The proverbial penny has finally drop in Washington: the Americans have finally woken up to the reality they are wasting money trying to democratise Zimbabwe!
“In a damning 2020 Festivus report, presented to the US Upper House, senator Rand Paul on Monday accused the US Agency for International Development (USAID) of spending US$10 million taxpayers' money on a futile attempt to help reform Zimbabwe's political processes, especially elections,” reported News Day/ Bulawayo 24.
"Yet Uncle Sam (outgoing US President Donald Trump) wants to spend American taxpayer dollars to determine if the upcoming elections are, in fact, rigged. So the USAID is paying US$10 million in an effort to improve Zimbabwe's political process. Will it all make any difference?” asked Senator Paul
“Decades and decades of charges against Mugabe’s elections did not cause him to become more democratic, nor did they drive him from office. So why is the State Department spending $10 million so it can have something to wave around when it ultimately points its finger at Zimbabwe's leadership and says, shame on you.”
Could not agree with the senator more!
The Americans, above all others, spend a lot of time, money and sweat spelling out what democratic reforms Mnangagwa should implement to make sure the July 2018 elections were free, fair and credible. Mnangagwa ignored the demands for reforms and went on to blatantly rig the elections.
The Americans, the Commonwealth, the EU and everyone else with any democratic credential condemned the July elections as a farce.
“The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” stated the EU Observer Mission Final Report.
“As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards!”
But all that did not matter because Zimbabwe’s opposition had also ignored the calls for democratic reforms and participated in the July 2018 plebiscite with unbridled passion and enthusiasm. There were 23 candidates in the presidential race and no fewer than 130 political part, to say nothing of the independent candidates contested the 210 parliamentary seats.
ZEC failed to produce a verified voters’ roll, a common sense and legal requirement; but even that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the opposition!
“MDC Alliance (MDC A) has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!” boasted Nelson Chamisa. He was telling the Americans and everyone else calling for reforms before the elections to shut up.
Of course, MDC A knew Zanu PF was rigging the elections and, as everyone knew from past experience, knew the opposition had no measures to stop the rigging. Most important of all, everybody in the opposition camp knew that by participating in the flawed and illegal elections they will give the process credibility and the results legitimacy.
MDC leaders had proved beyond all reasonable doubt that they are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent during the 2008 to 2013 GNU when they had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms but failed to get even one reform implemented. And so the opposition’s participating in flawed and illegal elections to give the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy is to be expected of these sell-outs.
It was USA Ambassador to Zimbabwe 2004 to 2007, Chris Dell who said in a leaked cable to Washington that Morgan Tsvangirai was “a flawed and indecisive character who, if he ever got into power would be an albatross round the nation’s neck.”
If Senator Rand Paul and his fellow senators had done their homework and researched on the caliban of Zimbabwe’s opposition they would have realised Ambassador Dell was right, MDC politicians are a waste of time and money. One cannot building a healthy and functioning democracy with corrupt and incompetent MDC leaders no more one can make a silk purse from a sow’s ear!
Senator Rand Paul is right Mnangagwa is certain to win the 2023 elections “by hook or crook” and the opposition will participate giving Zanu PF legitimacy. And it will be a waste of money demanding the implementation of reforms which both Zanu PF and the opposition do not care about. The is a crying need for a sea change in the handling of Zimbabwe!
It is not that the people of Zimbabwe do not want and end to the Zanu PF dictatorship; they are desperate to see the reforms implemented and to see the nation finally cured of the curse of rigged elections and bad governance.
What the Americans had failed to appreciate here is that the MDC leaders were not competent to deliver democratic change and it was a big mistake on the part of Washington and the rest of the governments in the West to roll out a red carpet welcome to Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and the rest of the MDC leaders, especially after their blatant betrayal of the people during the 2008 to 2013 GNU.
Now that the penny has finally dropped in Washington, one is hoping the Americans will now treat the MDC leaders as one should treat sell-outs. The sanctions imposed on Zanu PF leaders for riding roughshod over the ordinary Zimbabweans, denying them their freedoms and rights, must be extended to MDC leaders for failing to implement the democratic reforms and thus keeping the Zanu PF regime in power.
MDC leaders and the rest in the Zimbabwe opposition camp are not reliable partners in the fight for free, fair and credible elections; they have been running with the povo hare by day and hunting with the Zanu PF hounds by night. The people of Zimbabwe have been slow in realising this reality and, it seems, so too did the decision makers in Washington!
9 comments:
NEWLY-ELECTED MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora, whose position is hotly-disputed by his rivals who walked out of the party’s recent chaotic congress, says his challengers Thokozani Khupe and Elias Mudzuri will be substantive first and second vice-presidents respectively as he moved to announce his new interim executive today.
Morgen Komichi, another of his challengers during Sunday’s discretely poll in Harare, was appointed national chairperson.Mwonzora said this was in line with the party’s constitution which says the leaders shall revert back to their original positions.
Mnangagwa did not win the July 2018 elections, he rigged the elections - there is a world of difference between the two.
It is a great pity that Zimbabweans have yet to learn to distinguish free, fair and credible elections from rigged ones. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll, a common sense and legal requirement.
No one in the opposition should have participated in the flawed and illegal elections, the MDC A and the rest in the opposition camp did but only out of greed. Zanu PF offered a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate and they found the bait irresistible!
@ The Newshawk
“These are the sort of people who would ridiculously deny Zimbabwe is in a crisis, something they can see and witness daily even from their Ivory Towers.
“Those who deny the crisis are of course elites who live in a different world, but surely know the truth even if they deny it. They can see the crisis, if not in their homes, but certainly on the roads for instance – they can’t create their own roads.
“They may buy big cars to ride over potholes, but the reality of rutted roads remains. They may have generators, boreholes and water tanks, and money to cushion themselves from the reality of the state of the nation, but they can’t create the same for all their relatives and friends, let alone others.
“The problem goes back to leadership and governance of the country. What needs to be fixed is in Zimbabwe is bad and toxic politics; governance issues and simultaneously the economy.
“The solutions are there and known, but the corrupt and incompetent kleptocrats in power are the stumbling block.
“Mugabe and now President Emmerson Mnangagwa have demonstrated that.
“As I was covering the 2017 coup with many colleagues from the region and around the world, in my mind I was convinced, not out of cynicism or clairvoyance, that the dramatic political events unfolding then did not signify a new beginning and would end in disaster: it was obvious that the putsch was about a party political succession battle and power, self-interest and self-preservation rather than change and reform, or a new dispensation.
It was never about change of the system, but removal of Mugabe by Mnangagwa’s military faction and then business as usual.
“More corruption and more ineptitude, more infighting, hence the continued simmering economic malaise.”
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis is the failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. For 40 years and counting Zanu PF has repeatedly rigged the elections and we, the people, have allowed the regime to get away with it by pretending not to notice the blatant cheating and wanton violence.
After decades of rigging elections, Zanu PF thugs now believe they have a right to rig elections and consider those demanding free and fair elections as disrespectful hooligans hell bend on destabilising the country and, most important of all disrespectful of the leaders’ right to rig elections, to loot, etc.
It is unforgivable that so many Zimbabweans risked life and limb in the fight for independence and we have allowed Zanu PF thugs taking away our freedoms and rights without a fight.
Zimbabweans must reclaim their freedoms and rights! They owe this to themselves and posterity.
SA has an app to alert individuals who may have got in touch with someone with corona virus.
Amen!
I salute SA for facing the corona virus head-on unlike Zimbabwe that has buried its head in the sand by failing to test and keep track of the virus.
@ Mbofana
“Zimbabweans have borne the brunt of unflattering worldwide ridicule over our perceived cowardice and fear in boldly standing up, and speaking out, for our God-given rights to a dignified and respectable standard of life - which, each and every human being under the face of the sun is entitled to, yet cruelly and brutally stolen and destroyed from us, by a leadership that knows nothing else than to make our lives miserable, whilst they live lavishly through their ill-gotten gains of our plundered national resources.
“Let one thing be known to all. Anyone who lives by instilling fear in others, is the one living in fear. That is a very simple rule of nature and psychology.
“We are ruled over by a group of people who have sleepless nights, crippled by a unbridled fear over losing their privileged station in the country, a fear over what will happen to them once they are out of power..will they be arrested for all their looting, will they die humiliatingly in jail.
“Those who preside over us are actually more afraid of us, than we are of them - yet, we appear oblivious to that fact. Have we ever wondered why, whenever there is any talk, or even a mere rumour, of mass protests - which, are constitutionally enshrined - the regime immediately presses the panic button, with the threat of brutal repression precariously hanging over every citizen's head?
“Why would anyone who does not live in perpetual fear be so terrified by peaceful demonstrations?”
You are being cruel to be kind. Cruel in telling us what many of us do not want to hear much less admit - that we are cowards and naive. Kind in telling us what we must hear, like it or not, so that it we act on it will end our suffering and the many lives being lost unnecessarily.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the nation has been stuck for 40 years and counting with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. 40 years of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left the “Switzerland of Africa”, as you rightly quoted Tanzania president Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, in ruins.
Zimbabweans have known for the last 20 years, at least, that Zanu PF was dragging the nation into mass poverty and not the mass prosperity, “Gutsa ruzhinji!” as Mugabe never tired of saying in the first 20 years of our independence. However, the nation has failed to remove Zanu PF from office because the party rigged elections. And for 40 years we have let Zanu PF rig the elections and get away with it out of ignorance, cowardice or both.
People have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power confident the party will implement the democratic reforms and end the vote rigging. MDC leaders sold-out and failed to implement even one reform in five years. Again we let MDC leaders get away with it out of ignorance.
It is said nations get the government they deserve; we certainly deserve this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its entourage of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties!
The day we take the trouble to know what constitutes free, fair and credible elections and are ready to stand up and demand free elections will mark the day we will get good governance and deserve it!
@ Singauke
“The historical importance of this event was two legged, firstly, that it ended the disturbances in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions between 1983-1987 and secondly, it bound the two former liberation movements into one united front for a joint thrust towards national development.”
The 1987 Unity Accord was to swallow PF Zapu and clear the way for the imposition of a de facto one party dictatorship and stifle debate and democratic accountability.
The narrative that the unity accord would promote development was just a fallacy that only the naive and gullible would swallow especially now with the benefit of hindsight. There has been no development since 1987 the country has been in decline instead.
@ Macho
“Kkkkkk u ar a bitter man Mukori........We are saying no to sanctions and wena u want more extended to opposition..... Is it gonna help our country in any way or unlock credit lines??? Mina I want us to solve our problems on our own no interferences........imagine ur neighbors having sleepless nights trying to solve ur marriage issues......WILL U LIKE THAT??”
I have three questions for you:
I am not going to deny that sanctions have some effect on the country’s economic performance just as mismanagement and corruption have an effect. My question to you is which of the three had more effect?
Do you know that Ian Smith’s Rhodesia was under UN imposed sanctions? Well the sanctions did affect the ordinary people economical but the sanctions also affected the white regime putting it under increased pressure to end the oppression and exploitation of the blacks. As a black person I supported the sanctions then because the economic hardship they brought was nothing compared with the prospects continued white colonial oppression. I see it the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship in the same light!
Do you agree that MDC leaders are helping Zanu PF staying in power by failing to implement the democratic reforms even when they had the chance to do so and by participating in flawed and illegal elections giving the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy? Well if sanctions are an appropriate punishment for Zanu PF thugs it is also a n appropriate punishment for the two-faced MDC leaders!
If you are the helpless victim in loveless and tyrannical marriage, say the abused wife or child, you would not mind the neighbour stepping in and stopping the abuse.
After 40 years of rigged elections, over 30 000 murdered in cold blood for political gain and with 50% of our people now living in extreme poverty whilst the few ruling elite are living in unparalleled luxury and opulence. It is not just foolish to pretend this is normal, it is insane.
Every Zimbabwean with half a brain is calling for an end to the Zanu PF dictatorship and its acolytes. I certainly welcome the outside help to end the reign of terror! If you understood what is going on here and was not one of the fat cats, you too would be demanding reforms.
MDC-T newly elected president, Mr Douglas Mwonzora assumed his newly found role at the helm of the opposition party today by unveiling a new executive in which he retained his fellow election rivals that include Dr Thokozani Khupe, Mr Morgan Komichi and Engineer Elias Mudzuri.
This is despite the trio rejecting his election victory citing what they regarded as massive election rigging.
The MDC circus has been a distraction at a time when the nation was facing life threatening challenges brought about by the 40 years of Zanu PF gross mismanagement and rampant corruption. The situation has been made a lot worse by the corona virus outbreak.
It is bad enough to have a corrupt and incompetent regime at normal times, it is a nightmare to have such a regime during very difficult times and the nightmare becomes a tragedy when there is no one to hold the incompetent regime to account!
For the whole of 20202, Zimbabwe has had no meaningful opposition party and, since the implosion is irreversible, we are now stuck with a corrupt and incompetent ruling party plus an utterly useless opposition till the next elections!
MDC and Zanu PF this is a nightmare that keeps on giving!
It pays in the end to get the best in the beginning and are paying dearly for it!
The former MDC-T interim president, Thokozani Khupe has tested positive for coronavirus.
Khupe attended the MDC-T’s chaotic Supreme Court-sanctioned Extraordinary congress held on Sunday.
Several party members, including the top brass -Douglas Mwonzora, Morgen Komichi, Elias Mudzuri and Dr Tapiwa Mashakada, were also in attendance
Zimbabwe has not been testing, tracing and tracking as diligently as the WHO has been calling for and MDC leaders are partly to blame for this because they have been busy fighting amongst themselves when they should have been holding the Zanu PF regime to account on this matter and many others!
2020 will go down in Zimbabwe's history as one of the most difficult year for the nation; Zanu PF blundered from pillar to post and the opposition was nowhere to be seen!
Post a Comment