"Kenya needs reforms to move forward," insist Raila Odinga - of course he is right. N Garikai

Announcing yesterday, Odinga who managed a historic High Court victory which reverses this year’s election results that gave his opponent Uhuru Kenyatta a win, stuck to his word as he announced he will not betray the Kenyan people.

“There must be reforms at the IEBC to enable this nation to move forward,” said Odinga.

Having successfully proven before a Court of law that the August elections were rigged it simply does not make any sense to then agree to take part in the rerun when absolutely nothing has been done to make sure the same election shenanigans will not be repeated.

Zimbabwe’s 2008 elections were a historic event in that they settled the question of the depths of depravity and barbarism Zanu PF would sink to win elections. The essence of the Global Political Agreement was that the country’s political system must be completely reformed if the country was ever to stop Zanu PF barbarism and have free, fair and credible elections.

The fact that Tsvangirai and his MDC friend failed to get even one democratic reform implemented is the greatest testimonial to their breath-taking incompetence! Frankly when one is dealing with such nincompoops as Tsvangirai it was no surprise that MDC agreed to contest the July 2013 elections although not even one reform was in place and in total disregard of the SADC leaders’ warning not to contest.

“If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done,” SADC leaders warned.

It was only after Zanu PF had blatantly rigged the July 2013 elections that the MDC buffoons finally got the message on the need for reforms. “No reform, no elections!” they resolved at the party congress. Sadly, the moments of sanity did not last, at the first full moon the werewolves in Harvest House were howling in unison “We will contest next elections, with or without the reforms!”

To the world at large, MDC leaders claim that they have “Winning In Rigged Elections (WIRE)” strategies. Only a fool would believe such foolishness.

By implementing the democratic reforms during Kenya’s GNU Raila Odinga gave that country a chance to end the entrenched de facto one-party, KANU, dictatorship that has existed since the country’s independence in 1963. The very fact that Uhuru Kenyatta was about to corrupt some of the officials to tamper with the process underlines how difficult it is to uproot corruption and a dictatorship.

If the people of Kenya allow the Thursday vote to go ahead and thus let Uhuru Kenyatta get away with tampering with the electoral process then everyone should know Kenya has closed the door to democratic change. The people will live to regret this. Odinga has done his best to help Kenya end the de facto one-party dictatorship. Odinga was a blessing to the people of Kenya, it is a great pity the people failed to recognise this.

By the same token, Morgan Tsvangirai has been Zimbabwe’s curse; the idiot failed to get even one reform implemented during the GNU and now he is the one giving blatant denial of the people’s freedoms and basic human rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections a veneer of credibility by claiming MDC can win rigged elections! Tragically, for Zimbabwe, there are hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who continues to follow the idiot blindly like sheep to the slaughter!

Kenya had the opportunity for democratic change and if the nation fail to take it, it will be the people themselves’ fault not Raila Odinga. In Zimbabwe, we never even had a look in because the MDC idiots failed to implement even one democratic reform in five years of the GNU. Even today, with the benefit of hindsight, Tsvangirai & co. continue to undermine all efforts to effect meaningful democratic change in the country.

How ironic that millions of Zimbabweans risked life and limb to elect Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends on the promise they would bring democratic change. MDC have not only failed to bring about even one democratic change in their 17 years on the political stage, 5 years of which they were in the GNU; worse still, they are now the ones fighting against those demanding reforms. We do not need reforms implemented, MDC are now arguing, because the party has devised strategies to win rigged elections!

Whilst Odinga is arguing end the dictatorship and move Kenya forward; Tsvangirai is arguing to retain the dictatorship and drag Zimbabwe backward. What a nightmare!

“Mapenzi eMDC anongo pepereka nenyika!” (MDC fools are like the wind, they do not know where they are coming from or where they are going!)

“Mapenzi inyama yegakava!” (Fools are stubbornly foolish, it is second nature!) as the Shona would say!

ConCourt challenge of denial of diaspora vote - compared to reforms, this is frivolous N Garikai

“ZIMBABWEANS living abroad have filed a fresh Constitutional Court (ConCourt) challenge seeking the striking down of Electoral Act provisions which bar them from taking part in local elections from their foreign bases,” reported New Zimbabwe.

“Today (Friday) we filed an application on behalf of Zimbabweans living and working abroad,” said ZLHR’s Belinda Chinowawa.

“The application is based on a contention that the residents' requirements imposed under the Electoral Act are unconstitutional. (Section 23 (3) of the Act, calls for the removal from the voters’ roll names of those who spend at least 12 consecutive months outside their constituencies.)

“So, the purpose of the application is to ask the Constitutional Court to make a declaration that the residents' requirements are unconstitutional and to facilitate voting from abroad for all Zimbabweans whether or not they are working on behalf of the government or an international organisation as is currently the case.”

Whilst no one can ever dispute that the people in the diaspora have a right to a meaningful vote and the Zimbabwe government should do everything practical and within reason to facilitate this. The Zimbabwe government is already offering this to Zimbabweans on government business abroad, it will not cost much in time, money and energy to extend the facility to include the rest. What one must question here, however, is the wisdom taking the nation’s eyes off the important and urgent matter stopping the ongoing flawed and illegal electoral process to pursue the diaspora vote.

The need for the people in the diaspora to exercise their democratic right to vote is important. The need to stop the flawed and illegal elections going ahead next year until the reforms designed to stop the vote rigging are implemented is the single most important and urgent on the national agenda right now. There is nothing of substance to be gained from winning the diaspora vote if at the end of the day Zanu PF still rigs next year’s elections. Nothing!

It would be better for the nation if ZLHR was challenging ZEC's commitment to ensuring all Zimbabweans in the country who wish to register are afforded the opportunity to do so and ZEC’s commitment to releasing a verified voters’ roll at least one month before the voting day, for example. ZEC should have started the voter registration exercise in 2015 and not last month, less than a year, to the voting day; even with the best will in the world, there is no way the commission can deliver on its two commitments.

ZLHR should be asking ZEC through the Constitutional Court to prove the commission can still register 7 million, release a verified voters’ roll, etc. in the time frame left before next year’s elections. Failure to do so, then the Court must stop the current flawed and illegal electoral process from proceeding any further and call for the necessary democratic reforms and appointment of a more competent ZEC.

The same corrupt and incompetent ZEC failed to produce a verified voters’ roll for the July 2013 elections; a fact noted in the AU election observer team’s report. It will be criminal and dereliction of one’s duty by all concerned if next year’s elections were to go ahead without such a key and fundament document as a verified voters’ roll!  

Even if the regime was to give in and allow some people in the diaspora to vote; what good will that be to the nation if Zanu PF rigs the vote at the end of the day! 

SADC leaders advised Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends NOT to contest the July 2013 elections without implementing the reforms first. As we all know, MDC leaders ignored the advice and contested the elections; which Zanu PF, gratefully, went on to blatantly rig.

Since the rigged July 2013 elections, the country has not implemented even one reform; SADC leaders’ advice not to contest flawed elections is even more germane today than back in 2013. This time, it is not just MDC leaders who have been warned of the folly of contesting flawed elections, we have all been warned. We will all look very foolish indeed if we secured the diaspora vote but fail to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!

“What a frivolous pursuit. The so-called ZLHR just wants to apply for more USAID funds to eat, nothing more. I won’t be surprised to find out that none of them has registered to vote,” was Tengenenge’s response to the diaspora law suit.

Diaspora vote is important but to take the nation’s eyes off the important and urgent matter of making sure reforms are implemented before elections in pursuit of diaspora vote would indeed be frivolous! 

"Register in numbers," Tsvangirai continues to argue - more out of habit than reason

The ostrich is a creature of habit, it will bury its head in the sand as a matter of habit. It is now clear that Morgan Richard Tsvangirai too is a creature of habit, like the ostrich, he too habitually buries his head in the sand.

“The principals urge the people of Zimbabwe to register in their numbers as we prepare for the watershed 2018 elections at the heart of the motivation behind the formation of the MDC Alliance was to avoid splitting the vote in favour of the status quo,” said Tsvangirai, after a principals’ meeting on Friday.

Tsvangirai is still banking millions of opposition supporters registering in the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration exercise and then going on to vote for the opposition and thus overhaul all Zanu PF’s vote rigging shenanigans. Naturally, one of Zanu PF’s vote rigging shenanigans is to stop would-be opposition voters registering in any significant numbers; there is growing evidence that the plan is working!

Given the fact that the country is starting a clean voters’ roll using the new Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) system, the registration exercise should have started early 2015, at the latest. The exercise only started last month, with less than a year before the next elections. Even with the best will in the world, there is no way ZEC can register 7 million voters in the four months allocated to complete the task.  

As if the very late start in voter registration was not bad enough, the registration has been dogged by such operational matters such as ZEC official turning up late at registration centres, the registration process taking two hours instead of the projected 5 minutes, centres running out of the VR9 forms, etc., etc. There is no doubt that the delays were deliberate and they have supped the enthusiasm opposition supporter had to register.

Less than ¼ million of the expected 7 million registered in the first month and, at this rate, the opposition will be lucky to get 2 million supporters registered. Many of these will be denied the vote, come voting day, because their details will not be in the polling station they expected. Meanwhile Zanu PF has said it will get 5 million of its supporters registered and, no doubt, it will.

The regime has paid traditional leaders and party thugs are corral villagers to register and, come voting day, will frogmarch them to vote for Zanu PF. The regime will register its supporters multiple times just to make up the numbers on the voters’ roll and, come voting day, many of these ghost voters will vote too!

With the voter registration exercise starting so late there is no way, even with the best will in the world, ZEC is ever going to produce a verified voters’ roll. And given the vote rigging antics described above, it is clear why the regime would not want to release a verified voters’ roll; it is the smoking gun to the vote rigging.

So, there is overwhelming evidence that the opposition will never ever get many of their supporters to register as voters and then, come voting day, to vote. Zanu PF vote rigging well and truly underway already and there is really nothing the opposition is doing to stop it or counter it. Indeed, Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition friends continue to call for mass registration, etc. although it is clear these are all futile measures.

Worse still, this is not the first time Zanu PF has rigged elections or the opposition have pretended not to see the elections were being rigged; the same thing happened in July 2013. On that occasion, Tsvangirai and his MDC friends were warned not to contest the flawed elections until reforms are implemented to stop the vote rigging. MDC leaders ignored the warning and contested the elections; which Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig, as we know.

So, in 2013 and again now, Tsvangirai & co. are burying their heads in the sand and pretending not to notice that Zanu PF is rigging the vote. Why?

Tsvangirai & co. sold-out during the GNU when they failed to get even one democratic reform implemented in five years. Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office, a farmed seized from a white farmer for Welshman Ncube, a $4 million mansion for Morgan Tsvangirai, etc. Although few of the MDC leaders, like David Coltart, were smart enough to realise the folly of contesting the July 2013 elections with no reforms in place but even with the benefit of hindsight he still chose to bury his head in the sand.

“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 elections,” explained Senator Coltart in his recent book. 

“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.”

If MDC leaders did not boycott the July 2013 elections because they had not formed the coalition; what is the excuse for contesting 2018, the MDC Alliance was formed two months ago!

The truth is Tsvangirai & co. will never boycott the elections on the “No reform, no elections!” grounds. To do this, they will have, sooner or later, to admit that it was their faulty that not even one reform was implemented during the GNU; this is the one thing they have singularly failed to do.

However, the world can see that Zanu PF is rigging the 2018 elections and the whole election is a sham. Unlike in 2013 when they allowed the vote rigging to pass; they, especially SADC leaders who know the price of yet another rigged Zimbabwe election will be costly to the country and the whole region, will condemn next year’s rigged elections.

The people of Zimbabwe must start preparing themselves for GNU Mark 2; it is coming, of that we can be certain! We must be make sure that this time around, we implement all the democratic reforms timeously without failure.