"Off with Mukupe's head!" clamour opposition out of malice and to hide their incompetence P Guramatunhu

"How can we say, honestly, the soldiers took the country, practically snatched it from Mugabe, to come and hand it over to Chamisa?” said deputy Finance Minister Terrence Mukupe in a video.

"A child talking about spaghetti roads, who is talking about impregnating all women?This country, where it is now and where it is coming from, needs a grown up, a steady hand, a person who can stabilise things."

Masvingo Provincial State Minister, Josaya Hungwe, made a similar statement confirming Zanu PF was not going to risk losing power by holding free, fair and credible elections. 

Like it or not, in their own perverted and boastfulness, the two Zanu PF Ministers are doing us, ordinary Zimbabweans, a great favour by reminding us – least we should ever forget - that Zanu PF has no intention of holding free, fair and credible elections. What is really disappointing here, but not at all surprising, is the knee-jerk reactions from the country’s opposition politicians, the usual suspects. Instead of sitting up and taking careful note they want the two ministers fired for waking them from their sloth-like slumber!

When President Mnangagwa took over from Robert Mugabe following last November’s military coup, he promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. The promise was address the illegitimacy issue of his regime since it was born out of a coup. Many people did not believe the regime would keep its promise and events have since proved them right! The regime has stubbornly refused to implement even one of the raft of democratic reforms Zanu PF agreed were necessary for free and fair elections at the onset of the 2008 to 2013 GNU.  

"Zanu PF ichatonga! Igo tonga!" (Zanu PF will rule! And rule!) Was the very first thing President Mnangagwa told his Zanu PF cronies on his return to SA after the coup. He was restating the party's total commitment to its long cherished "No regime change!" mantra.

Ministers Mukupe and Hungwe were reminding those amongst us who preferred to bury their heads in the sand and delude themselves that the junta would risk losing power by holding free and fair elections.

“It is great that Zanu PF has condemned Mukupe’s statement. They must take tangible action against him if he indeed did not talk for them. He has undermined the dialogue that we have been trying on electoral reforms, surely just a statement is not enough when he remains in government and still the party candidate,” said Douglas Mwonzora. 

Mr Mwonzora, how long has this dialogue being going on and how many electoral reforms have been implemented?  

At its party congress in 2014, MDC-T resolved the party would not take party in any future elections until democratic reforms to ensure free and fair elections are implemented. “No reforms, no elections!” was the party resolution. Even since the party has been demanding that Zanu PF implement reforms but has the later has completely ignored MDC’s demands. 

There elections are now upon us; there is two months to voting day at the most; what meaningful reforms do you serious expect to be implemented this late? 

Former Education minister and MDC legislator David Coltart said Mnangagwa should not just say the right words, but descend heavily on ruling party members who flagrantly contravened the Constitution. 

“This is good, but we will only know they are serious when Mukupe is fired and soldiers are withdrawn from the countryside where they are campaigning for Zanu PF and confined to barracks until after elections,” Coltart said. 

What a hypocrite! So, Mr Coltart has known all along that Zanu PF had deployed soldiers, to complement the war veterans, the Chiefs, other traditional leaders, etc., all campaigning for Zanu PF. He has done nothing and even pretended not to know until now. He wants Mukupe fired for reminding him and his MDC friends they are being foolish in ignoring the blatant vote rigging happening under their nose.  

Even Zimbabwe’s notorious political turn-coat Professor Jonathan Moyo joined the usual suspects in call for Mukupe and Hungwe to be fired. 

“If that’s government view, a serious and truthful one, then Mukupe must be fired pronto if he is not fired, the public and international community must take Mukupe’s rant as the truth,” twittered Moyo from his hide-out.

Who exactly do you want to fire Mukupe, Professor, and for what reason exactly? And, to what end and purpose? 

President Mnangagwa and his junta have masterminded and ruthless carried out all Zanu PF’s vote rigging activities including the wanton violence all these last 38 years and, to spice it all, the junta has just carried out its most audacious and dare-devil act of all - coup to ouster Robert Mugabe himself. If all these acts is not enough to proof beyond all reasonable doubt of Mnangagwa and his junta’s deep-seated love for power and the dangers they will risks to secure it then, please, tell me what more proof you want! 

No one in their right mind would expect these seasoned political thugs to risk all to wrestle power from Mugabe in November only to hand it over in a silver-platter to an upstart let like Chamisa a few months latter! Of course, Mukupe is only stating the obvious in saying that will never happen!

So, Minister Mukupe and Hungwe are warning the opposition and the nation at large that Zanu PF’s promise to hold free and fair elections is only a smokescreen, the junta has no intention of doing any such thing. Our utterly, utterly useless, corrupt and incompetent opposition politicians did not want to hear that Zanu PF was rigging these elections because they were being exposed for having buried their heads in the sand and failing to this this political reality. And so, in they perverted and macabre foolishness, they are shooting the messenger. 

Zanu PF is rigging these elections. These election should have never gone ahead without first implement the democratic reforms designed to end President Mnangagwa and his junta’s undemocratic powers to rig the vote and, if need be, use violence including staging yet another military coup to ensure Zanu PF remains in power at any and all cost. 

With two months to go before the elections there is nothing one can do to stop them going ahead. What must be done now is for the international community including SADC elections observers to take note of the political reality in Zimbabwe; that there is no free press, no verified voters’ roll, no transparent party funding allowing Zanu PF to rob the nation blind to bankroll its vote rigging activities, etc., etc. With so many basic tenets for free, fair and credible missing, we call upon the observers to declare these flawed elections null and void. 

By declaring the elections null and void, the international community will be doing the long suffering people of Zimbabwe a great favour by forcing Zanu PF to accept revisiting the 2008 reforms the party agree to at the onset of the GNU. Zimbabwe will appoint a new interim administration which will be task to implement the reforms and thus finally end the country present dysfunctional political system. 

We must dismiss the opposition politicians with their “Off with their heads” calls, directed at the Zanu PF leaders who have reminded us once again of how their party is hell-bend on rigging the elections, with the contempt they rightly deserve. Their malice and foolishness is; in tune with the blind fury of Lewis Carol’s fictional character, Queen of Hearts; to hide their own incompetence and glaring short-sightedness and failures.