It is a great disappointment when, seemingly level-headed people,
are appointed into high and they lose their heads. The act of elevating them
into high office makes them lose their heads in the clouds; they suddenly
believe they are invincible and infallible.
One of the best known historic figure who lost his head is
Emperor Nero. One of his grandest plans was to tear down a
third of Rome so that he could build an elaborate series of palaces that would
be known as Neropolis. (Nelson Chamisa has his bullet train plan lined-up, ready
to become a reality within five years of him being elected president of
Zimbabwe. Will never come true because he keeps forgetting that he must first
win the rigged elections.) The senate, however, objected ardently to this
proposal.
The story goes that it was Nero who set Rome on
fire in AD 64. The Roman historian, Tacitus, said Nero watched Rome burn while “merrily
playing his fiddle”.
Until today, I thought President Cyril
Ramaphosa of SA was a level-headed leader but now I am not so sure!
“Tell them their father was proud on the day African boarders
were removed; tell them they live in a proud, vibrant and prosperous continent,
because you, their uncle’s and aunts were vanguard panafricanists who brought
down the walls left by colonialists, maintained by imperialists,” he wrote in
Zimeye. The article was ominously titled, “Tell Them Mnangagwa, Kagame,
Issoufou Were Here”, Ramaphosa Kigali Blast.
“Tell my daughter, and my son that their father was there, on
the day our continent signed the African Continental Free Trade Area, in
Kigali.
“Tell them, if their
grand parents fought for their political independence, you achieved their
economic freedom.”
What a blast, indeed.
Still, Mr President, we must deal with reality and not the
mirage we wish to see. Like it or not Africa is not, I repeat NOT, “a proud, vibrant and
prosperous continent”. Much as we would wish this was so, it is not. Africa is
blundering from one crisis to another beset poverty, civil war, disease, etc.
and all these problems can be traced back to one cause – bad governance.
If the truth be told; and for the good of Africa, it must be
told; we in Zimbabwe look back on the colonial days as the country’s “golden
age” compared to where we are today. Before independence the country was the
bread basket of the region, today we are starving in, for all intend and
purposes, the Garden of Eden.
Zimbabwe is the poorest country in Africa with ¾ of her
population living on US$1.00 or less a day!
In 1980 Zimbabwe had the potential to become the South Korea of
Africa but has become instead the North Korea complete with a corrupt,
incompetent, vote rigging regime. There has been a raging factional war within the
ruling party, Zanu PF, which led the country’s tyrant of the last 37 years
being forced to resign after a military coup in November last year.
Zimbabwe is due to hold elections in a few months and already it
is clear they will not be free and fair. The military Junta ruling the country
has stubbornly refused to implement any democratic reforms necessary for free
and fair elections. So, if the country has yet another rigged elections it will
set itself up for yet another military coup – how else can there ever be regime
change.
President Ramaphosa was speaking from Kigali Rwanda, a country
that has suffered some of the worst human tragedies to happen in
post-independence Africa. In 1994 800 000 to 1 000 000 mainly Tutsi Rwandans
were murdered in cold blood by their fellow Hutu Rwandans. The country’s
current President, Paul Kagame’s, in power since 2000, refusal to give up power
does not augur well with the country’s good governance and stability.
No, President Ramaphosa, Africa is not, I repeat NOT, “a proud, vibrant and
prosperous continent”. And this was not because the continent did not have free
trade but because the continent’s leaders have failed to deliver on their
promise of freedom, justice, peace and economic prosperity for all its people. has
failed to deliver Africa is a continent beset by problems of her own making,
man-made problems of chronic corruption and bad governance.
What Africa needs is to
sort out the problems of corruption and bad governance which have dragged so
many African countries into the abyss. Solves these problems at national level
and only after this has been done can the continent open up to free trade and
free travel between nations. The vanguard panafricanist vision of a United
States of Africa is grand on paper but a none-starter in practice. If brothers
cannot work together what is there to suggest they will work together with a
total stranger in the midst!
16 comments:
This must be President Ramaphosa's head in the cloud, like Emperor Nero, moment because Africa is not a vibrant and prosperous continent. He should never allow his panafricanist zeal blind him to reality. African is a poor continent plagued with corruption and bad governance and it is these teething problems the continent's leaders should be dealing with and not waste time of free trade. 3/4 of Zimbabweans live on US$1.00 or less a day, they would love to eat dates from Egypt but how many date can some one living on US$1.00 per day buy!
An advance EU team to observe elections has arrived in Zimbabwe.
It will be useful for the EU to see for themselves why anyone with any brain has been calling for the reforms to be implemented BEFORE elections. It is nonsensical to claim the elections can be free and fair with no free media, no verified voters' roll, regime with unfettered access to state resources including looted diamond wealth, partisan state institutions like ZEC and the Police, etc.
We not asking the EU to reinvent the wheel, what constitute free and fair elections are known to us all. What we are asking the EU to do is say with their hand on their hearts whether it was possible to have free and fair elections in Zimbabwe
President Ramaphosa has himself become president of SA because the ANC had to boot out Jacob Zuma who has been linked to many cases of corruption; proof corruption is a serious problem in SA.
South Africans must be grateful to the late Nelson Mandela who fostered on the nation a vibrant and functional democracy; a free media, independent judiciary, State Institution still able to deliver free and fair elections, etc. If Zuma had been able to rig elections as readily as his counterpart across the Limpopo River, who is rigging this year's elections right now; Zuma will be sitting pretty right now and the looting and state capture will be going into overdrive.
Corruption and bad governance are certainly Africa's real challenges. It is the tyrants and despots amongst Africa Union Leaders who are not just holding back Africa but are dragging it back into the dark ages.
In another 30 to 50 years Africa's population will double, many nations are failing to feed their own people now what more when there are twice as many hungry mouths to feed. Many towns and cities Africa inherited at independence are now just one big shanty town with no running water and open sewers!
The AU should wake-up from its sloth-like slumber and address the continent's teething problem of bad governance. Opening Africa to free trade when many have nothing to trade and no money to buy with, is an unnecessary distraction, to say the very least! We cannot afford to waste time egotistic copycat project; just because other nations have free trade areas Africa too must have one!
@John Austin
I agree with you there but I wish it was that simple! How does one "Deal with them (Zanu PF Junta) at the ballot box"; when they have captured and corrupted the whole voting process to ensure a landslide Zanu PF victory every election?
"What was accomplished by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!" Robert Mugabe boasted in 2008 as he unleashed his party thugs, war veterans and members of the Army, Police and CIO to harass, beat, rape and even murder innocent civilians - punishment for having rejected the tyrant in the early vote.
What makes Zimbabwe's situation even more infuriating is that the nation has had many golden opportunities to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship but wasted them all. The best chance to do so was during the 2008 to 2013 GNU when MDC leaders had to do was implement the democratic reforms to dismantle the dictatorship. They failed to get even one reform implemented in five years.
Right now it is none other than the MDC and the rest of equally corrupt and incompetent opposition politicians who are dragging the nation into these flawed and illegal elections which President Mnangagwa and his Junta are rigging as we speak. SADC leaders have advised that the opposition should not take part in the elections without first implementing the reforms but MDC and company have refused to listen.
What Zimbabwe was hoping for is that SADC and AU will rule the Zimbabwe elections null and void and leaders like President Cyril Ramaphosa would be the quality leader to direct these organization down this path. After reading his "Kagali Blast" it is clear he is just as foolish as the rest of the other leaders!
Africa is burning, SADC is burning and Emperor Cyril Ramaphosa is "merrily playing (mbira) thumb piano!" What a waste of time!
“Pledge 10 Launch a War Against Corruption
The PRC government will fight and uproot corruption, bribery, fraud and theft wherever it might be found. A lifestyle audit on public officials will be carried out at the very outset of the Mujuru-Administration.”
This is nonsense. If PRC is serious about launching a war against corruption then it must launch the war straight away and not have to wait until it is in government. Mai Mujuru must come clean on the looting she and her late husband were involved in during her 34 years in Zanu PF.
“Pledge 9 Judiciary Inquiries
“The PRC government will institute 2 judiciary inquiries on disappearances. One on missing persons such Itai Dzamara and Paul Chizuze and others. And another on the missing USD 15 bn and other illicit financial flows.”
How much of the US$15 billion and other illicit financial flows was Mai Mujuru responsible for?
The reason why President Mnangagwa and his Junta regime are failing to make any real progress in recovering the billions of dollars they know were salted away is because they want to target the G40 members only. Not even a brain surgeon can target G40 members only because Lacoste members were involved is the same shoddy deals. Even if the regime can carefully separate the G40 members, there is no guarantee the courts will be successful in keeping the Lacoste members out of the limelight when push comes to shove!
If the people of Zimbabwe were stupid enough to elect Mai Mujuru back into office then the nation can be certain she will take up her looting from where she left off in 2014 when she was booted out of Zanu PF. At the very best, she would be doing her best to cover up her past!
If we are serious about ending corruption and electing competent leaders then we must implement the democratic reforms. The new democratic dispensation will clear the deck of the corrupt and incompetent deadwood of yesteryears, people like Mai Mujuru will not stand the heat of democratic scrutiny! The new competent and accountable leaders will tackle corruption decisively and not talk endlessly about it and making meaningless pledges!
Only a fool will believe that Mai Mujuru to do in 100 days what she failed to do in 34 years in government!
@ Mbatatisi
Are you saying there is no looting in Marange? If you are saying there is looting but the figure of $15 billion is too much, then tell us what the correct figure is?
I believe there is overwhelming evidence that there has been wholesale looting in Marange and Chiadzwa and all this bickering about the exact amount is a waste of time and energy.
The country needs to elect competent leaders who will deal decisively with corruptions and all the other national problems. As we can see, not even the parliamentary committee, constituting the highest authority in the land, have shown an sign of dealing with the problem.
Under Mr Mugabe’s administration, the country witnessed rampant and unabated corruption which suffocated the economy.
Mr Mugabe would publicly threaten to deal with corruption but never took action even though it is believed he knew the culprits.
It was “the rampant and unabated corruption which suffocated the economy,” as you have said. Any yet the regime has tried to brain wash the people into believing it was the sanctions! Even President Mnangagwa and his Junta have tried to maintain that it was sanctions to blame for the nation’s economic meltdown.
Mugabe publicly threatened to deal with the corrupt individuals but never did because when you are corrupt yourself you know you squeeze the criminals to hard and they will spill the beans on you. President Mnangagwa faces the same problem, he has been targeting the G40 members only to punish for corruption and left his own Lacoste friends out. Even with the G40, he knows that he cannot afford to squeeze them too hard, they will fight back and reveal Lacoste members’ own corrupt activities!
The trouble with these MDC supporters is that they have no clue what reforms are required to ensure free and fair elections. Even now, with all the benefit of hindsight, they have no clue what the GNU were about because if they did they would no there can be no meaningful reforms that can be implemented this last before the elections. These elections must be postponed or else people boycott the whole flawed process!
After 38 years of rigged elections, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by taking any part in these flawed elections. It is insane to do so!
The list of Chinese nationals on the shame list is bound to be a source of irritation for both Zanu PF and CCP! Many people have accused China of looting Zimbabwe's wealth and now we have the evidence!
There is no way Zimbabwe can have free, fair and credible elections without first implementing the democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 Global Political Agreement. Just because MDC sold-out on reforms during the GNU and now by participating in these flawed elections does not mean all Zimbabweans have no clue what is required for free and fair elections!
An unreformed ZEC is in all but name a department of Zanu PF and per se committed, like the rest of all the other departments in the party, to the no-regime-change mantra!
ZEC Acting Chairperson, Commissioner Emmanuel Magade informed the team that the commission is in the process of compiling a new voters’ roll, which shall be made available within a reasonable time and in the format prescribed by the law.
The new voters’ roll should have been released by now so had the opportunity to verify and a corrected roll should be available as we speak. Magade knows that the voter registration should be started at least two years earlier than it did and there was absolutely no excuse for this.
There was no verified voters’ roll in 2013 and there will be no verified voters’ roll this year too. It is nonsensical to argue there can ever be such a thing as free and fair elections when there is no list of who is eligible to vote and no one can audit that only those eligible to vote voted and if they did, they voted once only!
It is very thinking Zimbabwean’s fervent hope that the EU but even more so the errant SADC and AU election observers will declare the flawed and illegal election taking place in Zimbabwe null and void and give the nation the chance to finally implement the democratic reforms and have free and fair elections.
Two years ago the then President Robert Mugabe said the nation was losing a staggering $15 billion from "swindled diamond revenue" and President Mnangagwa is coming up with the evidence of just how serious corruption has been in Zimbabwe. And yet both men have blamed sanctions for Zimbabwe's economic meltdown and have never given any details to support this.
There is no doubt that no nation on earth with a GPD of $10 billion can sustain a $15 billion haemorrhage much less prosper. Zimbabwe's economic meltdown was caused by corruption and mismanagement.
It is foolish that President Mnangagwa should continue to insult our intelligence by blaming sanctions for Zimbabwe's economic woos! He repeated this insult as recent as this week in Rwanda!
@bluntboy
There is no question that ZEC will not deliver free and fair elections and per se ZCTU are right in calling for ZEC to be replaced or supervised by someone else. My beef with ZCTU is that ZEC is not the only problem; we have a very partisan ZRP, Judiciary, public media, etc., etc. Are we going to ask the UN to supervise these institutions too?
If the people in ZCTU were awake then they would know that the GNU was tasked to implement the democratic reforms designed to give ZEC and all the other institutions their independence and confidence to carry out their duties without fear or favour. These flawed elections should be postponed until the reforms are implemented as SADC leaders have already suggested.
President Mnangagwa was quick to tell any would-be investor that Zimbabwe was "open for business" although I doubt is very much whether there will be a flood of investors from Africa coming to Zimbabwe. Investors be they from Africa or anywhere else on earth do not like doing business in a country ruled by lawless thugs.
The reason why there have been very few new investors is simple, they still Zimbabwe as a nation ruled by lawless thugs. It is not enough for President Mnangagwa to stand up at every opportunity to say Zimbabwe was ready for business when he is doing nothing on the ground to prove Zimbabwe has changed. The regime's refusal to implement the democratic reforms is telling the world the country is still ruled by thugs!
President Mnangagwa would have been better advised spending his time implementing the reforms and cleaning up Zimbabwe's pariah state image and only then go out and tell the world Zimbabwe was ready to do business. A pariah state is not ready to do business and he has fooled no one else but himself.
By the same token, African leaders should be spending their time and effort addressing the problems of corruption and bad governance which are the real impediments to Africa's economic prosperity and political stability. Frankly, I too do not see Africa's economic fortunes improving significantly because trade borders were lifted!
@ John Austin
"Armies of any kind (including Liberation Movements) have no business nor qualifications (nor right) to govern," you said.
It is not for you or me and definitely NOT the army to decide but the people in a free, fair and credible election. My beef with Mugabe and his cronies was their refusal to hold free, fair and credible elections. By refusing to implement the democratic reforms, SADC had proposed and get Zanu PF and MDC to sign onto as the basis for holding free and fair elections following the barbarism of the 2008 elections; President Mnangagwa and his Junta are telling the world that the November coup removed one dictator but only to replace him with another.
President Mnangagwa has promised free and fair elections but he clearly has no intention of keeping that promise. After 38 years of rigged elections the people of Zimbabwe need to end this scourge or they will never get out of the economic and political mess the nation is in.
@ John Austin
Could Nelson Mandela have done even better than he did? The answer is yes.
Still given the pressure for ANC to become another Zanu PF, I would still say that he did very well to resist that pressure. SA, as far as I know, has so far managed to hold free, fair and credible elections, in Zimbabwe not even the opposition parties know what we need to have free and fair elections. MDC had five years to implement the reforms to allow free and fair elections and they failed to get even one reform implemented!
@ John Austin
I agree with you 100% that people should not take part in an election process that SADC leaders would rule as "done" before the first ballot is even cast. By doing so, they only give the process credibility is clearly does not deserve.
The primary task of the GNU was not fixing the economy useful as this was. MDC leaders have tended to focus on their achievements on the economic front but that is just a clever ploy to avoid discussing why they failed to implement even one reform in five years.
The process of implementing the reforms involved someone submitting proposed reforms of ZEC to free the commission of Zanu PF influence and control, for example. Parliament would fine tune the proposals and pass them. It was then that Mugabe, as State president, would be asked to sign the proposals for implementation. MDC leaders failed to submit even one reform proposal. It is therefore wrong to blame Zanu PF for that.
What Mugabe did was bribe the MDC leaders with the trappings of high office, generous salaries and allowances, a $4 million mansion for Tsvangirai, etc. In return the MDC leaders kick all reforms out of the window!
"Mazivanhu eMDC adzidza kudya anyerere!" (These MDC idiots have learnt to enjoy the gravy train comforts, they will never rock the boat!) Zanu PF thugs used to boast when asked why MDC leaders were not implementing the reforms.
MDC leaders sold-out that is a fundament and historic fact that must be publicly acknowledge if we are ever to understand why we are still in this mess and why we must not trust MDC leaders!
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