“Asa kanganwa chezuro nehope!” (One must never forget yesterday’s
troubles with sleep!) so goes the Shona adage. All those who forget the past
are doomed to repeat the same mistake over and over again ad infinitum and the
price they have to pay for their folly is often heart breaking.
When it comes to elections Zimbabweans have been conditioned, by
Zanu PF propaganda, to treat an meaningful post-mortem discussion of the
elections as a total waste of time. The party will state its own position; the
elections were free, fair and credible and Zanu PF’s landslide victory and
assuming of the reins of power is legal and legitimate. Anyone else with
anything different to say on the matter is downed out. The nation is forced to
accept Zanu PF’s victory enthronement as fait accompli by the swearing in of
the president, members of parliaments, new cabinet, etc. The nation is stampeded
on!
Zanu PF has played a very active role in making sure the people
of Zimbabwe have no time to reflect on each rigged election and hence the
reason the country has had rigged elections for the last 38 years and counting.
The root cause of the country’s economic meltdown and political paralysis was
and still is the failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. Rigged
elections have allowed corrupt, incompetent and even murderous thugs on both
sides of the political divide to occupy positions of power and authority.
It is as clear as day that Zanu PF rigged the 30 July 2018
elections to claim a landslide victory and the presidency and, as usual, the
party has been as keen as mustard to force the nation to accept the regime’s
claim to power as legitimate and to move on. And therein lies the rub; the
country has been stuck in this hell-on-earth of economic ruins and brutal political
oppression for the last 38 years.
“You can’t expect us to reform ourselves out of power,”
Professor Jonathan Moyo once boasted. That was his happier days when he was one
of the Zanu PF ruling elite enjoying absolute power. The November 2017 military
coup changed all that, he was one of the G40 leaders who had to run for dear
life and has been tweeting from hiding ever since.
Still, the point is Zanu PF will never implementing any
meaningful democratic reforms to allow free, fair and credible elections. Never
ever!
So the consequence of accepting this vote rigging Zanu PF junta,
per se illegitimate, as legitimate is not just another five years of gross
mismanagement, rampant corruption and political bullying and thuggery but,
worst of all, the certainty that Zanu PF will rig the 2023 elections.
We are well and truly stuck in a rut but only because we have
refused to learn from the past, we have chosen to learn nothing from yesterday’s
rigged elections and now we are stuck with the curse of rigged elections and
all the misery that comes from having corrupt and illegitimate regime.
If we are serious about getting Zimbabwe out of this economic
and political hell-hole then we must demand the holding of free, fair and
credible elections. We must not just pay lip service to the demands to
implementing democrat reforms, pre-requisite for free and fair elections; we demonstrate
in any way we can that we will not rest until our demands are met.
12 comments:
The MDC leaders are unhappy to see anyone else on the gravy train especially when they think it is them who should have been appointed!
Minister Obadiah Moyo said the government had suspended classes at some schools in two suburbs at the epicentre of the outbreak and had also asked for help from the United Nations agencies and private companies to supply portable water.
There is something not right with a government that squanders $1.4 million on a chartered plane one week for the exclusive use of one, Grace Mugabe, and the next week it is begging for money to supply water to its people at the risk of death. 16 people died from cholera and 2 000 reported cases. This is criminal!
@ Elijah Chihota
The trouble with narrow minded people like you Elijah is you cannot distinguish wishful thinking from reality and so end up treating an opinion as a proven fact.
"For a long time, Zimbabwe was a country in the wilderness with virtually nothing taking place, but since 24 November 2017 when President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over the levers of powers things started to tick. He embarked on the re-engagement route to ensure that Zimbabwe is re-integrated in the community of nations and moves on with the rest of the world. Re-integration into the global community improves the chances of the country securing the much-needed access to lines of credit, foreign direct investments and foreign currency," you claim.
"In order to create an even political playing field, President Mnangagwa opened political space which allowed all political parties to carry out their campaigns freely throughout the country including the rural areas, which were hitherto considered no go areas. This made the last election the most free and fair since 1980. The various observer teams had no choice except to endorse it as such."
What "started to tick"? Nothing!
President Mnangagwa went around kitted with his "loud" colourful scarf and smiling from ear to ear crowing "Zimbabwe is open for business!" expecting a flood of lenders and investors to pour into the country. They did not because they were not convinced the November coup had transformer the pariah state into a democratic Zimbabwe. President Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections, to assure the investors. He failed to keep his promise.
Even you did not dare to claim the recent elections were free, fair and credible and hence the reason you settled for "the most free and fair since 1980". In other words the most free and fair a pariah state like Zimbabwe can hold! Well that is just not good enough! If you really think investors and lenders were fooled by the blatant rigging then think again!
"Let's give Mnangagwa a chance to turn Zimbabwe around!" you say!
By failing to hold free, fair and credible elections and thus turn Zimbabwe from a pariah state ruled by vote rigging thugs into a stable democratic nation with rule of law and in which the people have a meaningful say in the governance of the country; Mnangagwa blow the nation's chance of economic recovery and political stability.
"If we are serious about getting Zimbabwe out of this economic and political hell-hole then we must demand the holding of free, fair and credible elections. We must not just pay lip service to the demands to implementing democrat reforms, pre-requisite for free and fair elections; we demonstrate in any way we can that we will not rest until our demands are met."
I hear you and agree 100% the real challenge here is how to get beyond the lip service demand for democratic reforms; as we saw before this year's elections all the opposition parties without exception called for reforms but not even one of them would boycott the elections if the reforms were not implemented. They all knew that Zanu PF gives away a few gravy train seats to entice opposition party participation and it was this bait they found irresistible.
Zanu PF leaders are aware of this ambivalence to rigged elections in the opposition camp and have exploited it to the regime's full advantage. They have dared to make the election process as flawed and illegal as they doomed necessary to secure a landslide victory for Zanu PF confident the opposition will never boycott the elections no matter how flawed and illegal the process may be.
Many foreign election observers could not believe that the opposition agreed to go into the elections even when ZEC failed to produce a verified voters' roll, for example. It was all water off the duck's back to our opposition parties and candidates!
So you see getting the democratic reforms implemented will not be easy because you have Zanu PF with an invested interest in keeping the status quo. And as the incumbent government they will flex their political muscle to resist reforms. On the other hand you have the opposition who have accepted the status quo because they get the scraps; they will preach reform for the sake of hiding their greed.
The electorate are a confused lot who desperate desire change but have no clue how that change can be accomplished and therefore will follow blindly wherever the corrupt and opportunistic opposition lead them.
A healthy and functional democracy demand an electorate who can be excited to a mental level where they can think for themselves, it is very doubtful the Zimbabwean electorate are capable of such a fit! With a braindead electorate, change will be impossible!
Foreign Affairs Minister SB Moyo has said diasporans should now focus on rebuilding Zimbabwe. Speaking soon after being sworn in yesterday, Moyo said, "the diaspora should now focus on rebuilding this country.
This is just the usual nonsense the world has come to expect from this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime. The party denied 2 to 3 millions Zimbabweans in the diaspora a vote for no other reason other than that the regime feared most of them would not vote for Zanu PF. And yet the regime expect the same people it has denied the vote to help rebuild the country.
The bottom line is rebuilding the country will remain a pipedream because the same underlying problems of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and the lawlessness which have made Zimbabwe a pariah state are still there. By blatantly rigging these elections, the junta has just confirmed that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state and only a fool would ever want to invest in such a country.
People like Minister of Finance Ncube, are being naïve; he is already talking of repaying Zimbabwe's outstanding debts. Repay with what, the national economy is in a comatose state!
State-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) has produced two million carats of diamonds from January to date, reflecting a 47 percent increase from 1.3 million carats during the same period last year.
Increased investments in the mining sector and processing capacity by the ZCDC have led to the rise in production of the precious commodity.
It is not production that has increased but transparency! There has been wholesale looting in the diamond industry ever since the discovery of diamonds in Chiadzwa and Marange all those years ago. The truth will never be uncovered because some of those who have benefited from the looting, like VP Chiwenga are in power and will never allow an meaningful investigation to take place!
Indeed, one of the reasons why the junta had to rig the elections is because its leaders could not afford to lose power and have their past investigated.
We are stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical regime because the Zanu PF thugs have such a dirty past they will never want anyone else to rule the country and hold them to account!
Ambassador Jagger pledged to continue supporting Zimbabwe's political and reform agenda.
"Zimbabwe's revival under the new administration is notable, hence our utmost commitment to expand our technical support to the country's institutional capacity including the works of parliament," he said.
Advocate Mudenda added that parliament will continue to exercise its oversight role over the executive to ensure that there is prudent management of public resources.
What political reforms is Ambassador Jagger talking about? The country has just had elections which the ruling party blatantly rigged and this is not the first time either. If the government in Switzerland has decided to turn a blind eye to the blatant vote rigging by Zanu PF then do so without insulting the long suffering people of Zimbabwe by pretending Zanu PF is a legitimately elected regime.
Nothing good will come out of Switzerland appeasing this Zanu PF dictatorship because five years from now the regime will once again rig the elections. Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the nation has been stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical regime which rigged elections to stay in power.
We, the people of Zimbabwe, are grasping the nettle and having to face the regime's thugs in the eye and tell them they rigged the elections and, per se, they are illegitimate and must step aside. The last thing we want if the Swiss or anyone else telling the regime it is legitimate! If you have nothing better to say, shut up!
"Swearing himself in is a script borrowed from Raila in Kenya and the outcome is as predictable. It will face the same fate Raila's inauguration faced - high sounding political stunt with minimal effect for its intended purpose. Maybe learning in politics is not doing what your friend did and failed."
Chamisa was warned against contesting these elections without first implementing the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. He insisted in participating. "MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" he said.
His complaining that the elections were rigged is tantamount to complaining that his stringent measures did not work! He was foolish enough to believe they would work and now he must accept the consequences of his folly and shut up!
I have always known the Swiss are soft spoken people and with an eye for detail and as reliable and consistent as the compass. With their meticulous attention to detail they must have learnt by now that this Zanu PF government is NOT interested in establishing a free, fair, just and democratic nation.
Early this year the Swiss sponsored workshops to talk of reforms, ZEC official and MPs were involved, to help ensure the coming elections were free, fair and credible. In the end ZEC and their Zanu PF masters blatantly rigged the elections, they did not even have the decency to release something as basic as a clean and verified voters roll, for Pete's sake!
After 38 years of rigging elections do the Swiss really think these Zanu PF thugs do NOT know they are rigging the elections?
By re-engage the Zanu PF regime after it has just rigged the elections the message the Swiss are sending out there is that the regime is legitimate and it has done nothing wrong.
The people of Zimbabwe are fighting for meaningful democratic change and the country's situation is now desperate, we cannot afford to waste time on gimmicks much less appeasement that are only going to allow Zanu PF to remain in power and drag us even deeper into this hell-on-earth. We want to go North and Switzerland is offering us a lift to take us South, that is not helping us in any way!
This is no longer a case of someone meaning well but doing the wrong thing; this is a case of helping us accept the dictatorship because they, not us, have decided we will never have a healthy and functioning democracy. It is beyond us to attain such noble heights and so we must just give up. I cannot think of anything more patronising than that!
State Of Emergency Declared In Zimbabwe As Cholera Infections Rise
This is happening to nation that has just squandered hundreds of millions of dollars in buying new cars for Chiefs, Zanu PF candidates and other party officials and other luminaries. President Mnangagwa chartered a plane for a cool $1.4 million to fly back the former first lady Grace Mugabe from Singapore to attend her mother's funeral. He did not want her to suffer the inconvenience of a commercial flight. Now the same country is begging for money to stop the spread of cholera.
Basic services like clean running water have long collapsed; some children are now going to school, and they have never had a shower! Cholera, typhoid and many of these diseases are common where there is no running water and serviceable sewage system. The current cholera outbreak was not the first and it will not be the last!
Until the nation bite the bullet and solve its vote rigging culture that has allowed corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless thugs to remain in power for 38 years and counting the country will never get out of the hell-hole it now finds itself in.
Opposition members of parliament yesterday (Tuesday) heckled and booed Chief Justice Luke Malaba as he attended parliament to preside over the swearing in of the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda and Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Tsitsi Gezi.
The swearing in ceremony had to be delayed for close to 20 minutes as the opposition supporters sang, danced and chanted "thief" at Justice Malaba.
"Kurumwa nechokuchera!" (If you dig for trouble, you get your just desrve - trouble!) so goes the Shona adage.
MDC leaders were warned they should not go into these elections without first implementing the democratic reforms which would have freed ZEC, Con-Court and all the other state institution to do their work in ensuring the elections were free, fair and credible.
"MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" Chamisa boasted as he ignored the warning. Now the MDC idiots are shout "Thief!" like hen after the eagle that has just snatched her chick.
What is so infuriating is that this is not the first time MDC have dragged the nation into flawed and illegal elections after ignoring the warning not to do so. It happened in the 2013 elections. Knowing MDC leaders as we now do for being breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent, they will be making the same foolish mistake again in 2023 and, we can depend on it, the hen will be out screaming "Thief!" "THIEF!" all to no avail!
Zanu PF is back in power and another five years in hell awaits us all.
The insanity of participating in flawed and illegal elections will never stop until the electorate wise up and stop following these MDC sell-outs blindly like sheep to the slaughter!
@ Cry the beloved
Whilst I agree with you that MDC have proven a failure and great disappointment. Still I think you are wrong to think Zanu PF are any better. Remember it was Zanu PF that has dragged the nation into this mess and if you thought Mnangagwa would get us out he has just blatantly rigged the elections, proof Zanu PF is still a party of thugs.
The trouble with some people is you cannot think outside the box. It took 20 years or so to accept that Mugabe was a corrupt and ruthless dictator although there was a mountain of evidence to prove this after the first five years because people had accept him as a national hero. Now it has taken another 20 years to accept that MDC leaders are corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless. How anyone with even half a brain followed that lot after they had failed to get even one reform implemented in five years of the GNU beggars belief; yet many people did just that!
So you have finally woken up to the reality that MDC leaders are useless and what do you do - go back to Zanu PF.
Has it ever occurred to you that Zanu PF and MDC leaders are not the only Zimbabweans who can lead this nation? Has it ever occurred to you that if the country's autocratic political system that has stifled debate and meaningful democratic competition was opened up quality leaders, far better than the scum now crowding the political stage, will emerge?
No doubt in five years' time when it has finally dawned on you that Mnangagwa is "mark 2 Mugabe" as UK MP Kate Hoey call him; you will go back to MDC! No wonder the country is in a real mess with citizen like you still foolish believe having Zanu PF or MDC is a choice. Even a dog will know to look elsewhere if presented with its own vomit or s***t! There is something sickening when a human being cannot see the difference and even goes back for seconds!
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