Zimbabwe's dysfunctional GNU rubber stamp the rubbish Copac Constitution and celebrate!

Well we sure have our fair share of really naive people! We have had chance after chance to turn this country into a functioning democracy and chance after chance we have wasted them all and the referendum will be our very last chance to turn away from this torturous route of intimidation, beatings, rapes and murder we have been travelling for the last 33 years. And some people are keen as mustard to vote yes, to say yes this is the route we want to travel!

It is one thing to say you can take a horse to the river but you cannot make him drink. What do you say to a nation on suicidal path?

I do feel sorry for those, because they are young or for no fault of their own are ignorant, who are being dragged into this nightmare. But that is why children are said to pay for the sins of their fathers and grandfathers one can stretch that into the future and past for generations!

Let it be said that on this day 6 February 2013 Zimbabwe’s dysfunction GNU parliament rubber stamp the rubbish Copac constitutions and there were scenes of great jubilation and singing!

Ironies of ironies - Mugabe's fate is totally dependent on "puppet" Tsvangirai!

There are a number of critical points during the Second World War when Germany dictator, Adolf Hitler, had done everything and turned to his Italian Fascist Allay, Benito Mussolini, to do his bit only to be let down again. “The only thing dependable about the Italians,” the Nazi dictator reportedly said in despair, “is their undependability!”

Mugabe must know how Hitler felt because the Zimbabwean dictator has done absolutely everything to ensure there will be no regime change in Zimbabwe but all that now hangs on Tsvangirai delivering the yes vote in the referendum. In a twist of fate Mugabe’s fate is now in the hands of the very man he has despised and even called a puppet. Well unless he can make that puppet give the performance of it life and convince an increasingly skeptic Zimbabwe public Mugabe will not have the yes vote.

For the last four and half years Mugabe has manage to resist all pressure to implement the agreed democratic reforms, without which it is impossible to have free and fair elections. He knows his party will not win free and fair elections and that is why, naturally, he had the reforms kicked into the tall grass.

The GPA called for the writing of a new democratic constitution with a view of delivering the same thing – free and fair elections. Mugabe somehow managed not only to “dictate”; as his party’s representative on committee tasked to write the constitution, MP Paul Mangwana, has been boasting; he also managed to get Tsvangirai and his MDC friends to rubber stamp the document. No wonder Mugabe had the biggest grin ever when he announced the final Copac constitution had been agreed.

In making sure that none of the reforms ever saw the light of day and dictating the Copac constitution have confirmed Mugabe’s reputation as a shrewd politicians it has had the opposite effect on Tsvangirai, it confirmed he was nothing but a puppet and Mugabe pulled all the strings!

If Tsvangirai is going to deliver the yes vote Mugabe so desperate want in the referendum the former has to demonstrate he can get Mugabe to implement the reforms the tyrant has refuse to implement for the last four and half years in four weeks. Mugabe, for his part, has now to bolster the image of the man he has dedicated the last 15 years to blacken.

A NO vote in the referendum will a complete disaster for Mugabe and Zanu PF; a new body will be constituted to implemented the reforms and write a democratic constitution, there will be free and fair elections and, as night follows day, there will be the dreaded regime change in Zimbabwe!

Just as Adolf Hitler must dreaded having the fate of a key battle in Mussolini’s hands Mugabe must be cursing that his fate is now in the hands of the puppet Tsvangirai!   

Ncube join in singing (Tin-man) Mugabe praise for dinner!

"Ninety percent of the time, I cannot recognise the Mugabe I sit with in cabinet with the Mugabe who has ruled this country through violence,” confess Welshman Ncube. “He shows real concern for his country and people, like a father. And he can master detail over a wide range of government matters.”

Professor Ncube is one in a line of many other Zimbabwean politicians who have had to sing Mugabe praises for their dinner.

“(Mugabe) is a very, very, very good charmer...” joined in another MDC minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga.

Nelson Chamisa, the MDC-T Minister of Information and Communication Technology, once thought Mugabe was "unbalanced", but adds: "sitting in cabinet with him, I admire his intellect. He has dexterity of encyclopaedic proportions. He is bad leader but a gifted politician.”

Finance Minister Tendai Biti talked of the dictator as “unflappable” and that he was “Zimbabwe”.

Simba Makoni says of Mugabe: "There is a part of him which is outwardly nationalistic and radical but there is also an inner part of him which is questioning and doubtful, because deep down he admires things British. He is conservative."

All these individual tripping over each other to sing Mugabe praises have all been on the gravy train, they now understand gravy train etiquette; you do not do anything that will disrupt the harmony on the train much less bit the hand that feeds you and every so often you must join the others and sing for your dinner!

It is hardly surprising that Ncube and Mushonga should be leading the chorus; these are individuals who were elected by no one and so they own Mugabe a big debt of gratitude!

When you are on the gravy train you see the whole world through rose tinted glasses, even a murderous tyrant suddenly becomes charming and irresistibly so too! That is why those who promised to derail the gravy train have so far always failed because they all sort to be on it train and enjoy the ride for a few years first and then derail it. The only sure way to derail the gravy train is to blow it up; get on it and will claim you will be charmed into becoming a fellow traveller!  

The ordinary people who have paid the heavy price of Mugabe’s corruption and tyranny see Mugabe as he really is a pathetic ruthless tyrant with no heart who has been often portrayed as a statesman of great intellect by those close to him but turned out to be as hollow as Tin-man in Wizard of Oz!

EU to suspend targeted sanction if referendum is credible: a test Zimbabwe has already failed!

EU says it will suspend the targeted sanctions if Zimbabwe holds a “peaceful and credible” referendum next month.

If the EU is serious about “a peaceful and credible” constitutional referendum then Zimbabwe has already failed. How can this be a credible referendum when the populous has been systematically denied information on the new constitution because the country has no free media and there is no freedom of expression?

 Many people will be denied the vote because the voters roll is still in shambles.
Mugabe and Zanu PF know the people of Zimbabwe would reject this Copac Constitution if they were given a chance to know the contents of the document and the consequence of a yes and no vote; if they knew the truth. They would never vote for a repeat of 2008 violence or for a constitution that denies them their right to a free vote and the right to life itself. Never! How can government that is deliberately stifling all meaningful debate and keeping its people ignorant of the very subject matter of referendum be judged to have conducted a credible referendum?

Moyo supporter Copac after all and now wants you to make "bold" mistake and vote yes!

“For some of us who remained optimistic that the constitution-making process would come to fruition, we were not really surprised that finally all the parties in the GPA are singing from the same hymn book,” wrote Professor Jonathan Moyo.

Yes, I could not believe my own eyes too! When the draft Copac constitution was first realized in July 2012 Professor was the captain of the guard of the Zuna PF hardliners who castigated the Zanu PF representatives on Copac as sell-out for giving in to MDC demands. No doubt it was the Professor himself who penned off most of the 266 amendments Zanu PF hardliners wanted included in the new constitution. So now none other than the captain of the Zanu PF hardliners is himself leading the charge to proclaim they had all approved the process all along.

So what was all the hu-ha about the sell-out and the 266 amendments was all for theatrical effect. It was just another good-cop bad-cop trick Mugabe and Zanu PF were playing on the people. They wanted the people to accept the draft without any close scrutiny for fear the Zanu PF hardliners would impose a worse constitution. Well, if the truth be told, it worked.

If the people had read the July 2012 Copac draft they would have immediately realized that it was not going to safe guard most of their basic rights including the right to own property, the right to free and fair electoral vote and not even the right to life itself. The people’s fear of worse from the Zanu PF hardliners stopped them rejecting the draft.

There can be no doubt that the Copac constitution was “dictated” by Mugabe, a tyrant, as Zanu PF’s Copac representative MP Mangwana has already admitted. MDC’s twiddle-dee and twiddle-dumb just rubber stamped it. All the talk of “all the parties in the GPA are singing from the same hymn book” is Zanu PF propaganda!

Professor Moyo is arguing Zimbabweans to vote yes to the Copac rubbish and not reject is as they did to his 2000 draft. “That was a moment of madness which the majority voted “No” as it meant that as a nation we rejected our own starting point and we chose to be stuck with a colonialist-inspired document,” wrote the “mad” professor.

What the Professor clearly fails to appreciate is that Zanu PF had deliberately undermined and amended the “colonialist-inspired” Lancaster House Constitution (LHC) making it worse not better that it was in 1980. Even then the 2000 Zanu PF inspired constitution would have left the people worse off than they were under the amended LHC.

This time Zimbabweans have a chance to get a democratic constitution, which is what was agreed in the GPA; the people will short change themselves if they are to settle for this the Copac rubbish and let this historic chance go by.

“As Zimbabweans, we should be a proud nation and acknowledge that we should make decisions and we should not be afraid or ashamed of it even if we make the wrong decisions, we should be bold enough to make them,” argues Professor Moyo in his usual rhetorical way.

Professor Moyo knows he cannot convince even a child that to accept a constitution that will not deliver even the most basic and fundamental rights will not be making a mistake, a mistake the nation should rightly be ashamed of. So he is arguing the nation based on some totally misplaced sense of national pride to “be bold enough to make” the mistake and vote yes to something we all know we will live to regret. That is not being bold but plain stupid.

Zimbabweans have been denied their basic rights amongst them the right to a free and fair vote without fear, intimidation or violent abuse for 33 years; it is time we claimed our birth right. Vote NO in the referendum and force the full implementation of the agreed democratic reforms without which there will never be free and fair election ever!

MDC will take part in Elections "whatever the magnitude" of political violence, Chamisa confirms!

MDC is certainly not a party of excellence but more a party of blundering incompetency!

 

Tuesday 29 January 2013

MDC Secretary General, Tendai Biti, reportedly tells the media MDC will boycott the elections if the “hooligan” CIO and military officers in ZEC are not replaced. It is a reasonable position given that partisan bias of personnel in this two security organs. In 2008 ZEC played a despicable role in delaying the announcing of election results by a staggering five weeks; many people believe they cooked the results.

 

So it is very reasonable that there should be significant reforms of ZEC and individuals whose political impartiality is in doubt should be removed.

 

Why MDC has failed to have this done for the last five years; is another story.

 

Thursday 31 January 2013

MDC National Organising Secretary, Nelson Chamisa, denies MDC ever said the party will boycott the elections.

 

"The people of Zimbabwe have embraced the MDC and have placed their hope in the party;” Chamisa said “hence, whatever the magnitude of the persecution from which ever quarter, the people will vote in their numbers for a new beginning and real transformation which will be brought about by the MDC government."

 

Excuse me Mr. National Organizing Secretary; the people did vote in their numbers in 2008 and there was NO “new beginning and real transformation”! The only thing that changed was that you and your fellow MDC leaders got on the gravy train.

 

As for the people, Mugabe and Zanu PF were swift and ruthless in delivering the punishment for voting for MDC in March 2008. In the presidential run-off that followed the people were subjected to some of the worst election violence in modern human history. Mr Chamisa neither you nor any one of your fellow MDC leaders were there to stop the violence or comforted the relatives of the over 500 murdered. You all disappeared like mist in the African morning.

 

The people were promised in the GPA, of which MDC was a party and signed to, that a number of democratic reforms will be implemented and a new democratic constitution written for one purpose only – to ensure the next elections are free and fair and the violence of 2008 is never be repeated ever again. Sadly in five years none of the reforms have been implemented and the Copac constitution MDC has endorse is not even worth the paper it is written on.

 

Mr. Chamisa you and your party owe the people of Zimbabwe an apology for your failure to implement the reforms and rubber stamping the Copac constitution “dictated” by Mugabe, a tyrant. You owe the people of Zimbabwe an apology for leading them back to the political nightmare they faced in 2008 with no democratic constitution and the scourge of political violence a daily reality!

 

Yes MDC could have implemented the reforms and all the other things that would have guaranteed free and fair elections, ensured the people’s rights were safe guaranteed and no one would ever be beaten, raped or murdered in political violence. They would have had the full backing of SADC and the international community and, most important of all, of the long suffering people of Zimbabwe. MDC did not implement the reforms because the party did not have the political will and did not care!

 

All Mr. Chamisa and his MDC friends care about is that they get back on the gravy train regardless what beating the people get and how many are killed, regardless how dysfunctional the government that emerges. “Whatever the magnitude of the persecution from which ever quarter,” MDC National Organizing Secretary Chamisa said!

 

Zimbabweans have heard it from the horse’s own mouth; MDC does not care. It would be folly on the part of the people to follow MDC and vote yes in the referendum and thus go through an election process which everyone agrees will be a repeat of the 2008 violence!

MDC want elections "whatever the magnitude" of political violence, Chamisa confirms!

MDC is certainly not a party of excellence but more a party of blundering incompetency!

 

Tuesday 29 January 2013

MDC Secretary General, Tendai Biti, reportedly tells the media MDC will boycott the elections if the “hooligan” CIO and military officers in ZEC are not replaced. It is a reasonable position given that partisan bias of personnel in this two security organs. In 2008 ZEC played a despicable role in delaying the announcing of election results by a staggering five weeks; many people believe they cooked the results.

 

So it is very reasonable that there should be significant reforms of ZEC and individuals whose political impartiality is in doubt should be removed.

 

Why MDC has failed to have this done for the last five years; is another story.

 

Thursday 31 January 2013

MDC National Organising Secretary, Nelson Chamisa, denies MDC ever said the party will boycott the elections.

 

"The people of Zimbabwe have embraced the MDC and have placed their hope in the party;” Chamisa said “hence, whatever the magnitude of the persecution from which ever quarter, the people will vote in their numbers for a new beginning and real transformation which will be brought about by the MDC government."

 

Excuse me Mr. National Organizing Secretary; the people did vote in their numbers in 2008 and there was NO “new beginning and real transformation”! The only thing that changed was that you and your fellow MDC leaders got on the gravy train.

 

As for the people, Mugabe and Zanu PF were swift and ruthless in delivering the punishment for voting for MDC in March 2008. In the presidential run-off that followed the people were subjected to some of the worst election violence in modern human history. Mr Chamisa neither you nor any one of your fellow MDC leaders were there to stop the violence or comforted the relatives of the over 500 murdered. You all disappeared like mist in the African morning.

 

The people were promised in the GPA, of which MDC was a party and signed to, that a number of democratic reforms will be implemented and a new democratic constitution written for one purpose only – to ensure the next elections are free and fair and the violence of 2008 is never be repeated ever again. Sadly in five years none of the reforms have been implemented and the Copac constitution MDC has endorse is not even worth the paper it is written on.

 

Mr. Chamisa you and your party owe the people of Zimbabwe an apology for your failure to implement the reforms and rubber stamping the Copac constitution “dictated” by Mugabe, a tyrant. You owe the people of Zimbabwe an apology for leading them back to the political nightmare they faced in 2008 with no democratic constitution and the scourge of political violence a daily reality!

 

Yes MDC could have implemented the reforms and all the other things that would have guaranteed free and fair elections, ensured the people’s rights were safe guaranteed and no one would ever be beaten, raped or murdered in political violence. They would have had the full backing of SADC and the international community and, most important of all, of the long suffering people of Zimbabwe. MDC did not implement the reforms because the party did not have the political will and did not care!

 

All Mr. Chamisa and his MDC friends care about is that they get back on the gravy train regardless what beating the people get and how many are killed, regardless how dysfunctional the government that emerges. “Whatever the magnitude of the persecution from which ever quarter,” MDC National Organizing Secretary Chamisa said!

 

Zimbabweans have heard it from the horse’s own mouth; MDC does not care. It would be folly on the part of the people to follow MDC and vote yes in the referendum and thus go through an election process which everyone agrees will be a repeat of the 2008 violence!