What Tongogara said before 1980 does not matter, it is failure to uphold "One man, one vote!" that really matters. W Mukori

 @ Tongogara

It is not what Tongogara, Mugabe, Zvobgo and the rest of Zimbabwe's black nationalists said before 1980 that maters; it is what they said and did after 1980 that matters!

 History has shown that Zanu PF leaders did change completely as the prospect of power loomed. They made it clear that if the party did not win the 1980 elections the bush war would continue and thus throw out of the window the ideal of “One man, one vote!” 

The party has never ever held free, fair and credible elections ever since. Idealism evaporated like mist in the morning!

Worst of all the party and the nation has yet to sort out the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. Zanu PF thugs still believe they have the divine right to rule by virtue of conquest and have rigged elections and worse to secure that right. 

The nation had many chances to implement the democratic reforms and end the Zanu PF dictatorship, with the best chance coming during the GNU. Alas! the chances were all wasted. Morgan Tsvangirai and his banded mongoose MDC fiends sold out. 

Zanu PF's failure to honour and uphold "One man, one vote!" is at the very heart of why we are a failed state. The right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country is more that just a right; it is the essence of good governance.   

If VP Chiwenga should finally become President it would be by right of conquest and not “by direct popular vote”, as Mapuranga insists. Wilbert Mukori

“General Constantino Chiwenga is the next President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Not maybe. Not possibly. Not if circumstances permit. Not subject to amendment bills, parliamentary arithmetic, or the preferences of commercial networks that have confused their bank balances with political permanence.” wrote Lieutenant General Winston Sigauke Mapuranga in Bulawayo 24.

“And let me be equally clear about the timeline. 2028. Elections. As scheduled. 

“As constitutionally mandated. As the people of Zimbabwe are entitled to.”

What a truck load of bulls****t! 

“What kind of leaders would an armed struggle throw up?” Mahatma Gandhi and his fellow Indian nationalist asked themselves when they too were presented with the choice os whether to continue with the passive resistance in the fight to end British colonial rule of India. 

This was not an abstract and rhetorical question but one grounded on reality.

Alas! Zimbabwe has given the whole world the worst case scenario text book answer to the rhetoric question “What kind of leaders would an armed struggle throw up?” 

“A year on from the coup that ousted Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe remains perched between piecemeal reform and old ways that are as intractable as they are destructive. That’s because the country is ruled by a clique with a partial and conditional commitment to change—and a total, obdurate determination to retain and enjoy power,” wrote Stuart Duran in ASPI Strategist.

“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.”

Lieutenant General Maporanga is right, “CAB3 is not a development instrument. It is not a continuity agenda. It is not about Vision 2030 or boreholes or solar panels or hospital refurbishments worthy as some of those programmes are.CAB3 is a blocking mechanism.”

However he is being totally dishonest in saying the bill “has one primary political function to prevent General Constantino Chiwenga from ascending to the presidency through the direct popular vote that he would win.”

Zimbabwe has never ever held free, fair and credible elections. Never ever! And of all people, Mapuranga knows that. 

The nearest the nation has ever got to holding free and fair elections was the March 2008 elections after SADC had piled the pressure on Zanu PF to carry out a number of electoral reform. When it was clear that Zanu PF was losing the elections it was none other than Mnangagwa and Chiwenga who launched Operation Mavhotera Papi to blatantly cheat in the vote count and use wanton violence in the presidential run-off. Were those the actions of some one who has ever believed in winning the “direct popular vote”?

Mnangagwa and Chiwenga were once again the masterminds behind the 2017 military coup that ousted the late dictator Robert Mugabe after 37 years of rigged elections. The primary purpose of the coup was not to end the curse of rigged elections born of leaders thrown up by the liberation war who believed they have the divine right to rule the nation. The coup was a Zanu PF factional war to settle who was to be the top dog, the dictatorship itself was to remain untouched. 

Mnangagwa and Zanu PF did not win “direct popular vote” in 2018 or 2023; the elections were rigged. Chiwenga and Mapuranga know this!

Mnangagwa and Chiwenga fell out because the former was supposed to serve one five years term and then step aside. He is set to serve ten years and still refusing to step aside. 

The primary purpose of CAB3, as far as Chiwenga and his supporters are concerned, is to engineer a mechanism to allow Mnangagwa to stay in power  two more years beyond 2028. The bill seeks to entrench Zanu PF’s dictatorial strangle hold on the nation and this appeals to many Zanu PF cronies which is why the bill has become so divisive within the party. 

Whether CAB3 passes or not the ordinary Zimbabweans know that they will continue to be denied a meaningful say in the governance of the country. If Chiwenga and his cronies manage to stop CAB3 by hook or by coup, they will not risk losing power by holding free, fair and credible elections. 

So if VP Chiwenga should ever become President it will be “by right of conquest,” as Stuart Duran would rightly say and not “by direct popular vote”, as Singauke Mapuranga would have us believe!  

MDC/CCC are Zanu PF team B, playing for team A to win and have legitimacy; when will Zimbabweans finally realise this? W Mukori

 Paul Mangwana boasted soon after the 2013 Constitution was approved in the March 2013 referendum that Mugabe “dictated” the constitution. And this explains why the new Constitution is weak and feeble. A reality that Mwonzora and his MDC fiends have never acknowledged and they have knowingly conned the nation to accept the constitution and to participate in elections, etc. insisting the constitution would deliver a democratic result. 

A dictator’s creed will never deliver a democratic result expected of a democratic constitution. Never! 

Zanu PF is not only relying on the dictator’s creed clauses relating to specific definitions such as “term of office”, etc. to make sure the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 sails through. The regime has many, many other tools at its disposal to get what it wants and has deployed them already. The regime been bribing key players including MPs and senators to approve the process and has used coercive force to silence descending voices. 

The truth is opposition leaders like Mwonzora, Chamisa, Madhuku, Biti, Timba, Mahere, etc., know that the 2013 Constitution is weak and feeble. They know Zanu PF is rigging elections and that participating would only give the regime legitimacy. Still they have soldiered on and participated regardless and they have even conned the ordinary people to participate because they also knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate. 

The regime need to maintain the facade that Zimbabwe is a healthy multi-party democracy to get political legitimacy. Zanu PF was forced into the GNU in 2008 precisely because the blatant cheating in the March vote and the wanton violence during the run-off had shattered all pretence a multi-party democratic election. Zanu has been very careful never to repeat that mistake ever again. 

After the 2018 rigged elections Mnangagwa created POLAD, a body composed of all the losing presidential candidates who publicly endorsed the rigged elections as having been free, fair and credible and Mnangagwa was the legitimate State President. POLAD members were rewarded with cars, diplomatic passports and many other benefits. Lovemore Madhuku and Khupe were some of the beneficiaries of POLAD. 

Mnangagwa introduced a US$20 000 nomination fee for all presidential candidates for 2023 elections. A deliberate and calculated move to stop the flood of candidates eyeing POLAD privileges. He disbanded POLAD post 2023 elections much to the anguish of those who had paid the US$20 000 fee eyeing the POLAD gravy train seat!

So the nation is well and truly "stuck between a rock and a hard place”, Zanu PF ruthless political machinations and MDC/CCC sell out trickery. Stuck between two equally unpleasant, difficult and, in this case, two false choices.   

The key here is the realisation that Zanu PF and the MDC/CCC have been cooperating all along. Mugabe bribed Tsvangirai and his MDC fiends during the GNU to forget about implementing reforms and to pretend the 2013 Constitution was a democratic constitution. Ever since the GNU debacle they have participated in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy for a share of the spoils of power. 

To the uninitiated and ordinary Zimbabwean they have a political choice of Zanu PF or MDC/CCC. MDC/CCC leaders’ failure to implement even one reform in 26 years and their idiotic lies to con the people to participate in flawed processes to give Zanu PF legitimacy is proof Chamisa & co. are Zanu PF team B in all but name - playing for team A to win and have legitimacy for a share of the spoils. 

Democratic elections are about real choices and results are about the true wish of the people in a free, fair and credible elections process. Zimbabwean elections are a farce, the process is so flawed and illegal the main contestants know it but pretend otherwise to deceive the voters.

As long as the people remain ignorant, naive and gullible to the false choice and electoral fraud Zanu PF and their junior partners MDC/CCC are playing nothing will ever change. If the CAB3 passes it will be yet another significant mile-stone in Zimbabwe’s descend to become a fully fledged De jure dynastic, as distinct from the present de facto one-party, dictatorship comparable to that of North Korea.

2008 elections showed barbarism Zanu PF would sink to and the folly of participating regardless. W Mukori

The only question that matters here is are we finally smart enough to understand what is going on here and put an end to all this s***t!

This Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3) circus is not getting us out of the hell-on-earth economic mess and political paralysis we find ourselves in. It is dragging us even deeper int the abyss. The regime KNEW the nation was going to fight this the same way one who landed in a pit of quick-sand would fight. The more vigorously you wriggle the quicker y u sink. 

The nation should stopped participating in flawed election process "so flawed, so illegal the only logical step was t withdraw" we should have learned this after what Zanu PF did in 2008 elections and when MDC leaders failed to implement even one token reform during the GNU. 

Of course, it was insane to participate in flawed 2013 elections on the basis of MDC/CCC lies they would win rigged elections. It was real dumb to repeat the same foolishness in 2018 and then gain in 2023. 

With no meaningful democratic reforms implemented we knew what ever process Zanu PF would follow to get CAB3 would be be just as flawed and illegal as the election process if not worse since there are even less controls. Participating in the process only proved we really are ncapable of learning from the past.

Zanu PF three options:

a) Push through CAB3 giving the regime  even more dictatorial powers and move the country ever closer to becoming the North Korea of Africa

b) Drop some of the ore obnoxious elements in the bill and even allow a referendum which the part is guaranteed to win. Zimbabwe will remain a failed state because Zanu PF's dictatorial struggle hold will remain untouched and the nation will continue participating in flawed elections to gil e the regime legitimacy.

c) Drop CAB3 completely and this will be seen as victor for VP Chiwenga's Zanu PF faction and the compromised opposition will rally behind the faction to share the spoil just as happened following the 2017 military coup. Sapping one dictator for another and thus perpetuating the status quo is not victory.

The smart move is realising that we are in quick-sand  pit and having the nerve to stop the knee-jerk reaction of wriggling. Real change in Zimbabwe will happen if both Zanu PF and MDC/CCC  leaders finally understand that ordinary Zimbabwe are NOT going to participate in flawed elections, so flawed and illegal the only logical step is to withdraw. They are finally going to do the only logical thing withdraw! 

Gukurahundi was a Zanu PF genocide and NOT a Shona supremacist agenda. W Mukori

 “The Shona supremacist agenda that drove Zanu PF to commit the Gukurahundi Genocide continues to be the ethos of the party in 2026. Imagine if this was Bindura, Bikita or Chitakatira & Ndebeles were the only community voice that The Herald could find?

How would that be embraced by those communities? When Ndebeles say Gukurahundi continues up to this day, 46 years after the so-called independence this is what they mean. We're far from being an inclusive country that not only recognizes but respects ethnic diversity. Very far!” wrote Siphosami Malunga on X.

To confuse Zanu PF with Shona is worse than Zanu PF thugs confusing the party with the state!Whilst it is true that Gukurahundi targeted the Ndebele tribe more than any other tribe and it help Zanu PF thugs to impose the de facto one party dictatorship that has ruled the roost to this day. It is nonsense to even suggest that the Shona have benefited from the dictatorship. 

Zimbabwe is a failed state precisely because the nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical de facto one party Zanu PF dictatorship. Judging from the chaos and dog-eat-dog factional wars raging within Zanu PF itself it it would be tongue-in-the cheek to say Zanu PF has benefited from the one-party dictatorship. It would nonsense to suggest the Shona have benefited from the dictatorship and failed state! 

Gukurahundi was never about disrespecting ethnic diversity, it was about party political dominance which, in the final analysis, is the primeval dog-eat-dog. If we are serious about ending the political and economic chaos and tragic human suffering Zanu PF has brought upon this nation then we must start by CORRECTLY identifying the root cause of the problem because failure to do so will meaning wasting time implementing the wrong solutions, at best! 

At worst, we cause stir up tribal hatred and thus start Gukurahundi mark 2!There have been many political opportunists who have played the Gukurahundi and tribal car to bolster their political standing.

The late Dr Joshua Nkomo is on record saying the Gukurahundi massacre was NOT a Shona vs Ndebele struggle but a Zanu PF party seeking to impose a one party dictatorship by either eliminating PF Zapu, the only other political party stopping Zanu PF imposing a one party state. Or by forcing the party to unite with Zanu PF, which is what the 1987 Unity Accord accomplished.

The Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, that has dominated the nation’s national agenda this last 3 years is not about the Shona nor is it about Zanu PF the party. People like VP Chiwenga are against it the amendment because it seeks impose Mnangagwa dominance in violation of the constitution at Chiwenga and his supporters’ expense! The Shona as with the rest of the nation has nothing to gain from the chaos and politic strive that will erupt from the passing of this obnoxious amendment!

Gukurahundi was more than “a moment of madness”, it was genocide committed by murderous megalomanias whose hunger for political power and wealth was and still is insatiable. It is equally important to say what Gukurahundi was not. It was not a Shona tribal supremacist agenda. 

The people of Zimbabwe must be very careful they do not drag themselves into yet another meaningless conflict sparked this time by the failure to distinguish the sins of a few individuals and attributing them to millions who had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do do with the acts, gained nothing and have suffered the post genocide consequences like everyone else! 

Zimbabwe has paid dearly for the nation’s failure to nip in the bud the recklessness hunger for power and disregard of other people’s rights, suffering and deaths in young Robert Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa and many of those behind Gukurahundi. There is no doubt that these qualities did not emerge in 1983, there were there long before that. Our failure to send the culprits to prison were they belong a.s.a.p. has resulted in some of those going to State House instead! 

Have we finally learned that there is a heavy price to be paid for failure to condemn blind ambition, lawlessness and contempt for the freedom and rights of others? Over 20 000 innocent Zimbabweans were murdered in cold blood during Gukurahundi and it resulted in the imposition of the de facto one party, Zanu PF dictatorship that has ruled the roost to this day. And 46 years and counting of the dictatorship is the root cause of Zimbabwe being a failed state and the nation sinking deeper and deeper into economic mess, political paralysis and millions living in abject poverty.  

Well? Have we finally learned the lesson? Alas! Signs are, we have not learned the lesson and those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes and pay dearly for it yet again.  

Trump will be the worst leader in American history and will soon be "as irrelevant as a old tweet" said Schwarzenegger.

 Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice carries a weight shaped by history, and in one of his most talked-about messages, he drew a powerful line between his past and what he believes he is seeing in America today. Growing up in post-war Austria, he witnessed firsthand how propaganda, lies, and blind loyalty could damage families and societies. He has often spoken about how those experiences shaped his views on truth, responsibility, and leadership.

Following the Capitol riot, Schwarzenegger released a video that quickly spread across the world. In it, he didn’t hold back. He described Donald Trump as “a failed leader” and warned about the dangers of misinformation and division. By referencing Kristallnacht, he was not making a casual comparison—he was pointing to a moment in history that symbolized how unchecked hate and deception can escalate into something far more dangerous.

What made his message stand out was not just the criticism, but the perspective behind it. As a Republican and a former governor of California, Schwarzenegger’s words came from within the political sphere, not outside of it. He argued that misleading people for power crosses a line that can have lasting consequences for a nation. At the same time, he added that in his view, political figures who rely on division eventually lose relevance, saying Trump would become “as irrelevant as an old tweet.”

The video reached millions, sparking intense reactions from all sides. Some praised his willingness to speak out, while others strongly disagreed. But regardless of where people stood, the message reignited conversations about leadership, accountability, and the impact of rhetoric in politics.

Now, as political tensions in the United States remain high, his words are circulating once again. It highlights how certain moments don’t just pass—they come back, especially when the issues behind them are still unresolved. For many, this isn’t just about one leader or one event. It’s about how history repeats itself when warnings are ignored, and how voices shaped by experience can still influence the present.

In Africa we have been fighting our own wars, our failed leaders are using white colonial oppression to hide their failures and the people have swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker! Africa has suffered the ill effects of bad governance and it has been near impossible to address these problems because those in positions of power and authority have kept the populous fearful of the imagined white oppressors threatening to recolonise Africa.

In America the people can get rid of their failed leaders, in Africa we are stuck with them. Mnangagwa been in government since independence in 1980. In 2017 he became President on the cocktail of a military coup and has rigged 2018 and 2023 elections to stay in office. And now he is driving the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 to extend his stay in office beyond the stipulated two term limits!

The banality of evil: Mnangagwa is Zimbabwe's very own Adolf Eichmann and rewarded him with absolute power. W Mukori

 The banality of evil: Mnangagwa is Zimbabwe’s every own Adolf Eichmann. The latter’s excuse was that he was following orders, Mnangagwa GAVE the orders. And, if amendment bill No. 3 is passed, he will have even superdupa dictatorial powers on par with those of North Korea’s dictators. The very prospect frighten the life out o me and should do the same to every person with half a brain!

 AI Overview

Godfrey Majonga (often spelled Manjonga in some reports) was a legendary Zimbabwean newscaster, broadcaster, and journalist who later became a prominent advocate for people with disabilities. He was a well-known face on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) television in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Godfrey Majonga died a disabled man because he was caught in a love triangle and his rival gave him a grime choice. He was to sit on red-hot stove plate or jump from second (some say third) floor balcony. He chose the latter. He lived but was paralysed from the waist down for life! 

Majonga’s love rival was Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, a cabinet minister is Zimbabwe’s Zanu PF government, notably the man who controlled the country shadowy and ruthless secret service and man Mugabe trusted to carry out the dirtiest and bloodiest jobs in the fight to establish and impose Zanu PF’s de facto one party dictatorship. 

What kind of monster is Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa? Good question. Have you ever heard of Adolf Hitler’s Adolf Eichmann? Emmerson Mnangagwa and Eichmann’s cold indifference to other human being’s suffering and death and pathological profile are identical in every way.  

Mnangagwa could have arranged for Majonga to disappear off the face of the earth without trace; the fate of ten of thousands of his victims. As the Minister of State Security, he would have known Majonga was dating the girl was after. He want Majonga to be a living monument of what depths of pathological brutality he, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, would sink. A challenge to all who would dare to displease him!

Mnangagwa has proven his value to Mugabe and Zanu PF’s resolve to impose a de facto one party state in the Gukurahundi massacre. When power was slipping away in the March 2008 elections it was Mnangagwa, assisted by now VP Chiwenga, who step up and ordered Mugabe to stay put. He orchestrated the 2008 Operation Mavhotera Papi, a brazen misuse of the state Police, Army, Judiciary, everything to punish the people for having dare to reject Zanu PF in the March vote. 

Mnangagwa is on record boasted that Zanu PF is the Army, the Police, the Judiciary, etc. “We are everything and we determine who can build a railway in Zimbabwe. No one else!” It is not an empty boast! He recently added the opposition to the list of state and national institutions he controls!

Rigging constituency elections have been ease, especially in the rural constituencies were Zanu PF has always return an iron grip on the voters. Rural areas have been no-go areas for the opposition date back to the liberation war days when Zanu PF freedom fighters call the shots - they wielded the AK47 refile. Rigging the presidential vote has proven another matter even during Mugabe’s days. 

The State President’s legitimacy would be tinted, to say the least, is he was seen to have been elected by the rural voters and soundly rejected by the urban voters and hence the need for Zanu PF to bus in rural voters to vote into urban areas. This has proven to be a logistic nightmare! 

The law says the vote count of each presidential candidate must be declared at constituency level as the winner of the constituency MP is announced. Zanu PF has ignored this requirement, mudding the electoral process even further. But even this and many other vote rigging measures have not been enough to end the challenge of getting the party’s presidential candidate over the winning line.

The proposed constitutional amendment bill No. 3 is designed to address Mnangagwa’s desire to extend his stay in office beyond 2028 and to end the nightmare of rigging the presidential elections. The MPs and senators are no elect state president. Zanu PF has iron grip on the rural votes plus a number of political appointees will guarantee the election of a Zanu PF president.  

"The banality of evil," coined by political theorist Hannah Arendt. 

It originated in her 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, based on her observations of Adolf Eichmann, a key organizer of the Holocaust, who appeared to be an ordinary bureaucrat rather than a monstrous fanatic. 

Here are the key quotes and themes associated with this concept:

The Core Quote: "The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil".

On the Nature of Evil: "It is indeed my opinion now that evil is never 'radical,' that it is only extreme, and that it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension. It can overgrow and lay waste the whole world precisely because it spreads like a fungus on the surface”.

On Thoughtlessness: "Evil comes from a failure to think. It defies thought for as soon as thought tries to engage itself with evil and examine the premises and principles from which it originates, it is frustrated because it finds nothing there. That is the banality of evil”.

On Compliance: "Evil is not committed by monsters but by ordinary people obeying blindly". 

Meaning:

Arendt did not mean that Eichmann's actions were trivial, but rather that they stemmed from a terrifying, shallow "thoughtlessness"—a tendency to follow orders and conform to societal norms without questioning the morality of his actions. 

Related Quote (Contextual):

"Benign indifference of the universe" – A phrase from Albert Camus’s novel The Stranger, which was noted as having a similar thematic focus on a detached, uncaring reality, as discussed in online forums exploring the concept of apathy.

Knowing Emmerson Mnangagwa as I now do; a psychopath, with zero empathy for his fellow man’s suffering and death; I would not be surprise to hear that, after pushing Majonga off the balcony, he had a candle-light dinner and do whatever else lovers do. The psychopath retain his senior ministerial position and even became VP and is now State president. And if CAB3 pass will get even more super-duper dictatorial powers! We have a death-wish! “Kuroiwa naakafa! as one would say in Shona!