The national
elections season is now upon us and the two camps have already emerged, set up
their stalls, ready to do battle. One camp is saying the elections should go
ahead; political parties must produce their election manifestos, select the
candidates to contest, go out there and campaign for votes, etc. ZEC must get
cracking with registering voters, produce the voters’ roll, print the ballots, etc.
And we, the people, must place our assigned role of registering to vote,
attending rallies and, come voting day, cast our vote.
The second
camp, is calling on the nation to boycott the elections on the basis that the
elections will not be free, fair and credible. Their argument is a simple one;
Zanu PF used its total and undemocratic control of every aspect of the election
process to rig the vote and after 37 years of rigged elections, it is insane to
keep contesting flawed elections.
No
one denies that Zanu PF has been rigging elections.
Indeed,
the opposition has routinely complained of Zanu PF “stealing the elections”
after each election. Mugabe himself has even boasted of his vote rigging.
“Nothing
accomplished by the bullet can be undone by the ballot!” Mugabe instructed his supported
as their carried out his instructions in overhaul his defeat in the March 2008
vote into an 84% landslide victory using wanton violence in the run-off three
months later.
Mugabe
did not only claim electoral but also claimed that the election was free, fair
and credible. Such is the sickening prerogative of bullies and tyrants; they
claim onto themselves to be the investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and
executioner in all matters including those in which they are, above all, the wrong
doer!
No
one accepted Mugabe’s claim that the elections were free and fair; not even SADC
and AU who had turned a blind eye to Mugabe’s vote rigging antics in the past;
not after such blatant vote rigging and barbaric violence. SADC forced Mugabe
to sign the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which gave birth to GNU tasked to implement
a raft of democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and
stop vote rigging.
Sadly,
not even one reform was implemented in the five years of the GNU, so Zanu PF
was once again free to rig the elections as before. SADC warned MDC leaders not
to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms in place. As we know the latter
did not listen, elections went ahead and Zanu PF blatant rig the elections.
Since
the rigged 2013 elections, not even one democratic reform has been implemented.
Not one! The holding of the July 2013 elections marked the end of SADC’s supervisory
role in Zimbabwe’s political affairs as the guarantor of the GPA. Getting any
reforms implemented after July 2013 was always going to be a challenge
particularly with a Zanu PF government with a comfortable 2/3 majority in both
parliament and senate. Indeed, Zanu PF has stubbornly refused to implement any
reforms.
“You can’t expect us
to reform ourselves out of power,” the outspoken Zanu PF political strategist,
Professor Jonathan Moyo admitted. He spoke with the usual arrogance of tyrants used
to riding roughshod over other people’s freedoms and human rights.
By implementing the
reforms, Zanu PF would be restoring the people’s freedoms and rights including
the right to free and fair elections. How ironic that Zanu PF should be the one
blocking all democratic options to get meaningful reforms implemented by
rigging elections and then pretend it is not its fault that no reforms are
implemented.
So Zanu PF is going
into next year’s elections knowing fully well the elections will not be free,
fair and credible because “what was accomplished by the bullet (i.e. Zanu PF
political dominance) cannot be undone by a ballot!” And the regime’s excuse for
its continued denial of the people’s freedoms and rights including the right to
free and fair elections is that the regime cannot reform itself out of office.
Tsvangirai and his
MDC friends have never admitted that they sold-out during the GNU in failing to
get even one reform implemented in total disregard of SADC leaders’ advice to
implement the reforms. Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office
including a farm seized from a white farmer and a $ 4 million mansion for Ncube
and Tsvangirai respectively.
MDC leaders, once
again, ignored SADC leaders’ advice not to contest the 2013 elections with not
reforms in place because Zanu PF will rig the elections. As we know, Zanu PF
rigged the elections. Since the rigged July 2013 elections not even one former has
been implemented and so SADC’s advice not to contest next year’s elections is
just as valid. Sadly, MDC leaders are set to contest the elections regardless.
“We
would like to call upon SADC to do whatever is within its power to ensure that
next year’s elections in Zimbabwe be held in a free and fair environment that
will guarantee a credible outcome,” said Obert Gutu, MDC-T spokesman, in
a recent statement.
Advising
the opposition and the people at large to demand the implementation of the
reforms and stop taking part in flawed elections is the best SADC can do to
help us end this political madness. It is outrageous that MDC is, once again,
disregarding SADC’s advice and will, no doubt, blame SADC for not doing enough
to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. What chutzpah!
The
opposition have also been calling on the people of Zimbabwe “to come out to
register to vote and then going out and then make sure your vote!” Hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, of Zimbabweans did not get into the voters’ roll
last time because there were few voter registration centres, many failed to
produce the documents demanded of them to register, etc.
Of
those who did register nearly one million were denied the vote because their
details were posted in some other constituency voters’ roll other than the one
they expected. In the rurally areas, voters are frog marched to attend Zanu PF
rallies and then to vote for the party. These are all well documented evidence
of Zanu PF vote rigging which the opposition know can only be adequately
address if the reforms are implemented. In their eagerness to contest the
flawed elections the opposition are conveniently ignoring these political
realities just as they have ignored SADC’s advice.
There
is no doubt that Tsvangirai & co. will blame us, the people, for failing to
heed his call to register and then to vote if Zanu PF should blatantly rig the
election – such is our curse for having a corrupt, incompetent and shamelessly
dishonest opposition.
There
is clear evidence that Zanu PF’s vote rigging juggernaut, well-oiled with the
billions of dollars looted from Marange, is already into overdrive. Mugabe has
already kicked off his campaign with Zanu PF Youth Interface rallies in all the
provinces. The regime has successfully delayed the buying of the Biometric
Voter Registration kits so the voter registration will be a rushed process
allowing no time to register, produce and verify the new voters’ roll, etc. Zanu
PF has already won the 2018 elections with a landslide, the regime is just
waiting for the country to go through the motions before they announce the
result!
The
truth is Tsvangirai and company have accepted the political reality of Zanu PF
rigging elections and staying in power as long as they get a share of the
spoils of power. Mugabe gave them a share of the spoils during the GNU and
hence the reason MDC leaders kicked reforms into touch. The opposition contest
the flawed 2013 elections to win the few gravy train seats they knew Zanu PF
would give away, as David Coltart readily admitted in his recent book.
“The
worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs
couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the elections,” explained Senator
Coltart.
“The
electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to
withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the
distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that
the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process
credibility.”
The opposition
politicians have expended a much time and energy building a coalition – much more
than they have spent in getting even one reform implemented They had made very
heavy weather of this (not that any meaningful coalition has emerged) to
mislead the naïve and gullible public; a coalition, no matter how strong, could
stop Zanu PF rigging the vote; only reforms can do that.
The
primary purpose of the coalition is for the opposition to share out the
winnable seats, the few seats Zanu PF gives away. Even in so called opposition
strong holds, Zanu PF will generate a significant number of baseline rigged votes;
enough to win the seat should the opposition vote be split. This is the reason
why, small opposition parties like Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube, are
particularly keen to go into a coalition.
Both
Zanu PF and all the opposition candidate in Zimbabwe’s next year elections know
that, with no democratic reforms in place, the whole election process is a
meaningless charade in which the result is a Zanu PF landslide victory,
guaranteed. The opposition are contesting, in total disregard of the SADC
advice not to, for the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away to entice the
opposition to contest elections and give the process credibility.
As
the election process gets into gear both Zanu PF and opposition politicians
will themselves go through their own gears of mobilizing voters to register, selecting
candidates to contest, producing their party manifestoes, holding campaign rallies,
etc., etc. They are all going through the motions, they know the elections will
not be free, fair and credible just as Baal’s 450 priests, in the Biblical
story of the prophet Elijah, knew Baal was not a god but a powerless Idol!
Zimbabwe
spent $100 million writing the new 2013 constitution, squandered $74 million on
the new BVR kits, Rita Makarau, ZEC chairperson has just asked for $274 million
to hold next year’s elections. Zanu PF spent at least $4 billion of its party
campaign and various vote rigging schemes including US$ 10 million paid to
NIKUV, the Israeli company that helped corrupt the voters’ roll. By the time
the last rigged vote is cast and counted next year the party is expected to
have spent $10 billion! This is all but a waste of time and treasure; the
jumping around of Baal’s many priests!
Ever
since independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has been sinking relentless into the
economic mess which has seen unemployment soar to the nauseating heights of 90%
which has left 72.3% of our people living in abject poverty. Zimbabwe is a very
rich country with some of the best land and weather from all kinds of farming
and with many mineral wealth and other resources. Zimbabwe could have easily
become the South Korea of Africa but has, instead, become the North Korea of
Africa.
Zimbabweans
have the singular honour of being the poorest people in Africa. And the root
cause of Zimbabwe’s economic demise is bad governance, for the last 37 years
the country has been stuck with a corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime. Unless
we implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle and end this demonic
Zanu PF rule; Zimbabwe’s economic demise will continue. The country’s present electoral
circus is not doing anything to end Zanu PF’s ruinous rule.
“So they
took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the
name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there
was no voice; no answer. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
“And
so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a
god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he
is sleeping and must be awakened.” 1 Kings 18 verse 26 to 27.
Zimbabwe
cannot afford another rigged election and five more years of Zanu PF’s ruinous reign.
With both Zanu PF and the opposition determined to drag the nation through yet
another flawed electoral process the only option for the common man and woman
out there is to have absolutely nothing to do with this mockery of democratic
election. Do not both to register as a voter. Do not attend and party rallies.
Do not bother to vote! Have absolutely nothing to do with these elections other
than continue to demand the implementation of the reforms to ensure free, fair
and credible elections.
By
participating in any way in the flawed election, you will per se give the
process some democratic credibility. This is shooting yourself in the foot as
you will be forfeiting the chance to get the reforms implemented. When SADC
leaders advised MDC leaders not to contest the flawed 2013 elections the
regional leaders would have rejected the one horse Zanu PF elections forcing
Mugabe to accept the implementation of reforms. If many Zimbabweans demand the
reforms and boycott next year’s elections until the reforms are implemented it
will strengthen SADC leaders’ hand in demanding the reforms from Zanu PF.
Free,
fair and credible elections are the only elections we must accept anything else
is totally unaccepted! We should like President Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Rita
Makarau and all the other participants play their role in the flawed and
illegitimate elections, indulge in their idolatrous worship; we must have nothing
whatsoever to do with it!
1 comment:
The decision whether to participate in next year's elections or not is probably the single most important decision Zimbabweans are being asked to make for a generation. I hope they will think hard and long about it and, I pray, make the right decision.
From what you have said it really seems like the elections will be rigged and participating will be exactly what Zanu PF would want us all to do for their own selfish reason of making the process credible. As a nation, we gained nothing from participating in the July 2013 elections. President Mugabe and his Zanu PF colleagues walking away with the winner-takes-all price of getting back into government with their dictatorship untouched.
Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown has got worse not better from the poor state it was at the end of the GNU.
If we are serious about stopping Zanu PF rigging the elections and restoring the people’s right to free, fair and credible elections then we must implement the reforms BEFORE the elections. To even think we can allow Zanu PF to rig the vote and, somehow, manage to stop the regime winning the elections much less have free, fair and credible elections is insane.
After 37 years of mind numbing insanity whose consequences is the economic ruins and the murderous dictatorship this country can do with a moment of sanity. Refusing to contest flawed elections and shoot oneself in the foot is the most logical and sane thing to do, the more so after 37 years of pure madness of contesting flawed elections.
The Prophet Elijah had Baal’s priest put to the sold after events proved they were false prophets. If Zanu PF and MDC drag the nation through another flawed elections and the elections are rigged as SADC and many others have warned then we must leave no stone unturned in seeking out these false politicians and making sure their political careers are put to the sword!
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