“MDC-T
deputy spokesperson and Bulawayo East legislator Thabitha Khumalo has resolved
to step down and not contest in the 2018 general elections after she ceded her
parliamentary seat to MDC's David Coltart as part of the opposition parties'
coalition deal,” reported Bulawayo 24.
"Interesting,
if the time comes I will take the necessary action for Zimbabweans and will do
whatever it takes to ensure that we win and dislodge Zanu PF from power. They
have destroyed this country and surely I cannot allow more than 13 million
people to suffer so that I hold on to a parliamentary seat," she said.
Zanu
PF will only be dislodged if elections are free, fair and credible. What is
shocking here is that someone like a sitting MP has no clue what it will take
to dislodge the Zanu PF dictatorship, even after all the talk of what the GNU
was about and why it was a failure. After the foolish blunder of contest the
July 2013 elections with no reforms in place and against SADC leaders’ advice;
one had hoped that any opposition leader worth their salt would know it is
tomfoolery to contest next year’s election with no reforms.
The very
fact that MP Khumalo believes that formation of the MDC Alliance, with no
reforms, will be enough to dislodge Zanu PF only goes to show she has
understood nothing about reforms. It is little wonder MDC failed to get even
one democratic reform implemented during the GNU, when the party had the golden
opportunity to have this done.
David
Coltart argued in his book that the MDC-T and MDC-N would have boycotted the
July 2013 elections to press for reform if the two factions had formed a
coalition.
“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.”
Well
the two MDC factions have joined with five other opposition parties to form the
MDC Alliance. What excuse is Mr Coltart give now for contesting next year’s
flawed elections instead of doing the “obvious - withdraw from the elections”!
It
is not only Coltart who has openly admitted that it is folly contesting flawed
elections, Tapiwa Mashakada, MDC-T deputy secretary general and Tendai Biti,
PDP president, have all done the same.
"Statecraft
plus party - state conflation and a state controlled ZEC all combine to rig
elections and legitimize Zanu PF. Besides without the knowledge of who prints
ballot papers it is difficult to audit the ballots issued," Mashakada said,
according to Bulawayo 24 report .
"Zanu
PF will not allow an independent audit firm to do the job. Zanu PF and ZEC are
not capable of organizing free and fair elections. (Registrar General) Tobaiwa
Mudede betrayed it all when he said metal IDs will not be accepted. He let the
cat out of the bag. It is the duty of the MDC Alliance to bust the rigging
machinery first b4 plunging.
"After
that victory will be certain. Without reforms, there won’t be any election.
Even the poodles will not attempt to enter those elections to legitimize Zanu
PF."
We
all know that there will be no meaningful reforms implemented, MDC Alliance
will take the plunge, regardless, and give the whole illegal process
credibility. Our hope is that the international community, especially SADC,
will not be easily fooled and denounce the sham elections. If we, the people of
Zimbabwe, stand firm in our demand for meaningful reforms before elections; we
will strengthen SADC’s hand.
It
really is madness contesting flawed elections and hoping against hope that Zanu
PF will rig the vote but lose the elections, especially after 37 years of
rigged elections!
7 comments:
The is no excuse for anyone in the opposition contesting Zimbabwe's elections, knowing fully well that Zanu PF is going to rig the vote. The only reason opposition candidates are tripping over each other to contest is for the few gravy train seats Zanu PF offers them as a bribe, an enticement to them to contest.
There is no excuse for Zimbabweans themselves participating in these sham elections particularly when Zanu PF will take that as proof we approve the regime's dirty tactics! We cannot stop Zanu PF and the MDC going ahead with the elections, however what we can do is make it very clear to these politician and the world at large that we do not approve of the rigged elections.
MDC-T sue Mugabe for proclaiming voter registration dates before ZECprocures BVR server which store data.
Even if ZEC had the data servers, does MDC really believe everyone will be given a chance to register in four months? Why has voter registration delayed until now. The vote rigging has already started and it is only because Tsvangirai and his opposition friends are interested in the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away as bribes that they are contesting these flawed elections.
There is no excuse for ordinary Zimbabweans in playing any part in these meaningless contests. None!
FORMER mines secretary Francis Gudyanga Monday testified about the funding of Nikuv saga in camera after he was cornered by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to narrate the information he refused to disclose in court saying it was classified.
Gudyanga is a key witness in a case which his subordinates, former Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) acting general manager, Richard Chingodza and his deputy, Hannah Chitate, are accused of conniving to fraudulently award themselves allowances and loans totalling $625 226,88 last year.
Following this, Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa wrote to the court supporting Gudyanga saying he must not to respond to questions put to him by the lawyers as the information was classified.
Chidhakwa said if released the information was prejudicial and a threat to national security.
NIKUV helped corrupt the 2013 voters’ roll and here is the evidence that Zanu PF has retain and is paying NIKUV for services the regimes claims would be “prejudicial and a threat to national security” if revealed. Of course, the regime would not want the nation to know it is paying someone to rig the vote!
There is a mountain of evidence showing that contesting next year’s elections with no reforms in place is futile. Morgan Tsvangirai and his opposition friends’ excuse for contesting is greed – they are after the few seats Zanu PF throws away a bribe to entice the opposition to contest. The only excuse for ordinary Zimbabweans would participate in these sham elections after 37 years of rigged elections is insanity and what makes it worse by participating these fools are giving legitimacy to the process that denies them the humanity and hope!
@ Alice Majola
Excellent and well thought out article.
We did get many, many chances to end the Zanu PF rule, the first best chance being the during the GNU when all Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had to do was implement the many reforms already discussed and agreed in the 2008 Global Political Agreement of which SADC were the guarantor. SADC leaders tried to get MDC leaders to implement the reforms but were ignored.
The second chance was SADC leaders tried to force the issue on reforms by advised MDC leaders not to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms in place.
“If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done,” SADC leaders warned Tsvangirai and company at the Maputo summit in June 2013.
Sadly, MDC leaders, once again, did not pay heed. SADC’s advice not to contest flawed election is even more valid today given they were proven right last time. If Zimbabweans show they disapprove the holding of elections with no reforms in place then SADC will refuse to recognize the election as free and fair. It is highly probable that SADC will do this but we need more Zimbabwe to boycott the process to be absolutely certain.
This is our third chance to force the implementing of the reforms and we would be foolish to waste experimenting with MDC’s latest Winning In Rigged Elections (WIRE) strategies. What a truckload of nonsense. We want free, fair and credible elections and enjoy all our other freedoms and rights; no more messing around.
Chris Mutsvangwa admits that he and his war veteran friends "rescued Mugabe in 2008". That year, the country was subjected to the worst vote rigging and wanton violence ever. It is no secret that Mutsvangwa and his war veteran friends played a key role in the wanton violence that happened that year and the next five years or so to follow. People were harassed, beaten and raped in their millions. Over 500 innocent people were murdered in cold blood to force povo to vote for Mugabe.
Mutsvangwa and company brutalized the masses, denying them their freedoms and basic human rights for the sole purpose of imposing a corrupt and murderous tyrant.
It is shocking that Mutsvangwa and company have never apologized for having betrayed the nation and aspiration for a free, just and prosperous post independent Zimbabwe. These guys are fighting their own factional war and need help to win. If the Mnangagwa faction win, Mutsvangwa and company will take up their role of 2008 with zest!
With no democratic reforms in place, Zanu PF will rig next year's elections, we all know that including Tsvangirai and everyone in the opposition camp.
SADC leaders warned Tsvangirai and his MDC friends not to contest the July 2013 elections without implementing the reforms first because Zanu PF will rig the vote. MDC leaders saw the evidence of the vote rigging for themselves. Still MDC leaders contested the 2013 elections knowing Zanu PF will rig the vote because they also knew of the few gravy train seats the regime was offering.
The one lesson Zanu PF learned from the fiasco of the 2008 elections; in which the party claimed victory but failed to secure legitimacy and it was forced to go into the GNU; was to rig election to secure landslide victory and do it in such a way that the election process still remains credible. One such way of retaining credibility is to make sure the opposition contest the elections no what how flawed the process - bribe them with the promise of a few gravy train seats. It has worked!
MDC leaders know Zanu PF is rigging next year’s elections just as readily as it rigged the July 2013 elections and yet they are still going to contest regardless for the same reason – the few gravy train seats on offer. The MDC Alliance is not going to do anything to stop Zanu PF rigging the vote, it is about the opposition sharing out the gravy train seats.
The ordinary Zimbabweans should be concerned that next year’s elections are once again NOT going to be free, fair and credible; we need this for meaningful political change and economic recovery. If Tsvangirai and company had heeded SADC leaders’ advice and implemented the reforms during the GNU or boycotted the July 2013 elections until reforms were implemented the nation would have had free, fair and credible elections by now. The nation forfeited the chance to get the reforms implemented in 2013 because the opposition fell for Zanu PF’s gravy train seats bribe. It would be foolish for the nation to forfeit yet another chance to get the reforms implemented because, once again, the opposition could not resist the honey-pot trap of a few gravy train seats.
The opposition are lying that the MDC Alliance will stop Zanu PF rigging the vote.
The opposition is also lying that its Win In Rigged Elections (WIRE) strategies will, as the name suggests, deliver victory to the opposition even thou Zanu PF rigs the vote. These strategies have never worked and not work this time too.
The opposition are desperate to contest the flawed elections in pursuit of the bribes but, because they cannot come out and admit this, they are coming up with all manner of excuses why they continue contesting flawed elections. The formation of the coalition, WIRE strategies, etc., etc. are all feeble excuses but that is all they have.
If the opposition was to win next year’s elections it would be because Zanu PF had imploded so much so that the fragmented party could not rig the elections. If the opposition win, we are not out of the woods yet because they will never implement the reforms. They will take full advantage of the undemocratic practices to consolidate their own hold on power just as the late Fredrick Chiluba in Zambia did after the fall of Kenneth Kaunda.
If we want free, fair and credible elections then it is up to us, the people, to stand firm and demand the implementation of the reforms now before the elections. Another rigged election will not be of any benefit to us and therefore we must do everything in our power to ensure there will be no elections before reform. We must ensure we have absolutely nothing to do with the elections be it voter registration, rallies, etc.; without reforms, all these activities are utterly meaningless and a waste of time and resources.
ZNLWVA chairperson Christopher Mutsvangwa said starting this week, teams which he described as A-team will be going around the country to mobilize the grassroots against Mugabe and the G40.
Mutsvangwa is as much a bully and tyrant as Mugabe himself; the both believe that as liberation war heroes they and they alone know what is best for us all. Mutsvangwa is determined to defeat the G40 and needs our help to do so. Once this is done he will betray us all and impose Mnangagwa as the next dictator just as he and his war veterans imposed Robert Mugabe.
Whilst we want Mugabe out we must not accept doing this on the back of thugs like Mutsvangwa because we will never control them afterwards. Zanu PF is imploding and Mugabe's reign of terror is drawing to a close, we must be clear we want a democratic system of government to replace the dictatorship. If we implement the reforms, Zanu PF will be defeated without any need for Mutsvangwa and his A-team.
The only area we can work together with Mutsvangwa and his rogue war veterans is in demanding the implementation of the reforms nothing more. We are not thugs and therefore cannot work with him in his thuggish tactics against G40.
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