Zanu PF rigged elections is worse than a Pyrrhic victory - dog that inherited more than prey's ticks P Guramatunhu

You can tell the dog has a flea or tick problem by the frequency the poor creature scratches itself and the greater the vigour the greater the infestation! Rigging the recent elections was the easy bit for President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF junta but now it is turning to be an Pyrrhic victory. Whatever it was the Zanu PF dogs killed and ate they inherited prey’s flea and tick problem because they have been scratching themselves frantically ever since!

The regime is on an all-out offensive prove the elections were not rigged. It is a desperate rare-guard offensive.

“The recently released European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) final report on Zimbabwe's July 30 harmonised elections reaffirmed how MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa was fairly defeated by President Emmerson Mnangagwa,” wrote Chido Chikuni in the Herald.

"While ZEC's poor management of the results may have opened up the process to a degree of legal jeopardy; the case brought by Chamisa did not adequately prove the case for a substantial change of result," quoting the EU report itself.

What Chikuni failed to point out was that the EU’s scathing criticism of the whole electoral process, not just ZEC’s breath-taking incompetence, left one in no doubt that the whole election process and the result was a sham!

“The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” EU final report stated.

"Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards."

The 2.4 million votes Mnangagwa is supposed to have garnered cannot be traced and verified because, one, no verified voters’ roll was ever released. Two, the vote tally itself cannot be traced and verified because some V11 forms were never released and many of the figures on the ZEC results cannot be traced to available V11 forms. It is little wonder that ZEC itself has ended up with three  different results; proof they had tampered with the figures. It beggars belief how anyone, anyone at all, can ever claim the elections were free, fair and credible.

Ever since President Mnangagwa assume power following last November’s coup, he has clearly understood the importance of attracting foreign investors and lenders back into the country to help kick-start the comatose economy. Hence his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra which he has pursued with a passion.

What President Mnangagwa failed to understand was that for Zimbabwe to be open for business the country must shed off its pariah state image and not just say it has changed. When he promised to hold free, fair and credible elections; he was expected to deliver on his promise. He did not!

The penalty for rigging the recent elections was that the investors and lenders have shied away. Without the much needed foreign investment Zimbabwe’s economic recovery will remain a pipedream!

Ever since coming to power, nearly a year ago now, President Mnangagwa and his regime have squandered $4 billion in foreign currency and most of it on luxuries such as cars for Chiefs and Zanu PF leaders, election related expenses and $1.4 million chartering a plane for Grace Mugabe. This has left the country with no money left for essential like fuel, drugs, etc. The shortage of the US$ has forced its value to soar 600% in just one week.

The shortage of basic commodities on the back of foreign currency shortage has helped refocus the minds on the fact that the country cannot borrow any bridging loans because Zimbabwe is a pariah state. The problem had the Zanu PF regime worried sick, it knows that these are the kind of events that could triggered social unrest.

With unemployment a nauseating 90%, most basic services such as supply of clean running water and health care all but collapsed, etc. there is a lot of bottled anger in Zimbabwe today. The Zanu PF government is jumpy whenever there talk of public protest, there are just too many angry people with 1 000 001 damn  reasons to protest against!

With no hope in any meaningful economic recovery in sight, there is no end in Zimbabwe’s economic problems. The foreign currency, food, fuel, medicine, etc. shortages are here to stay.

The Zanu PF dog has a serious infestation of fleas, ticks, mange, rabies, otitis, mycosis and every other dog disease there is out there. And all brought upon itself because of its insatiable greed for absolute power. It never imagined that rigging elections could bring so much trouble.

The challenge is to make sure Zanu PF is forced out of office a.s.a.p. so the country can elect a competent and democratic government, end the country’s pariah state stigma and finally make the country attractive to do business for foreign investors and Zimbabweans alike. The Zanu PF dog must be forced to take a swim in the cattle dip-tank, rabies vaccination, etc. before the fleas, ticks, etc. spread and bringing suffering and death to others!