Nelson Chamisa's Harare 21st January 2020 address was dubbed "Nation's Agenda 2020" or "Nation's Plan of Action: 2020" As much as the nation is desperate for change it is as day this so called MDC's plan is not going to bring about any change. Zimbabwe has blundered from pillar to post, these last 40 years; the blundering has not stopped.
Chamisa did not say anything new in his two hours or so long address. He has repeated the same confused demands MDC has made soon after the 2018 elections. No one supported MDC's demands then, because they did not make sense, and no one will support them now, because they still do not make any sense and, rightly so too, have given up hope on getting anything sensible from MDC.
“This is a year of demonstration and action,“ said Nelson Chamisa and went on to list the five “fights”:
- Fight for a people’s government, reforms and legitimacy. We do not have a people’s government, we have a government that was declared by ConCourt.
- Fight for a better life and livelihood, fight for dignity
- fight against corruption Zanu PF is paying lip service to corruption
- fight for people’s rights and freedoms, security of person and rule of law.
- fight for the constitution and constitutionalism, we are going to stop Zanu PF amending the constitution.
All five items are fuzzy and confused. MDC has been fighting for democratic change to secure the people’s freedoms and rights for the last 20 years and counting but has failed to bring about even one meaningful democratic change in all those years. Even when the party had the golden opportunity to implement the deliver the changes by implementing the democratic reforms during the 2008 GNU, the party failed to get even one reforms implemented. Not one!
Chamisa and his MDC friends have never been unfazed by the party’s pathetic record failure and it is easy to see why. MDC leaders have never understood what the democratic reforms were; it was all fuzzy and confused.
Even if one was to give Chamisa and company the benefit of the doubt and assumed they have learned from their past mistakes; they now know the democratic reforms the nation has been dying for and are committed to having them implemented. Even if there was increased pressure on Zanu PF forcing the party to go into the power sharing arrangement, the National Transition Authority (NTA), MDC is calling for. It is clear that the NTA will be a waste of time because it will NEVER implement the democratic reforms. Never ever!
MDC’s 2018 election legitimacy challenge is premised on the claim that ZEC tempered with the vote count of the presidential race and thus making declaration of Mnangagwa as the winner null and void. The MDC has no quarrel with the parliamentary result and Zanu PF’s 2/3 majority in parliament and in the senate.
In other words the proposed NTA will be composed of Zanu PF and MDC cabinet members plus parliament and senate as it is presently constituted. Any democratic reforms will have to be proposed and/or passed by parliament and the senate. Any one who believes that Zanu PF will never implement any meaningful democratic reforms, necessary for free, fair and credible elections, is naive.
Zanu PF will never ever reform itself out of office. Never ever!
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"When Mbeki came back, he told me that my proposal was very difficult and Mnangagwa had asked for more time to consult his party. He asked for more time but up to now I have received no further communication."
Chamisa proposed a National Transitional Authority (NTA) with him as head.
"We have proposed an NTA to fix this country. I offer myself to lead it as Mnangagwa my brother rests."
Mnangagwa has in the past dismissed as a dream, any chances of an NTA.
Calls have continued to grow for Mnangagwa and Chamisa to stop bickering and close ranks in what is believed was the panacea to the country's deepening economic crisis.
Added Chamisa; "I got a visit from church leaders from across the country who encouraged me to accept results of the last presidential elections and recognise Mnangagwa's presidency.
"I told them that I cannot lie and they should instead pray I am not tempted to lie to people that Mnangagwa won that election."
In his address Chamisa spoke of the recurrence of drought in the country and called out for help from the international community.
What is at the heart of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is the country’s cursed pariah state status. Zimbabwe is a pariah state, ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs.
When Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe in 2017 he promised to end the country’s pariah state by having “zero tolerance to corruptions” and, most important of all, by promising to hold free, fair and credible elections! He has failed to honour both promises.
By blatantly rigging the July 2018 elections, Mnangagwa confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state!
There will be no meaningful economic recovery as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state. None!
If Chamisa believes that his joining the Zanu PF regime in this NTA will, in some way, transform the pariah state into a democratic one then he is being very naive. Very naive indeed, especially when the 2008 to 2013 GNU, an NTA formed by SADC with more power and focus, failed to get even one meaningful reform implemented. The proposed NTA will not get any reform implemented.
No one in SADC, much less the international community, has ever supposed MDC’s proposed NTA because they know it will never get any reforms implemented. No one in his or her right mind would ever want to be associated with the NTA, knowing fully well it is doomed to fail.
THE Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that all debts incurred before 22 February 2019 be settled using the Zimbabwe on US$1 to Z$1. basis.
The judgment was handed down by Chief Justice Luke Malaba in an appeal against a High Court ruling made by Zambezi Gas Zimbabwe to pay N.R Barber US$3 885 000.
Zambezi Gas was challenging a law suit of US$3 885 000 that the High Court had ordered company to pay N.R Barber regarding a mining contract the latter had carried out at Entuba Coal Mining Concession in Hwange in 2014.
Was this wise!
The Zimbabwe dollar lost some 90% of its value in 2019, with the exchange rate against the United States dollar dropping to US$1:ZW$16 by year end from US$1:ZW$2,5 in February when it was floated.
Ncube said, in the first quarter, government was prioritising setting aside resources to be able to import food by June 2020 and beyond.
"We are doing everything we can to make sure power is available, food is available, but of course, a key issue, which is a third issue among the three things that keep me awake at night which is food, power and the other is obviously currency stability."
Stabilising the currency
"We want to make sure we do everything to stabilise the Zimbabwe dollar," said Ncube in an interview with State broadcaster ZBC.
He said the Zimbabwe government was pleased that the exchange rate had been more stable in the last quarter.
"We want to keep it that way."
As at last Wednesday, the Zimbabwe dollar was trading at ZW$17,06 to the US dollar.
Ncube said currency stability would be achieved by ensuring government expenditure was kept under control.
"Also, we want to make sure that the monetary targets that the central bank manages also stay within the range in terms targets so that we don't have excess money supply contributing to currency instability.”
Yes Minister Mthuli Ncube, you have kept “government expenditure under control” by cutting government funding to education, health, etc. benefiting the ordinary people but have done nothing to reduce expenditure of the ruling elite! You have stubbornly refused to grant the lowly paid civil servants a living wage but have continued to pay the ruling elite and the top brass in the security services generous wages and perks. The country’s education and health care services are all but dead!
You have failed to stop the country’s hyperinflation and yet you refuse to pursue any economic policies to mitigate the impart of inflation on the poorest of the poor. You know the poorest of the poor have no meaningful political voice and hence the reason you are kicking them even when they are already in the gutter!
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) confirmed in a statement on Saturday, while also dismissing as false, claims by government that striking doctors had returned to work.
"Zimbabweans need not listen to fake news that doctors are back at work and, therefore, the situation in our hospitals has normalised," the ZHDA said.
"Specialists and most middle doctors in Zimbabwe have shown patriotism without appreciation for a long time. Failure by the (Health) ministry to address the genuine concerns by doctors has hastened the already ongoing brain drain in our country.
"The situation in our hospitals is far from normal and as of now, most middle level doctors are leaving the country. The same sadly is now being seen with our consultants (senior doctors), who are specialists.
"Many registrars, who were in training locally, have left and gone to complete their training in other countries, leaving our own hospitals understaffed. All this has happened in a space of less than five months and the system continues to contract."
Describing the rising brain drain as counter-productive, ZHDA added: "Doctors are on demand worldwide and it is only patriotism and the desire to be in the homeland that was keeping doctors in the country. Our country needs these highly specialised medical personnel and it takes years to train one. Asking them to work without tools is counterproductive and has led to this brain drain.”
Zimbabwe cannot provide even the most basic health care to millions of its people; millions are suffering from easily treatable ailments and hundreds are dying every week! This is just one reality showing how much this Zanu PF regime has failed!
No one in their right mind would condone violence for whatever selfish reason!
Still, all those familiar with your contributions would know that you have condemned violence by the opposition from a great height and yet have rarely condemned the same or worse from Zanu PF. Dr Mavaza, you should condemn violence regardless of the identity of the who the victim or perpetrator happened to be.
One more thing, whilst one is rightly concerned about the the victim of violence in this case the fact remains that the incident itself was but a side show compared to the serious national issue of how the country is going to get out of the serious economic and political mess the nation is in. You said so much to say about the side issue but said nothing about the bigger national issue!
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