If President Mnangagwa was beginning to feel that he had blatantly rigged the elections and going to get away with it he has just had a very rude wake-up call. British MP Kate Hoey has spelt it in plain English that Zanu PF rigged the elections.
“Without doubt the election has been cleverly rigged but even worse is the fact that it is the military that is behind the regime and they are now unleashing a similar fear and terror campaign on leading opposition activists and curbing all protests by killing and arresting innocent Zimbabweans,” she wrote.
If the truth be told Zanu PF counted on the sheer incompetence and greed of Zimbabwe’s opposition politicians than the cleverness of President Mnangagwa et al to rig these elections. There was simply no excuse for the opposition to go into these elections without something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, for example. They did because they knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats in these elections, to entice the opposition to participate regardless how flawed and illegal the process got.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” confessed MDC Senator David Coltart in his book.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
Three of the main MDC factions did come together to form the MDC Alliance but that did not stop them, once again, go after the bait gravy train seats on offer. As expected Zanu PF won its landslide 2/3 majority and a few of the opposition leaders like Tendai Biti and David Coltart won the bait seats. Biti and company are over the moon and do not care that these rigged elections only means another five more years of the same corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF to the ordinary Zimbabweans out there.
It should be remember that the MDC leaders wasted the golden opportunities during the GNU to implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. They failed to implement ever one reform in five years. Not one!
“The courage and self-sacrifice of the Zimbabwean people is humbling to behold. We, in the international community cannot accept the result of the election and the UK government must take a lead to ensure that the Zimbabwean government is seen for what it is a mark 2 Mugabe regime and one that deserves no support whatsoever,” concluded MP Hoey.
Could not agree with MP Hoey more!
The international community must now move swiftly to impose the targeted sanctions on President Mnangagwa, his junta friends and all those such as ZEC and Con-Court judges who played their part in rigging the elections and/or in trying to hide the evidence. The sanctions must be extended to include the opposition politicians like Tendai Biti and David Coltart who wasted many golden opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship because they have been running with the hare but hunting with the Zanu PF hounds!
8 comments:
There some people out there who accept that Mnangagwa and Zanu PF rigged the elections but it is all water under the bridge now; we should accept that as fait accompli and move on. Move on where? Where are we going?
This is just it we are stuck with the same corrupt, incompetent tyrannical regime that dragged us into this mess. The investors have already taken fright and are staying away from Zimbabwe. Mnangagwa and his junta think they can take up their "Zimbabwe is open for business!" campaign from where they left off before the elections; not knowing that the campaign is now dead in the water. Investors do not do business in pariah states ruled by vote rigging thugs.
There is no chance of any meaningful economic recovery with no serious foreign investment. Like it or not Zimbabwe is well and truly stuck political - Zanu PF rigged the elections and so no chance of regime change this time or in five years time because the junta will never implement and reforms to allow free and fair elections in 2013 - and economically - the same Zanu PF corruption and criminal waste of resources and zero foreign and local investment.
So those talking of "moving on" are naive and gullible people, who are just too foolish to see and/or acknowledge the nation is stuck in the same mess it has been stuck in for the last 38 years. It will be insane for those you see and comprehend not just the here and now but also in the distant horizon to allow ourselves to be led by the blind and stupid.
MP Kate Hoey is spot on Emmerson Mnangagwa is just "mark 2 Mugabe" a corrupt, incompetent and murderous thug determined to stay in power at all cost.
The only person who must hold the office of the presidency and all other public office must be elected by the people of Zimbabwe is a free, fair and credible elections. There must be no exception and no compromise on that.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because we allowed Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs of whom Mnangagwa was his chief enforcer to get away with the first rigged elections in 1980 and the thugs used that as the platform to rig all subsequent elections. We must put an end to this madness and there is no better place and time to so so than here and now! And the international community can help us do this by denying this regime all economic, political and moral support!
@ Tichafara Mufands
"Seems you are so obsessed with these sanctions to a point that you don't care who suffers, the jack and Jill's of Zimbabwe suffer more than the target," you say.
That is what Mnangagwa and his spin doctors have programmed you and many others to believe. Ask yourself for once what has made Mnangagwa, Chiwenga, Mugabe and the other Zanu PF multi-millions filthy rich? Now think how much better off the Jack and Jill of Zimbabwe would be if these millions had been invested in public projects instead of building the few the mansions, buying the posh cars, 45 gold watches, etc., etc.?
You believed the nonsense that the nation is poor because of sanctions but lacked the common sense to ask what was there in front of you - the filthy rich and wasteful few. Think!
@ Fungayi Mukosera
"The basic changes that Mnangagwa can start with to harness these long-term investment opportunities can include realigning our laws especially electoral law to align with the new constitution. This is a promise that he had for us ever since he was the Justice minister. An independent Electoral Commission, auditable electoral processes and respect of voters' rights is a self-rescue exercise that can lay good foundation to his slogan that Zimbabwe is open for business," you said.
"Mnangagwa's new government should note that these are not the 'Western imposed conditions'. These are cries of the everyday person in the country. People are more engaged, creative and willing to contribute freely if they can freely express themselves without fear and freely choose who lead them. Above all, people are willing to stay in their own country if the president is in charge, calls a wrong a wrong and with the sovereignty to defend his own people."
You are 100% correct in everything you have said expect for one thing - you asking President Mnangagwa to "realigning our laws especially electoral law, etc." He should have done all these things already and he did not. Zimbabwe has just gone through harmonised elections which he had promised would be free, fair and credible but they were not because he refused to implement even one democratic reform necessary to ensure free and fair elections.
After 38 years of rigging elections and getting away with it, it is right and proper that someone show draw the line in the sand and say "Enough is Enough!" President Mnangagwa and his junta are not going to get another chance to realign our laws, implement the democratic reforms, hold free and fair elections, etc. they have had many opportunities to do so and they wasted them all.
Now what they must do is step aside to allow the appointment of an interim administration that will be implement the reforms and hold the nation's first free, fair and credible elections!
@ Bernard Sibanda
Did President Mnangagwa keep his promise to hold free, fair and credible elections?
No! So shut up!
@ max Maphosa
"Many people in the opposition like people to suffer so that it works for them. They are fooling themselves, people will always get a way to survive and come elections they will vote for Zanu. So there is nothing new, they are indirectly helping the enemy to do a good of destroying our country. My take is ,they will never win. Simple," You say.
This is all nonsense! Zanu PF has just rigged the election just as the party has done again and again these last 38 years.
The party has just denied 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote. ZEC has then refused to produce the voters' roll so we can see who these 5.6 million voters are it says are on the voters' roll. Come voting day no fewer than 16 polling station have two or three other polling stations with exactly the same number of ballots cast and exactly the same number cast for Mnangagwa. Of course, these were cast by bussed voters and hence the reason ZEC refused to release the voters' roll, it was the smoking gun that would have proven vote rigging.
The people know who is destroying the country and would have booted the thugs out of office years ago if the country had free and fair elections. The age of rigging elections and getting away with it is over. Zanu PF rigged these elections but the party is NOT going to get away with it, not this time!
@ Wordsan Jimika
"And the British Premier whilst in Cape Town a few days ago endorsed ED when she was quoted saying ED was the elected president of Zimbabwe. Everything else does not matter," you say.
PM May praised President Mangagwa for appointing a commission to investigate the fatal killing of protestors. She pointedly refused to be drawn into commenting about the rigged elections. Sometimes one says a lot more by saying nothing, that was certainly one of those golden moments!
What matters here is that ED rigged the elections and in so doing he confirmed that all his claim that Zimbabwe had transformed from the pariah state under Mugabe into democracy following the November coup was all nonsense. MP Hoey is absolutely right Mnangagwa is nothing but Mugabe mark 2!
You can close your eyes to that reality if you wish and insist Mnangagwa is a great leader who was elected by the people of Zimbabwe in a free, fair and credible elections and he is going to lift the nation out of grinding poverty into unparalleled prosperity. Meanwhile the real Mnangagwa, the corrupt, vote-rigging and murderous thug, is out there dishing out new twin cab Isuzu trucks to Chiefs, thanking them for frog marching the rural votes to vote for him. The 30 Chiefs in Masvingo Province have new trucks when Masvingo, the provincial city, had no running water for a whole week!
Mnangagwa rigged the elections and now he and the junta will finally learn that they are not going to get away with it! Watch this space!
@ Leonard Koni
To suggest that the Con-Court resolve Zimbabwe's seemingly intractable political problems and now the nation can move on, is being naïve and down-right stupid.
"Now that the elections are over which have been disputed from the time the results were announced until the Constitutional Court finalised the matter on the 22nd of August 2018 where most people said was a black Friday," you say.
"The current political status is just ushering a ray of hope cascading from the top leadership down to the most trodden thousands of jobless university graduates. With the unemployment rate shooting above the unprecedented levels, the current government is faced with a mammoth task to carry and fulfil its promises as per their election manifesto.
"Their priorities must dwell much on a national healing process to the Zimbabweans who are currently very divided on political grounds. The government must address issues of corruption where little action has been done. The issuing out of brand new cars to chiefs will not solve any economic challenges bedevilling the government. Its not the right time to embark on such an expenditure. In fact such costs must be cut and the money used on more income generating projects, where employment creation must be a priority."
Zanu PF rigged these elections and the Con-Court, had the chance to establish this fact conclusive and to take decisive measures to have this put right, chickened out and rubber stamped the flawed elections.
Chief Justice Luke Malaba acknowledged that there were glaring election irregularities such as ZEC's failure to produce a clean and verified voters' roll and ZEC's failure to keep a record of voters who all accepted the presidential ballot and refused all the others. He accepted these irregularities were serious enough to render the election not free, fair and credible if there was collaborating evidence from the sealed ballot boxes, "primary source evidence", as he called it.
So the Con-Court ruled the elections free, fair and credible although secondary source evidence including that from ZEC's own sworn affidavit said the elections were flawed and illegal. The learned judges' excuse was that they did not have primary source evidence although it was within their power to order the sealed ballot boxes to be opened!
This was a matter of great national interest with far reaching political, social and economic ramifications and instead of it being properly addressed it is fudged on some foolish and feeble grounds! Of course, the Judges committed high treason for which they must be held to account if there is justice in this world!
Anyone who thinks that Zimbabwe can sweep the rigged elections under the carpet and move on is naïve. There will not be any meaningful economic recovery, for example because the flood of investors needed to help kick start the economy will never happen. Investors do not do business in pariah states ruled by vote rigging thugs!
@ Tapiwa Nyandoro
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because we have, among many other problems, some of the most naïve and gullible citizens in the world.
"Quick, thorough, fearless and honest investigations by the ZRP's homicide squad may yet reverse the almost certain pending loss of reputation, sympathy, aid and foreign investment. The President is aware of this. Now he must act, lest his legacy be forever defined by the unfortunate, wicked and uncouth events of August 1, 2018," you write.
What a mouthful of plain nonsense. President Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections and he failed to do so. By rigging the elections, he confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by vote rigging thugs. The much hope for economic recovery will never take place because investors do NOT do business in pariah states!
The shooting of unarmed protestors made a bad situation worse but if you think Zanu PF will get away with rigging the elections just because it arrested and jailed a few scapegoats the ruling elite blame for the shooting, then you are really dim-wit naïve!
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