Can Zanu PF walk the line between controlled greed and madness? - now they have MDC in their pockets P Guramatunhu

“The ‘new’ regime can be viewed from different angles, but the nub of it is this: there’s a recognition that the economic fiasco of the last 20 years was suboptimal, but Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers will burn the house down if they feel it necessary. Make no mistake, their will to power is every bit as intense as Mugabe’s—as is their belief that they own the country’s choicest fruits by right of conquest,” wrote Stuart Doran.

“There’s no comprehending Zimbabwe without an appreciation of that mentality. Yet many fail to get it because they don’t read the country’s history. In 1979, at the height of the struggle against white rule, a diplomat who mixed frequently with Mugabe and other leaders of his party observed that ‘ZANU does not seem to attach much importance to the destruction caused by prolonged war’. They said they were content to see Zimbabwe ‘totally’ demolished if that was the price to be paid for preventing others from ruling it. That attitude has not changed an iota, notwithstanding the passage of 40 years and Mugabe’s departure. After all, the men who now rule wielded his hatchets for most of that period. 

“That’s a tough ask for the same group of individuals who have shredded the country since 1980—a fraternity that will continue to loot, will continue to be tetchy about the merest hint of dissent, and will continue to patently despise the notion that it requires the consent of the people to govern.”

Once again you are right, Mnangagwa and company really do not care that Zimbabwe is burning to ashes, literally, and that millions are facing untold human suffering and deaths as long as the junta’s hold on power is secure. What you have failed to acknowledge is that Mugabe and now Mnangagwa have had the great fortune of having one of the most incompetent and corrupt opposition politicians to help them retain absolute power. 

There have been many opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship with the golden  ones falling to Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party, notably during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. MDC leaders had the opportunity to implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship. They failed to get even one reform implemented in five years. 

SADC leaders, who were the crafted the GNU and were its guarantors, pushed Tsvangirai and company hard to implement the reforms but were ignored. They warned MDC leaders not to take part in the 2013 elections with no reforms but again they were ignored. 

The country’s worsening economic meltdown has forced Zanu PF hardliners to accept that the present economic situation cannot continue. The very fact that Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections making the regime illegitimate has served to add the pressure on Zanu PF to accept change. The only people blocking meaningful change are none other than the MDC leaders themselves who are giving the regime the modicum of credibility by participating in the flawed and illegal elections and endorsing the result as having been free and fair. 

Chamisa has endorse the parliamentary result but held back on the presidential for the sake of forcing Zanu PF to give him a gravy train seat. 

Following the rigged and very violent 2008 elections, it was SADC leaders who asked for a GNU to give Mugabe and his Zanu PF friends a soft landing; everyone knew once the reforms are implemented, the party would never win free and fair elections. This time it is Zimbabwe’s  opposition leaders themselves who are offering Zanu PF the option of yet another GNU in which Zanu PF will be under no pressure to implement the reforms. 

Since the 2008 GNU, Zanu PF has learned that as long as it gave away a few gravy train seats to the opposition will participate no matter how flawed and illegal the process got. 

The task of getting forcing Zanu PF to accept meaningful democratic change has been made very difficult by the Zanu PF thugs themselves who believe they have the divine right to rule. Yes Zanu PF has made establishing a healthy and functional democracy very difficult but not impossible! It is the corrupt and incompetent opposition whom the people have risked life and limb to elected into power and entrusted the task of implementing the requisite democratic changes who, by selling-out, have made the task near impossible.  

“It’s not a question of whether Mnangagwa and company will continue to view Zimbabwe’s resources as a God-given right, but whether they can walk the line between controlled greed and madness,” continued Doran.

Let us just say ever since the Zanu PF thugs had the MDC and the rest of the opposition politicians in their deep pockets the regime has done as it pleased with the tragic economic, political and social consequences there for all to see. Unless the ordinary Zimbabweans finally wake up to the political reality that the MDC leaders are running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, it is hard to see how Zanu PF madness will ever be stopped. 

For Stuart Doran’s full article go to aspistrategist.org.au.