NCA Bikita West by-election candidate beaten - suddenly "No reform, no election!" makes sense. By N Garikai

“In statements released Wednesday, the civil society organisations said Zanu PF militia pounced on Murdock Chivasa, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) candidate for Bikita West and his manager Thomas Mudzamiri Tuesday and left them for dead,” reported New Zimbabwe.

Professor Lovemore Madhuku and his NCA followers KNOW that Zanu PF uses every trick in the book to rig elections including wanton violence. They KNOW that Morgan Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC friends have not contested any by-election since July 2013 to pressure Zanu PF to implement democratic reforms to end the vote rigging. So by participating NCA are really undermining the effectiveness of MDC’s “No reform, no elections!” How typical!

“Following the Tuesday violence, Tajamuka said the by-election should be called off until the government was ready to hold a free and fair election in a violence free environment,” continued the New Zimbabwe report.

“Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) called on the SADC and the African Union to intervene promptly.”

I do not believe SADC and the AU would want to be involved in Zimbabwe’s affairs, not unless they are force; the memories of Zimbabwe’s disastrous GNU are still fresh in their minds.

Zimbabwe had the golden opportunity to implement all the democratic reforms necessary to ensure free, fair and credible elections during the five years of the GNU. We failed to get even one reform implemented. AU and SADC leaders did their best to advise Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends to implement the reforms but the advice fell on deaf ears. SADC leaders begged MDC leaders not to take part in the 2013 elections but, again, Tsvangirai and company paid no heed.

By participating in the elections, in total disregard of SADC leaders’ advice not to; Tsvangirai and company were doing is telling off SADC leaders to mind their own business and leave Zimbabweans to run their own affairs. Without the reforms Zanu PF went on to rig the elections, as expected. When Tsvangirai complained about the rigging, it was AU and SADC’s turn to completely ignore him and they have done just that to this day.

The price of MDC participating in the 2013 elections was not just we ended up with the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship back in power but worse still, we had missed the golden opportunity to end the dictatorship by failing to implement the reforms to stop the vote rigging. We are stuck with an inherently corrupt electoral system.

If we are ever going to have free, fair and credible elections it is up to us, Zimbabweans, to get the all important democratic reforms implemented. The “No reform, no elections!” was clearly a significant move in the fight for free elections.

NCA and all the other opposition politicians who have continue to contesting elections are undermining the “No reform, no election!” initiative just as MDC participation in the 2013 elections undermined the SADC initiative to get the reforms implemented. Just like MDC before them NCA know Zanu PF rigs elections and that by taking part they are not only their life and limp but those of the innocent public and, worst of all, they are giving the illegal election process credibility and thus helping the regime stay in power illegally. They are risking all this for the sake of a seat on the political gravy train; President Mugabe has seen to it that the country’s ruling elite are spoilt rotten, just to make sure they all do his bidding.

One hopes that the NCA officials’ brush with death will force the party and all the other parties contesting elections to review their position on contesting elections with no reforms in place. It is a relief that only the NCA leaders were beaten up and no innocent civilians were caught up in the melee.