Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, outline Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC-T leader’s bribe for MDC-T to participate in this year’s flawed elections.
“When the President visited the former Prime Minister, he made assurances to him that he was going to address issues of welfare concerning him,” Chinamasa told parliament.
“Some of the undertakings that were made by the President to the former Prime Minister were to do with the ownership of the house which currently forms his residence and that an arrangement will be made to transfer ownership of that house to the former Prime Minister.
“There was also an undertaking made by the President to meet all the medical bills and arrears bills that had accumulated with respect to addressing the medical condition of the former Prime Minister.
“The President also promised him that he would look into the issue about his welfare. Having considered the issue, he came to the conclusion and he has asked me to convey this to this Chamber that he will make a generous lump sum, gratuity payment to the former Prime Minister.”
For the record, Zimbabwe is in this political and economic hell-hole today because Morgan Tsvangirai sold-out during the GNU and failed to implement even one democratic reform. Then President Mugabe bribed the MDC leader with a generous salary, limo and the $4 million Highlands mansion.
Since the 15 November military coup President Mnangagwa has been desperate to hold on to his carte blanche vote rigging power whilst trying to regain legitimacy by being seen as holding free and fair elections. To pull this off, he needs the opposition to place its role – contest flawed and illegal elections just as they did in 2013. The generous offer to Tsvangirai to him the house, golden handshake, etc. is Mnangagwa’s down bribe payment to the MDC leader.
SADC leaders advised MDC leaders not to contest the 2013 elections without reforms. ‘If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done,” SADC leaders had warned.
Tsvangirai and friends did not listen. They contest the elections and Zanu Pf blatantly rig the elections.
It was only after the elections that MDC leaders vowed not to contest and more elections without reforms. “No reform, no elections!” they said.
The pressure on the opposition to honour their “No reform, no elections!” resolution has been increasing in the last two months in the light of President Mnangagwa’s failure to implement any democratic reforms necessary for free and fair elections.
It does not matter how flawed or illegal this year’s election process happens to be, one thing is now 100% certain, Tsvangirai’s MDC will contest the election. Morgan Richard Tsvangirai has once again sold-out!
“I want us to understand that the President is a man of his word. He will do so as soon as possible,” Minister Chinamasa concluded.
True enough, President Mnangagwa promised the Chiefs their new truck bribes and he has already started delivering them. He will, no doubt pay Tsvangirai the bribe, as promised. The President’s word is just hot air when it comes to his promise to hold free, fair and credible elections because he had done nothing to implement even one democratic reform and his willingness to pay these bribes only confirms his real intentions!
If President Mnangagwa fails to implement the democratic reforms necessary for free and fair elections then the people of Zimbabwe must heed SADC leaders’ advice and refuse to participate in yet another meaningless election process. Tsvangirai talked the nation into taking part in the July 2013 elections after assuring us the elections will be free and fair. What would be his excuse for participating again this year – other than he has been paid to do so!
One of this fine days, when the democratic reforms have been fully implemented, the country finally holds its first free, fair and credible election to usher in its first credible, complete and democratic government; one of the competent regime’s first task will be to review the rot of the last 38 years. How can corrupt, vote rigging and murderous tyrants like Robert Mugabe by allowed to keep their amassed looted wealth or sell-outs like Tsvangirai kept their bribes whilst the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans who have suffered the decades of their misrule continue to suffer post regime-change.
2 comments:
The trouble with our Zimbabwe political culture is that holding public office is now seen as a ticket to a free lunch. It all started with Robert Mugabe and his brand on nationalism who believe that having spent decades in Ian Smith’s prisons or fought in the liberation war makes them special and they are entitled to rule the country and help themselves to the nation’s wealth as a reward for their contribution in the struggle.
Mugabe has made it a point to remain the nation of the huge debt we all owe to him and his Zanu PF cronies for forcing the whites to give up power. He and his Zanu PF friends still hold dear the values of freedom, liberty and human rights. They do not talk about one-man-one vote one of the rallying cries before independence, for example, because they quickly realised they could to grant that to the people and still retain their veto that they are the only ones fit to rule the country.
Even when it became self-evident that Mugabe and his regime were incompetent and corrupt and their misrule was a complete disaster for the nation and the nation needed regime change. The Zanu PF regime’s response to the calls for democratic change to allow the rest of the people to have a meaningful say in the governance of the country was to step up its vote rigging, use of violence including murder and even to stage military coups just to stop regime change.
Whilst opposition leaders like Morgan Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and the rest feigned the burning desire to push for democratic change, they were only interested in riding on the popular call to get themselves elected into public office. As soon as they got into power they too joined Zanu PF politicians in claiming their free lunch at public expense. Morgan Tsvangirai and many others in MDC do not have a clue, even now, what democratic reforms were needed to end the Zanu PF dictatorship that is why they failed to get even one reform implemented even when their had the golden opportunity to do so during the five years of the GNU. They had their eyes glued on what they can get for themselves whilst they hold public office!
I agree, now that Tsvangirai has received his down payment for taking part in this year’s elections, it is a waste of time to try to talk his and his opportunistic opposition friends not to contest.
The way forward is for the people of Zimbabwe to now realise that they not only have to fight Zanu PF thugs to regain the freedoms and human rights including the right to free and fair elections but they have to fight the politically compromised opposition who fight for the common people day but have been cooperating with Zanu PF all the time!
Both Zanu PF and MDC want the elections to go ahead and to be judged free, fair and credible regardless of how flawed and illegitimate they happen to be. All we, ordinary Zimbabweans, can do is continue to demand the implementation of all the reforms as we have done these last two decades. We must now publicly join by SADC leaders in demanding that elections must be postponed until the reforms are implemented. Since both Zanu PF and the opportunistic opposition politicians are determined to ignore our demands just as they ignored SADC leaders in June 2013 at the SADC summit we have no choice but to refuse to participate in this meaningless charade.
Our task now is to highlight the serious shortcomings in the elections process unfolding in Zimbabwe to prove beyond all doubt that the elections are NOT free, fair and credible. We must not undermine our own position by participating in the process and be accused of sour grapes. We will then robustly demand that the process be declared null and void.
Yes, it is true that the Zimbabwe delegates to Davos are not the brightest sparks the country could have send there but such is our curse of having a rotten political systems that promotes people for whom they know and not what they know. Funny that Zhuwao should now be acknowledging that Zanu PF leaders are idiots, he was one himself. The only reason he was Minister was because Bob was his uncle!
“To the participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos, that purge should be of concern to you if you are thinking of investing in Zimbabwe. You should not behave like ED's idiots; don't be EDiots. Do your proper due diligence on the kleptocratic regime of coup conspirators and terrorist junta,” writes Zhuwao.
“Asante Sana. Mina lawe silom'sebenzi. Iwe neni tine basa.”
Poor Zhuwao, he still harbours grand illusions of the Mugabes retaining back to power in triumph. It has not yet dawned on him that the nation is glad to have got rid of the one half of the Zanu PF dictatorship and the only task in hand is how to get rid of the remaining Lacoste half!
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