Monday 19 June 2017

"Mujuru, Tsvangirai need to wise up," says Daily News - no it is povo who need to wise up N Garikai

The road to hell is paved with good intentions! Here is one such example.

“Zanu-PF is known to take full advantage of its power of incumbency, and has no qualms in abusing State apparatus to give itself an upper hand at the polls,” wrote the Daily News, in an article tellingly entitled “Mujuru, Tsvangirai need to wise up”.

“Perhaps its major trump card has always been its stranglehold on rural areas where villagers are coerced to vote for Zanu-PF through intimidation, vote-buying and violence.

The Daily News is spot on; by resisting all efforts to implement even one democratic reform, Zanu PF is going into the elections knowing it has ALL the trumps cards up its sleeve. By retaining its undemocratic control all the State Institutions such as the ZEC, Police, etc. Zanu PF will have its own operatives controlling every aspect of the election process to deliver the party’s no-regime-change mantra.

Zanu PF is very well funded, thanks to the billions of dollars the regime has been looting from Marange and Chiadzwa; the party has the cash to bankroll all its expensive vote buying and rigging schemes. In January this year party took delivery of 365 new cars, vans and buses; a few weeks later it bought new cars for senior civil servants across the board; a few weeks ago it splurged US$ 20 million on new cars for traditional leaders; etc. Zanu PF is loaded and it is already spending money hand over fist. The one thing all the 50 + opposition parties have in common is that they are all broke!

President Muagbe has just held two rallies in the last two ones. Both rallies were well attended for two main reasons; one, the party has the cash to ferry its supporters from far and wide. Two, the party youths who organised the rallies flexed their coercive muscle and frog marched many people to attend.

The most important thing to note here is that without reforms, Zanu PF has ALL four Aces up one sleeve and ALL four Kings up the other sleeve, just to be doubly sure of winning! SADC leaders saw this coming and warned Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friend not to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms in place. Sadly MDC leaders paid no heed and Zanu PF blatantly rigged the vote!

“To all intents and purposes, Zanu-PF's rivals should get ready to contest the polls under the current conditions because efforts under the National Election Reform Agenda are failing to move Mugabe into initiating the various reforms needed to level the electoral playing field, unless they succeed in nudging the African Union and the Southern African Development Community to insist on minimum conditions precedent,” continued the report.

“History has, however, shown that Zanu-PF has a way of dribbling these institutions, and does not countenance external voices from Europe that strongly believe in the need to even the playing field, currently tilted heavily in favour of the ruling party.”

Let us be clear on one point; there is nothing SADC or AU can do to ensure next year’s elections are free, fair and credible. Nothing, that is, beyond what SADC had done already. Throughout the five years of the GNU, SADC leaders argued Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends to implement the reforms but they were ignored. As a last minute, desperate effort to get the reform implement before the end of the GNU, SADC leaders begged, literally, MDC leaders not to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms in place.

“In 2013 the Maputo Summit, in June 2013, before the elections, the Maputo Summit was all about having the elections postponed – the SADC summit. I went there,” Dr Ibbo Mandaza told Violet Gonda in a recent interview.

“I was there at the Summit and Mugabe pretended to agree to a postponement of the elections. If you recall, the postponement was based on the need to reform at least electoral laws, and after that Summit, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, all of them were called to a separate meeting by the Heads of State of SADC in the absence of Mugabe, that same evening. And they were told; I was sitting there outside the room with Mac Maharaj; they were told ‘if you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done’.

SADC’s advice to Zimbabwe’s opposition parties today is the same they gave in 2013; do not contest the elections without implementing the reforms. So, any suggestion that SADC and/or AU can be “nudged” to force Zanu PF to level the playing field is totally misplaced. The ball is in Zimbabwe opposition’s court; it is for the opposition to decide whether to continue contesting flawed elections or to boycott them until all the reforms are implemented.

The argument that we are where we are – i.e. we do not have even one reform in place – and should just make what we can of the situation by contesting the elections is an irrational one for four reasons:

1)    We have tried this route already by contesting the 2013 elections and a whole string of other rigged past elections and all we have succeeded in doing is drag ourselves deeper and deeper into this hell-hole we now find ourselves. It will be sheer madness to contest yet another election knowing fully well Zanu PF will rig the vote and expect the regime to mysterious lose the election.

2)    Zanu PF have since learned that the regime can continue to rig the vote as long as it allows the opposition to win a few seats. It was for the sake of these few seats that MDC leaders contested the 2013 elections even when it was self-evident the vote was being rigged. So Zanu PF is exploiting opposition politicians’ greed to resist reforms.

3)    Like it or not by contesting the flawed elections we are giving the process legitimacy particularly since we have already been warned that the vote will be rigged. The world is sick and tired of hearing the opposition complain of rigged elections when they are the ones who not only failed to implement the reforms when they had the golden chance to do so but also ignored the warning not to contest without reforms!

The sad truth is both Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC and Joice Mujuru and her NPP are such a compromised opposition the nation is being foolish to expect either of them to ever implement the democratic reforms and take the nation out of the hell-hole. MDC leaders have already proven beyond doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent by failing to implement the reforms during GNU. For 34 years, Mujuru & co. have played their role in creating and retaining the Zanu PF dictatorship, they are fighting to regain their seats back on gravy train they will never implement the democratic reforms.


4)    If we serious about ending the corrupt and tyrannical de facto one party dictatorship President Mugabe fostered on the nation, then we must implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle it. All our past attempts to end the dictatorship without implementing the reforms have got us nowhere because there is no other way out. “Penga udzokwe!” as one would say in Shona.

The people the Daily News reporter should be telling to “wise up” is not Mujuru and Tsvangirai; there is no wisdom in contesting an election you know will be rigged. It is the people of Zimbabwe who should wise up; they must realise the futility of contesting flawed elections and demand the implementation of reforms BEFORE elections.

The subtlest way to force Zanu PF to accept reforms is making sure whatever opposition that contest the flawed elections it has no credible grassroots support. It is for the people themselves to make sure Tsvangirai is left in no doubt that people do not believe that Zanu PF will not “manipulate” the BVR system to rig the vote, that a grand coalition will stop vote rigging, etc. All those are just feeble excuses for once again contesting the elections with no reforms in place.


The people must wise up and insist on MDC and the rest in of the opposition camp heeding SADC’s advice not to contest flawed elections and honouring the “No reform, no election!” resolution.

15 comments:

Nomusa Garikai said...

THABO Mbeki, the former President of South Africa, has told South Africans to stay clear of criticising President Robert Mugabe, adding that it is the Zimbabweans who should have a say on whether their leader should remain or leave.

Zimbabwe is an independent country and per se Zimbabweans are masters of their own destiny and, so far, we have messed up big time by granting a corrupt and murderous tyrant like Mugabe a free reign! The people of Zimbabwe had the chance to say to Mugabe go by implementing the reforms during the GNU and on many other opportunities, we wasted the opportunities.

The people denying we wasted the GNU chance ourselves are no different from Mugabe himself who has destroyed the nation’s economy because of his misrule but keeps hiding behind the finger blaming sanctions, drought, etc.

Nomusa Garikai said...

"In the past few weeks, Zimbabweans have noticed their fellow citizens being frog-marched and commandeered to attend so-called Zanu-PF youth rallies in Marondera and Mutare. We have observed how innocent schoolchildren are being bussed to fill up stadiums in order to massage the personal ego of Robert Mugabe.

"The MDC would like to call upon the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to immediately take action to ensure that people are not forced and commandeered to attend these Zanu-PF political rallies," Gutu said

How stupid is that! ZEC is answerable to President Mugabe just as a tail is answerable to the dog; since when has the tail wagged the dog!

Comrade Gutu kana mashaya zvokutaura munodiyi kunyarara. Muromo wenyu haumhere nenhunzi! (Gutu if you have nothing to say, just shut up!)

Zimbabwe Light said...

There is real no excuse for contesting yet another election when we can already see that Zanu PF's vote rigging juggernaut is well serviced and funded. MDC themselves are admitting that people are being frog marched to attend Zanu PF rallies already and the election is still one year away. One can only imagine what the situation will be like a year from now!


No one, absolutely no one should ever have to suffer the humiliation of being treated as if they are someone else’s dog to do with as he/she pleases. The only reason why the opposition politicians are contesting these flawed elections is because they really do not care that millions of our people are being frog marched by these Zanu PF thugs, all they care about is for them to win those few give away seats.

I agree with you there, it is the povo who need to wise up. The most straightforward way we are ever going to force Zanu PF to implement the reforms is by making sure no credible opposition ever contest another flawed election. This is something the people themselves can easily accomplish is they, for once, wake up to the reality that most of our opposition politicians are in politics for selfish gain. They have sold-out before and will do so again!

Zimbabwe Light said...

Zimbabweans are either too lazy, too corrupt, too incompetent or some such combination of the three to remove Mugabe!


Whether we like it or not it is our responsibility who governs the country and not anyone else; former President Mbeki is is right on that point!

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Amos Mutero

You are just like Mugabe, you are more comfortable blaming outsiders for your own fault. Zanu PF cabinet, MDC and us the people of Zimbabwe have had countless opportunities to end Mugabe's reign of terror but we have wasted them all. Yes, SADC got a few things wrong but nothing compared to the many things we have done wrong!

You need to wake up and smell the humus and brother or Zimbabwe will never get out of the mess we are in. 

SADC advised us not to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms and we refused to listen. Right now Tsvangirai & co. are gearing to contest next year's elections although not even one reform has been implemented. Are you going to blame SADC for that too!!!!

Zimbabwe Light said...

@ Chiremba

Now ask yourself why should "Zimbabweans be in the middle of an excruciating struggle for freedom" 37 years after the country attain her independence? The answer, if you have the brain to find it, is that we have been going round and round in a circle, repeating the same stupid mistake over and over again. 

Everyone with any brain agrees the 2013 elections were rigged. Everyone with any brain also agrees that not even one reform was implemented since the rigged elections. There is no point in contesting next year's elections as long as nothing has been done to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections again; why is that so difficult for you to understand!!!!

You are talking for the opposition politicians who want to contest the elections in the hope they will be one of the lucky few to win one of the give away seats. If not that, then you are one of the Zanu PF apologists determined that the regime's reign should continue. 

You must never pretend to me that you have polo's interests at heart. Povo are being frog marched to attend rallies and herded like cattle to polling station to vote for a regime that has destroyed their livelihood, humanity and even their very lives. All you are doing with your madness of contesting flawed elections is help perpetuate their suffering. 

Povo are human beings too and deserve to be treated as such. No human being should ever be denied their right to free, fair and credible elections. To be denied the vote and the frog marched to attend stupid rallies is adding insult to injury. Only an idiot would claim that polo are subhuman and expect polo to think him for it!

Patrick said...

It is a great tragedy that Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends failed to appreciate the importance of the reforms in ending the Zanu PF dictatorship throughout the five years of the GNU. The GNU was the golden opportunity to implement the reforms and finally put the nation on a firm democratic footing; it is hard to accept that not even one reform was implemented. One had hoped that MDC leaders have since learnt the lesson, sadly they have not!

MDC are going to drag the nation into yet another flawed election with no reform in place. We must stop this madness! Whatever we do, we must stop the madness of another stupid election!

Patrick said...

Vana Chiremba ndivadzungu, vanoda kurwobwa nebapu regwayi! (Chiremba are the village philosopher who claim to know everything but know nothing!)

Before the 2013 elections Chiremba was one of those who could not wait for voting day cocksure MDC would win. He would not listen to the calls to implement the reforms. The day after voting he was admitting the vote was rigged. Even today ask him/her how the 2013 elections were rigged and it is lights-out!

No doubt the idiot was super-charged by the dear leader Tsvangirai's assurance that Zanu PF cannot "manipulate" the BVR system and so now he/she thinks next year's election is as good as won. Ask the idiot how the BVR system is going to stop people being frog marched to rallies, one of the big problems here, and, once again, it is lights-out!

Patrick said...

@ Chiremba

The best solution to Zimbabwe's political circus is for the country to implement the democratic reform so that there are free, fair and credible elections; that is the one thing Wilbert has been saying over and over again.

Your solution and all the nut-cases in the opposition camp, is to contest the election with no reforms in place. You lot contested the 2013 elections and they were rigged, it is clear the elections would be rigged again. Of course, this is madness.

Thank God that these are at least a few people in Zimbabwe with the vision and courage to stand up to the tyrant and his Zanu PF thugs and demand reforms as rights and not privileges.

As for the sell-out opposition opportunists, some one has to tell them they are just over rated nincompoops and put them in their place. The more Tsvangirai and Mujuru keep pushing this idea of contesting flawed elections the more stupid they will look. If the elections go ahead, these names will be mud from there on! Watch this space!

Patrick said...

Mujuru and Tsvangirai "wise up"! Well no one can never say the people in Daily News do not have a sense of humour. After 34 years of pathetic performance, the only reason Mai Mujuru is back in politics is for a chance to get back on the gravy train so she can pick up the looting from where she left off. She will never implement any reforms because she has no clue what we are talking about.

Tsvangirai did not only mess up big time by failing to implement even one reform during the GNU, he still does not have a clue what the reforms are about that is why going to contest next year with no reforms. If there was any hope of him being wiser then he would not be contesting flawed elections again!

USA Ambassador Chris Dell said Tsvangirai was a “flawed and indecisive character, once in power can be an albatross round the nation’s neck!” Sadly, this has come to pass! Tsvangirai wising up; yeah right!

Nomusa Garikai said...

@ Chiremba

How will implementing the reforms so that the elections are free, fair and credible benefit Zanu PF. If there is one thing the party has refused to do is implement the reforms.

"You can’t expect us to reform ourselves out of power," Zanu PF strategist like Professor Jonathan Moyo has said.

It is self-evident why Zanu PF will resist implementing the reforms to the bitter end, the party knows it will never win a free, fair and credible election.

To accuse Wilbert of being "a plant by Zanu PF" is therefore a pathetic and idiotic notion. The one thing Wilbert has fought hard and long for is to have the democratic reforms implemented so there are free, fair and credible elections. Zanu PF plant fighting for the last thing Zanu PF wants!

“The masses need to send a big message to these sell outs that the coalition of the willing will indeed force reforms ahead of 2018 plebiscite and vote like never before or better than in 2008 and this time, no amount of violence will steal our vote as we will defend both ourselves and out VOTE!!” you say.

Well “coalition of the willing” has not managed to get even one reform implemented so far and we a one year away from the next elections.

“No amount of violence will steal our vote,” so you accept that none of your reforms will stop the violence. If you were not so foolish you would insist on the reforms being implemented BEFORE the elections so there is no violence, vote rigging, etc.
 
You do not speak on behave of the masses my friend because no one who cares about povo would be indifferent to their plight of being denied their rights and human dignity and being frog marched to attend rallies. If you cared about povo then you would be demanding that the next elections are free, fair and credible because there is no logical reason why they should not be. NONE!

Nomusa Garikai said...

@ Chiremba

You have not said why Tsvangirai failed to get even one reform implemented in five years of the GNU. He or anyone of his MDC MPs could have submitted a reform proposal in parliament, one did not have to be Head of State or Commander in Chief.

Let me tell you why MDC failed to get even one reform implemented in five years; they are breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent.

“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidza kudya anyerere!” (The MDC idiots have learnt to enjoy the gravy train life and not rock the boat!) Was the common retort from Zanu PF cronies during the GNU to the public outcry why no reforms were being implemented.

Of course, Tsvangirai and his MDC friends sold-out during the GNU and the only reason why the party still has any following today is that we have some of the most naïve and gullible electorate on earth!

Still many Zimbabweans are opening their eyes, Tsvangirai should know that not many people believed his nonsense about the BVR system stopping Zanu PF “manipulating” the elections. Povo know MDC is weak and useless and, for their own safety, they will not have anything to do with MDC.

Nomusa Garikai said...

Does #Tajamuka people really believe that ZEC, as it is presently constituted, can ever deliver free, fair and credible elections?

As it is presently constituted ZEC, like the other State Institutions like the Police, Judiciary, etc., is nothing more than just another department of Zanu PF whose principle task is to ensure no-regime-change. This is why NERA and now #Tajamuka demands for ZEC to change have all been a futile waste of time because the real change in ZEC's performance will have to start with the structural reforms designed to sever the corrupting influence of State President of ZEC.

Patrick said...

@ Chiremba

As I said above, ignorance is stubborn, especially those who know very little and yet think they are the wiser than the three wise men from the East!

“These sell-outs have one thing in common, they are aloof, they dine with the enemy, they suggest some elitist ways of struggling, in this case Wilbert and his friends are suggesting their elitist things from the UK,” you say.

Tell me, what is so “elitist” about demanding the implementation of the democratic reforms so that every Zimbabwean, from the intellectual gurus like yourself Chiremba wematombo to the lowly poor peasant in the back waters of rural Zimbabwe, can finally enjoy the right to a free, fair and credible elections. You may scuff at this but the rural peasants who have been subjected to all manner of political abuse, harassment, beating, rape and even witnessed many of their own murdered in cold blood, they is nothing they would want more than the guarantees of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections!

Before independence the white colonialists did their best to brainwash the blacks into believing the racist colonial system was to the benefit of the blacks. George Orwell captured the same oppressor brainwashing the oppressed in his book Animal Farm when the pigs argued they were not keeping the milk and apples to themselves out of selfishness but out of self-sacrifice.

"Comrades!" he (Squealer, the pig) cried. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples."

Some things never change; Tsvangirai & co. are contesting next year’s election regardless how flawed they are because they are after those few seats Zanu PF will give away. But of course, no one in the opposition will ever admit that they will never tire of telling the masses they are contesting out of selflessness.

Of course, contesting flawed elections and thus perpetuating a political system that has denied povo their freedoms, basic human rights and all human dignity does not help povo in any way; it is hogwash!

Patrick said...

@ Chiremba

“Anybody who has never made a sacrifice at personal and party level can never be said to have been fighting for reforms my friend and Zimbabweans know this? Even your ZanuPF allies will brandish their personal sacrifices in the struggle for independence and will never respect anybody who believes they can change a political order through the internet like Wilbert et al!!!” You said.

The trouble with arguing with nincompoops like you, Chiremba, is that you argue round and round in a circle. Yesteryear you joined in condemning President Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs for denying the rest of the populous their freedoms and basic human rights on the basis that only those who liberation war credentials have the divan right to govern Zimbabwe. This was a nonsense argument made by mercenaries and not true liberation war heroes for two reasons:

1) The war of independence was not fought and won by only those who carried the AK47 rifles, every Zimbabwean play their part.

2) The freedoms and basic human rights are for all Zimbabweans those saying otherwise are tyrants and traitors who will lock the nation into a perpetual struggle as each generation will have to fight the generation before it for their freedoms and rights.

Indeed, we are locked in this struggle right now, fighting to end the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship.

So, before we have ended the Zanu PF dictatorship we have already created another in the form of MDC. Tsvangirai has cherished the photograph of himself sporting a swallow face with Lovemore Madhuku sporting a bandaged head as proof of their fighting Zanu PF. Now Tsvangirai himself has become one of the untouchables!

“Anybody who has never made a sacrifice at personal and party level can never be said to have been fighting for reforms my friend and Zimbabweans know this?” some upstart a***hole calling himself Chiremba tells us!

The right to free, fair and credible elections is a birth right and per se not negotiable be it with the Zanu PF tyrants and thugs or anyone else.

Tsvangirai is a corrupt, incompetent sell-out who will be held to account. If he thinks he can sell-out again by contesting flawed elections he and his fellow village idiots have something else coming!