If you put one or two crabs in a shallow open box,
they will probably get out. However, the more crabs you put in, the less the
chance of any of them ever escaping. They will be expending more and more of
their energy clambering over each other than getting out. Indeed, many will die
with their pincers clocked on another’s leg!
The story of ZCTU telling the long-time ally,
MDC Alliance, to shape up or ship out filled me with great joy.
“We must clearly express that there are
irregularities in the conduct of the elections and that they can’t be free and
fair. We must tell the opposition parties to pull out of the election,” said
ZCTU President Peter Mutasa.
“We need to engage and tell them our position
and clearly explain the advantages of following us, if they don’t listen, then
they should not complain immediately after Mnangagwa is announced the winner.”
This was new territory given Zimbabwe’s civic
organisation’s nauseating tradition of appeasing and hobnobbing with those in
positions of power and authority at the expense of truth, justice and the down
trodden. But, now I can see my celebration was premature!
“The Catholic Church-run Silveira House in
partnership with other churches yesterday said they were organising a
multi-party gathering for all the 23 presidential candidates to inculcate a
sense of political tolerance and mutual respect,” reported News Day.
“The objective of the multiparty interface is
to inculcate a sense of multi-party democracy and a spirit of mutual respect in
a context of differing political opinions,” said Father Fredrick Chiromba, who
is the secretary general for Catholic Bishops Conference.
The challenge this nation is facing right now
is that these elections are being held with no democratic reforms in place and
thus Zanu PF is enjoying its usual carte blanche powers to rig the elections.
There is no free public media.
ZEC has failed to register 1.4 million out of
the targeted 7 million possible voters and thus denying nearly 25% the right to
vote because the voter registration exercise was started very late. Voter
registration should have started January 2015 at the very latest but only
started September 2017.
Worse still, ZEC has failed to produce a clean
and verified voters’ roll at least a month before nomination day, as is
demanded by law, for the same reason – no time. We know the failure to produce
a verified voters’ roll resulted in nearly one million voters (Mugabe won that
year by just over one million votes) being denied the vote because their
details were not in the constituency voters’ roll they expected them to be.
The failure to allow the voters adequate time to
verify their details this year (10 days were allocated and less than 1 million
of the 5.6 million did) will mean the same problem will happen again only worse
since voters’ details are only available in one and only one polling station.
In 2013, the lack of verified voters’ roll
allowed Zanu PF loyalists to bussed from one polling station to the next
casting multiple votes. There is no doubt the same will happen again this year.
Zanu PF is rigging these elections!
With all due respect Father Chiromba; how is
this “multiparty interface to inculcate a sense of multi-party democracy and a
spirit of mutual respect” going to stop Zanu PF stealing these elections? How!
What good is this mythical “sense of
multi-party democracy” when elections are held with no clean and verified
voters’ roll?
At a time when the nation is desperately trying
to come up with a consensus position to pull out of participating in utterly
meaningless elections it is very disappointing that some people are hell-bend
on holding the nation back!
After 38 years of rigged elections, one would
have thought very one, absolutely every one, will be focusing their time, energy
and treasure on making sure we end this scourge of rigged elections. It seems,
the majority of Zimbabweans have resigned themselves to rigged elections and they
have their crab claws on any wishing to escape!
10 comments:
@ Nomazulu Thata
"Their small minds immersed in inferiority complex were talking loud, almost doing what they know best: rudeness and total disregard of the person who holds such a high office in the land," you said.
I do agree with you there, Chamisa and his MDC Alliance are small minded individuals whose now believe they can blame ZEC for their own breath-taking incompetence and inferiority complex.
How many times have we heard MDC leaders complain that ZEC is full of Zanu PF loyalists and that the commission is poorly resourced, for example? Countless times! The question then arises: does Chamisa expect Justice Chigumba of delivering free, fair and credible elections without the money to pay for the staff and buy the required equipment? And, worst of all, with the imposed staff whose only concern is to ensure Zanu PF wins with a landslide and do not give a damn about elections being free and fair?
MDC leaders used to complain none stop about Justice Rita Makarau and demanding her resignation. She did resign and now they are complaining about her successor. Even if Justice Chigumba was to resign today and Chamisa himself appointed her successor; he/she will NOT deliver free, fair and credible elections because this is not just about the individual, important that is, but about the whole institution itself.
Small minded people went agog with excitement when Mugabe and a few around the tyrant were booted out of power in last November. Again they failed to appreciate the subtle difference between removing the dictator and dismantling the dictatorship. The coup did not dismantle the dictatorship and, as we can now see, Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by incompetent, corrupt vote rigging and murderous thugs.
The same can be said about ZEC, changing the chairperson is not enough hence the reason why ZEC needed to be properly reforms. It was none other than the same MDC leaders who failed to implement even one democratic reform during the GNU who are expecting the unreformed ZEC to perform wonders.
MDC leaders have been warned not go into any elections without first implementing the reforms because there is chance of free and fair elections without reforms. They have again and again chosen to disregard the warning only to complain that the elections are not free and fair. How stupid is that!
If there is any criticism to be levelled at Justice Chigumba then it must be that she is corrupt in that she accepted an appointment knowing she will never deliver the free, fair and credible elections. She clearly accepted the job for no other reason than for the generous rewards that comes with the position.
Of course, she knows that Zanu PF is rigging these elections. She is paid and paid well to pretend the elections are free, fair and credible. She also knows that the economic and social consequences of Zimbabwe's repeated failure to hold free and fair elections are heart breaking but she does not give a dam. She is looking after number one - Priscila Chigumba - and that is all that matters!
@ Jovo
This is typical of small minded people, Nomazulu has raised a number of very important point which have nothing to do with tribe or any of the other things you are bring up. She has fought long and hard for justice be it for Gukurahundi, Murambatsvina or all the other madness that has affected Zimbabwe.
When are you ever going to grow up and address the issue and not the person? Zimbabwe needs to get out of the mess Zanu PF landed the nation and it will never get out with people like you wattling nonsense!
Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga yesterday warned rogue members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) that they were living on borrowed time as the force had moved a gear up to flush out unruly elements as part of its rebranding exercise.
"To this end, I wish to make it very clear that for as long as you do your work properly and within the confines of the law, I am prepared to put my head on the block in defence of your policing actions," Matanga said.
"Let me hasten to remind you that my office is no refuge for police officers whose actions make a mockery of our motto. Anyone who strays from the path of righteousness in terms of policing, then such an individual is working at cross purposes with the organisation and naturally has no place in the organisation."
ZRP, like the Army, ZEC, etc., has been corrupted to serve Zanu PF's selfish dictatorial objective of staying in power at all cost. So what "path of righteousness in terms of policing" are you wittering about?
The only reason the Police has not played its traditional role of turning a blind eye to Zanu PF political thuggery and actively harassing the opposition this last eight months is because the Police, like the CIO, was on the Mugabe and G40 side of the Zanu PF political divide. Last week's expose of Police officers being forced to vote for Zanu PF only serves to remind us all that there are still elements in the Police who are still faithful to the G40 faction, even after the purge that followed the November coup.
The "rogue" officers you are talking about are those who are refusing to show the same blind loyalty to ED as they showed Mugabe; that is the only "righteous path" you, Commissioner Matanga, know and understand!
No doubt after these rigged elections, ED will carry out another purge of the Police and CIO and remould these institution in his own image! By the time of the next elections, we can be sure the Police and CIO will resume their traditional alongside Army, war veterans and Zanu PF thugs in delivering a Zanu PF electoral victory. Commissioner Matanga will be very proud of the Police's righteous path, that is if he survive the coming purged!
We must implement the reforms if we are ever going to get professional Police, ZEC, Army, etc.
Every Zimbabwean wants the elections to be conducted properly so that their results are recognised at home and by other countries. But this recognition will only be given if it can be verified that the elections have been conducted properly as promised. And this cannot be verified unless there is more transparency than ZEC has shown to date.
Recap of the Transparency Case
Details of the order sought by Veritas are set out in Election Watch 24/2018 of the 16th June 2018, but very broadly Veritas asked the court to order ZEC:
o to publish its standard operating procedures and manuals relating to the conduct of the elections, in particular to disclose the measures it will take to ensure security of ballot papers, counted votes and other election materials,
o to disclose how it selects its staff and to publish the names of persons seconded to its service for the purpose of the elections, and
o not to delegate its functions to anyone who is not directly accountable and transparent
Veritas has constantly stressed the need for elections to be transparent, so there is no need to repeat our reasons here, except to say that:
o The Constitution requires electoral processes to be transparent.
o If ZEC is open and transparent in the way it is conducting elections and in its internal procedures, the results of the elections are much more likely to be accepted by all parties, no matter who wins.
What Veritas is asking for makes a lot of sense, it is a great pity that the Courts, ZEC and the powers that be are dragging their feet on this important matter.
My concern here is that Veritas should still be giving the impression that we can still have free, fair and credible elections. We do not have a clean and verified voters' roll, for example. It is impossible to see how we can have free and fair elections when we cannot verifies on is on the voters' roll, who was allowed to vote, who was denied the vote, who voted and how many times, etc.
@ Cathy
Two or three times during the press briefing MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa said: "this time we are not repeating the mistakes of 2013." For people who don't remember, Zimbabwe's election in 2013 was a complete farce; the voters roll was never produced; multiple thousands of resident citizens had been unable to register to vote; there was no vote for Alien Zimbabweans or those in the Diaspora; media and security sector reforms had not been undertaken; on polling day countless people found they had been changed to different polling stations, different wards, even different constituencies. When the results were announced the MDC said they did not recognize the outcome but yet again we were left to flounder through another five years of ruinous policies at the hands of greedy, corrupt, self-serving politicians.
Winning the hearts and minds of Zimbabweans is not at stake in this election. We are not fooled by the ruling party's charm offensive. How can you be fooled when you go to work on the pavement, live crammed in one room, can't afford to go the doctor or pay school fees, can't even withdraw your own money out of the bank. We know which party has done this to Zimbabwe and we know Mr Mugabe did not do it alone.
"Watch this space," Nelson Chamisa reiterated, "we are not repeating the mistakes of 2013." We are watching, Mr Chamisa, because the old saying is very much in our minds: "The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do."
"Watch this space," Nelson Chamisa reiterated, "we are not repeating the mistakes of 2013." And yet that is exactly what he is doing. He has accepted the nomination process with no clean and verified voters' roll and in two week people will be voting with no clean and verified voters' roll, etc.
Last week, ZCTU leaders told Chamisa and company these election are not going to be free, fair and credible and they should stop wasting the nation time, resources and energy on their reform demands gimmicks and just "pull out of the elections". It has certainly been long in coming, still it is hearting to see that ordinary Zimbabweans are waking up to the reality that MDC leaders has been taking the people for fools and, if the nation is ever to get out of this hell-hole, people must accept that MDC leaders are corrupt, incompetent and sell-outs!
Zimbabwe's church leaders have become the very opposite of what church has always stood for. The church has always stood with the down trodden and oppressed and yet today our church leaders are cosying up to those are ruthlessly oppressed the masses. The church leaders are playing their part of pretending these elections are normal when they are not.
How can these be free and fair elections when there is no clean and verified voters' roll. We all know that in the last elections in 2013, there was no clean and verified voters' roll and nearly one million voters were denied the vote because their details were not in the constituency voters' roll they expected. This is happening again this year.
The opposition are taking part in these flawed elections because Zanu PF is giving away a few gravy train seats. They are contesting these elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process gets!
These elections are not free and fair but both Zanu PF and the opposition are letting the madness continue out of their selfish greed; the former gets absolute power and the later are fighting for the scraps. Why are church leaders turning a blind eye to the charade?
This multiparty interface is a great photo opportunity for the church leaders and to interact with the movers and shakers in the country. Please do not insult our intelligence by suggesting the talk-shop will do anything to help Zimbabwe end the nightmare of rigged elections.
Whilst ZCTU leaders are pushing our corrupt and incompetent opposition to pull out of these flawed elections because their continued participating is only giving credibility to a flawed process. It is very disappointing that our men and women of the cloth are the ones cheering and applauding the corrupt and sell-out politicians.
The ZRP, like CIO, supported Mugabe and the G40 faction and ever since last November's coup the Police have looked lost in the new dispensation. Mnangagwa and the junta does not trust the Police and CIO, even after many were fired soon after the coup . There is no doubt that there will be another purge after the elections.
"ZRP are your Police," Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba told her audience. Every one laughed; she knows what they were laughing at - the people hated the corrupt Police as much as the hate Mugabe!
"Your Police!" Yeah right!
It is amazing how you Zanu PF apologists always take the moral high ground over even the most trivial issue; do not compare people to crabs. And yet you see nothing wrong with Zanu PF looting and corruption forcing 3/4 of the population to live on US$1.00 a day! You have never said a word of condemnation over the regime's murder of over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish and retain this corrupt and vote rigging regime!
Patrick is criticising the church leaders for their failure to see that these elections are being rigged. Of course, their shortsightedness is holding back the whole nation just like a dead crab with its claw clamped on one trying to escape from the box. You do not like the comparison, then move on. Why are you making it as if that is what the article was about.
You cannot criticise the article on substance and so you make a mountain out of mole hill on trivial.
Mukwirivindi, enda undovhiya mbuzi!
A healthy and fully functional democratic system, is like formula one car everything is there for a purpose the shape of the car, the size of the wheels the tyre pressure and open the bonnet and every wire, pipe right down to the torque to tighten every nut is exact. The car is only able to perform are its best when everything is performing at its optimum.
Zimbabwe's curse is that we not only have a corrupt, vote rigging and tyrannical Zanu PF regime but have corrupt and incompetent opposition, an utterly useless civic society and a naive and gullible electorate. Not even one segment of this society can be said to be competent and healthy and is shows. In 38 short years we have managed to turn a country that held so much promise for freedom, justice and economic prosperity into the poorest and most chaotic nation on earth. We could have become the South Korea of Africa but has instead become the North Korea of Africa!
It is a lot easier to destroy but a lot hard to built! It took 38 years to get into this mess, it is going to twice as long, at the very least, to just get back to what Zimbabwe was in 1980. And that assumes we have competent and accountable political leaders on both side of the political divide and a diligent and informed civic society and electorate; which is a big ask!
Yes this multiparty interface has more to do with these church leaders messaging their egos than promoting good governance. If these church leaders had any brains at all then they would have been reading the riot act to these corrupt and incompetent politicians that these elections are a total disgrace and an affront to man and God Almighty. How dare they say these elections are free, fair and credible when the nation cannot even produce something as basic as a clean and verified voters' roll! The people of Zimbabwe deserve better than this rubbish!
I agree, these church leaders are get hosting this multiparty interface to gratify their own sense of importance. There is no way anyone of them can pretend that they did not know these elections are being rigged, they are not that stupid not to have notice that ZEC failed to produce a clean and verified voters' roll again! Or are they that stupid!
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