I have often wondered what it would have been like if my great, great, great grand father; who, until that very moment had only seen the distorted image of his own reflection in pool of water and told so and so looked like him; was given a mirror so he saw his image, warts and all, for the very first time! Stuart Doran’s piece in the Strategist left me feeling exactly what I had often imagined my great ancestor confronted and confounded with his known but never seen self would have felt.
“Zimbabwe is what it is because of a political subculture, centred on the ruling party, that has hegemony and subjugation as its highest ideals. Violence, disdain, paranoia and plunder are among its natural progeny. It is fundamentally antithetical to genuine political competition, dissent and notions of stewardship,” wrote Doran.
“The attitudes and instincts that together comprise the culture are audible at every turn, if we are tuned to the right frequency. Asked during a trip to Ethiopia about the numerous allegations of rape during the recent crackdown, Mnangagwa retorted: ‘It’s all stage-managed. We are challenging anybody, anybody, local or foreign, to produce the women, so that the world can see them, and say this is what happened.’
“Regarding the killings: ‘We’d want to see evidence. We see all this in social media. But we’d want to see evidence where the 17 people were killed. Where were they buried?’ And then the sterile references to external manipulation; the protests were part of ‘a regime change agenda which is not new’.
“Back at home, speaking at a rural rally, he went on: ‘Those who we fought during the liberation struggle, the whites, are still fighting so they can claim power again … Our enemies are not resting.’ But, away from the international glare, he was unable to restrain the urge to brag. ‘We don’t want violence, so I said soldiers go and silence these people, they were silenced.’ Protestors were of ‘Legion’—a multitude of demons—and the government would ‘sort them out … We will crush our enemies, and they are being crushed.’”
For decades I thought I knew and understood Zanu PF and its leaders; I have often described the leaders as incompetent, corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thugs. My description was but a rough sketch of the regime, Stuart Doran’s description was the three D exact image complete with the bad-breath. Doran’s mirror has allowed us to see the Zanu PF monster Zanu PF, ugly and mean, but to peek into the black and cold recess of its evil soul!
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF thugs are incompetent, corrupt and pure evil; they have no redeeming feature and, after 39 years of tyrannical rule and looting all they want to do now continue in their evil ways, they are beyond the pale.
“It’s not going to make any real difference if Mnangagwa, or Chiwenga, or any of their fellow travellers, rule—much as it’s made little difference that Mugabe has gone. Lest we forget: as long as the generation of supremacist nationalists and its proselytes remain, so will the mindset,” concluded Stuart Doran.
“For those occasions when the cut, thrust and chaos of current events may seek to distract and confuse, both part-time analysts of Zimbabwe and those who hope to be more should leave a note to self in a prominent place: ‘It’s the subculture, stupid.’”
The single most important task before us today is to pressure Zanu PF to step down but all the regime has been doing and will continue to do is drag the whole nation deeper and deeper into this hell-on-earth it has landed us into. Mnangagwa et al will never reform nor will they ever give up power because it is not in the DNA of hardened thugs like them to reform or give up power.
Zanu PF must be pressured to step down to create the political space for the appointment of an interim administration that will be tasked to implement the democratic reforms and dismantle the demonic subculture the party has fostered on the nation. This is the only way out of this mess!
5 comments:
If you really believe Mnangagwa and Zanu PF rigged last July's elections, which anyone who is anyone has said they did, then what is the point of inviting those who committed high treason to join in the transition government?
Zanu PF rigged last July's elections just as the party has rigged elections these last 39 years. We have made the mistake of rewarding the regime by allowing it to stay in power regardless. It was a very foolish mistake and one we must put an end to now once and once for all. Zanu PF is illegitimate and the regime must step down - that is not negotiable.
It is rich for SA to be calling for a credible convener when it was President Cyril Ramaphosa who said last July's elections "went well" and thus endorsing the rigged elections.
@ Dr Noah Manyika
“Our regression will persist with tragic consequences for our livelihoods if we continue to vote for and tolerate bad leaders simply because they are from our province, our party, our family, our race, or because their buffoonery provides us the most comic relief.”
Zimbabwe has never had free, fair and credible elections ever since the country attain her independence in 1980. We are in this economic and political mess because the nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and murderous regime that has rigged elections to stay in power. Our attempts to implement the democratic reforms and end the curse of rigged elections have been frustrated by corrupt and incompetent opposition buffoons like MDC and yourself who have failed to implement the reforms and continue to participate in flawed and illegal elections giving the Zanu PF dictatorship some modicum of legality!
@Banks
“This past weekend, Zimbabwe took a dramatic step towards national reconciliation. In an effort to improve the country's difficult economic situation and bring about unity among its confrontational politicians, President Mnangagwa officially launched the so-called Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) in Harare,” you say.
“In a country burdened with a lingering economic crisis, natural disasters and economic sanctions by the West, the main aim of POLAD is to provide a platform for the exchange of political ideas and opinions in a peaceful and respectful environment.”
This is just wishful thinking. The root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and political paralysis are the rampant corruption and the country’s skewed political system that has allowed Zanu PF to rig elections and stay in power regardless of pathetic track record of failure and tyrannical rule.
Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections and the regime is illegitimate. No one will be fooled by this gimmicky POLAD attempt to give the illegitimate regime some legitimacy! POLAD will do nothing to address the root causes of the country’s mess.
When the ship is sinking, the rat are the first to jump ship.
Hopewell Chinono has been one of ED Pfeee cheer leaders asking the nation to give him a chance, the rat was even calling for a GNU to last 10 years with no elections. And now Chinono is not only doing volte-face on ED Pfee euphoria but is now kicking ED in the teeth dismissing his Political Actors Dialogue forum as a farce!
@ Francis Maposa
What are the solutions, you rightly ask.
This is an easy question to answer since the solution has been staring us in the face all these years. For decades now Zimbabweans have talked of wanting free, fair and credible elections without meaning it. Well, it is now time for the people of Zimbabwe to stand up and be counted.
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF thugs blatantly rigged last year’s elections the regime has no democratic mandate to govern the country. The regime must step down, period.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs there will be no meaningful economic recovery. By stepping down Zanu PF will allow the political space and time required to appoint an interim administration that will implement the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections.
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