No fewer than 50 nations or institution were in
Zimbabwe to observe the country’s recent elections. President Mnangagwa
promised to hold free, fair and credible elections, a far cry from what
happened. Many nations have not yet produced their official reports on the
elections; their silence has said volumes, it is now nearly a month since
voting day. One notable exception was China who gave their thumbs up but then
what do they know about free, fair and credible elections!
The British Prime Minister, Mrs Theresa May, who
is visiting SA, chose to speak about President Mnangagwa’s promise to
investigate the wanton violence following the street protests in Harare on 1st
August. When she was pressed on the recent elections, she again pointedly
avoided answering the question.
"The President is an elected President, and he is making an important step in saying he is setting up a commission of inquiry into what has happened in relation to the violence,” said British Prime Minister, Mrs Theresa May. She was speaking on SA’s eNCA television.
"The President is an elected President, and he is making an important step in saying he is setting up a commission of inquiry into what has happened in relation to the violence,” said British Prime Minister, Mrs Theresa May. She was speaking on SA’s eNCA television.
"I think that is a very important signal from him about the Zimbabwe he wants to see for the future, and the Zimbabwe that is taking opportunities for the future of its people."
It is the reaction of the Zanu PF apologists that has been telling.
"Our elections were free, fair and credible, which no one in his/her rightful mind can criticise and the legitimacy of the election of President Mnangagwa can, therefore, not be questioned," said political analyst Mr Gabriel Chaibva, in a Chronicle report.
The guilty need no accuser! Chaibva is fuming
and frothing at the mouth defending an indefensible position!
Like everyone else, PM May would have been
astonished to hear that ZEC failed to produce a clean and verified voters’ roll,
for example; a must have in any election and a legal requirement in Zimbabwe.
She then heard of 16 polling stations in which two or more neighbouring stations
had exactly the same number of ballots cast and President Mnangagwa had received
exactly the same votes.
One does not need a degree in mathematics or
anything to know these were bussed voters casting multiple votes. The reason
why ZEC had refused to release a verified voters’ roll is immediately obvious,
it would have been the smoking gun to the blatant vote rigging taking place!
Even if nations like Britain never come out and
openly condemn the flawed and illegal elections in Zimbabwe, choosing to dwell
on the side issues such as the 1st August violence; their silence
has said it all. The foreign investors and lenders KNOW the elections were
rigged.
Zimbabwe needs the investors to kick start her
comatose economy. President Mnangagwa has underline this with his all out “Zimbabwe
is open for business!” carrion call. Sadly, the much hoped for flood of
investors will never happen because investors do not do business in pariah
state ruled by vote rigging thugs!
The investors will never be fooled into
believing Zimbabwe is a democracy when they can see with their own eyes the
blatant vote rigging and thuggery!
The Zanu PF junta may well have gotten away
with calling last November’s military coup a “military assisted transition” but
it is not getting away with calling a blatantly rigged election “free, fair and
credible!”
You can fool the blind on fufu (cassava or yam)
but not on chilli in the relish dish.
10 comments:
Hallelujah! Amen!
Mnangagwa blatantly rig these elections and it is nonsense for anyone to pretend these were free, fair and credible elections. Zanu PF must not be allowed to get away with yet another rigged elections!
Where and when will the rigging ever end!
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.”
The targeted sanctions must be renewed and extended to include all the junta leaders, ZEC, Con-Court judges and the sell-out opposition leaders running with the hare and hunting with the Zanu PF hounds!
"Zimbabwe is open for business!" is dead in the water! It was none other than Mnangagwa himself who killed that mantra by rigging the elections. No investors would ever want to do business in apariah state ruled by vote rigging thugs!
PM May has pointedly refused to endorse the just ended elections as having been free, fair and credible because she knows that the elections were rigged. Kate Hoey, a British MP who was in Zimbabwe to observe the elections has come out and stated in no uncertain terms that the elections were rigged. She discribe Mnangagwa as "mark 2 Mugabe who does not deserve international support!"
What is required now is for the international community to move swiftly anf impose the targetted sanctions on Mnanganga his Zanu PF cronies both with the party and in ZEC, Con-Court, etc.and on the sell-out opposition politicians who have continued to participate in the flawed elections against advice not to!
“This is a very serious and sensitive issue,” said one Asian diplomat who requested not to be named. “They (China) are deploying HQ-9 missiles in your country at strategic locations nationwide, and the Zimbabwe military seems to have signed up to the agreement, which will strengthen it’s ability to defend this country by default with China’s help.”
“Beijing is continuing to build her influence and power in Zimbabwe through five ways, which are: military facilities, power plants, new parliament building, a supercomputer centre and medical help.”
Ever since Zimbabwe gained her independence the nation has been obsessed with military mighty. Mugabe increased the number of brigades to five when Smith had fought the civil war with only two! He beefed up the Police and CIO too turning the country into a Police State.
It is most disheartening that at a time when the country should concentrating of reviving the comatose economy with 90% of the labour force are unemployed and 3 out of 4 of our people are so poor they live on US$1.00 or less a day. The regime is still playing its war games!
Why does Zimbabwe need these state of the art surface-to-air missiles? We are not at war with anybody and none of our neighbours have such weapons?
One thing is clear here, with China deploying all these weapons, she is increasing her stake in Zimbabwe and in Zanu PF. It will be in China’s own selfish interest to make sure there is no regime change in Zimbabwe regardless how worse things get under Zanu PF. We are stuck with Zanu PF! Our nightmare keeps getting worse and worse with each day.
We had the golden opportunity to end the Zanu PF dictatorship during the GNU and MDC leaders sold-out and now we are paying for it! We are well and truly stuck with Zanu PF!
This is not the old style political colonialism, but one we call Commercial Colonialism: the control exercised by powerful foreign (mainly Western and Chinese) commercial and financial interests pan Africa. Independence did not end all colonialism, only politicalcolonialism or colonial government. But Commercial Colonialism merely carried on uninterrupted, and not only is it is a major factor in continuing poverty in Africa, but also in helping to keep all Africa’s corrupt, oppressive governments in power – and that is most of them.
The Chinese have certainly propped up tyrants like Mugabe for decades and now they are doing the same thing with Mnangagwa. If the truth was ever allowed to come out, there is no doubt that the Chinese will come out as the most influential negatively, foreign nation in Zimbabwe politics for the last 38 years.
With unemployment at 90% and has been this high for donkey years already, the one thing the nation will be sorry to hear is that there will be no meaningful economic recovery! The overwhelming majority of people in the 30 to 60 have been out of work for 10 years or more, telling them that the next five years will bring no change is a nightmare.
President Mnangagwa and his junta rigged these elections to gratify their insatiable greed for power and wealth the price the nation has had to pay for this has become unacceptable. It is not right that so many should be condemned to life without hope. It would be criminal to let President Mnangagwa and his junta stay in power for one year let alone five years if they fail to deliver on the economic recovery!
You are spot on, MDC should have not gone into these elections without reforms.
You are also right that the MDC leaders have proven beyond all doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent and yet they are still in power! You are right that some of the MDC leaders are benefiting from the present set up, they are seriously compromised.
If you are one of those MDC leaders, like Tendai Biti and David Coltart who went into these elections knowing the elections will be rigged but were after the few seats Zanu Pf was giving away as bait and did get the seats then of course you are over the moon with joy. If you are a Zanu PF member or apologist then you are very pleased that MDC gave the flawed process credibility by participating.
However if you are an ordinary THINKING Zimbabwean whose life will continue to be hell-on-earth because these rigged elections will change nothing then you will have good reason to be angry with both Zanu PF and MDC for getting the nation into this mess. The former for dragging us into the mess and the latter for keeping us there!
If you are one of those braindead Zimbabweans then you do not know what you are talking about. You are just blissfully unaware that MDC has been selling out and continue to follow the party like sheep to the slaughter!
@ Elaizo
Actually I am winching about the 90% out of work whose lives must be a hell-on-earth. It is something called empathy but I would not expect you to understand that. It is not all who see who perceive, it is not all who hear who understand. It is only those who have the gift to see and perceive to hear and understand are capable of soaring to the great heights of empathy!
You are blind, deaf and dumb, how then can you even begin to understand what empathy is!
@ Matapatira
Zanu PF has rigged the elections and hurried everyone along for the last 38 years promising them things will be better and yet things have got progressively worse. It is now back to basics.
Elections are about giving everyone a meaningful say in the governance of the country and that is clearly is the root cause we are in this mess. People have long realised that Zanu PF leaders are corrupt, incompetent and a disaster for the nation the only reason Zanu has remained in power regardless is the thugs rigged the elections.
If we are serious about getting out of this mess then we must stop this madness of rigged elections.
It was Winston Churchill who also said that those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. The biggest mistake this nation has ever made was to believe the nation can ever have a competent and accountable government when those in power are not democratically accountable to the people! We are not going to repeat the same mistake.
Zanu PF must never be allowed to get away with another rigged elections because there will be no end to this!
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