADC and the AU refused to
recognise President Mugabe as the legitimate leader and instead forced him join
with the two MDC factions to form the GNU whose main task was to implement
democratic reforms in preparation of holding fresh free, fair and credible
elections. It is a great pity that not even one reform and worse still Zanu PF
used the timeout to fine tune its vote rigging machine by expanding the subtle vote
rigging activities such as corrupting the voters roll. And to draw as little
attention as possible to its violent activities, all political violence is now
carefully monitored, targeting a few and is spread over long period of time beyond
the usual two or three months before elections.
“The youths are moving from
door to door recording people’s names and ID numbers. As a citizen, I feel that
this is against an individual’s freedom of association,” Mbare resident, who
spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said.
The fear factor is an even
bigger problem in the rural areas where those in positions of power and authority
deny the people their individual freedoms and rights with total impunity. Zanu
PF has used local traditional leaders such as chiefs and village headers to
double up as party political commissars to harass the villagers.
The people have tried to
underline the seriousness of Zanu PF’s vote rigging ability and that it is
impossible to hold free and fair elections under these conditions. Sadly,
Tsvangirai and the rest in the opposition are not treating the situation with
the seriousness it demands – they would not be talking of contesting a flawed
election knowing it is rigged.
Since the July 2008 run-off
leading to the GNU, President Mugabe has been very careful to make sure that
Zanu PF allows the opposition to win some seats in parliament and in senate to
keep they interested. As long as there are these bait seats to be won, the
opposition will contest elections regardless how flawed the process happens to
be.
Like it or not the present
status quo of Zanu PF corrupting the voters roll and it party thugs intimidating
the electorate with impunity to advance its no-regime-change mantra suits the
party just fine. And, admit it or deny it, the opposition camp is content contesting
each other for with the few bait gravy train seats. The only losers here are
the ordinary people who are risking life and limp voting for democratic change
that never come.
The residences of Mbare, as
with the rest of povo up and down the country, must accept the political
reality that as long as no meaningful democratic reforms are implemented to
stop Mbare thugs terrorizing them, forcing them to attend Zanu PF vigils, etc.
it is better for them to do as they are told! In Mugabe’s corrupt and
tyrannical Zimbabwe; no one enjoys any individual freedoms and rights and it is
futile to pretend otherwise. Worst of all it is very foolish for the people to
risk life and limp supporting the opposition camp whose selfishness is what is sustaining
the status quo.
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