Those
who defend the indefensible are fools and Zanu PF apologists are some of the
biggest fools there is. Give a fool a long rope and he will hang himself, so
goes the adage. Bishop Lazarus, a seasoned Zanu PF apologist and Zimpaper columnist,
has used all the space granted him in Sunday Mail to hang himself.
“Little
Chamisa has shown that he is a bad loser and so how can this bad loser become a
useful partner?” started Bishop in the article entitled “GNU is not good for
both Zanu PF and MDC Alliance”.
“Albert
Einstein would say: "Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters
cannot be trusted with important matters."
If
the truth be told, by failing to implement even one democratic reform in five
years of the GNU, Chamisa and his MDC friends
have already shown that they cannot be trust in important matters. Why anyone
still thinks they can ever be trusted with the destiny of this nation by voting
for anyone of them beggars belief!
But
whilst we are still at speaking truth to power, there is no doubt that on the not-to-be-trusted
ladder, President Mnangagwa and his junta sit miles above Chamisa and his MDC
friends. President Mnangagwa has used last November’s military coup to launch
himself and Zanu PF as a new democratic dispensation there to rescue the nation
from the rot and decay of Robert Mugabe. By failing to hold free, fair and
credible elections as promised, President Mnangagwa has made it clear Zimbabwe
is still a pariah state ruled by ruthless vote-rigging thugs.
Like
it or not, by rigging these elections, President Mnangagwa and his junta have
blown all the nation’s hopes of any meaningful economic recovery. Investors do
not do business with vote-rigging thugs, period! All the work Mnangagwa and the
regime have done to promote Zimbabwe, the “Zimbabwe is open for business!”
campaign, has all been a waste of time and resources.
“Adding
to its woes, Zimbabwe is bankrupt. It can’t afford to stall,” wrote Peta
Thornycroft in Spotlight Zimbabwe.
“The
situation is so bad diplomats say there will be no loans and no sympathy. The
hope of a better future is gone.”
And
yet our Zanu PF apologist, Bishop Lazarus, want the nation to put its trust in
a regime responsible for dragging the nation into this hell-hole following 38
years corrupt and tyrannical rule and has just extinguished all hope of a
recovery.
So
the people of Zimbabwe cannot trust neither Zanu PF nor MDC Alliance with the
important task of getting the nation out of this hell-hole Zanu PF landed us in
because both have already proven beyond all reasonable doubt to be corrupt and
incompetent.
Neither
Mnangagwa nor Chamisa have a clue what the country needs to get out of the mess
because both have blundered from pillar to post as their track record under
Mugabe and Tsvangirai, respectively, shows. Ever since assuming the leadership
of their respective party they have followed the predecessor’s ways by rigging
elections and participating in flawed elections, respectively.
The
single most important task that must be carried out to get Zimbabwe out of this
endless cycle of rigged elections followed by five years of corrupt and
mediocre government in to implemented the democratic reforms and thus ensure
free, fair and credible elections. A GNU comprising Zanu PF and MDC Alliance
will never implement the democratic reforms. If they failed to get even one
reforms implemented during the 2008 to 20013 GNU, with SADC nagging them all
the way, what reason is there to believe they will get this done this time!
The
one thing Zimbabwe must avoid now is waste the next five years only to find
ourselves facing the prospect of holding the next elections with no meaningful
democratic reforms in place. Zimbabwe must ensure the next elections are free,
fair and credible.
What
Zimbabwe needs going forward is these elections to be declared null and void
and clear the deck for the appointment of a new administration comprising ordinary
Zimbabweans, excluding Zanu PF, MDC Alliance or any other opposition
politicians. The main task of the administration will be to implement all the
democratic reforms agreed at the onset of the 2008 GNU and then hold the
country’s first truly free, fair and credible elections.
The
international election observers can help clear the political deck by declaring
these flawed and illegal elections null and void.
7 comments:
"I know this will make some people angry, I know some are saying the nation is divided and I know my position will make some people whisper "Bishop havasikuda GNU nekuti ivo vari kudya." But no, hapana kana madyo apa. This Zanu - PF and this MDC-Alliance can never work together. It's like oil and water that will never mix," said Bishop Lazarus.
"The ruling Zanu - PF Government should forge ahead with the re-engagement exercise and the Zimbabwe is Open for Business mantra. Yes, the game has changed and investor temperatures have gone up slightly, but President Mnangagwa should keep the eye on the ball. His actions going forward, pragmatic actions will once again charm the anxious investors.
"Zanu - PF should not be tricked by the West into thinking that the situation has gotten so much out of hand such that the GNU is the only way out. Some will bring in arguments from the 2009 GNU saying it brought "good tidings" to the country but just as the GNU was temporary, the "good tidings" were temporary. Zimbabwe needs permanent solutions. We can't continue living in this vicious cycle of temporary relief that takes us nowhere."
How naive. Investors are a very shrewd and savvy lot, they can see Zimbabwe is a pariah state. He was right, the last GNU brought about temporary relief but that was because none of the democratic reforms were implemented.
These elections were not free, fair and credible, that is a historic fact! How can these elections ever be judged free and fair when 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote.
Everyone with the remotest understand of Zimbabwe will tell you that the rural people are the ones who have paid the dearest price of Zanu PF's 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule. How then is it possible that the rural people remain Zanu PF's greatest supporters? The answer is simple to see, Zanu PF has maintain its strangle hold on the rural population by reducing them into nothing more that serfs always fearful of the Land Lord who can make their lives hell-on-earth is he so wished.
If there was ever any need for democratic reforms then it must be the reforms to restore the freedoms and rights of the downtrodden rural people. It is totally meaningless to talk of free, fair and credible elections when 60% or so of the population are serfs who will not dare vote for anyone else but Zanu PF, the land lord!
If these elections were not free, fair and credible then what is the purpose of the on-going MDC court challenge. We should remember that if the democratic reforms were carried out then the judiciary itself was in line for reforms. Are we therefore recognising the court as an independent institution whose judgement we can trust?
Chamisa was often heard talking of accepting the election process as legal if he wins otherwise he will denounce it as rigged process. Are we saying we will recognise the Con-Court as independent if MDC wins and biased if he loses?
The most rational position is to accept the fundamental reality that with no reforms the Con-Court will never be independent just as with no removes these elections will never be free, fair and credible. So the judgement of the Con-Court one-way or the other is irrelevant.
The only decision that matters here is for the ordinary Zimbabweans and international community election observers acknowledge these elections were not free and fair and therefore declare the process and outcome null and void.
Are you still talking about the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans who have been denied the vote? Vote rigging parties too come and go but does that mean we should say nothing when they rig elections and deny millions of ordinary people a say?
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network has issued a damning statement backing down from its earlier election report which claimed that the polls were free and fair and endorsed President elect Emerson Mnangagwa as a winner amid its revelations that its top official was colluding with ZANU PF to produce a bias report.
"On behalf of the board and all members of Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), I hereby call for an Extraordinary General Meeting on 23 August 2018 to among other things consider the controversial report on the 30 July 2018 harmonised elections. It has come to the attention of the Board that members of the secretariat and the Director, Rindai Chipfunde Vava have been working with state elements to cover up election fraud committed by ZEC. We further have credible evidence that Ms Rindai Chipfunde Vava has been promised to be substantive Chief Elections Officer (CEO) at ZEC after Mnangagwa's inauguration," said Zesn.
Corruption is rampant in Zimbabwe Ms Vava would not be the first one or last one to sell-out after all was that not what happened with the entire MDC leadership during the GNU. Mugabe bribed the lot with the trappings of high office and not even SADC leaders would get them to do anything after that!
"What we want is unity so that we all contribute to the development of our area regardless of political affiliation or fortunes during last month's elections," said Temba Mliswa.
As an ex-senior member of Zanu PF MP Mliswa knows that these elections were not free, fair and credible. Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess precisely because the nation has been stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship all these last 38 years. Just because he has been able to win his parliamentary seat does not mean the nation is now cured of this vote rigging scourge.
We need to deal with the problem of vote rigging properly and decisively, by implementing the democratic reforms agreed at the onset of the 2008 GNU, only then can we start the important task of rebuilding the nation. There will be no meaningful economic development or political stability until we dismantle this corrupt and tyrannical de facto one party dictatorship Mugabe and Zanu PF imposed on the nation.
@ Knox Chitiyo
"But Zimbabweans are now in a post-political, economy-first mood," you say.
"Resolving the cash crisis is crucial. Few Zimbabweans can withdraw more than $50 a day from banks or ATMs and much of this is paid out in unpopular "bond coins."
"The formal sector has contracted to only 20 percent of the economy, and the informal sector lacks the capacity to push an economic renewal."
You have the wrong end of the stick! Much as some people would want to ignore the fact that these elections were just a rerun of past elections in Zimbabwe - i.e. Zanu PF blatantly rigging the elections or be it this time the regime took its foot off the violence pedal. There is no way anyone can ever judge these elections free, fair and credible given there was no free public media, 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied a vote, ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a clean and verified voters' roll, etc., etc..
As much as President Mnangagwa, his apologists and the more naïve and gullible members of the public would wish everyone will forget the rigged elections and focus on the economy the most important group, the investors, will not do that.
By failing to hold free, fair and credible elections Zanu PF has, per se, confirmed that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled ruthless vote-rigging thugs. The country has just scared away all the much talked about and hoped flood of foreign direct investment. Investors are a shrewd and savvy lot and one thing they will never do is do business with thugs!
Zimbabwe's economic recovery will never happen until the country implement the democratic reforms, hold free and fair elections and thus finally end the country's pariah state. There will be no economic recover without the political reforms designed to end the country's corrupt and tyrannical dictatorship.
"In terms of s93(1) of the Constitution, a challenge to the validity of an election to the office of President is instituted by way of a petition or application lodged with the Constitutional Court within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election," stated Justice Chigumba is her affidavit.
"Being a period prescribed by statute, the seven days provided by s93(1) of the Constitution are reckoned with the inclusion of Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The time for lodging a petition in terms of s93(1) thus expired on the 10th of August 2018."
So ZEC fails to produce something as basic as a clean and verified voters' roll and now it is trying to get away with this high treason betrayal of the people and the nation on the basis some feeble technicality!
Zimbabwe must implement the democratic reforms and stop wasting time and resources on meaningless court cases that will never change the system. We must implement the democratic reforms and uproot the rotten system in its totality!
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