“Kwapera makore mangani, takamira zvakavhimbisa?”
Maiti kurima hakunetsi.
Maiti mombe munadzo.
Muchiti ngenjo munaro.
Mharidzo yenyu zviroto kanhi?
(How many more years must we have waited for what you promised?
You said you are master farmers.
You said you had the cattle.
And you said you had the plough.
Are your promises just day-dreaming?)
Thomas “Mukanya” Mapfumo in his song Maiti kurima hamubvire
Zimbabwe’s music maestro, Thomas “Mukanya” Mapfumo asked these pertinent question decades after Zimbabwe’s independent. After decades of Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies kept promising the nation mass prosperity, “Gutsa ruzhinj!” as the called it in Shona; and yet the reality on the ground was mass poverty.
It is now 41 years of Zanu PF empty promises and the economic situation is even worse; Basic services such as education and health care have all but collapsed and 49% of our people now live in abject poverty. Mukanya’s pertinent questions are more relevant and urgent now than ever!
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic ruin and political paralysis (the country has clearly failed to produce political leaders, either from the ruling party or the opposition, with the competence and vision to get the nation out of the man-made hell-hole the nation is stuck in) is the failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. The nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship for four decades and counting and it shows.
Instead of these Zanu PF thugs acknowledging they have failed to deliver the promised mass prosperity and therefore must now allow the nation to move on, to implement the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections. The regime is digging in and is even more determined to hang on to power than ever before.
Zanu PF is holding its district and then provincial elections in preparation for the national elections next year. It is a dog-eat-dog for position at the top table especially now when those who get a seat feast whilst those who fail to get one starve. Of course, it is all about getting into power to feather one’s nest!
"You should not be elected to get riches, you should be elected to serve the people, and you must seek office to produce results for the best of the land, Our President Emmerson Mnangagwa has always been saying that we should work for our nation,” noted Zanu-PF secretary for external relations and former Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, commenting on fight for position in Manicaland Province.
"Yes, we liberated our country in 1980, but the war is still on as we also need to liberate our economy.”
Zanu PF has become a party of corrupt, incompetent vote rigging and murderous hypocrites who speak with a forked tongue, saying one thing but meaning the exact opposite.
“You should not be elected to get riches but to serve the people!” he said. Corruption is rampant in Zimbabwe and presiding over it are the Zanu PF leaders; each is lord and master of his or her own patch but always on the lookout to extent their influence and power by taking over someone else’s patch by hook or by crook whilst being fearful not to be swallowed up in turn.
Even Robert Mugabe, the party’s top dog for 37 years was not safe as the November 2017 military coup showed.
Zanu PF ended white colonial oppression but only to impose themselves as the nation’s new oppressors.
As for the economy, four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left the nation’s once upon a time robust and booming economy in ruins!
Zimbabwe is a Banana Republic, a pariah state, ruled by corrupt, incompetent, murderous and vote rigging thugs. And as long as the nation remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery.
Zimbabwe used to grow enough food to feed her own people with plenty left over to be the breadbasket of the region. The country is blessed with fertile land and excellent weather; and, for all intents and purposes, it is the Biblical Garden of Eden.
Yet 20 years after independence, Zanu PF seized the farms and gave them to party loyalists mostly. Zimbabwe lost its cherished breadbasket of the region laurels and today the nation is starving - a damning testimonial to Zanu PF leaders’s corruption and breathtaking incompetence.
"We have noted with concern that we have party members when it comes to (party) elections,” continued former Minister Mumbengegwi, turning to the up coming 2023 national elections.
“So far we have 3,6 million registered voters, we are targeting five million votes, so we are urging party leaders to go out there and mop up for more people to join our party. But I am very sure we are going to win the elections resoundingly, come 2023.”
There are reports of Zanu PF members buying votes or using some such vote rigging dirty tricks to win the party elections. These are nothing compared to the blatant cheating and, if need be, wanton violence the party will resort to secure election victory.
The nation had the golden opportunity during the 2008 to 2013 GNU to implement the democratic reforms designed to take away Zanu PF’s carte blanche powers to rig elections. The important task of implementing the reforms was entrusted to Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends. They failed to get even one reform implemented in five years.
Mugabe bribed the MDC leaders with the trappings of high office and the rest is history, as one would say.
With not even one token reform implemented Zanu PF will rig the 2023 elections just as readily as the party has rigged all the other elections in the past. And by participating in these flawed and illegal elections the opposition are giving credibility to the flawed process and, by extension, giving the vote rigging Zanu PF regime legitimacy.
After 41 years and counting of rigged elections it is high time the nation demanded the implementation of the reforms before the elections. It is insane to allow this madness of participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy continue.
It is too late to stop the 2023 elections going ahead, both Zanu PF and MDC are determined to participate in the flawed elections. What we can do is make sure the election process is seen for what it is - a farce - and condemned. Zanu PF must not get legitimacy from holding another flawed and illegal election process.
“We liberated our country and now need to liberate our economy!” How ironic, since it is both the nation and the economy that need liberating from the corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF rule.
“Mharidzo yeZanu PF yerushungunuko zviroto!” Zanu PF’s promises of liberation and liberty are day-dreams!)
4 comments:
THE Zanu PF Politburo suspended provincial elections midway Monday amid raging firestorms across the country which threatened to rip the faction riddled ruling party apart.
Zanu PF acting spokesperson Mike Bimha told journalists after an extraordinary politburo meeting late Monday night the decision to suspend the provincial elections was arrived at to allow the smooth running of the national people’s conference set for October 25 in Mashonaland Central province.
“The politburo resolved to suspend provincial elections until further notice so as to allow the structures to concentrate on the conference preparations,” he said.
The provincial election campaigns have been marred by factionalism, smear campaigns and were threatening to turn bloody while also exposing deep-rooted factionalism in the party.
There were reports of chaos in almost all the provinces, mainly the Midlands, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Manicaland and Mashonaland East, where party bigwigs are facing off in a fight to control the provinces.
The dog-eat-dog fight for position is serious amongst the Zanu PF members but that is all nothing compared to the fighting the party will unleash in the national elections.
The only reason why MDC leaders have continue participating in the flawed and illegal elections is because they are the ones who wasted the golden opportunity to implement the reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They are ashamed to admit they sold out and are now compounding the problem by giving Zanu PF legitimacy.
The people of Zimbabwe must now make the decision not to be taken for fools MDC and take the challenge of implementing reforms with the sense of urgency the matter demands.
Shadow states have a negative impact on democracy and accountability. But the damage they do goes well beyond this. It undermines inclusive development through three related processes:
– creating a culture of impunity, which facilitates corruption and diverts resources from productive investments
– manipulating government expenditure and other public resources and opportunities to sustain the patronage networks and ensure the shadow state’s political survival
– creating monopolistic or oligopolistic conditions that increase prices and enable companies with links to the shadow state to make excessive profits.
The result is that resources and investment are systematically diverted into private hands.
In Uganda, Museveni issues tax waivers to business allies in return for election support. This denies the treasury hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
In Zimbabwe, companies in league with the ruling party and the military have used these connections to establish near monopolies in key sectors of the economy that exploit the public. In one case, this led to severe fuel shortages that artificially inflated prices.
When added to the billions of dollars lost through straightforward corruption, theft and fraud, it is clear that these processes represent one of the most significant barriers to inclusive development in Africa.
Unless these networks are challenged, they will continue to keep citizens in poverty while enriching those connected to the shadow state.
Zanu PF is bankrolled by those benefiting from the wholesale looting to the tune of US$ 2 to 4 billion money the regime has then used to buy the cooperation of individuals and organisation in its vote rigging juggernaut! the reason why the MDC leaders have not put their foot down in demanding reforms is because MDC leaders are the ones who failed to implement the reforms during the GNU.
They will not admit the sold out because the majority of the ordinary Zimbabweans do not know they sod-out and so they are hoping to get away with the lie reforms are not necessary. Zimbabweans have to open their eyes and see they are being taken for a ride again - first by failing to implement reforms and now by being asked to participate in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy.
The Zanu PF politburo met on Monday and decided to postpone provincial elections until after the party's annual congress next month. The dog-eat-dog fights have become so fierce and merciless there was going to be blood on the floor and even lives lost; a frightening prospect that the party did not want hanging over them during the congress.
By postpone the provincial elections the party has only kicked the can down the road, the dog-eat-dog will resume where it left off.
The country's serious economic meltdown has dragged 49% of the nation's population into abject poverty and the only people spared are the ruling elite and hence the reason the fighting to join this exclusive club is so intense. Even the Zanu PF bigwigs who have kept their place on the feeding trough for donkey years are fighting as fiercely to retain their position because those who have lost their position such as Comrade Didymus Mutasa, former VP Joice Mujuru, etc. have sunk into poverty very soon thereafter.
In his own foolish and roundabout way, Former Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi is right, Zimbabwe's economy needs to be liberated from the Zanu PF thugs. The irony is that decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption by Zanu PF buffoon have brought economic ruins to the nation has also made the thugs even more desperate to hang on to power.
It is laughable to see Zanu PF members accusing each other of rigging the party's elections; there is nothing more cynical than the Devil quoting the Bible, knowing the Ten Commandments is one thing upholding them is another.
The dog-eat-dog fighting in Zanu PF elections is fierce but is child's play compared to the fighting the Zanu PF candidates will mount against their opposition opponents come the national elections. The Zanu PF party vote rigging juggernaut be rolled out and if the opposition dare threaten regime change then there will wailing, gnashing of teeth, blood shed and many lives will be lost!
Those who think there can ever be any meaningful democratic change by contesting elections with no reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging are day dreamers because Zanu PF will never lose an elections in which they have the carte blanche power to rig! Never ever!
@ Hugh Jarse
“ZPF, You eliminated freedom of speech, DESTROYED the economy and used thugs to force people to vote for you! The proof is EVERYWHERE, with the 100 trillion dollar note, closed factories and businesses, erratic power supplies and the fact that piped water is seldom, if ever, available! Your "free" education has also become a blatant lie, whilst its quality has been way below par! Add to that, Zimbabwe can no longer feed itself, no thanks to your thugs destroying farms and even murdering farmers and their staff! Still, enough of you are stupid enough to have voted them back in, yet again, and seem intent on destroying whatever's left. Get yourselves out of your own self-inflicted mess, Zimbabwe! If what you have now is "liberation", what the hell would you call “oppression"?"
I totally agree with you on every point except “you are stupid enough to have voted them back in”.
Zanu PF rigged the 2018 elections just as the party has blatantly rigged elections in the past. The foolish thing the ordinary people did and are doing yet again now is to believe the MDC leaders’ lie that the opposition has devised Winning In Rigged Election (WIRE) strategies. By participating the people are giving some modicum of credibility to the election process and legitimacy to the result.
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends are participating in these flawed elections for the same reason they failed to implement even one reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU - greed. They know Zanu Pf is giving a way a few gravy train seats to entice them to participate and they find that irresistible. They have to justify why they keep participating in flawed elections by pretending their WIRE strategies are foolproof and will stop Zanu PF rigging the elections only acknowledge after the elections that Zanu PF did manage to once again rig elections.
It is shocking that MDC A are not only con many ordinary Zimbabweans who are naive, gullible and desperate to believe this cock and bull WIRE strategies nonsense; they have conned many intellectuals and professionals too.
Zimbabwe is in this mess because the nation has more than its fair share of citizens who have taken leave of their intellect and have stopped thinking! Who would have believed so many can be fooled into believing something as idiotic and insane as expecting to win rigged elections after 41 years of rigged elections.
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