If we in Zimbabwe are serious about digging ourselves out of the
economic and political hell-on-earth we are in, then we must start by paying
attention to detail on why we got into this mess. If we know and understand why
we got into this mess; knowing and understanding how to get out, will be that
much easier.
Detail matters. Indeed, detail is everything!
"I Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa swear that as president of the
republic of Zimbabwe I will be faithful to Zimbabwe and will obey, uphold and
defend the constitution of Zimbabwe." This is the oath of office which
President Mnangagwa was obliged by law to take.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, is a universal
maxim.
The nation untrusts a lot of power and authority in the man/woman
holding the office of state president. The oath is he/her promising they will exercise
the state presidential powers for the good of the nation and never ever abuse
it.
The temptation to use the state
power for Caesar’s glory and not the good of Rome is the stuff of history. And those
who do not learn from history and their own past are destined to repeat the
same mistakes over and over again and pay dearly with each pass.
The root cause why Zimbabwe is in this economic and political hell-hole
is because Mnangagwa, just like Mugabe before him, has repeatedly violated his
oath of office to further his selfish interests at the expense of the national
good. Zimbabwe is in economic ruins not only because of Zanu PF misrule but,
more significantly, because the nation has been stuck with the corrupt and
incompetent regime foe 43 years and counting.
Zimbabweans have failed to remove Zanu PF from power long after the
people realised the party was corrupt and incompetent because Mnangagwa/Mugabe
abused the state presidential powers to deny the people their fundamental right
to a meaningful vote, to rig elections, and thus extend the regime’s stay in
power.
Free, fair and credible elections are more than just another UN Human
Right Declaration nicety; they are the alpha and omega of peace, justice,
prosperity and good governance. Zimbabwe got into this man-made hell because
for the last 43 years we have failed to hold free and fair elections.
If we are serious about getting out of this hell-hole, we must hold free
and fair elections. But to do that we must first understanding that it is Zanu
PF that has stopped us holding free and fair elections. We must know and
understand the regime that has held the nation to ransom these last four
decades.
“The ‘new’ regime can be viewed from different angles, but the nub of it
is this: there’s a recognition that the economic fiasco of the last 20 years
was suboptimal, but Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers will burn the
house down if they feel it necessary. Make no mistake, their will to power is
every bit as intense as Mugabe’s—as is their belief that they own the country’s
choicest fruits by right of conquest,” wrote Stuart Doran in The Strategist.
“There’s no comprehending Zimbabwe without an appreciation of that
mentality. Yet many fail to get it because they don’t read the country’s
history. In 1979, at the height of the struggle against white rule, a diplomat
who mixed frequently with Mugabe and other leaders of his party observed that
‘ZANU does not seem to attach much importance to the destruction caused by
prolonged war’. They said they were content to see Zimbabwe ‘totally’
demolished if that was the price to be paid for preventing others from ruling
it. That attitude has not changed an iota, notwithstanding the passage of 40
years and Mugabe’s departure. After all, the men who now rule wielded his
hatchets for most of that period.”
Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections, just as the party has rigged past
elections. Last week ZEC acknowledged the commission had failed to produce a
verified voters’ roll, a must-have for free and fair election, but elections
will go ahead regardless.
Another rigged elections will help Mnangagwa and Zanu PF stay in power,
the glory of Caesar, but at the expense of the good governance and the good of
Zimbabwe. This is the very thing the presidential oath of office is supposed to
stop!
Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections in advance and we, the people,
must condemn the process in advance. Zanu PF must be denied legitimacy fo
rigging 2023 election in fragrant violation of Mnangagwa’s oath of office to uphold
the constitution and the good of the nation.
Mnangagwa must be held to account for failing to uphold his oath of office by failing to ensure 2023 elections are free, fair and credible and thus deliver good governance for the benefit of the commonwealth. If he is unfit to hold the office of the presidency now, how can he be fit to do so post 2023 elections!
3 comments:
It has been a tough and arduous task hammering the message Zanu PF is rigging 2023 elections and CCC are participating to give Zanu PF legitimacy in return to the few gravy train seats. At long last, a few are finally getting the message!
They are admitting the flag ship “winning in rigged elections (wire)” strategy of mass voter registration was just hot air. CCC registered only ¼ million as of 30 May 2022 or 4% of its own target of 6 million. And yet Chamisa continue to insist in participating in the flawed elections claiming “we will win big. God is in it!” just to cover up the real reason – greed.
THE land on which Zimbabwe’s new US$140 million parliament and the planned US$60 billion ultra-modern Cyber City in Mt Hampden on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, are situated is owned by leading agro-based conglomerate CFI Holdings Limited, listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
OWEN GAGARE
The vast piece of land — measuring 800 hectares — is located between Old Mazowe Road (now Mao Zedong Road) and Bindura Road, from the foot of the hill where parliament is built, sprawling northwards and in a north-easterly direction.
The state-of-the-art mixed-use hi-tech park cybercity will be built on that CFI space. The Chinese-built Parliament Building is located on a 50 000-square metres piece of land in Mt Mount Hampden, which is in Mashonaland West Province in terms of administrative boundaries, about 25 kilometres northeast of Harare — largest city in the country with over two million people.
This nothing wrong with development if it is for the good of society. In Zimbabwe the rich are filthy rich and at the expense of the poor condemned to live in abject poverty. This project is for the benefit of the filthy rich with all the power and influence.
The gap between the country’s rich and poor has opened into a yawning chasm. This is socially, economically and politically unhealthy and unsustainable. The ruling elite cannot expect to live Holywood film star lifestyles whilst millions, a stone throw away, are forced to live without food, hope and dreams!
The number one priority for Zimbabwe should be end the wholesale looting, most of the beneficiaries of this suburb for super rich are the looters and use the wealth to improve the lives of the poor.
A Referendum?
There have been suggestions that a referendum should be held as to whether this year’s general election should be postponed until conditions are more favourable for the holding of free and fair elections. Certainly, conditions at present are not very auspicious: political violence is increasing, and ZEC’s failure to conduct a delimitation in accordance with the Constitution does not inspire confidence in its ability to conduct a general election. On the other hand, there are several objections to the proposal:
· The Constitution does not envisage the holding of such a referendum.
· There is no provision in the Constitution for elections to be postponed beyond the five-year life of Parliament, so any postponement would necessitate a constitutional amendment.
· Time is now so short that it would be impossible to hold a referendum before the elections are due. What if a majority of voters rejected the proposal, and decided that elections should go ahead? It would probably be too late to give effect to their decision.
The issue of a verified voters’ roll has been on the national agenda since the 2018 elections. Team Pachedu has produced damning reports of the errors, amendments, etc. in copies of the voters’ roll they found. The very fact that ZEC has failed to produce a verified voters’ roll on which their delimitation report was based makes the later meaningless.
If a murder victim had his brains blown out and this has been established one does not ask if the victim was still breathing, had a heartbeat, etc. Why Veritas is therefore ignoring the lack of verified voters’ roll as if the elections process can still be free, fair and credible beggars belief.
If this present regime has failed to deliver free and fair elections, as did the government in the 2008 elections, any outsider, SADC last time but some other body such as the UN, must be invited to preside over the transitional arrangement until fresh elections can be held.
The idea that those who are responsible for letting the nation down by failing to carryout their constitutional duty of holding free and fair elections should be rewarded in any way by allowing them to remain in power is preposterous! It will set a bad precedence!
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