Last week President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the Political Actors Dialogue. It was a big, no-expense-spared affair complete with the usual funfair and glitzy. It was so, for a good reason; it is an act of bold and arrogant defiance.
Ever since last July’s rigged national elections Zimbabwe has latched from one economic crisis to the next proving right those of us who have said as long as the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs there will be no meaningful economic recovery. The only way out is for the Zanu PF regime to step down, we have argued. The political dialogue is a forum including most of the political actors in last year’s elections which, Mnangagwa hopes, will come up with solutions to the country’s economic and political problems without the need for Zanu PF to step down. So, yes the dialogue is Mnangagwa’s middle finger salute to those calling for a new GNU or, worse still, for Zanu PF to step down.
Unfortunately for Mnangagwa some of the political actors who have so far played along with his proposed dialogue are already developing cold feet.
“The parties to the national dialogue should clearly and honestly admit to a crisis or conflict in the system of governance of the State thus unanimously agreeing to go for the national dialogue as a crisis or conflict resolution move,” said Blessing Kasiyamhuru. He was Zimbabwe Partnership for Prosperity party’s presidential candidate in last July’s elections and had so far subscribed to participate in the proposed dialogue.
“The dialogue should bring on board all conflict-fuelling issues and respective remedies, reforms or solutions that are unanimously agreed upon to address the crisis/conflict.”
Zimbabweans should stop burying our heads in the sand and talk about the elephant in the room – Zanu PF and how the party is the root source of the country's failure to hold free, fair and credible elections with the disastrous economic and political consequences we can all see.
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF regime blatantly rigged last year's elections. He denied 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote. Zimbabwe’s own government appointed Human Rights Commission has admitted that Zanu PF party’s operatives and the traditional leaders have reduced the rural voters to mere serfs beholden to vote for Zanu PF or be damned. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll.
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF regime blatantly rigged last year's elections. He denied 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote. Zimbabwe’s own government appointed Human Rights Commission has admitted that Zanu PF party’s operatives and the traditional leaders have reduced the rural voters to mere serfs beholden to vote for Zanu PF or be damned. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll.
The whole election process lacked “transparency, traceability and verifiability and the results contained numerous errors”, as the EU Zimbabwe Election Mission state in their final report.
We can debate other matters but not whether or not Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies rigged last year’s elections: there is a mountain irrefutable to prove that they rigged the elections. Even in a country renowned for calling a military coup “a military assisted transition”; rigging elections is high treason, period.
The issue here is: What are we going to do with this illegitimate and treasonous Zanu PF regime?
It should be noted that this is the second time Zimbabwe has had to deal with the same thorny problem of what to do with an illegitimate regime. In 2008 the whole world, including SADC and the AU known for endorsing Zanu PF’s dodgy elections in the past, refused to recognise Mugabe and his party as the winners of that year’s elections.
“What was won by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!” thundered Mugabe as he unleashed his party thugs, Police, Army and CIO to destroy property, harass, beat, rape and over 500 murdered in three months. The cheating and the wanton violence were so blatant, barbaric and widespread not even the see-nothing, hear-nothing SADC and AU election observers could not pretend they saw and heard nothing wrong.
Zanu PF should have been forced to step down from office immediately as punishment for rigging the elections, at the very least. Instead, SADC leaders invited Mugabe to team up with the two MDC factions to form the 2008 to 2013 Government of National Unity (GNU). The GNU was then tasked to implement a raft of democratic reforms to end the curse of rigged elections and ensure future elections are free, fair and credible.
Sadly, not even one reform was implemented in five years of the GNU. Not one!
As we know, Zanu PF rigged 2013 and last year’s elections or be with less wanton violence compared to 2008, at least during the campaign period. The regime floored the wanton violence paddle with vengeance on 1st August 2018 and again in January 2019 with its shoot to kill order to the Army.
The shoot-to-kill order was to nip the spirit of protest, against rigged elections in August and soaring fuel prices in January, in the bud. But, more significantly, to demonstrate Zanu PF’s unwavering resolve use brute force to crash all who dare challenge the party’s undemocratic rule and regardless of the heart-break economic hardship the nation is facing.
Instead of proposing another GNU as happened in 2008 Mnangagwa is proposing the Political Actors Dialogue. The dialogue will have no raft of democratic reforms to implement, Mnangagwa has ruled out all discussion on political reforms as he insists the July 2018 elections were free, fair and credible and his regime is legitimate. Whilst the 2008 GNU at least acknowledge that year’s elections were rigged and offered a glimmer of hope of something being down about it; the dialogue forum offers nothing! The dialogue will just be a talk-shop.
Even if the national dialogue was scrap and replace with another GNU complete with the raft of reform to implement, which is what Kasiyamhuru is now calling for, a GNU in which Zanu PF plays an part is totally unacceptable. It is barmy to trust Zanu PF to implement the reforms.
We need to implement the reforms because Zanu PF corrupted our state institutions. During the last GNU, the party, together with MDC, had countless golden opportunities to implement the reforms; it failed to get even one reform implemented. If Mnangagwa is the reformer he claims to be what stopped him implementing even one token reform, it is now one year and a half since seizing power in the November 2017 military coup.
Zanu PF rigged last July’s elections; the regime is illegitimate and must now step down. The only dialogue to be had with Zanu PF is the handover of power, as for what will happen afterwards it is for others to deal with Zanu PF, the elephant, out of the room!
5 comments:
Dictators are not happy with the rule of law and hence the reason they will stop at nothing to undermine law itself and the institutions such as the Police, Judiciary, Parliament, etc. who enforce the law by appointing corrupt and incompetent individuals to preside over them. Meanwhile the dictators will create super-duper bodies or institutions like the Joint Operations Command, President Advisory Council and now this Political Actors Dialogue forum with no legal power or authority to do anything. The dictator will go town in praising these supernumerary and utterly use bodies to flatter those so appointed into believing they wield power and influence.
The Political Actors Dialogue will work to end corruption, the nation was told, for example. The Police, Courts and Parliament are the bodies with the power and authority to deal with the problem of corruption. They have all proven to be totally ineffective and useless because parliament, for example, has again and again been stuffed full of corrupt and incompetent individuals. The Political Actors Dialogue will have no power or authority to question a low rank Police Officer much less the Police Commissioner on any matter much less serious matter as such corruption involving senior government and Zanu PF party leaders.
The Political Actors Dialogue is just a body created to house Mnangagwa's political critics, for purpose of feeding them and buying their silence! The forum will never accomplish anything of value and will never ever advance the nation's fight for free, fair and credible elections. Indeed, the forum was created to undermine the the fight for democracy by undermining such democratic institutions as parliament.
Zimbabwe has had the great misfortune of having corrupt and incompetent opposition political leaders always on the lookout for a chance to feather their own nest by making a deal with Zanu PF leaders at the expense of the common people. In joining this Mnangagwa dialogue forum the opposition leaders are once again selling-out on the common cause of free, fair and credible elections.
Mnangagwa's Political Actors Dialogue is dead in the water! Even Mnangagwa apologists like Hopewell Chinono's are now dismissing the forum as a farce! Mnangagwa has already said the forum will not discuss democratic reforms because last year's elections were free, fair and credible and he is legitimate. At least Zanu PF accepted that the 2008 elections were not free, fair and credible and hence the reason the party accepted the need for implementing the reforms.
If the Political Actors Dialogue is not even discussing reforms then it is clear the 2023 elections will just be another rigged elections and thus a waste of time!
@Moyo
“Anybody who was present at the dawn of the New dispensation will know for sure that there was some form if divine intervention. The Universe has given our Nation a second chance to flourish. You faithless elements think that our very survival is in the hands of your prefered individual. How naive,” you say.
“Your destiny will be shaped by what you as an individual are doing for the betterment of your country right at this moment. Take heed,
Elections mode is over. And so is dreaming of jecha - land. Kaput.
The country is on Economic survival mode.
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
This is just the usual nonsense from Zanu PF apologists who are more comfortable with their heads buried in the great leader’s backside and are totally incapable of even one coherent thought. The Zanu PF of Robert Mugabe was led by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs. The Zanu PF of Mnangagwa is led by exactly the same corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs except for the top dog and one or two musical chair changes. They call themselves the new dispensation and only village idiots like you belief the nonsense.
“The Universe has given our Nation a second chance to flourish!” The same thugs who robbed the nation of the chance to flourish are doing so still, dimwit!
This is not about “your or anyone’s” preferred leader but about leaders being democratically accountable to the people through free, fair and credible elections.
So is it we can all do for Zimbabwe right now? My answer will have to be: Open our eyes and stop following corrupt and incompetent leaders blindly like sheep to the slaughter. What Zimbabwe needs right now is people who can think for themselves and will act to stop the insanity of accepting Zanu PF tyranny hoping against hope that it would deliver prosperity even after 39 years of delivering abject poverty.
@ Moyo
“Lets create the conduce environment, each in their own space. Delete this jecha nonsense mentality. It can only serve one thing.. and one thing only...destruction to oneself,” you say.
“Zimbabwe needs all hands on deck.”
The trouble with people like you is that you have been brainwashed by Zanu PF propaganda for all these years and now you are incapable of thinking for yourself.
Zimbabwe’s economic is not in this mess because of what the opposition has said and done but what Zanu PF has said, done or failed to do. By rigging elections Zanu PF has made it impossible for the nation to remove the regime from power even when it was evident the party was dragging the nation into hell.
Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections and has once again imposed itself on the nation. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs there will be no meaningful economic recovery.
“All hands on deck!” Which part of Zimbabwe is a pariah state are you failing to understand!
@ Smolly Moyo
As I said you are just a Zanu PF apologist who has spent so much time with their head stuck is the great leader’s backside, you are incapable of even one coherent thought. If I said that and failed to prove it, it would be an insult; I have backed my statement with evidence, it is not an insult.
“First of all, Zimbabweans have shown enmasse by voting their preferred party, ZanuPF...acquiring a two thirds majority representation in Parliament. That my fellow citizens cannot be wished away,” you are saying.
Which Zimbabweans are you wittering about? 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the opportunity to vote. Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission’s own report said the rural voters were reduced to nothing short of medieval serfs beholden to vote for Zanu PF by party thugs, Chiefs, etc.
The whole election process was full of flaws and illegalities and ZEC’s announce results was full of errors the commission ended up with three different results. After four days and four night just to add less than 5 million votes, they had to cooked the figures so often even they were confused! THREE different totals!
Zanu PF blatantly rigged last July’s elections but when you have your head stuck in ED Pfee’s backside, you would not see anything amiss. Explaining to you how the elections were rigged is a waste of time because decades of being deprived oxygen has left you brain-dead.
Zanu PF rigged the elections but cannot rig economic recovery. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging murderous thugs there will be no meaningful economic recovery. None!
I am not insulting Moyo. I am telling you the truth you, ED Pfee and the rest of the Zanu PF thugs and apologists do not want to hear, that is different. I am here to speak the truth and not to message your misplace ego and arrogance!
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