History has the habit of repeating itself!
In the 1970s Ian Smith came up with a plan to silence his political opponents accusing him of heading a white racist regime. He arranged to have a few blacks to be appointed as MPs. In the early 1970s it was Chief Chirau and others. Only a village idiot believed Chief Chirau et al had any meaningful political power but that did not stop them boasting of how powerful they were.
Ian Smith was smart enough to know the majority of blacks had dismissed Chief Chirau and company as a gimmick. And so he went back to the drawing board and refined and develop the scheme building up to internal settlement and the formation of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia with Bishop Abel Muzorewa as the Prime Minister. Ian Smith saw to it that the whites retained all the economic and political power but, again, it did not stop Muzorewa boasting how powerful he and his friends were.
Thank God the blacks who were demanding one-man one-vote and Zimbabwe’s independence did not listen to Muzorewa’s boastful wittering would have taken decades if not generations to finally achieve black majority rule. Remember Smith have vowed there would be no black majority rule in Rhodesia “not in a thousand years!”
When Mnangagwa seized power from Robert Mugabe in November 2017, he did not waste time in assuring his Zanu PF cronies that they hold on power was secure. “Zanu PF ichatonga! Igotonga! Imi muchingohukura! Nokuhukura!” (Zanu PF will rule! And rule! Whilst those calling for democratic reforms bark! And bark!) he told his cronies.
After the 2008 election fiasco that resulted in Mugabe and Zanu PF being forced to share power with MDC in the GNU, Mugabe learned that as long as he allowed the opposition to win a few gravy train seats he could rig the elections and get away with it. Regardless how flawed and illegal the elections got, the opposition, hungry for the scraps, would never boycott the elections. Mnangagwa has adopted the same dirty tactic and it has worked for him too.
Whilst only Muzorewa and his followers had fallen for Ian Smith’s bait, almost everyone in the opposition camp has swallowed Zanu PF’s bait, hook, line and sinker! The opposition participated in last year’s even though it was clear Mnangagwa would rig the elections. Even when ZEC failed to release a verified voters’ roll, a certainty the regime was set to rig the elections; still that did not stop the opposition contest every seat. There were 23 presidential candidates.
Even with everyone else condemning last year’s elections as a farce, the opposition parties have endorsed Mnangagwa and Zanu PF’s victory. Mnangagwa has rewarded those who have endorsed his victory with an invitation to interparty dialogue and a taste of the gravy train life. The invitees have responded positively showering Mnangagwa with praise, just as Chief Chirau and Muzorewa had done to Smith.
“As we approach 2023 this is not the time for confrontation; it does not help to fight Zanu PF because we know it has all the might as the ruling party government. We do not have to underestimate their political and security muscle, not to mention their financial muscle. As the opposition we have to tread with care, strategise and find common ground with those holding the horses,” wrote Harold Wilson, leader of the Democratic Opposition Party, in Bulawayo 24.
Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s election, just as the party has done in the last 38 years, and we must cow down in submission and grovel. Appeasement has not worked for the last 38 years and still we are being argued to try it.
“Insanity is trying the same over and over again and expect a different result,” said Albert Einstein. Insanity would be wholly inadequate in describing one trying the same thing over and over again for 38 years!
"Does this mean we agree with this government? Of course we don't, hence the dialogue, but for us the welfare of Zimbabwe and her people trumps any personal ambition. It is not going to be easy, but the dialogue needs mature people and if we did not participate who was going to be the adult in that room?" piped in Abednico Bhebhe, chairperson of the Thokozani Khope led MDC-T.
By participating in the flawed and illegal elections MDC-T, together with all the other opposition parties gave the rigged elections some measure of credibility as David Coltart, another opposition leader readily admitted in his book.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” he wrote.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
The obvious thing for the opposition to have done was to boycott the elections and now these meaningless political dialogues headed by an illegitimate regime. They did not because of greed. How the opposition’s greed can ever be considered “welfare of Zimbabwe” beggars belief!
Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s elections and the only logical solution is to force the illegitimate regime to step down. The party should be punished for rigging the elections, not rewarded with absolute power!
Besides, unless Zanu PF steps down to allow the nation to implement the democratic reforms to stop the party rigging elections; it is naïve to expect the party to reform itself out of office. If Zanu PF is still in power in 2023 we can be 100% certain that the party will rig that year’s elections and thus fulfil Mnangagwa’s pledge of “Zanu PF ichatonga! Igotonga!”
History has the habit of repeating itself and those who are seemingly incapable of learning from it, even after 38 years of repeating the same foolish mistake, will repeat the same mistakes. The nation has paid dearly for its folly and today the price has risen to not just heart-breaking human suffering but poverty induced lingering death!
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The government, which maintains it will only pay compensation for infrastructure and improvements on farms and not for the land, is talking to international financial institutions on options to raise the full amount to pay farmers.
Why should the ordinary Zimbabwean who too has suffered as a result of the 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule by asked to pay the compensation to the white farmers. The Zanu PF chefs and their cronies who benefited from these farm seizures are the ones who should pay. Many of the occupants on the seized farms are still occupying the farms and benefiting from the “infrastructure and improvements” for which they never paid a cent!
Zanu PF has messed up big time, the only thing these Zanu PF thugs should do right now is for them to go! They really have overstayed for any good they have ever done to this nation.
There are some who wanted to give Mnangagwa a chance and one only hopes that the reality on the ground of corruption and worsening economic situation has opened their eyes. After 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule it is insane to expect any good to come out of this Zanu PF dictatorship.
Mnangagwa rigged last year's elections, he has no mandate to govern and therefore must be told in no uncertain terms that he must go!
Mnangagwa mock his own currency as of no value compred to the US$!
This was just another ED Pfee moment of madness. We have all heard of people who speak with the foot in their mouth here is the odd case of one speaking with both his feet in his mouth!
"Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) secretary-general Victor Matemadanda told the Daily News yesterday that the plans to demonstrate are still on but they are waiting for the country to deal with the issue of Cyclone Idai which destroyed property and killed many people."
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and when absolute power is given to those who are braindead it really becomes a deadly weapon of mass destruction. Mugabe has brainwashed many of liberation war fighters turning them into murderous thugs who liberated the nation from white colonial operation but only impose the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship.
A braindead thug like Jabulani Sibanda, Victor Matemadanda, Chris Mutsvangwa, Emmerson Mnangagwa, etc., etc. will never understand that the country is in this mess because millions of ordinary Zimbabweans have been denied their freedoms, human rights and dignity. All they care about is absolute power and they are getting jumpy because the worsening economic situation is making it increasingly difficult to retain their iron grip on power.
The planned anti-sanctions demo is an act of desperation by the regime to blame others for the country's economic woes! The regime rigged the elections and now finds it cannot rig the economy. Let the war veterans demonstrate, the regime is renowned for spending millions of dollars on hired private jets, it will no doubt spend millions if faring war veterans from every corner of the country to the demos but cannot buy bandages, painkillers, etc for hospitals.
The sanctions are about forcing Zanu PF to hold free, fair and credible elections and that is why they must stay! Indeed, the sanctions must be extended to upstarts like Minister of Finance Ncube, Minister Coventry, the 24 Presidential Advisory Council members, etc. who are propping up this Zanu PF dictatorship. They know the regime is illegitimate because the party rigged last year's elections.
In February, Reserve Bank Governor, John Mangudya announced the introduction of the RTGS dollar - the currency that confirmed what we knew all along: one is not to one. The RTGS dollar was initially set at a rate of USD 1 to RTGS$ 2.5 on the interbank exchange rate, but quickly started creeping up and is today trading at USD 1 to RTGS$ 3.1. On the black market, one US dollar will fetch you about 4.45 RTGS dollars. The prices of consumer goods are also increasing, as imports become more expensive and the purchasing power of the local currency decreases.
Since the introduction of the "new" currency in February, the price of consumer staples such as rice, sugar, and oil has risen as much as 60 percent. We know - and we know that you know - because everyone's pockets are hurting. But Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube seems confused. Price changes should be determined by inflation trends, Minister Ncube said.
The Minister added that month-on-month inflation was slowing "It is actually bad economics to link price increases to the exchange rate. That's not how you do it, it is profiteering," Mthuli told reporters. If you're curious about "good economics" we'd suggest a quick read of how inflation is actually calculated. Might be time for the good minister to do some revision.
Professor Mthuli Ncube is one of those people whose expend so much time, energy and treasure to make sure they give a second to none first impression but when they are given the opportunity to deliver they fall flat on their face time and time again. All bark and no bite: all bluff and bluster: all booster, no payload: all crown, no filling: all foam, no beer: all hammer, no nail: all icing, no cake: all lime and salt, no tequila: all mouth and no trousers; all mouth and trousers: all shot, no powder: all sizzle and no steak: all talk; all talk and no action: all wax and no wick: all motion and no meat: all show, no go: all fur coat and no knickers. Professor Mthuli Ncube is one of the few people I know to whom all the above apply!
Zimbabwe is in serious economic trouble and the last thing the nation needed in an egotistic SOB for a Minister of Finance and, sadly, in Mthuli Ncube that is exactly what we got.
@ Robert Sagauke
Smarting from the Biti rebellion and before that, the Ncube's, Tsvangirai had sought to exorcise the demon that had bedevilled the SG's role within the party as the chief administrator, and to forestall an unfortunate trend that could have seen the light of day for longer. This easily presented a dilemma for him to the extent that it could better be achieved by having a less ambitious cadre in the role, and someone with less grassroots leverage. At the same time, over and above, a strong grassroots touch in the top echelons of the party was needed in order for the party to remain relevant and present real chances of deposing the ruling party.
Many of our politicians like democracy when if they believe it will help them go higher up the greasy pole otherwise they will break every democratic rule the can. The fact that most parties has constitutions so poorly written it is a joke to call it a democratic constitution.
“As we approach 2023 this is not the time for confrontation; it does not help to fight Zanu-PF because we know it has all the might as the ruling party government. We do not have to underestimate their political and security muscle, not to mention their financial muscle. As the opposition we have to tread with care, strategise and find common ground with those holding the horses,” wrote Harold Wilson, leader of the Democratic Opposition Party, in Bulawayo 24.
That is sweet, sweet music in Mnangagwa and the rest of the Zanu PF junta’s ears. With such a naïve, corrupt and incompetent opposition, of course, Zanu PF’s corrupt and tyrannical rule is assured for generations to come.
Zanu PF’s political, security and financial muscle particularly as it relates to its carte blanche power to rig elections is not the issue here. What is at issue is that it is all illegal.
Mnangagwa used Zanu PF’s dictatorial powers to blatantly rig last year’s elections denying the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans their basic right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country. And when the people protested against this injustice he unleashed the Police and Soldiers to beat and to shoot to kill to crash all dissent.
There is no doubt that Chief Chirau and Abel Muzorewa and their followers’ support of Ian Smith gave the latter reason to believe his white regime could last. It should be remembered too that up to 76% of the soldiers in the Rhodesian Army were blacks.
How anyone can take up a gun to fight those risking life and limb for one’s own freedom and liberty goes to show just how corrupt, incompetent, selfish and downright stupid Chirau, Muzorewa and their followers were. Sadly for Zimbabwe there are indeed modern-day Mozorewas just as corrupt, incompetent, selfish and downright stupid!
Whilst many Zimbabweans have risked life and limb fighting to end the Zanu PF dictatorship these village idiots in the opposition are going out of their way to give the regime legitimacy and extend its corrupt and tyrannical rule for the sake of the few gravy train seats! These opposition parties participating in flawed and illegal elections and now endorsing Mnangagwa’s rigged elections are threat to our fight for free, fair and credible elections just as Zanu PF itself. We should know our enemies and the opposition is now the enemy within.
As late as 2004, British embassy spokesperson Sophie Honey maintained the UK had not reneged on its commitments – that the UK had provided £44m for land reform in Zimbabwe and £500m for bilateral development assistance, but Zimbabwe had failed to stick to the principles of effective, well-managed and pro-poor land reform.
And the late 1990s, rising tensions meant the process of land reform slowed to a crawl. By 1999, just 70 000 hectares – not even the area of Harare – had been acquired for redistribution
Concerned over their prospects at the next election, the ruling Zanu-PF called for radical land redistribution.
For their part, the War Veterans Association – staunch supporters of then-president Robert Mugabe – organised a movement officially termed the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme, and began a series of land occupations.
History will acknowledge that the seizure of the white owned farms was a political motivated move by Mugabe and Zanu PF for two selfish reasons:
1) With the economy in the doldrums the regime needed some assets to dolly out to its ever demanding but wasteful loyalists, the farms were the only asset left.
2) To hang on to power the regime needed to resort to more autocratic and tyrannical methods to rig elections and the party needed a smoke screen behind which to hide its lawlessness. And so the violent farm seizures became the standard accompaniment to the political violence. Even opposition supporters in the rural areas were accused of supporting the white farmers, directly and indirectly, and hence the reason political violence was everywhere.
Yes the white farmers should be compensated for the infrastructure and improvements they made on the farms. But why this should be paid by the ordinary people when those who benefited from the improvements are still there beggars belief!
"Reforms government is pursuing is the right thing for the Zimbabwean people. Added benefit is it eases concerns of the international community.
"We believe Zimbabwe has a bright future, we want to be here to support & partner with the people of Zimbabwe going forward," USA Ambassador Brian Nichols said.
What reforms is he talking about?
The US Ambassador should be careful what he says to this Zanu PF regime because it is a regime known for making a mountain out of a mole hill. The other day President Mnangagwa was jumping for joy to celebrate America's US$2.5 million aid to Cyclone Idai victims. He wanted to give the nation the impression that the US was growing soft on sanctions and demands for meaningful democratic reforms which was not true.
What the Americans must now accept as a political reality is that Zanu PF will never ever implement any meaningful democratic reforms. Never ever. If we are serious about get the reform implemented then we must demand that Zanu PF step down!
"Reforms government is pursuing is the right thing for the Zimbabwean people. Added benefit is it eases concerns of the international community.
"We believe Zimbabwe has a bright future, we want to be here to support & partner with the people of Zimbabwe going forward," USA Ambassador Brian Nichols said.
What reforms is he talking about?
The US Ambassador should be careful what he says to this Zanu PF regime because it is a regime known for making a mountain out of a mole hill. The other day President Mnangagwa was jumping for joy to celebrate America's US$2.5 million aid to Cyclone Idai victims. He wanted to give the nation the impression that the US was growing soft on sanctions and demands for meaningful democratic reforms which was not true.
What the Americans must now accept as a political reality is that Zanu PF will never ever implement any meaningful democratic reforms. Never ever. If we are serious about get the reform implemented then we must demand that Zanu PF step down!
Said Malema, "Mnangagwa is a sell-out. Any person who wants to compensate white people for land is a sell-out. We thought he will be different but he is worse. That country is swimming in poverty and the people of Zimbabwe will rebel against him."
Land is a very important resource and the ownership of the land, like any other asset and property, must be allowed and protected as a basic human right.
No one denies that there are historic injustices in the acquisition and distribution of land during white colonial rule. It is tragic that nearly two decades after independence SA is still grappling with this issue.
Zanu PF’s farm seizures were politically motivated and nothing to do with seeking a just resolution of the matter. The proposed compensation itself is yet another blunder, why is the regime asking the ordinary people to pay the bill when those who benefited from the seized farms are there?
The people of Zimbabwe will rebel against Mnangagwa but not for the reasons Malema would ever understand! Those who know Malema would also know that he will never understand the subtleties of the points raised above! He is a man given to shooting from the hip, let him!
Said Malema, "Mnangagwa is a sell-out. Any person who wants to compensate white people for land is a sell-out. We thought he will be different but he is worse. That country is swimming in poverty and the people of Zimbabwe will rebel against him."
Land is a very important resource and the ownership of the land, like any other asset and property, must be allowed and protected as a basic human right.
No one denies that there are historic injustices in the acquisition and distribution of land during white colonial rule. It is tragic that nearly two decades after independence SA is still grappling with this issue.
Zanu PF’s farm seizures were politically motivated and nothing to do with seeking a just resolution of the matter. The proposed compensation itself is yet another blunder, why is the regime asking the ordinary people to pay the bill when those who benefited from the seized farms are there?
The people of Zimbabwe will rebel against Mnangagwa but not for the reasons Malema would ever understand! Those who know Malema would also know that he will never understand the subtleties of the points raised above! He is a man given to shooting from the hip, let him!
Today is international health day and Zimbabwe is one country where health care is a luxury way beyond the reach of the majority. The country has a chronic shortage of medicine, equipment and train staff.
As long as the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs; Zimbabwe will never achieve any meaningful economic recovery and thus remain a typical example of a failed state!
Today is international health day and Zimbabwe is one country where health care is a luxury way beyond the reach of the majority. The country has a chronic shortage of medicine, equipment and train staff.
As long as the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs; Zimbabwe will never achieve any meaningful economic recovery and thus remain a typical example of a failed state!
This is a very serious and significant development, most of our media have confined themselves to the language "disputed elections", it was nauseating. Even after the detailed reports from the such bodies as the EU Election Observer Mission which clearly stated that the process was not transparent, traceable and verifiable and made the damning judgement the elections were not to accepted international standard our cowardly journalist still maintain their "disputed election" line.
The Daily News has certainly raised the bar. Mnangagwa did not only rig the elections but in doing so shot himself in the foot!
The Zanu PF apologist in Herald, Chronicle and ZBC must be cursing and swearing at the Daily News for raising the bar and making them look decidedly foolish. How can they continue their propaganda stance of "Mnangagwa and Zanu PF won the hotly contested elections!"
Mnangagwa and Zanu PF are not legitimate because they rigged the elections; that is the gene that is out of the bottle and cannot be put back. What to do with this illegitimate Zanu PF regime is the next question.
@ Sarah
You are certainly not one of the smart one on the block. If you think that the admission that Mnangagwa rigged last year's elections is of no consequence then you are worse than I thought!
There are many in Zanu PF HQ who know the significance of the admission and have good reason to be worried. They know this is the beginning of something big. "Bviro bviro dzemhanza mapfeka!" as one would say in Shona.
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