"Government reiterates that Zimbabwe, like most countries in the world is currently grappling with challenges attendant to illegal sanctions, drought and the Coronavirus pandemic. There is no 'crisis', political or otherwise. It is unfortunate that the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop's Conference has evidently joined the bandwagon of individuals and entities seeking to manufacture 'crises' in the country with the sole aim of achieving known political goals.
“President Mnangagwa and his Government, have since inauguration, sought to implement policies that result in a robust economy in line with Vision 2030. Indeed, one of the President's leading targets is for Zimbabwe to be an Upper Middle Economy by 2030. It is however, mischievously misleading for the Bishops to deliberately ignore the impact of illegal sanctions on the country, in their purported assessment of problems afflicting the country. Given the forces against it, natural and man-made, domestic and foreign, Government has managed to keep the country's economy commendably stable.”
It is to be expected that Government will deny that there is a political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe and insist on the economic crisis only. We have all heard the list of the root causes of the country’s economic problems, sanctions, drought and now corona virus. We have also heard what the new dispensation is doing to revive the economy and its upper middle income vision 2030.
What you and your Zanu PF masters have failed to address is the reality that the Zimbabwe economy has been in decline for the last 40 years of Zanu PF rule. After two years of the new dispensation corruption is still rampant, not one of those looting the diamonds have been arrested.
Even before the corona virus outbreak, it was clear the economy was sinking deeper and deeper into the morose. All these raises the fundamental question which Zanu PF has refused to address these last 40 years: If Zanu PF fails to deliver the economic recovery what recourse does the people have?
The answer is, there is nothing the people can do about it since Zanu PF will just rig the elections and deny the people a meaningful say in the governance of the country. This is the political dimension you are denying exist!
After 40 years of being denied free, fair and credible elections this is the one right we, the people of Zimbabwe, are now demanding as our birth right!
We need to implement the raft of democratic reforms agreed at the on set of the 2008 to 2013 GNU, the prerequisite for free, fair and credible elections. It is self evident that Zanu PF will never implement the reforms and hence the reason we are demanding that the part steps down to create the political space for an independent body that will be tasked to implement the reforms.
Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 elections; the regime does not have the democratic mandate to govern, never did; it is illegitimate and must step down. Zanu PF has held the nation to ransom and this is totally unacceptable!
Note, even if Mnangagwa was making progress in reviving the country’s economic fortunes the fight for a meaningful say in the governance of the country will still be on the national agenda because it will be too late to ask for the restoration of the right the day he or his successor falters!
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Zanu PF is admitting to the country facing a serious economic crisis and, as usual the party has the solutions to fix the crisis. What the regime has failed to acknowledge is the reality that the people of Zimbabwe have never had any meaningful say in whether they believe Zanu PF is taking the nation in the right direction or not. Zanu PF has been rigging elections and thus denying the people a meaningful say in the governance of the country. This is the essence of the political crisis that Zanu PF is denying!
It will be foolish for us to let upstarts like Mangwana bamboozle us into believing there is no political crisis!
Unlike in the past where the South African government preferred quiet diplomacy in dealing with the Zimbabwean problem, ministers in that country are speaking forcefully in public and they are clear that the situation cannot be allowed to go on as it is.
Their position is understandable because the Covid-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the South African economy and it is increasingly becoming difficult for the government to take care of its citizens, let alone millions of refugees from a neighbour that is refusing to put its house in order.
It is becoming a hard sell for Ramaphosa's government to defend its inaction over Zimbabwe.
South African citizens themselves are beginning to question their leaders about their dereliction of duty.
Therefore, it would save Mnangagwa and his administration's best interests to appreciate that South Africa is losing patience.
The honeymoon is over for the "new dispensation”.
So SA’s leaders are only now, after three years, calling for an end to Mnangagwa’s new dispensation honey moon! What happened to the usual 100 days! The truth is SA and SADC leaders have been fast asleep on the job. They have been calling for the lifting of the sanctions, a red herring Mnangagwa and Zanu PF has blamed for all Zimbabwe’s problems. But most foolish of all they have endorsed the July 2018 elections giving Mnangagwa and the regime legitimacy!
What Zimbabwe needs a complete overhaul of its rotten political system and since Zanu PF will never reform itself out of office the party must asked to step down to allow others to carry out this key task. It is no secret that there are people, including SA and SADC leaders who are seeking to impose a Zanu PF led GNU on Zimbabwe because they do not have the guts to ask Zanu PF to step down.
It is NOT SA or SADC’s responsibility to force Zanu PF to step down, no one is expecting SA or SADC to take up this yoke.
However what will be totally unacceptable is for SA and/or SADC to impose the Zanu PF led GNU on Zimbabwe to appease Zanu PF. Doing so will not end the Zimbabwe crisis but compound it and making it SA and/or SADC’s own crisis.
"The action and activities of (South African) President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sadc, African Union and the United Nations Security Council are very key in international law.
"They have a duty to defend people where there is a violation of human rights. The country's president (Mnangagwa) a few days ago, on the 4th of August made a presentation to the nation.
"In that presentation he used language that is dangerous. He used language like ‘we will flush you out, you are dark forces'.
"The last time I heard that language was in February 1994 in Rwanda and a few months later in April 1994 about 800 000 people lay dead," Biti added.
"I see ominous signs and a closure of space. I see one thing, a definitive attack on the citizens of Zimbabwe that will be very bloody and very nasty.
Zimbabwe is standing at the edge of the precipitous abyss the danger of the country sliding into economic chaos and civil unrest is real.
What must be said here loud and clear is the nation has had many golden opportunities to implement the democratic reforms, dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and thus save the country from this nightmare. We are here because Tendai Biti and his fellow MDC leaders sold-out and wasted the golden opportunities.
Biti and his MDC friends are calling for dialogue with Mnangagwa because they want seats in the Zanu PF cabinet. A new GNU will not implement the democratic reforms just as the 2008 to 2013 GNU failed to implement even one reform. The last thing we want is for Zimbabwe to find itself standing once again on the same edge of the abyss because the country once again failed to end the curse of rigged elections!
The way forward is for Zanu PF to step down to allow the nation to appoint a new body that can be trusted to implement the reforms.
Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 elections, the modicum of legitimacy it is enjoying is born out of the corrupt and incompetent opposition, Biti et al, who participated in the flawed elections out of greed. Zanu PF must step down without further ado, the regime is illegitimate and must stop holding the nation to ransom!
MDC-T chairperson Abednico Bhebhe says the country's political crisis can permanently be resolved by Zimbabweans.
Only a first class fool will believe what any of these MDC sell-out say! Zimbabwe is in this pickle because MDC leaders failed to implement even one democratic reform when the had the golden opportunity to do so.
What Zimbabwe needs is a complete overhaul of its rotten political system and since we cannot trust Zanu PF and MDC to implement the reforms, they must step aside and allow the nation to appoint a new body that will implement the reforms. We must not allow Zanu PF and their political surrogate MDC partners hold the nation to ransom!
Zanu PF has been grappling with the economic crisis for the last 40 years and getting nowhere; Zimbabwe has been in economic decline ever since the country gained her independence in 1980. If Zimbabwe had been a healthy and functioning democratic country then the people would have exercised their democratic right and booted Zanu PF out of office years ago. We are stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship for 40 years and counting only because the party rigs elections.
All the economic problems of corruption, mismanagement, unemployment, collapsed health care services, etc., etc. will only be serious address when the people have regained their power to remove Zanu PF thugs from office and replace them with men and women accountable to the people. The economic crisis is but a manifestation of the political crisis in which the ruling elite have usurped the people's freedoms and rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections.
The people of Zimbabwe are finally waking up to the reality that they cannot secure and economic rights without first securing their political rights!
“Mnangagwa And SB Moyo Looted USD1,2 Billion And Shared It Among Themselves”
Stories like this real shine the light on the regime's nonsense of stamping out corruption.
“An international lender would not conduct adequate due diligence and lend a country $1,2 billion which will then be fraudulently diverted,” said Mr Guvamatanga.
Loans to Government are guided by the Public Debt Management Act, and any Government borrowing goes through a Debt Management Committee chaired by the Secretary for Finance with the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney-General being the other members of the committee.
“No loan would be captured in Government books if not approved by this committee. The approval then allows the loan to be captured into Government books for the purpose of repayment.
“It is not possible to record the loan if the loan proceeds have not been received and just like in the banks, there is also a process of front office, middle office and back office in the Public Debt Management Office,” said Mr Guvamatanga.
What Guvamatanga has NOT denied and cannot deny is that corruption is rampant in Zimbabwe. There is wholesale looting that has been going on in the diamond mining sector for decade now. All Guvamatanga is saying is that his Public Debt Management Office does not know about the looting of diamonds just as it does not know about the US$1.2 billion SOTIC deal. There is clearly a lot he does not know and should just shut up!
Zimbabwe’s inflation was 837.53 percent year-on-year in July compared to 737.26 percent the previous month, state statistics body Zimstat said on Saturday.
On a monthly basis, prices increased by 35.53 percent compared to 31.66 percent in June.
A few days ago Mnangagwa promised to "improve the standard of living of Zimbabwe's defence forces"! Well is he is a man of his word then he must increase the wages of the soldiers by 35.53% straight away just for them to enjoy the same standard of life they enjoyed last month!
It is a great pity that many of our people have yet to understand that the nation will never prosper when there is so much corruption and criminal waste of resources. After 40 years of Zanu PF empty promises one would have thought the people have learned to tell the difference between reality and a mirage!
Zanu PF has been grappling to end corruption but has all but lost because those trying to end the corruption are the Godfathers of corruption. The fight here is for the people to have the political power to say to Zanu PF leaders "You have been grappling with corruption and failed to end it. Now go!"
Zanu PF has always consider political freedom and rights a taboo subject which the people are not allowed to talk about much less to exercise such freedoms and rights. The people must put the political crisis centre stage of the national agenda because economic rights with no political rights are but a mirage in the desert. After 40 years of chasing the mirage we should be smart enough to now know the difference between a mirage from reality.
@ Boomberg
The solution to Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis is a complete overhaul of the country's rotten political system. Zanu PF cannot be trusted to implement the necessary reforms to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance; the party must step down to allow the nation to appoint competent people to do it.
SA and SADC are in no position to force Zanu PF to step down since they have endorse Zimbabwe's July 2018 elections as free and fair and Zanu PF as the legitimate government. They must acknowledge their folly and invite the UN to pressure Zanu PF to step down. The worst thing SA and SADC can do is force the people of Zimbabwe to accept another Zanu PF led GNU knowing fully well it will not implement the desired reforms!
The threat of Zimbabwe sliding into total economic chaos and political instability is real. It must be noted that it was Tendai Biti and his fellow MDC leaders who failed to implement the democratic reforms when they had the chance to do so resulting in all this mess.
Yes the UN should be involved as the regional body, SADC has failed to end the crisis.
MDC Vice President Tendai Biti has been accused of using his position as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts to cause the United States of America to impose sanctions on controversial oil tycoon Kuda Tagwirei.
A ZANU PF aligned Gwebi Farmers Association issued a statement saying, "We understand that Biti is working in cahoots with Americans to sabotage agriculture reforms and reverse the land reforms. This time he is reported to have misrepresented facts to his western masters and invited sanctions on Sakunda holdings so that command agriculture is destroyed, this programme has revived the production of maize, wheat, soya beans and various other crops."
Tagwirei has the sole rights to supply government with Command Agriculture inputs.
Command Agriculture was allocated US$3 billion three seasons ago which no one accounted for. In his divorce battle with his then wife Marry, VP Chiwenga revealed that he got a limo from Command Agriculture funds. There is no doubt the Command Agriculture has been one of the many schemes allowing the ruling elite to loot.
Tagwirei as the top man handling Command Agriculture is certainly a prime candidate to be on the sanctions list. It is to be expected that those who have benefited from Command Agriculture would jump up to defend Tagwirei and, since they cannot confront the Americans who imposed the sanctions, find a scapegoat - Tendai Biti - to vent their anger at.
The irony here is that Tendai Biti should be on the sanction list in his own right. We should never ever forgot that we are in this economic and political mess because Biti and his MDC friends have betrayed the nation and failed to implement the democratic reforms which would have ended the Zanu PF dictatorship.
Tendai Biti is one of the MDC MPs, he won the seat after participating in the July 2018. He knew Zanu PF was rigging the elections but participated regardless because he also knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats as bait; that he could not resist. By participating in the elections the opposition gave credibility to the election process and some modicum of legitimacy to the result.
We are stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship because corrupt and incompetent opposition politicians like Tendai Biti are selling out giving legitimacy to the vote rigging and illegitimate Zanu PF dictatorship. Imposing sanctions on sell-out opposition politicians like Biti will go a long way to end the Zanu PF dictatorship than imposing sanction of the Zanu PF thugs and their acolytes like Tagwirei!
@ Mugocha
“The invited sanctions will affect everyone including him and his family and enemies alike, just like the corruption that he is purporting to be fighting. They are both evils that must decisively be dealt with using the right strategies. I think by now every Zimbabwean knows that there is nothing like 'targeted sanctions' just as much as there is nothing like 'targeted corruption'. They both are evils that are killing people in Zimbabwe.”
Sure thing! A few moons ago Tagwirei made a very generous donation of corona virus PPE, ventilators, test kits, etc., etc. and from that we can say the nation benefited from corruption! Of course, this is a foolish argument because it does not take into account how much the nation has lost because of corruption. Tagwirei is giving but a tiny fraction of what he has looted and hence the reason we condemn corruption.
Zanu PF thugs and the apologists always go to town about how much sanctions are hurting the common man but say nothing about how much the common man is suffering because of rigged elections, corruption, etc. the very things the sanctions are fighting against.
You should open your eyes and see the bigger picture and not just what Zanu PF wants you to see. You need to look at the bigger picture and not just focus on one sentence in a book with a thousand pages, on one dot in a picture that is many one square metres big!
Zanu PF is renowned for attacking the messenger because they cannot not attack the message.
Zimbabwe needs a complete overhaul of its rotten political system. There are some amongst us who have been calling for a Zanu PF led GNU as the way out of this mess, Zanu PF's brush arrogance of the last week alone has once again shown the party will never ever implement the democratic reforms. Never ever!
Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 elections, the regime has no mandate to govern and it must step down. The country needs the political space to appoint a competent body to implement the democratic reforms leading to the holding of free, fair and credible elections.
Zanu PF has held this nation to ransom for donkeys and it is high time this stopped!
South Africa’s Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize has revealed that his country has recorded 132 coronavirus related deaths bringing the total number of deaths to 11 879.
The minister also said that there were 162 more Covid-19 related deaths – 70 from Eastern Cape, 27 from Gauteng, 21 from KwaZulu-Natal, 6 from Free State, 18 from North West and 20 from Western Cape.
Mkhize also said the total number of coronavirus cases stood at 587 345 after a 3 692 increase in infections over the past 24 hours.
SA’s confirm covid-19 cases and deaths are high because the country has not shied away from testing aggressively. All those who have tested positive have been taking into isolation wherever possible. How much worse would the situation be is a significant number of the 587 000 were left in the community and have been spreading the virus! This is the nightmare in Zimbabwe.
Whilst SA has done 3 million tests as of end of July Zimbabwe with 1/4 the population should have done 750 000 tests in the same period. We did 145 000 test or 20%.
Zanu PF has already been boasting of Zimbabwe’s low confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths, figures are assumed to be proof of the regime’s competent handling of the pandemic. The truth is Zimbabwe is hiding the true figures by refusing to test the many suspected covid-19 cases and deaths.
There are hundreds of thousands of covid-19 cases in Zimbabwe who have been spreading the virus simply because they did not know they had the virus because the government deliberately kept them ignorant of their condition! Zanu PF is boasting of doing a great job in containing corona virus and only because the regime has done a great job of hiding its blundering incompetence!
Zanu PF will never implement the democratic reforms to get the country out of the mess we are in. All those who have been calling for a Zanu PF led GNU as a way forward must now sit up and pay attention.
Zimbabwe needs a complete overhaul of its rotten political system and since Zanu PF cannot be trusted to implement the reforms the party must step down to allow the nation to appoint an independent body that will carry out this important task. Zanu PF must not be allowed to hold the nation to ransom!
"I write to express my surprise and concern over the statement issued in your name on August 7, 2020, concerning the situation in Zimbabwe which appears to lend credence to the raft of erroneous and highly misleading reports circulating on a variety of social media platforms, deliberately placed so as to cause embarrassment to my country and its leadership," Moyo wrote to Mahamat in a letter dated August 12.
The letter was in response to the AU Commission's communication condemning human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
"Let me stress, at the outset, that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe, neither are there any human rights violations as purported in your statement. The innuendos and insinuations contained therein could have been avoided had the AUC done some due diligence," Moyo wrote.
Moyo, known for announcing the coup d'état that led to the ouster of the late former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017, accused the AUC of siding with the United Kingdom to discredit Mnangagwa.
"We cannot help but note that your statement was issued shortly after a visit to the AU headquarters by the British Minister of Africa and reflects a disturbing alignment with the United Kingdom's well-known perspective on Zimbabwe and London's abiding antipathy towards Zanu PF," he said.
There is no political crisis in Zimbabwe not because that is the reality but because Zanu PF says so. This is the regime that told the world the November 217 military coup was not a coup but a “military assisted transition”!
Of course, there is a political crisis in Zimbabwe, it has been festering, rubbling and exploding into life like a volcano for the last 40 years, ever since Zanu PF got into power and made the country a de facto one-party state. The regime has systematically denied the ordinary people their freedoms and rights including the right to free and fair elections and even the right to life.
We, the people of Zimbabwe, are now demand that Zanu PF steps down so the country can appoint an interim administration that will implement the necessary democratic to restore all the people’s freedoms and rights. Zanu PF has held the nation to ransom for the last 40 years and this must now end!
There is a political crisis in Zimbabwe and by denying it so aggressively Zanu PF is only helping to highlight that very point!
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