Fire CIO "Hooligans" in ZEC or MDC will boycott elections says Biti!

MDC will boycott the elections “if Zanu PF-aligned spies working in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) secretariat are not flushed out”, reported Daily News Live. This is only begs the question: has this dysfunction GNU competent completed the tasks, implementing the democratic reforms and producing a democratic constitution, so that the country will have free and fair elections whose outcome will not be disputed?

“We are not going for polls if these hooligans are the ones still in charge of running the elections,” MDC Finance Minister Tendai Biti told a news conference. “It is well that (SADC) observers are going to be sent to monitor the elections.”

MDC claims Zec is full of intelligence (CIO) and military officials.

It is not for me to question the validity of MDC’s claim or discount the negative effect of presence of the said “hooligans” would have on the whole electoral process and results. What I am questioning is why MDC has failed to ensure these were addressed and sorted years ago.

MDC has had five years to implement all the democratic reform and write a democratic constitution. At the end of the five years of this dysfunctional GNU we find not even one of the reforms has been meaningfully implemented and they produce this Copac constitution that is not even worth the paper it is written on.

If the agreed democratic reforms had been implemented timeously and the respective institutions restructured and re-staffed, if necessary, to ensure their independence and effectiveness in carrying out their respective functions then there would none of all kerfuffle of “hooligan” running a key institution like Zec!

Whilst no one objects to the presence of elections observers; the nation must rely on its own robust democratic constitution and institutions to deliver free and fair elections and not outside election observers. Zimbabwe is supposed to have spent the last five years making sure it has a robust democratic constitution, etc.

It is none other than Minister Biti and his party leader, Prime Minister Tsvangirai, who are arguing Zimbabweans to approve the Copac constitution knowing fully well Zimbabwe’s constitution and institutions are not robust enough to deliver free and fair elections. Once the Copac is approved Mugabe will not even be interested in implementing any reforms even if MDC threatens to boycott the elections. The referendum is the point of no return!

If the elections go ahead with the hooligans still in Zec, MDC will lose some parliamentary seats; the biggest losers will be the nation whose democratic vote would once again have been denied and have to live with the consequences of yet another imposed government to emerge.

Zimbabweans must disregard the MDC lies that this dysfunctional GNU has done near enough to deliver free and fair elections and vote NO in the referendum. Only a no vote will force the full implementation of the agreed reforms and the writing of a democratic constitution instead of the Copac rubbish now before us!

Eureka! I have figured it out: Zimbabweans have everything back to front!

Eureka! I have figured it out; Zimbabweans have everything back to front. We, the people, do not what we want and our leaders do not know where there are going; is it any wonder then that we are stuck in this hell-hole in a country with the potential of being paradise on earth!

 

You can talk until the cows come home about football, Arsenal FC or Man U, or X Factor contestants. The New Zimbabwe Forum had its heaviest traffic over a story of some woman videoed shagging in the presence of a child! Talk about the Copac Constitution, human rights activists being arrested, anything that affect us all and it is light out! No one is interested or care.

 

During the 2010 Soccer World Cup competition there was a report that government had given ZESA strict instructions to make sure there was no power cut during certain day Zimbabweans are likely to be watching the game. The government feared the people might riots if that was to happen.  So the people have tolerated the corruption and looting that have destroyed the national economy and thrown millions into abject poverty with saintly patience but would face all the regime’s brutal riot police can dish out if they cannot see a football game on TV.  

 

When you have an electorate whose attention span on national issues is two minutes maximum, you can promise them anything. You do not have to bother keeping your promise because the next day they will have completely forgotten what you promised. In 2008 Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai promised to bring democratic change, remember? Why has he then failed to implement the democratic reforms agreed in the GPA? He has had nearly five to implement these reforms and yet not even one meaningful reform has been carried out.

 

We all look with envy at the other nations living in peace and prosperity, of course we too would like to Zimbabwe enjoying peace, justice and prosperity. These things do not fall from the sky like rain; we, the people, have to make sure they happen.

 

We have a real chance to define what kind of Zimbabwe we; not Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Zanu PF or MDC but we, the people; by writing a democratic constitution. The Copac constitution this dysfunctional GNU has produced is what Mugabe wants; he “dictated” it and the others just rubber stamped. After the nightmare elections of 2008 the one thing every level headed Zimbabwean wanted in the new constitution is cast iron guarantees that there will be no more political violence! How can this Copac rubbish then claimed to be a people’s constitution when it cannot deliver the people’s greatest concern.

 

Mugabe is counting on the Zimbabwe public’s greatest weakness, the almost inert inability to discern what matters from all the distractions of life, to get the Copac rubbish approved. The story of the shagging women has a lot mileage still, Mugabe will be thankful to her for providing the distraction!   

Copac Constitution kicked Diaspora Zimbabweans in teeth: now it is payback time!

If you are a Zimbabwean in the diaspora then you have, like many others in the same situation, lost interest in the Copac constitution after what many (rightly too) feel was a betrayal by MDC.

There are millions of Zimbabweans now living outside Zimbabwe, running away from the political repression and/or for economic survival. Outside Zimbabwe or not you are still Zimbabweans and thus entitled to have a vote; that was not asking for too! This dysfunctional GNU’s decision in the Copac constitution to deny Zimbabwean outside the country a vote is unfair and unjust. Whilst one would accept that the targeted sanctions against Mugabe and some Zanu PF members would put that party at a disadvantage if the vote was extended to Zimbabweans living in those country where the travel ban exist; there was no reason why the vote was granted for the countries with no ban.

If it was a question of cost, then a R40 or US$ 20 administrative charge would have cover the extra cost.

The heaviest blow the Copac constitution dealt to the Zimbabweans in the diaspora was denying those Zimbabweans their birth right to remain a Zimbabwean citizen if they take up citizenship of another country.

It is tempting to throw in the towel and let Mugabe do as he pleases (which he is, make no mistake about that) but what most Zimbabweans in the diaspora do not seem to realise is that this Copac constitution seeks to short change Zimbabweans within the country’s boarder too. This Copac Constitution is so weak and feeble it is not going to deliver the right to life and the right to free and fair elections; two of the most important and must have rights any constitution worth the name must guarantee.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his MDC friends betray Zimbabweans in the diaspora and those in the country too. MDC is lying to the people about taking unspecified “steps and benchmark” to make sure the GPA agreed reforms, necessary for free and fair elections, are implemented. The party has failed to get these reforms implemented in the last five years because Mugabe did not want the reforms and the tyrant is not going to have a change of heart now.

Once Mugabe gets his yes vote for the Copac rubbish he is going to roll out his Zanu PF terror machine, well grease with all that Marange diamonds money, and the nation will have a repeat of the 2008 orgy of violence. PM Tsvangirai is lying that he will stop the violence occurring again.

The only way to stop a repeat of the 2008 violence and another meaningless election in which the people are denied a meaningful vote is by making sure the Copac constitution is rejected during the upcoming referendum. A no vote will force the implementation of all the reforms and writing of a truly democratic constitution in which the rights of Zimbabweans inside Zimbabwe and outside are safe guarded and assured.

The referendum is a game of numbers; if every Zimbabwean in the diaspora explained to ten Zimbabweans back why they must vote NO and those in turn talked five other Zimbabweans to vote NO too, the NO vote will carry the day. This Copac constitution is bad for us all and unless we unit and have it thrown out in the referendum then we will all suffer for generations to come!

The Copac constitution will kick all Zimbabweans in the teeth unless we all unit and kick the rubbish out in the referendum!   

Look for the MUST HAVE in the Copac Constitution: vote on delivery of those and those alone!

In the forest of details in the final Copac constitution it is not easy to pick out the real important and critical and therefore MUST HAVE items from all the riff rough and chaff. Trust me, the document is loaded with chaff designed to generate a lot of heat but little enlightenment! This Copac constitution must be judged on whether or not it delivered the MUST HAVE items and not on the basis of those items that judged as nice or not so nice to and so would be pleased if they are included but would not lose sleep over them if they are not.

Top on the MUST HAVE list are:

1)      Must deliver and guarantee the right to life

2)      Must deliver and guarantee the right to free and fair elections; in which there a free media and freedom of expression, free of the scourge of political violence, etc.

Zimbabwe has this GNU because the orgy of violence in the 2008 produced an electoral result that could not be accepted as a true reflection of the democratic will of the people. It was agreed in the GPA to carry out a number of democratic reforms and write a new democratic constitution that would deliver free and fair elections whose result will be a true reflection of the democratic will of the people.

There for the acid test of the Copac constitution is; will it deliver free and fair elections, free of the scourge of violence, etc.?

The situation on the grounds speaks volumes; the country’s only TV and Radio media and the large public print media still remains an exclusive preserve of Mugabe and Zanu PF whilst the small private print media is still muzzled by repressive laws like AIPPA and POSA; the security sector continue to act in a highly partisan manner, Zanu PF thugs continue to intimidate the public, etc. There is nothing to show that the passing of the Copac constitution will change anything on the ground to ensure free and fair elections.

In the referendum the people will be voting on whether or not this Copac constitution will deliver the right free and fair elections and guarantee the right to life. Deliver these rights not in some unspecified date in the future but the very day it becomes law!

This Copac constitution will never pass the acid test, Prime Minister Tsvangirai is lying to say otherwise.

The people of Zimbabwe have no choice but to vote NO to this Copac rubbish! The right to free and fair elections should not be traded in for something as trivial as a fixed term for a president! The need for fixed terms is important only as a way of getting rid of leaders when the free vote is not assured. A dictator on a fixed term is still a dictator. To give up the surety of good leadership only a free vote can gives for the delusionary comfort of knowing a tyrant will serve a fixed term is first grade folly!

Zimbabwean will vote in Copac referendum end of March: Donors have voted already!

It has taken this dysfunctional GNU over four and half years of endless bickering to produce the constitution, a task they had pencilled in to take one year and a half. And surprise, surprise the people of Zimbabwe will be given less than five weeks from the publication of the constitution to voting in the referendum. No doubt most of the people in the rural areas will be expected to vote yes before they have even seen the document!

How can the result of this referendum be considered democratic expression of the people’s wishes when they are deliberately kept in the dark and then herded off like cattle to a dip tank?

The international community have already cast their vote of this Copac constitution by refusing to fund the whole shoddy affair. The GNU has already sent out Finance Minister Tendia Biti to beg for the US$ 100 million required to conduct the referendum and so far the international community has not contributed a penny.

There are four good reasons why the usual donors have not been forthcoming to fund Zimbabwe’s Copac constitution referendum project:

1)      The Copac constitution writing process as already costed a staggering US$80 to 100 million and most of it was paid to the country’s politicians in allowances. The politicians insisted they must take part and demanded US$ 100 a day in allowance at a time civil servants wages were US$ 200 a month!

2)      The outreach programmes were disrupted by unruly Zanu PF supporters

3)      Whatever was gathered during the outreach phase was completely discarded by the three political parties in the GNU as the started the horse trading on the Copac constitution.

4)      The final Copac constitution was “dictated” by Mugabe and it has completely failed to guarantee even the most basic  rights life the right to free and fair elections and the right to life.

The whole Copac constitution writing exercise has been such a waste of time and money to fund the referendum would be throwing more good money after bad. The only good outcome from the referendum will have to be a NO vote so the whole exercise can be repeated from scratch. It is an extravagant way to spend US$ 100 million to get the Copac rubbish thrown out; it would recklessly irresponsible if the result was to be the opposite!

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Acting chairperson Mrs Joyce Kazembe told journalists her commission was ready to begin work on the voter registration (the voters roll is still a chaotic mess with many voters’ names missing and many dead people still on the roll), the referendum and then the general poll as soon as it gets the necessary funds. With the referendum set for end of March, 8 weeks away, it is impossible to see how the commission will have all this done properly.

If a job is worth doing it is worth doing right! This dysfunctional GNU could not be trusted to organize a piss up in a brewery how can it then be entrusted to write something as important as the national constitution? Everything this GNU has done has shown just how hopelessly incompetent it is. Zimbabweans must go on mass and vote NO so that the important and critical tasks of implementing the agree reforms, writing a democratic constitution and holding a referendum are done properly and produce the desired end result of guaranteed free and fair elections and good governance!

Tsvangirai may look like rapoko but is reality he is the obnoxious shawi weed - only a discerning voter can tell!

Morgan Tsvangirai is like the obnoxious weed, “shawi” thriving in a rapoko field.

It takes a discerning eye to separate the shawi weed from a rapoko plant. Rapoko is drought resistant crop of the millet family which produces ten or so stems which grow to one meter height, produce an ear with four or five fingers each five or so centimeters long heavy with red or dark brown seeds one millimeter in diameter. Shawi will produce two or three times as many stem only thinner and its ear is a lot flatter with dark brown or black seeds a quarter the size of rapoko.

Shawi are spread by animals feeding on the ear and plant and the seed going through their digestion system without being damage whereas rapoko seed will be damaged. Like all weeds shawi is a vigorous weed out competing rapoko or other crops. Rapoko is grown by broadcasting the seed and so at weeding time it is necessary to take out the weeds and thin out the crop. It is easy to leave a vigorous shawi and take out the rapoko plant. It really takes a discerning eye of an experience rapoko farmer to ensure one does not end up with a field of rigorous shawi weeds instead of rapoko.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was elected in 2008 on a ticket to bring democratic change, indeed his party is a movement for democratic change. The GPA agreed on a whole raft of democratic reforms, which implemented would have brought very significant and far reaching democratic changes to the body politics of Zimbabwe; sadly not even one of these reforms have been implemented. Throughout the five years of this GNU, all the PM has done is talk about these reforms but never acted.

The other significant democratic change the PM and his MDC could have brought was a democratic constitution. The Copac constitution MDC have signed onto is everything a tyrant would have wanted; notably it is too weak and feeble to deliver basic rights like the right to free and fair elections and even the right to life.

Although the PM maintains the Copac constitution was “negotiated” and “compromise” document there can be no doubt that Mugabe “dictated” the document as his Zanu PF representative in the constitution writing committee, MP Paul Mangwana has admitted. The Copac gives Mugabe the license to use all the dirty tricks included his favorite one of wanton violence to “win” elections. MDC has made heavy weather of how Mugabe has “compromised” and accept the president will serve a maximum two five-year terms. For an 88 old sickly man, that is hardly a compromise!

It took Zimbabweans 15 years after independence to see Mugabe for the murderous tyrant he is. Zimbabweans are being asked to vote in a referendum to judge whether or not PM Tsvangirai has delivered on the democratic reforms and constitution; they do not have the luxury of 15 years to decide. PM Tsvangirai has failed to deliver any democratic changes; he looks like rapoko plant but he is in reality a shawi weed.

If Zimbabweans approve this Copac rubbish then they will know the day after the referendum that the elections free of violence was a lie as Mugabe rolls out his terror machine; they will then know what they assumed was a bumper rapoko crop was a field of the obnoxious shawi weeds. Zimbabweans need to be discerning voters, the country’s lack of free media and freedom of expression is conspiring against them, and reject this Copac rubbish or the nation is in for some nightmare years ahead!

Wording is everything: this then is the question to be posed in the Copac referendum!

After the sham 2008 elections in which the country witness the worst orgy of political violence in modern history the parties to the GPA agreed that the GNU will be tasked to implement a number of democratic reforms including security sector and media reforms and write a new democratic constitution which will then be presented to the people for their approval or disapproval. All this was to be done to achieve one purpose – to ensure the next elections “are free and fair and the results are a true reflection of the democratic wish of the people”. In short to ensure the next elections are not a repeat of the sham elections of 2008.

 

The very fact that GNU was tasked to write a new constitution was per se an acknowledgement that the existing constitution was NOT democratic and will not deliver free and fair elections.

 

There reason why there was to be a referendum on the new constitution was to give the people the chance to express their opinion first of all on the new constitution itself: whether is it the democratic constitution they expected.  And secondly on whether they are satisfied with the implementation of the reforms and all other preparatory work the GNU was supposed to carry out.

 

In other words the referendum is asking the people to vote on this simple question:

ARE YOU SATISFIED THE DEMOCRATIC REFORMS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED AND THE COPAC CONSTITUTION IS THE DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION AND THEREFORE ZIMBABWE IS TRULY READY FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS?

 
Please vote yes or no by marking the appropriate box with a X.


YES                                                                                         NO

 
The consequences of voting yes are:

a)    Zimbabwe can move on to the next stage and hold fresh elections confident they will be free and fair. If they are not then Zimbabweans have only themselves to blame for approving a process which they could see was rotten through and through.

b)      SADC, as the regional guarantor of the GPA, and the international community can rightly wash their hands of Zimbabwe. If a defective political process that denies citizen even the most basic right to free and fair elections is what the people of Zimbabwe want, then outsiders must not interfere.

 
The consequences of a no vote are:

a)    Zimbabweans will have rejected that enough has been done to guarantee free and fair elections and the logical thing would be to revisit the reforms and rewrite the constitution. Elections will have to be put on hold until the guarantees they will be free and fair.

b)    SADC will be duty bound to assist Zimbabwe to ensure there are free and fair elections. The international community will assist and make sure the people are not once again denied this basic and fundamental right.

c)    Zimbabwe’s next election will be free and fair and the country can be assured of good, democratic and account governments from there on. The country’s climb out of the economic and political hell-hole will have final began in earnest.

 

It would be wrong for the parties in the GNU to suggest that Zimbabwe will revert to the Lancaster House Constitution if the people reject the Copac constitution. It is the same parties in the GNU who failed the people by failing to implement the reforms and by allowing Mugabe to “dictate” the Copac constitution – no wonder it is a tyrant’s manual and not the democratic constitution the nation want. The people have the right to reject a process they can see is totally inadequate with the expectation that things will be put right and not to be punished by having a rejected process imposed on them.

 

The unspoken consequence of a yes vote will reaffirm that the people do not appreciate critical importance of free and fair elections as a right and for good governance. They are as malleable as mud and tyrants like Mugabe are only too keen to exploit that weakness.

 
The unspoken consequence of a no vote is that the three parties to the GNU will lose all political credibility. The people will have reasserted their political and intellectual independence and they are never again going to be exploited and taken for granted by unscrupulous politicians.

If Zimbabweans want to taken serious, they must show they are serious about free elections!

Rugare Gumbo, Zanu PF Publicity Secretary, says Zanu PF politburo is “delighted” with the Copac constitution approved by the principals last week.

 Of course Zanu PF is "delighted" all the parties have endorsed the Copac constitution, as Gumbo said: Mugabe wore the smuggest grin ever when he announced the agreement with his fellow principals; the constitution suits Zanu PF to a t. The constitution guarantees the party's de facto one party dictatorship agenda; they are even granted the opportunity to use everything the party needs including the dirtiest trick one can think of including the party's favourite weapon violence to retain political power.

 

I have read and listened to many points of view on Zimbabwe's Copac constitution. No one, absolutely no one denies that the constitution will do anything to stop Mugabe and Zanu PF using violence, wanton violence at that, to "win" the next elections.

 

What begs the question then is why is the nation going through an election process whose result will not be a true reflection of the free democratic will of the people, as happened in 2008, AGAIN?

 

Everyone knows that Prime Minister Tsvangirai is "a flawed and indecisive character" as USA Ambassador Chris Dell said back in 2002. The PM has made one blunder and after another. It is pure folly to follow his advice and endorse this Copac rubbish.

 

If Zimbabweans want to world to take us seriously then we must for once demonstrate that we will take the serious issue of denying the people their basic right to free and fair elections with the seriousness it rightly deserves!

MDC fighting for seats on the gravy train: ignoring the orgy of violence ahead!

“We have a rich menu and an excellent combination of young and dynamic, tried and tested leaders, experienced senior citizens and skilled Zimbabweans who want to be MDC candidates come elections,” said Nelson Chamisa, a senior MDC-T leader.

"Kukangamwa chezuro nehope!" - They go to sleep and forget yesterday's troubles!

In 2008 hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, mostly MDC supporters, were beaten and/or raped and over 500 were murdered in the orgy of political violence. For the last five years Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his MDC Ministers and MPs single most important task should have been implementing the agreed democratic reforms to ensure the next elections are free and fair and the orgy of violence of 2008 is never repeated ever again.

Sadly the PM and his MDC friends took off their eyes from the critical task in hand. Not even one reform has been implemented. They had the snouts in the feeding trough and enjoying the good life on offered on the gravy train.

The seating MDC leaders are completely focused on retaining their seats on the gravy train whilst thousands new faces are equally focused on unseating them. They are both ignoring the dark clouds of the orgy of violence threatening the whole nation.

The political violence can still be avoided, even now at this the eleventh hour, by Zimbabweans rejecting the Copac constitution in the upcoming referendum. PM Tsvangirai and his MDC friends are not going to listen to reason on this matter; their minds are totally focused on securing a seat on the gravy train regardless the high price in life and limb to povo or in lost opportunity to the nation!

Tsvangirai is in Dovas wittering about max presidential term: the penny has not dropped!

This man simply does not get it does he? He keeps wittering about the president will now serve a maximum of two-five terms the most important issue here and has been all along is that elections must be free and fair.

 

When the Copac draft as first released in July 2012, Tsvangirai said the new constitution would deliver free and fair elections but when corned to quote the clause that would force the Police to arrest those responsible for the violence; he failed to do so because there is no such in Copac clause. Copac is a very feeble and weak constitution not worth the paper it is written on.

 

The Pm conceded it would be necessary to implement the democratic reforms agreed in the GPA if the nation was to have free and fair elections. He would get SADC to force Mugabe to implement the reforms. Considering MDC had failed to get the reforms implemented in the last four years the whole world doubted the party succeed now in the remaining few months before the new elections.

Mr Prime Minister Tsvangirai; are you going to have the reforms implemented BEFORE the elections? Yes or no?

Of course the answer is no. He is too weak and feeble to have ever get the reforms past Mugabe.

So Zimbabwe is being dragged into new elections certain of one thing that there will be a repeat of the orgy of violence of 2008 or worse! And the very man who has led the nation into this nightmare keeps wittering about the next president serving a maximum of ten years.

Tsvangirai is in Dovas Switzerland attending the World Economic Forum. He told the Bloomberg reporter,  “Since there is a national consensus (on the Copac constitution) by all parties, the referendum will be a formality.”

Mugabe is 88 years old and sickly; he was not going to make a fuss over being told he could rule for a further ten years maximum. He knows he would never win free and fair elections; force him to implement the reform and thus make it impossible for him to use violence to force the electorate to vote for him and he would fought like a tiger resisting the reforms!

This is like telling a woman she will be forced to marry a man she hates and who will abuse her but not to worry because she can divorce him in ten years when another brute will be imposed on her! How I wish the Zimbabwean people had had someone in their corner for their basic rights, human dignity and a democratic constitution and not this Copac rubbish!

Vote NO in the Referendum and Mugabe will lose the next elections guaranteed!

MDC's incompetency is drawing the nation into this Gaza mentality where people go out and throw stones at soldiers with guns, or fire home-made rockets against an enemy with helicopter guns, tanks, etc. Taking Mugabe and Zanu PF in an election process where the tyrant is free to use all the dirty tricks including wanton violence is folly.

That is a fight Mugabe would want MDC to fight and only stupid people will allow themselves to be drawn into particularly when they have other options.

MDC had the option of forcing through democratic reforms which would have guaranteed free and fair elections. Of course Mugabe did not want the reforms implemented but MDC should have fought tooth and nail to get the reforms implemented. SADC as the guarantors of the GPA would have stepped in and force Mugabe to accept the reforms.

Instead of fighting Mugabe to implement the reforms the MDC cowards want the ordinary Zimbabweans to face the Zanu PF terror machine Zanu PF thugs, the Police, the Army, the CIO, biased judiciary, etc., in an election process everyone knows Mugabe will deploy his juggernaut!

The people of Zimbabwe should not allow themselves to be misled by MDC into a totally meaningless fight. It is OK for Tsvangirai to be lying about the violence and posturing about fighting back, when the going gets tough we all know he will in the Netherland Embassy like a bullet – not even Usain Bolt would catch him.

The threat of election violence is real and is already happening all over Zimbabwe. If elections are not free and fair it is the ordinary Zimbabweans who are the real losers because the government they can expect to emerge at the end of the day is at best a mediocre coalition of MDC with a Zanu PF faction or a full-fledged Zanu PF dictatorship. That is not worth risking life and limb again for!

What Zimbabweans must do is reject the Copac rubbish and force the implementation of all the agreed reforms BEFORE elections are held. Free and fair elections, free of the usual political violence can only be guaranteed if the reforms are implemented.

Victory is not always to those prepared to fight but for those who know when to fight and when not to fight! It is folly to engage Mugabe and Zanu PF in another blood election; first defeat him in the referendum and his juggernaut will be useless in the elections that follow.  

MDC Slogan "My Voice Is In!!" Yet 60 % Will Vote Not Knowing What Copac Say!

“My Voice Is In!!! My Vote is Yes!!” Runs the MDC slogan for the upcoming Copac referendum.

 

One of the key democratic reforms the two MDC factions should have pushed through but did not is media reform. If Zanu PF's monopoly of the radio and TV media and grip on the large public print media had been broken and the party's muzzle on the tiny independent print media removed and there was freedom of expression and a free media in Zimbabwe today we would all have confidence in the result of the referendum being a democratic expression of an informed electorate. As things stand, clearly that will not be the case.

 

At least 60% of the Zimbabwean electorate be voting in the referendum but without the foggiest idea what exactly they are voting for or the consequences of their vote. Not only is this Copac draft constitution an negotiated document between the three political parties in the GNU in which the ordinary Zimbabweans been denied an meaningful say throughout - whatever the public said during the outreach stage has all been thrown out.

 

In a true democracy with a free media the paper, radio and TV will be buzzing with people discussing and dissecting every section and clause of the proposed constitution. Not in Zimbabwe, the whole nation is silent; they will only get to hear about this Copac constitution when they are being instructed to vote YES.

 

By failing to have the media reform implemented MDC effectively denied the people a voice and now the party has the cheek to say the people views in this Copac rubbish have been heard! Most people will not even know what is in this Copac constitution much less their “voice in” it!

 

The results of the referendum on this Copac rubbish will not be the democratic wishes of the Zimbabwean people no more than the new Chinese leaders are the democratic choice of the Chinese people. At least the Chinese Communist Party did not bother going through the charade of a fraudulent voting process!

Tsvangirai has approved Copac now five questions for him to answer!

It would be interesting to hear whether MDC, particularly Tsvangirai himself, to clarify the following points:

1) Does MDC believe everything has been done to ensure the coming elections are be free and fair - all would be voters will be on the voters roll, there will be a free media and freedom of expression so the electorate will be well informed of all opposing points , etc, and most important of all free of all political violence?

2) If not, what needs to be done? (Last year MDC said it will get the agreed reforms implemented, have these been implemented? If not, will these still be implemented BEFORE the elections).

3) If Elections are NOT going to free and fair would MDC still recommend that the nation vote YES in the Copac referendum?

4) If the elections are not free and fair and therefore not a true reflection of the democratic will of the people; will MDC say the result shoud be accepted by the people, SADC and the international community?

5) Does MDC still believe the Copac constitution is a democratic constitution given that it is too weak to deliver such basic and fundamental rights as the free and fair elections and the right to life itself? (In other words by endorsing thsi Copac rubbish MDC betrayed the millions of Zimbabweans who risked all the Zanu PF intimidation, beatings and rape and the over 500 who lost their very lives to vote MDC into power?)

Zanu PF Conmen conned: Matsotsi Haangerani - Rimwe Runorumwa Chete!

“ZANU PF has launched an investigation into alleged diamond fraud involving five of its officials, who have exposed the party’s control of the Chiadzwa diamond fields,” S W Radio Africa reported.

“The case involves more than US$750, 000 that the five party members allegedly managed to convince companies mining at Chiadzwa to hand over for ZANU PF activities. The money was then reportedly used in part to fund their personal lives.”

The report shows there is a torrent of dirty money flowing through State House and Zanu PF Offices. There stakes are simply too high for the tyrant and his cronies to allow free and fair elections and see all this dirty money dry up!

What had the five Zanu PF Officials done to get US$ 750 000 from these two companies other than flash their party cards? Nothing! The companies were dolling out all this money because they were granted very generous rights mining rights by the party knowing fully well there will be bribes to be paid. The five were there to collect the bribes.

These companies are racking in billions of dollars the sums the five asked for is chicken feed. Indeed the two companies knew straight away the five officials wanted the money for personal use and not for Zanu PF party’s use. The companies also knew there will be hundreds other party officials knocked at their door making similar demands that was why these companies paid the five the chicken feed but made sure Zanu PF big wigs got to know about this.  

Zanu PF big wigs are furious with the five because they know these companies would not have dared to make anything less than US$ 1 billion donation. After this debacle the party will be embarrassed to make fresh demands.

As we say in Shona; “Matsotsi haangerai – rimwe ritorumwa chete!” Two crooks cannot shave each other – one will always cut the other or worse with a slit throat! It is interesting to note that many times it is Zanu PF officials have had to nurse cut faces.

Remember the story of Grace Mugabe paying US$ 1 million for new Lorries only to receive Chairman Mao Long Match relics! She was furious and had the drivers who delivered the Lorries from SA detained but in the end had to release them. She is not a registered dealer; the whole deal stunk of corruption. And in the end she was conned!

Then there is the story of the multimillion dollar house the Mugabes bought in the Far East. They did not want the property bought in their name for obvious reasons; when they tried to do so latter, the agent insisted HE was the owner!

The truth is whatever millions or billions Mugabe and Zanu PF make out of all this corrupt wheelie dealings  – a very significant amount of which they are cheated of, as we can see – the crooks they are dealing with make 1000s or 100 000s times more than them! These crooks push up their markup 1000 times because they know the regime is desperate for money and no honest companies would want to do business in such mudded waters.

The biggest loser in all this corruption and intrigue are the ordinary citizens. Withou the corruption the wealth generated from honest business activities would be to pay for a decent education and health service for all and to buy food for the 1.6 million now totally dependent on UN Aid!

Instead the torrent of dirty money flowing through Chibuku House is being used to finance world class football player lifestyles for the ruling elite and to finance Zanu PF’s campaign of intimidation, beatings, rape and murder to retain power at all cost. Zimbabwe's diamond wealth, rich lands, etc. should be a blessing to the nation but now, thanks to this corrupt and repressive Zanu PF dictatorship, these riches are but a curse!

“It is no wonder many of you end up incarcerated in prison for disgorging nonsense and you then say your human rights have trembled upon,” you say! Chimbwido these Zimbabweans are in prison and many have died terrible deaths under this Mugabe regime because they dared speak the truth!

The real tragedy is Mugabe and Zanu PF would not be tormenting this nation for much longer if Tsvangirai and MDC had implemented the democratic changes they promised in 2008 and were agreed in the GPA.  The reforms were the only guarantee of free and fair elections. Still Mugabe and Zanu PF should not celebrate yet that they will use the dirty money to secure election victory – there is the referendum still to go through. A NO vote will force the implementation of the reforms and thus scupper the dictatorship’s hope of yet another bloody election process!
The battle now is about exposing Tsvangirai and MDC’s lies about the elections being free and fair and how voting NO in the referendum will save life and limb and, more significantly, end the grim choice of a tyrannical regime, dysfunctional coalition or a mediocre government! That is a fight worth fighting and I do not intent to lose!

Late John Nkomo Declared National Hero: Was He Really!

The late Vice President John Nkomo is declared a national hero and Zanu PF and MDC political leaders trip over each other to sing his praise. Everyone that is except MDC’s Roy Bennett; he dismissed the whole charade as “occasions for all sorts of nonsense and stupidity”.

“Excuse me. We may not like to speak ill of the dead, but let's not tell lies,” stormed Bennett. “How can anyone with any sense say that John Nkomo dedicated his life to Zimbabwe's prosperity? Since the 1980s, he has sat at the heart of the beast that has destroyed Zimbabwe's economy. He has held the hand of the dictator that has obliterated our hopes and freedoms.

“He must now be remembered by the choices he made. He chose to oppose the people, rather than serve them. He walked around in tailor-made suits while Zimbabweans walked in rags. He received private medical treatment in South Africa, while Zimbabweans in South Africa were dying in the townships.”

Facts are stubborn!

Every time one of these Zanu PF thugs dies or during Heroes’ Holiday Zimbabweans agonize over who is a true national hero and who is not!

Everyone knows before independence these Zanu PF leaders did put their own lives on the line, at least some of them, in the fight for independence. But it is no secret that all these Zanu PF leaders have played their part in destruction of the nation’s economy after decades of mismanagement, corruption and looting. The promise of freedom, liberty and human dignity of the pre-independence days have remained a mirage as Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs have brushed all these aspirations aside to establish the de facto Zanu PF dictatorship which has ruled the nation all these years with an iron fist!

If someone like the late Vice President John Nkomo cannot be held accountable for all the misrule of this Mugabe regime then who are we to hold accountable?

Zimbabweans have to stop pretending the nation’s independence heroes and not the tyrants and thugs who have ruled the country since independence. And when the latter die they assume their old heroic past effortlessly and discard the unsavory yesterday like a cloak. In this real world one’s recent past is even more important than their distance past. A murderer will not enter the Kingdom of God because in his youth he helped an old lady cross the street.

The late John Nkomo was a senior member of this Zanu PF dictatorship for many years; he got his fair share of the loot and so he must take his share of the heinous crimes the regime has committed. How can anyone who caused so much suffering and the loss of so many innocent lives be a hero?!
I have disagreed with Roy Bennett over many issues, especially his failure to see MDC’s many blunders, but have to agree with him on this one; those Zimbabweans tripping over each other to praise John Nkomo as if he was not part and parcel of this murderous Zanu PF regime are being disingenuous!

After 4 Years GNU Finally Agree On Copac Draft: Will Name Date Of Referendum And Elections - How Arrogant!

With the usual pomp and fanfare the GNU leaders announced they have finally agreed on the draft of the Copac constitution!

 

It took these clowns four and half years at a cost of US$ 75 million to write a constitution that will not guarantee the citizens' right to free and fair elections, not evens the right to life itself!

 

They kicked the democratic reforms, everyone agreed are necessary for free and fair elections, into the tall grass four years ago. They will never implement any of these reform before the elections or ever.

 

Now they want to hoodwink the whole nation into vote yes to this Copac rubbish, have another bloody election in which the three parties will once again share the spoils of office just as they have done these last five years. 

 

Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Ncube, etc.; they are always fighting in public but when it comes granting each other generous overseas travel allowances, ministerial cars and other perks they act as one. They are like wild cats; there is a lot of angry growling but many kittens! When you think they are fighting; they are in fact making love!

 

They do not care how many innocent Zimbabweans will be beaten, raped or murdered during the coming elections. All they care about is that they get back on the gravy train by hook or by crook!

 

Many people would have noticed that none of the MDC “big fish” have been arrested or otherwise harassed in the last three years; they are not to be touched - a direct order from the very top! It is the “small fry” in MDC and us ordinary mortals who will face a repeat of the 2008 orgy of violence or worse.

 

This time Zanu PF terror machine will have US$ 2 billion from the Indigenization Fund plus another billion at least from the party’s Marange Diamond mining activities. The machine will well-funded, well-equipped and well-motivated (many of the thugs have loot to protect and a murderous past to keep under wraps).

 

All the three principal and Professor Ncube were so confident Zimbabweans will approve the Copac draft in the referendum Mugabe was already talking of announcing the date of the referendum and the date of fresh elections! How arrogant! How presumptuously arrogant and dismissive!

 

The people of Zimbabwe own it to themselves to stop the repeat of the 2008 orgy of violence. We must stop this Zanu PF juggernaut that is already wreaking havoc across the land before thousands more are beaten up, raped or murdered by voting NO during the referendum.

 

A no vote in the referendum will stop the election process we all agree will be a repeat of 2008 or worse and force the full implementation of the agree democratic reforms.

 

This dysfunctional GNU has taken the people of Zimbabwe for granted these last five years; the people must put their foot down and demand the implementation of the democratic reforms before elections, that is our only guarantee of free and fair elections free of violence!

Minister Matinenga says Copac ready and referendum in March!

MDC-T Minister Matinenga says the committee tasked to finalize the Copac draft has made progress and the referendum may be set for March.

Asked if they had finally dealt with all the contentious issues after three years of drafting the constitution, Matinenga retorted: ‘If I say it was a good meeting and we made good progress that should mean a lot.
Minister Matinenga there are only three contentious issues here are:

a) carryout of the democratic reforms without which is impossible to hold free and fair elections

b) include the reforms above in the new constitution and thus bolster the reforms by providing legal framework.

c) implement all the institutional reforms complete with the funding so that the whole electoral process is free and fair and not a repeat of the 2008 debacle which fraudulent and marred by violence.

Considering this GNI has wasted four years and none of the above three tasks have been completed the nation has to take your claim of making "good progress" with truckload of salt!

And you understanding of what is important and what is not is questionable; you have been ranting and raving about how the draft has set the maximum presidential terms to two five-year although the draft fails to guarantee free and fair vote. So the electorate will have no constitutional guarantee their vote will count but should be please the imposed president will serve a fixed two term!

Implat Boost Zanu PF Elections War-Chest To US$ 2 billion - What Free Elections!

Last Friday Implats, a large platinum mining company, finally relented and sold 51% of its shares worth US$971 million.  31% of the shares will be controlled by State’s National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund headed by a former army general and administered by Zanu PF’s Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere. The Fund has assets worth US$ 2 billion already.

In 2008 Zanu PF pressured Anglo American Platinum to hand over about a quarter of its platinum concessions which the party then sold for US$ 100 million. The party used the money fund the party’s orgy of violence in the 2008 presidential run-off elections. Many fear the party will use the US$ 2 billion to pay for similar violent activities in the coming elections.


Every story points to one thing that the coming elections are NOT going to be free and fair and it is folly to pretend they will be anything else. Zimbabweans must call for the formation of a new national body which will be tasked to implement the agreed democratic reforms, draft a democratic constitution and then hold free and fair elections. The dysfunctional GNU has singularly failed to carry out these set tasks and should not be allowed to waste the nation’s time and resources in meaningless charades like the draft Copac constitution, referendum, voter registration, etc.!  

Minister Makone Call For Elections During UNWTO; Hoping The Spotlight Will Stop Zanu PF Violence!

MDC –T’s Home Affairs Minister, Ms Theresa Makone and a few others are arguing that Zimbabwe’s elections should be held in August, the same month Zimbabwe is hosting the United Nations’ World Tourism (UNWTO) Conference in Victoria Falls. They are arguing that the feared Zanu PF political violence will not happen, not whilst the country is under the conference spotlight!

Whilst anything, anything at all, that may help prevent or reduce the political violence must be considered; still this suggestion smacks of desperation!

The delegates to the UNWTO will be confined to Victoria Fall leaving Zanu PF thugs to conduct their mischief everywhere else. We want the political violence stopped in every city, town, mine and village right across the whole of Zimbabwe and not just in one pocket for the few days duration of the conference!

The fact that Minister Makone subscribed to this UNWTO suggestion; does that mean she and her fellow MDC leaders now acknowledge that MDC will never implement the GPA reforms everyone agree are a prerequisite to violence-free free and fair elections? If that is so then is very important that MDC comes clean on this now because many Zimbabweans are going to approve the proposed Copac draft constitution on the strength of Prime Minister Tsvangirai and other MDC leaders’ repeated promise to have the reforms implemented BEFORE the elections.

If Zimbabweans know the reforms will not be implemented before the elections and thus that the elections will not be free of the usual violence then the nation’s only way of ensuring the elections do not go ahead at this the eleventh hour is by rejecting the Copac rubbish and voting NO in the referendum.

Until the reforms are implemented in word and spirit it is impossible to have violence-free free and fair elections in Zimbabwe; that is a fact! MDC must stop lying to the people that it will have the reforms implemented before the planned elections; something it has failed to do these last four years

Zimrights Director Arrested: Warning Of Orgy To Come After Referendum!

“ZimRights director Okay Machisa was on Monday arrested and charged by the police in Harare for allegedly conspiring to ‘commit voter registration fraud and publishing or communicating falsehoods’.” S W radio Africa reported.

Stories of Zanu PF intimidation and violence are coming thick and fast. Once the party get the Copac draft constitution approved and out of the way the flood gates of Zanu PF orgy of violence will be thrown wide open.

All these events are pointing to one thing and one thing only that Zanu PF is gearing up for the repeat of the 2008 orgy of political intimidation and violence exposing Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his MDC friends that they will somehow still implement the democratic reforms necessary for free and fair elections. Time to have these reforms implemented is certainly running out and, worse still, there is no political commitment on the part of Mugabe and Zanu PF to have these reforms implemented.

The time has come for Zimbabweans to now accept the reality that this dysfunctional GNU will never ever deliver free and fair elections and start searching for the way forward. This country should demand the setting up a new body that will deliver the reforms necessary for free and fair elections and not waste one more dollar and one more day on this planned referendum on the Copac rubbish much less another bloody election process!

More Fresh WikiLeaks In The Pipeline!

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said his site will be releasing new leaks covering every major issue in the world today. The site has become a source of some home truth, people said in confidence not knowing WikiLeaks would get the details and broadcast them for the whole world to hear!

As far back as 2002 the then US Ambassador to Zimbabwe said of the then leader of Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, he was “a weak and indecisive character" who is “far from ideal” and the Ambassador was “convinced that had we (the US) had different partners, we could have achieved more already.” The people of Zimbabweans have had ample opportunity, the last five years of which he has held the office of Prime Minister and a senior partner in this dysfunctional GNU, to judge Tsvangirai for themselves. Was Ambassador Chris Dell right in pronouncing Tsvangirai a weak and indecisive or was that a diplomatic understatement!

Zimbabwe is in this hell-hole because for the first 15 years after independence the nation would not acknowledge Mugabe for the ruthless tyrant he is; it has taken the remaining years to try and flush out the cunning fox out of office. The nation would have achieved that years ago if we had elected a more competent leader than Tsvangirai to do it.

Tsvangirai is a weak and indecisive leader it is sheer folly on the nation’s part to keep pretending he is something he is not!

Zimbabweans Sucked Into 2008 Orgy Believing In A Win Regardless!

“A ZANU PF legislator, implicated in the murder of an MDC-T ward official last year, has reportedly fired all school teachers in his constituency who are not ZANU PF supporters and were not raised in the area,” reported S W Radio Africa.

Zimbabweans are sleep walking into yet another electoral process that is already evidently not free and fair but worse still already marred by violence and the violence will get worse much, much worse. As soon as Mugabe and Zanu PF have the Copac draft constitution approved, then the party’s terror machine will be unleashed. And none other than Prime Minister Tsvangirai is leading the sleep-walkers telling them lies that he WILL have the democratic reforms implemented to ensure free and fair elections.

78% of the 474 Zimbabweans answered YES to an ongoing SW Radio Africa poll asking: Will 2013 see an MDC government in Zimbabwe? There is blind optimism for you!

After the sham 2008 presidential run-off marred by unprecedented political violence in which millions were beaten and/or raped and over 500 murdered; the GNU was tasked to carry out a number of democratic reforms to ensure future elections are free and fair and the 2008 orgy of violence is not repeated ever again. The GNU has had five years to implement the reforms and yet not even one of these reforms has seen the light of day.

Over twenty Army, Police and CIO senior officers, many of who played an active role in the 2008 orgy of violence, have already said they are contesting in the coming parliamentary elections. It is naïve to think that they will not use the same brutal methods to secure electoral victory again. There is absolutely nothing on the ground to stop them using the violence.

MP Kachepa’ s is firing all teachers known to be MDC supporters from his patch is not something new; MDC supporters have been denied food, forced out of their homes and others like Cephas Mangura were ever killed. This GNU has done nothing to ensure the violence of 2008 is not repeated.

At the height of the Zanu PF violence in 2008; would these Zimbabweans still voted 78% to 22% for an MDC victory? Of course not, because Mugabe went on to “win” by an even bigger margin.

Clearly Tsvangirai does not care how many Zimbabweans are beaten and/or raped and how many hundreds are murdered; all he cares about is that he gets back on the gravy train. What is surprising is so many ordinary Zimbabweans should too ignore the reality of political violence. How can a whole nation be so reckless and naïve!

Human Rights Watch Says GNU in "Race Against Time" To Implement Reforms Before Elections!

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report Titled “Race Against Time – The Need for Legal and Institutional Reforms Ahead of Zimbabwe’s Elections”, calls on the GNU to implement the institutional and legal reforms required to create an environment conducive to holding free and fair elections.

 Whilst MDC has grudgingly agreed that the reforms are necessary; the party failed to account why, after five years, it has failed to have even one of the reforms implemented and, more pertinently, when it will the reforms ever be implemented with elections just months away?  

HRW is to be highly commended for producing this important report. The truth of the matter it is near impossible to deliver free and fair elections even if the GNU was to be given another 12 months to do the preparatory work for two main reasons:

1) The situation is back to front; all the reforms should have been implemented first and then the new constitution drafted to include the reforms to give them constitutional foundation. As things stand the Copac draft constitution is being finalized and will be submitted for national approval or rejections and yet it is silent or too weak to be any use on all issues requiring democratic reforms.

2) The GNU has always lacked the political will to meaningful carry out the democratic reforms. It was naive to expect a democratic consensus to emerge out of grouping in which one member has dictatorial power. The GPA grant Mugabe the dictatorial powers and little wonder he has abused these powers to ensure the GNU does not deliver on its main set task of free and fair elections.

Given time, a year and half at most, all the necessary democratic reforms and institutional changes can be implemented and the Copac draft constitution amended to suit.  No amount of added time will do anything to transform Mugabe from a tyrant to a democrat; he and his cronies have simply too much loot and too many hidden skeletons to allow the full democratic glare to shine on Zimbabwe’s past.

Since Mugabe was sworn in as State President in June 2008 and could save a maximum of five years, he cannot extent his rule beyond June 2013. This dysfunctional GNU has dragged out the full five years of its worthless existence.

All the parties in this GNU want to do now is have the fresh elections; they accept they had been enjoying their time on the gravy train too much and neglected the set task of ensure next elections are free and fair. Frankly none of them are particularly concerned that the orgy of violence of 2008 should be repeated – as long as they are never caught up in any of it themselves as the victim, particular if they went on to win the valued-above-1000s-of-human-lives seat on the gravy train.

It is because of the unacceptable cost in life and limb and materials and, worse still, that fraudulent electoral process will never produce a competent government that everything possible must be done to ensure the next elections in Zimbabwe are free and fair and nothing short!

This dysfunctional GNU has deliberately failed to carry out its task of implementing the reforms and thus ensure the elections are free and fair and democratic credible. Mugabe deliberately ensured the GNU failed because he knew Zanu PF would never win free elections and Tsvangirai deliberately neglected honoring his promise to bring change because he did not want to bite the hand that fed him now that he was enjoying the luxuries of being on Mugabe’s gravy train.

The referendum on the Copac draft constitution is essentially a referendum on whether the GNU will deliver free and fair elections.  The answer is a big NO and the nation must vote accordingly!

It is interesting to note that whilst HRW has castigated the GNU for wasting the nation’s time, money and human misery and lives all these last five years in what is clearly a wild-goose chase; local NGO and civic groupings were tripping over each other to be involved in the Copac Second All Stakeholders’ Conference. The lack of credible local NGO and civic society has not helped open the democratic space in Zimbabwe!