I have never pegged myself as a cynic but in today’s Zimbabwe it is impossible not to be cynical when the whole nation is poisoned with cynicism and intrigue!
“Government is fully aware of the machinations by some detractors and economic opportunists who are bent on creating despondency in the country through the manipulation of the foreign currency market and creating artificial shortages," Mnangagwa told the party's Central Committee meeting.
"This has caused untold suffering to our people. As a listening President, I have heard their cries and my Government is determined to provide solutions to these perennial challenges.”
How typical! How cynical! Which people have your heard; your fellow Zanu PF cronies or the millions of long suffering ordinary Zimbabweans?
Here is the man who prided in telling the nation he was going to do things differently from the man he succeed, Robert Mugabe but other than the propaganda of “new dispensation”, “Zimbabwe is open for business!”; nothing has changed. Nothing! It is hard to take this regime seriously!
“My government is going to get rid of the ghost workers!” said President Mnangagwa.
Given the seriousness of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown one expected Mnangagwa to act swiftly and decisively in such matters as the country’s bloated, corrupt and wasteful public service. Why has done nothing for nearly a year?
This is a rhetorical question because we all know the answer. Indeed, instead of cutting the wastefulness of Robert Mugabe, President Mnangagwa has turned out to be a big spender in his own right. Many people believe he has squandered as much as $5 billion on new cars for Chiefs, party leaders and other key officials; chartered planes and other vote rigging and vote buying expenses.
The ghost workers are an integral part of Zanu PF’s foot soldiers who intimidate and harass the people to attend Zanu PF rallies and then vote for the party. The party was not going to lay them off, not in the middle of a election campaign! Paying the ghost workers’ wages was just one election expense.
Now that the Zanu PF has rigged the 30 July 2018 elections, President Mnangagwa is making a new promise to lay-off the ghost workers. Whether he will do so is another matter; he has already show he has knack for taking his cronies out through the front door, make a big song and dance about it, only to take them back through the back door.
When President Mnangagwa announced his new cabinet, many people praised him for reducing the size of his cabinet and for appointing new faces instead of recycling the deadwood. Now it turns out that former cabinet ministers have all been assigned positions in the “do nothing” second cabinet housed in Zanu PF party HQ complete with the entourage of retired permanent secretaries and other retired party/government officials. They will continue to receive their ministerial salary, limo, etc.
President Mnangagwa was quick to lay the ground rules for the “do nothing” cabinet; they must “desist from making utterance for personal glory” and they are to wear the Zanu PF regalia. “If you keep to your mandate; “Munogara, mugogara, munechigaro chenyu!” (you keep you post forever!)
Whether we, the ordinary Zimbabweans, care to admit it or not, the truth is the Mnangagwa regime cares about the ruling elite and, above all else, retaining absolute political power at all cost. President Mnangagwa does not care about the long suffering ordinary man, woman and child.
The other day I saw an old lady (she looked 70+ but would not be surprised to hear she is 40 or less); the worried look on her face was enough to tell you something was wrong. She was frantically looking for her cardboard box with whatever she was selling and the little money she had. She is a street vendor eking a meagre living selling tomatoes or whatever; one of the 75% Zimbabweans now living on US$1.00 or less a day.
Life under Mugabe rule was tough and things have not got any better nor is there any reason to expect any meaningful change under Mnangagwa rule. President Mnangagwa does not care about the old lady or any of the impoverished masses no more that Mugabe did.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is an incompetent, corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thug just as Mugabe before him. He is more concerned about the welfare of the ghost workers, the “do nothing” cabinet members and everyone else who help him to rig the elections and stay in power. He will continue to ignore the poor old vendor and millions of others like her because they have no political power to hold him to account regardless how much he lets them down.
If we are serious about ending the economic suffering brought on by the criminal waste of resources, material and human, by the corrupt and vote rigging ruling elite that has cause so much human misery and deaths then we must restore the individual freedoms and rights of all citizens.
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is the 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule. The solution to Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is making sure we have free, fair and credible elections.
If Zanu PF is still in power by the 2023 elections then we can be certain of one thing the party will rig and win those elections just as the junta has rigged this year’s elections and past elections. We cannot and must not allow this to happen.
6 comments:
Zanu PF rigged the 30th July 2018 elections there is no denying that. What must be stated here and made loud and clear is that MDC gave the flawed and illegal election process some modicum of credibility by participating. Zanu PF rigged the 30th July 2018 elections there is no denying that. What must be stated here and made loud and clear is that
1) MDC gave the flawed and illegal election process some modicum of credibility by participating.
2) Chamisa’s claim as having won these elections is just as nonsensical as Mnangagwa’s claim. The EU report on the elections makes no secret of the fact that both MDC and Zanu PF vote count results cannot be traced and verified.
3) What Zimbabwe needs to get out of the political mess the country is in for Zanu PF to step down to allow the appointing of an interim administration. MDC Alliance call is only serving to confuse the matter!
The prestigious Mo Ibrahim Index to be discussed LIVE on the Deutsche Welle Africa Facebook page at 12 noon today (Monday) has reported a significant improvement of Zimbabwe on good governance and the economy. The 2018 report however strictly relates to the MDC (Tsvangirai-Chamisa) Government Of National Unity period and just afterwards, the 2007 to 2017 era: in essence being the Tsvangirai, Mugabe season.
The report features Zimbabwe rising above the whole of Africa on nearly all fronts on governance, business culture development, and GDP, the latter which sees the Mugabe managed country being one of only four countries who are the largest largest improvers at the category level over the decade: Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe economy register single digit economic growth for the first two or three years after independence and then the rot set in. In the period 2000 to 2008 some studies have shown that the Zimbabwe economy shrunk by a staggering 50%, sending unemployment soaring to 80% plus. When you start from such a low base line it is easy to show impressive economic growth rate.
Zimbabwe registered a 12% economic growth rate is 2009 after years of double digit shrinking by doing two things: scrapping the Z$ and thus end the country's crippling 500 billion per cent hyperinflation. The second thing was, lifting the price controls!
The 2009 economic recovery did not last because it was not fortified by the necessary political reforms designed to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends "were too busy enjoying being in the GNU and forgot why they were there!" as one SADC leader said in sheer frustration at MDC's failure to get even one democratic reform implemented in five years of the GNU.
“Five of the ten most improved countries in Rule of Law – Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Somalia, Tunisia and Zimbabwe – are among the ten most improved countries in Overall Governance, the paper says.”
To credit the Zanu PF dictatorship with the little improvements the country has made in 2007 to 2017 is totally meaningless as it fails to acknowledge it is the party that dragged us into this hell-on-earth. Worse still, Zanu PF is rigging the elections denying the people a chance to get out of the hell-hole!
Zanu PF is a party of corrupt and incompetent thugs who have tasted and enjoyed absolute power for a long time, 38 years, and they are now totally addicted to it. They have loved the absolute power and the wealth and good life it has brought. Worst of all, in these 38 years of ruling the country like demigods, answerable to no mortals, they have committed some outrages things like treason and murder. They have blatantly denied the ordinary people their freedom and basic human rights, they have cheated, harassed, beaten, raped and even murdered innocent people for the sole purpose of retaining political power at all cost.
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies have a lot more than their political positions and fancy cars to lose in losing their strangle hold on absolute power; they stand to lose their freedom and even their very lives!
Mnangagwa and his cronies will never ever hold free, fair and credible elections. If these Zanu PF thugs are still in power come 2023; we can all be 100% certain of one thing, Zanu PF will rig the elections again!
As far as the Zanu PF thugs are concerned, to hell with the nonsense of giving every citizen of Zimbabwe a meaningful say in the governance of the country. It does not matter to them that they have turned Zimbabwe into some hell-on-earth; they will never ever give up absolute power, period. Sadly there are many out there who have accepted this political reality as fait accompli and all they can do now is survive on whatever scraps the regime throws at them!
@ Mugocha
“Why are the ghost workers still there by now?”
What is already clear is that ED is going to throw the ordinary Zanu PF members, the ghost worker earning pittance, under the bus whilst taking extra care of the fat cats. The deadwood cabinet ministers, the long servicing permanent secretaries, etc. have all been “reassigned”, a euphemism to reassure them their extravagant lifestyles of chartered planes for the likes of Grace Mugabe is guaranteed. They have party jobs but all their expenses will be paid by the impoverished taxpayers included the vendors living on US$1.00 or less a day!
The Zanu PF chefs having nothing to worry about, the economic meltdown will never touch them. They are the ghost workers who will never be dumped.
Zanu PF ordinary members like Matemadanda’s war veteran friends will suffer the worst of the economic hardship with the rest of us for the next four years. After that the party will want their services and will buy them lots of beer and meat. They are the ghost workers who get work during elections and a dumped in between elections.
The impoverished masses are on Finance Minister Ncube’s cross wires and it is them who will have to bankroll the ruling elite’s extravagant tastes and wasteful habits! Povo are the sods bankrolling Zanu PF’s ruling elite!
Zanu-PF yesterday described as "treasonous" claims by MDC-Alliance vice president Mr Morgan Komichi that the opposition party had installed Mr Nelson Chamisa as national president and warned against "playing with fire".
In an interview yesterday, Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Simon Khaya Moyo also said the attempt by Mr Chamisa to light the so-called "independence flame" was a "kindergarten spectacle".
The MDC-Alliance held its 19th anniversary at Gwanzura Stadium on Saturday where Mr Chamisa threatened mass protests against Government and reiterated that he disputes the results of the July 30 harmonised elections won by President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF with over two thirds majority.
Zanu PF rigged the 30 July 2018 elections, the regime is illegitimate and must step down, to take the nation out of this mess. Zanu PF is party of thugs and after rigging the elections the party is using threats to subdue the opposition and the nation at large!
@ Nomazulu
“In Mathebeleland itself, people are still classified in tribal hierarchy: the most noble are the Ngunis, then comes the Mzansies, then comes the Kalanga, below this defined hierarchy, they are just sub-humans (unspoken) bundled up as HOLE who have no say whatsoever in the region hence the Nguni tribe can afford to crown three kings from the same Nguni tribe that constitute 5% of the entire population in the region. It has never escaped them for once; they still think in their mind sets that they are nobler than the rest of them all. From this defined hierarchy of tribes in the Mathebeleland region, the San peoples are the last and the least, best termed uncivilized peoples of southern African continent.”
The 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule have done so much damage to the nation’s economy and political and social fabric. It is going to be serious challenge to put the national economy back on track and restore national trust.
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