In
2008, Zanu PF showed the world the full extend of its capacity to rig
elections. The party forced ZEC to recount the March vote and after six weeks
of cooking up the figures; Tsvangirai’s 73%, by Mugabe’s own inadvertent
admission, was whittled down to 47%. Enough to force the run-off.
During
the run-off Zanu PF unleashed its party militia and war veterans assisted and
directed by the Army, Police and CIO onto the defenceless civilians, like
wolves in penned sheep. The civilians were harassed, beaten, raped and over 500
were murdered; they were being punished for having rejected Mugabe and Zanu PF
in the first vote.
“What
was accomplished by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!” Mugabe barked.
Encouraging his thugs in their barbaric work.
Mugabe
overturned his 27% or so defeat in the March vote into a massive 84% landslide
victory.
The
2008 elections have become a bench mark in that one could honestly say that
Zanu PF was unbeatable which is why SADC leaders proposed a raft of democratic
reforms which the GNU was tasked to implemented to stop the repeat of the 2008
elections. When the SADC leaders realised that not even one reform had been
implemented during the GNU the advised that the elections must be postponed.
“In
2013 the Maputo Summit, in June 2013, before the elections, the Maputo Summit
was all about having the elections postponed – the SADC summit. I went there,”
Dr Ibbo Mandaza explained to Violet Gonda
“I
was there at the Summit and Mugabe pretended to agree to a postponement of the
elections. If you recall, the postponement was based on the need to reform at
least electoral laws.
“And
after that Summit, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, all of them
were called to a separate meeting by the Heads of State of SADC in the absence
of Mugabe, that same evening. And they were told; I was sitting there outside
the room with Mac Maharaj; they were told ‘if you go into elections next month,
you are going to lose; the elections are done’.”
It
is easy to see why SADC leaders were so cocksure taking part in the elections
with no reforms was a futile exercise; if you can blatant cheat the count
turning 73% into 47% and use violence to boast 27% to 84% you are unbeatable.
MDC
leaders did not listen to SADC leaders’ advice and contested the flawed 2013
elections. Zanu PF, as SADC leaders had rightly predicted, rigged the
elections.
It
is therefore disconcerting that he should be the one talking of MDC winning
this year’s elections!
The
local Daily News reports that Mandaza has predicted a Chamisa victory in the
elections as long as the polls are held in a free, fair and credible manner.
“Zanu PF is
wounded and it’s unlikely to win a free and fair election. The new kid on the
block is Chamisa who has captured the imagination of youths, and I see nothing
stopping him,” he said.
Zanu
PF has been unelectable for decades. Indeed, many people would argue that
President Mnangagwa’s takeover, with all the baggage of the military coup, has
made Zanu PF more electable that it was in 2008 and 2013, for example. And yet
the party went on to win regardless but only because the elections were not
free and fair.
Of
all the people, Dr Ibbo Mandaza, knows that not even one democratic reform has
been implemented since the 2013 elections. These elections are therefore NOT
going to be free and fair. If Nelson Chamisa cannot win even if he was to poll
73% then it is utterly pointless of talking of him winning.
If
Chamisa cannot win with 73% then he has as much chance of winning a lottery
without buying a ticket!
9 comments:
@ Don Chigumba
“Trevor Ncube did not give his operational definition of Nelson Chamisa’s ‘immaturity’. I am forced to believe that the definition of immaturity according to Trevor Ncube was based on age because Nelson Chamisa is mature and a high performer, he was voted the best minister during the government of national unity’s leadership,” you say.
It you who is showing the world that you are immature. When Trevor said Chamisa is “immature” he was only being kind. He should have said Chamisa is corrupt, incompetent and a sell-out. For your own information, we are in this hell-hole because the MDC leaders sold-out on the reforms during the GNU. They failed to implement even one reform during the GNU.
The primary task of the GNU was to implement the reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections and if MDC failed in this important task one has to ask so who vote him best performing minister?
The whole MDC leadership sold-out during the GNU, including Ncube, Biti, Coltart, Cross, Tsvangirai and, of course Chamisa. As you can see being corrupt and incompetent has nothing to do with age.
If you, even with the benefit of hindsight, still fail to understand what the GNU was about and therefore the seriousness of MDC leaders’ betrayal then you are politically immature (being very kind) so immature in fact you should never ever be allowed to vote. Zimbabwe is in this political mess because we have the great misfortune of having more than our fair share of immature voters who will vote into office a corrupt and incompetent individual, even one with a proven track record as a sell-out, on the basis of inconsequential things like age, sex, tribe, etc.
Predicting that Chamisa will win "if elections are free and fair" is as meaningless as telling apunter the horse will win "if it is alive!" The begging question is: Is the horse alive? Similarly: Are the elections free and fair?
Dr Mandaza knows that not even one reform was implemented since the last rigged elections and therefore it is a certainty the elections will be rigged! If you know the horse nis dead, only a fool will put a bet on it winning the race!
The focus of Mnangagwa’s government is to ensure that the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” campaign succeeds. There is greater need for transparency at the highest level and declaration of assets is one tool that can be used to ensure public confidence.
I wish this was true! If President Mnangagwa was serious about ending corruption then he should have set the “declaration of assets” of a solid legal foundation stating clearly who will have assess to the data, what it will be used for, etc. As it is the declaration is just a variation of the Zanu PF leadership code of the 1980s; it was used selectively to punish those the regime wanted to punish and it never stopped the corruption, as we can see.
It was the great Physicist, Albert Einstein, who said, "Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result!"
"Our hope as Zimbabweans is that even with the elections not being free and fair, we can defeat this monster called Zanu PF. Just like a team can win a game even when the ref is biased," you say.
Well, that sounds like an excuse to justify your insanity!
The 2008 elections have shown beyond all reason doubt that the monster called Zanu PF does not have just a loaded dice, its dice has six on all six sides. Only a madman would bet against Zanu PF failing to throw a six again and again and again! You have been told that Zanu PF are not using an ordinary dice, you are refusing to believe even when after seeing the graphic evidence in 2008 and 2013.
SADC, as one of the referees in the 2008 elections, refused to accept Zanu PF's claim it won the elections because they had seen the cheating and violence. SADC forced Zanu PF to go into the GNU which was tasked to implement the democratic reforms to stop the cheating and violence. Sadly, not even one reform was implemented because we, Zimbabweans but particularly Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends, took our eyes off the ball!
SADC leaders have advised that we should not take part in the elections without implementing the reforms; do not bet until you have replaced Zanu PF's dodgy dice! Common sense, really! We did not listen in 2013 and are not listening this year!
Zanu PF has the Chiefs, war veterans and 2 000 to 5 000 working round the clock to intimidate, harass, beat, etc. rural voters to make sure they will all vote for Zanu PF. NIKUV and ZEC are working out new and innovative vote rigging schemes to deny the opposition supporters the vote whilst allowing Zanu PF supporters the chance to cast multiple votes; etc., etc.
These "elections are done", as SADC would say! Your foolishness in thinking you can undo the results is playing into Zanu PF's favour; the party needs fools like you to place their bets to give the flawed process credibility!
@ Marailas Mechavio
Are you not cherry picking? You Zanu PF people have always dismissed MDC leaders as utterly useless puppets of the West and yet when it comes to sanctions you want the nation to believe it is the puppet that is ordering its master; "MDC-C deploys western sanctions," you insist.
The truth is MDC leaders are corrupt and incompetent and the West would never ever allow themselves to be influence by that lot!
President Mnangagwa and the Junta are refusing to implement the democratic reforms for selfish reasons, they will not reform themselves out of office.
It is for the ordinary people of Zimbabwe to stand up and demand the restoration of their freedoms and rights, including the right to free and fair elections!
Zanu PF does not have the right to deny Zimbabweans their basic and inalienable rights and freedoms. All this talk of the regime demanding that the West must lift the sanctions first before Zanu PF implements the democratic reforms is a farcical nonsense; the individual rights would not be inalienable if they can be bargaining over like mangoes!
In the interview with Violet Gonda and in numerous other occasions Dr Ibbo Mandaza has left one in no doubt that participating in the elections without reforms was insane. He wanted the 2013 elections postponed because he believed SADC Leaders were right to say, "the elections were done"!
Mandaza's assertion here that Chamisa would win "if the elections are free", certainly gives the impression that the elections may well be free, fair and credible. How that can be when Zanu PF has not implemented any reforms, and Dr Mandaza knows that, beggars belief?
MDC leaders are notorious for their blundering from pillar to post and stupefying indecision. We all know of their "No reform, no election!" party resolution following the rigged July 2013 elections; suggesting they had learnt the lesson of disregarding SADC leaders' advice. The fools have since changed, insisting they will contest the flawed elections even with no reforms in place.
In the Midlands, a week ago, Chamisa back to "No reform, no elections!" but insisting the party will not boycott elections! These MDC idiots have been a curse to the nation second only to the Zanu PF murderous thugs!
The people would certainly be looking up to intellectuals like Dr Ibbo Mandaza for guidance. His dithering indecision on such a serious matter as whether there is an chance of the elections being free, fair and credible is a great disappointment, to say the least.
2008 was a landmark year in that Zanu PF showed the world there was no limit to what the party will do to retain power. Fcuk me! After 38 years of rigged elections; what more evidence does people like Mandaza want to finally convince them that it is insane to take part in flawed elections?
There is no "if" elections are free; with no reforms the elections are NOT going to be free, fair and credible! Mandaza has no business encouraging the people to bet on a dead horse!
The truth is President Mnangagwa's "Zimbabwe is open for business" message has failed to impress the would-be foreign investors. Investors have shied away from Zimbabwe all these years because the country was a lawless nation ruled by thugs. The removal of Robert Mugabe was a good start but not enough to convince any one, especially the savvy investors, that Zimbabwe was now a democracy and ready for business.
The removal of the dictator does not necessarily mean the end of the dictatorship.
President Mnangagwa has promised free, fair and credible elections. And yet he has blatant refused to implement the democratic reforms and thus give up Zanu PF's dictatorial powers. This has only served to confirm what the investors had suspected all along - Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by thugs.
Contrary to what the Zanu PF Junta would want us all to believe; the November coup did not bring a new dispensation. It signalled the change of the guard, the removal of one dictator but only to replace him with another. As for the Zanu PF dictatorship itself; it is alive and well or be it under new management.
A cobra does not seize to be a dangerous snake just because it has shed off its old skin; why should the Zanu PF dictatorship be considered a democracy just because it is now cloaked in a new regalia! The same vote rigging, corrupt and ruthless thugs of Mugabe days are still there.
Having failed to fool the would-be investors that Zimbabwe is ready for business the Junta will find reviving the economy a bridge too far! If there are any Zimbabweans who think the Junta should the left off the hook on reforms because they think it will revive the economy then they are fools. They will pay dear after the elections when it becomes clear the economy is going nowhere and the Junta is busy consolidating its strangle hold on power!
"TZ has not been allocated a single seat in all the three Matabeleland provinces. Concern has also been raised over the marginalization of the party where we have not been allocated urban seats for our council and parliamentary candidates," said Ngarivhume
Well that is a tall order! Everyone knows that these elections are NOT going to be free, fair and credible and the only reason the opposition are contesting is for the scraps Zanu PF will give away. The scraps, if there are going to be any, are going to be in the urban areas. The fight for the scraps is going to test the opposition coalitions to the full!
What is shocking is there are some people out there who who do not seem to know what constitute free, fair and credible elections hence the reason they have failed to say what reforms they want implemented. For all the years of MDC leaders talking of bring democratic change, it is now clear many of them have no clue what any of those changes are.
Dr Ibbo Mandaza and his group had tried to sell the idea of an transition authority that would implement the democratic reforms. They were not takes but that did not mean it was a bad idea. His suggestion that these elections could even be free, fair and credible with not even one reform implement would make a complete mockery of his arguments for the authority.
When it comes to principled people one can depend on, there are few Zimbabweans one can count on. It is little wonder the country is in a real mess.
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