Zanu PF's own ZHRC confirm abused aid and povo to rig elections N Garikai

There is a mountain of evidence already proving that Zanu PF rigged the recent elections and still more damning reports and evidence continue to come in. Last week the Commonwealth Election Observer team released their report, it said the elections were “biased and unfair”.  Today it is the country’s commissioners, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC), to condemn the elections.

“They (ZHRC reports) uncover a systematic use of food aid and agricultural inputs from the State as a tool to persuade the recipients to support Zanu PF, the ruling party; and/or to punish persons, otherwise entitled to aid and inputs, for being or perceived to be, or to be related to, supporters of opposition parties,” reported The Zimbabwean.  

“Methods varied, but a common one was for a ZANU PF party official to take over the distribution of aid and inputs from (State) officials, resulting in ZANU PF supporters getting preferential treatment and others either no aid at all or less than ZANU PF supporters.

“The reports unearth a structure involving District Committees, Ward Councillors, local ZANU PF chairpersons and traditional leaders [mainly headmen] who together were involved in the distribution of food aid and often demanded or expected loyalty to the incumbent party.  The reports reveal a neglect of duty on the part of these community leaders.”

EU Observer Team too has said a lot on abuse of rural voters by Zanu PF operatives during the elections. “While political rights were largely respected, there were concerns regarding the environment for the polls and the failure to achieve a level playing field,” EU said in its report, released three weeks ago. 

“Observers widely reported on efforts to undermine the free expression of the will of electors, through inducements, intimidation and coercion against prospective voters to try to ensure a vote in favour of the ruling party. Such practices also included direct threats of violence, pressure on people to attend rallies, partisan actions by traditional leaders, collection of voter registration slips and other measures to undermine confidence in the secrecy of the vote, manipulation of food aid and agricultural programmes and other misuses of state resources.”

The ZHRC reports have “a long list of recommendations, addressed to the following:  complainants and concerned members of the public; to ZANU PF and other political parties; ministry of this and ministry if that; etc., etc.” And for each one of these addressees the reports gives recommendations “regarding the need for better administration, control and monitoring, etc., etc.” 

This is very disappointing!  After 38 years of rigged elections each followed by countless pious reports by busy-bodies like ZHRC repeating the same pious recommendations which the regime ignores; it is all tediously familiar.

The rural voters, at the coal face of this political abuse, have been denied their freedoms and basic human rights all their lives; first by the white colonial regime and now by Zanu PF. They have lost faith in all such empty niceties as ZHRC recommendations! Many of them have long accepted the abuse by Zanu PF officials and thugs as a matter of course just as they have accepted their position as the down trodden serfs.

The only to end this whole macabre circus is to reject that those guilty of blatantly rigging elections should ever again be allowed to get away with a slap on the wrist! We must dismiss the ZHRC and their pious recommendations with the contempt they rightly deserves! 

Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess because the country has been stuck, for 38 years and counting, with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime. The regime routinely rigged elections hence the reason the nation could not remove it from power regardless of it tyrannical and ruinous reign. 

Whilst we have routinely, especially in the last two decades, demanded free, fair and credible elections; it was all lip service we did not mean it. Because Zanu PF has, again and again, contemptuously disregarded our demands and blatantly rigged the elections; we have done nothing about it time and time again. This time, we must do something to end this curse of rigged elections.

President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF junta rigged the recent elections, they have no mandate to govern and they step down. 

We need to appoint an interim administration to implement the democratic reforms to take away Zanu PF’s dictatorial powers to abuse the rural voters, amongst other things.

The only acceptable democratic mandate to govern Zimbabwe is from majority vote of free voters and not from povo reduced into mere serfs by intimidation and coercion. To allow the recent election result to stand will be to reward Zanu PF for its continued treasonous abuse of rural voters. The abuse must end and end now!