"Zimbabweans are being asked to democratise within the (dictatorship) straitjacket" said Vivid Gwede.

In one of the best commentaries on Zimbabwean politics, Vivid Gwede, has exposed some of the weakness of the arguments we have been bombarded with on why Zimbabweans should support Mai Mujuru and her yet to be launch People First political party.

“When the 9 of previous Zanu-PF cadres is reflected in the mirror of the opposition political plane as People First it looks like 6, a different number. But when reflected back into government, will the 6 not turn back to 9?” asked Gwede.

After 34 years right at the heart of government individuals like Mai Mujuru, Didymus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, etc. have behaved just like every other Zanu PF leader – mean, oppressive, corrupt and some like Mutasa and Bhasikiti has done their fair of shedding innocent blood. Just because Mai Mujuru and other lost the factional war for the control of the party and were kicked out of the party. The act of being kicked out of the party, some people now argue, has been so transformative Mai Mujuru and friends are now democrats!

PF are Zanu PF by another name; period!

“It is as if Zimbabweans are now being asked to ‘democratise’ within the (dictatorship) ‘straitjacket’ ”, observed Vivid.

The truth is there are many, particularly in the fracturing MDC opposition camps, who are doing their very best to encourage the nation to change the dictator Mugabe, yes, but not to change the present undemocratic political system. It is not only Mugabe and Zanu PF who do not want free, fair and credible elections for the obvious reason that, given their track record of economic failure and political oppression, know they will never win such elections; Tsvangirai and his MDC friends too know they will never win free and fair elections, not with their record as breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent. 

By failing to implement even one reform during the GNU Tsvangirai and his MDC friends proved beyond doubt that they are breathtakingly incompetent and corrupt. By having a tyrannical regime that has denied the opposition any democratic space to present their policies and be subjected to close media and public scrutiny Mugabe has done corrupt and incompetent opposition leaders a great favour, their competence has never been put under the free media microscope!

So MDC leaders like Tsvangirai do not want any of the GPA reforms implemented, they do not want free, fair and credible elections and, in short, they do not want democratic Zimbabwe. They want Mugabe removed from office and then they would implement the electoral law reforms designed give the dictatorship an outward democratic appearance and nothing more. Or as Vivid Gwede aptly put it, “democratise within the (dictatorship) straitjacket.

Unless the people wakeup to the political machination of our political leaders the nation will find itself wearing the same dictatorship straitjacket be is with a new political name, colours, etc.! If the people want free, fair and credible elections then they will have to demand the implementation of the GPA reforms, at present none of the politicians want the reforms implemented! None!