"Vote for donkey just to be rid of Mnangagwa" - knee-jerk doomed to fail in 2023 as in 2008 N Garikai

 It was Professor Jonathan Moyo who said in 2008 that, “If Zimbabweans were given the choice between voting for Robert Mugabe or a donkey. They would vote for the donkey!”

The allegory illustrated four key points:

1. the nation was so desperate to be rid of Mugabe they did not care whom they were voting for to replace him

1. of course, the nation is in this untenable position precisely because we were not as diligent and through and hence the reason we ended up stuck with this corrupt, incompetent, murderous and to crown it all, vote rigging Zanu PF dictatorship. 

1. in the 2008 election, it was self-evident we had not learned the about be diligent and through in electing our leaders; for in our desperation we did, for all intent and purpose, vote for a donkey in the March 2008 vote, the only free vote we have ever had.

1. As a nation, we really need to sit up and pay attention because we are not getting out of this man-made hell-on-earth Zanu PF has landed us into, until we stop panicking, implement the democratic reforms to ensure free and fair elections and elect competent leaders.

Points 1) and 2) above are self-evident and need no further explaining and so will focus on the remaining two points.

The March 2008 vote is the nearest Zimbabwe has ever got to holding free, fair and credible elections, SADC leaders had pressured Zanu PF to accept a number of democratic reforms. 

However when Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow Joint Operation Command Junta released that Zanu was heading for a resounding defeat, they stopped ZEC declaring the results. 

The Junta ordered a recount that lasted six weeks, counting five million votes. Morgan Tsvangirai’s 73%, by Mugabe’s Freudian slip, vote count was whittled down to 47% to justify the run-off. 

The Zanu PF vote rigging machine swung back into operation for the 2008 run-off and has remained back in service ever since. For Zanu the run-off was about punishing the voters for having rejected the party in the March vote. And punish they did; Zimbabwe witnessed the worst wanton election violence. 

SADC leaders refused to recognise Zanu PF as the legitimate government given the blatant cheating and wanton violence in the 2008 elections. SADC leaders forced Mugabe to agree to the implementation of a raft of democratic reforms designed to restore the individual freedoms and rights including the right to free elections. 

The task of implementing the reforms were left to Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends. They failed to implement even one reform in five years confirming why electing him and his party had been such a total disaster for the nation. 

It was USA ambassador to Zimbabwe 2004 to 2007, Chris Dell, who described Morgan Tsvangirai as “a flawed and indecisive character who will become an albatross round the nation’s neck if he ever got into power!” 

If USA Ambassador Chris Dell was able to see Morgan Tsvangirai for what he is, a flawed and indecisive character who would be a burden to the nation; the people of Zimbabwe should have come to the same conclusion too by 2008, if they had been diligent. 

Worse still, why are the people of Zimbabwe still following MDC leaders even now in 2021 given the evidence of MDC leaders’ corruption and breathtaking incompetence especially during the 2008 to 2013 GNU? 

The EU, the Commonwealth, the Americans and even SADC leaders have all advised that Zimbabwe should first implement the democratic reforms before going ahead with the elections. MDC leaders have insisting in participating in the elections with no reforms, first the 2013 then 2018 and now 2023 elections. 

Zanu PF has blatantly rigged the 2013, 2018 and is set to rig the 2023 elections too. All MDC leaders have done by participating in these flawed elections was to give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. The MDC have become the milestone dragging the nation into the crashing abyss and this must be stopped.

Unemployment has soared to 80% plus in 2006/7 during the hyperinflation years and dragging the economy down with it and has never recovered. Basic services such as education and health care have all but collapsed. A 2020 WB report showed that 49% of our people were living in extreme poverty. 

It is tempting to go for the usual knee-jerk reaction of “voting for the donkey just to be rid of Emmerson Mnangagwa.” This failed to get rid of Mugabe in 2008 and will similarly fail to get rid of Mnangagwa in the 2023 elections. 

Indeed, participating will give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy instead. After 41 years of rigged elections, this is insane and must stop.  

The 2023 elections will go ahead with no reform in place; there is very little the ordinary Zimbabwean can do to stop Zanu PF going ahead and MDC and the rest of Zimbabwe’s sell-out opposition participating. 

What the people can and should do is demand that there should be no elections without implementing the reforms and refuse to have anything to do with these flawed and illegal elections. Zimbabweans must demand that these flawed elections must be declared null and void in advance because the process in being rigged in advance.

Fire victim, Munatsi "genuinely wanted Zimbabwe to succeed" - phoenix will never rise, not whilst corruption burns fiercely W Mukori

 “I am saddened to hear that Doug Munatsi has passed on in a fire tragedy.

“He was one of the few people around President Mnangagwa who genuinely wanted to see Zimbabwe succeed, and at many times felt let down by his bosses.

“We used to argue about politics but we remained cordial and respectful.” wrote journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono on his FaceBook account.

If he was "one of the few people around President Mnangagwa who genuinely wanted to see Zimbabwe succeed, and at many times felt let down by his bosses"! One can only say, this will explain why the country is in this mess - there have been too few people genuinely interested in see Zimbabwe rise from the ashes like the phoenix after the decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption. 

Or to put it more bluntly; there is no rising from the ashes like the phoenix for Zimbabwe whilst Zanu PF remain in power because the  fires of gross mismanagement and rampant corruptions are burning just as fiercely now as ever. Those who still think Mnangagwa will bring about change are naive, to say the least. 

Zimbabwe’s political system is rotten to the core. It really is naive to expect Mnangagwa and his cronies; who risked all, during the war of independence, the 2017 military coup, etc. to  build of the de facto one party dictatorship and are its Godfathers and principal beneficiaries; to, of their own free will, give up absolute power and all the benefits and dismantle the dictatorship. That will never happen. 

And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, a Banana Republic, ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous tyrants who have to rig election to stay in power; there will be no meaningful change and economic recovery. None! 

After 41 years and counting of rigged elections and Zanu PF misrule; the people of Zimbabwe must bite the bullet and demand the implementation of the democratic reforms, the prerequisite for free, fair and credible elections. Nothing of any substance can ever be accomplished in Zimbabwe as long as the country remains a pariah state. Absolutely nothing!

COSATU to help Zimbabweans with ZSP issues - above all, need help end rigged elections P Guramatunhu

 “The Congress of South African Unions (Cosatu) has revealed plans to engage the government on behalf of Zimbabweans that are likely to be deported due to expiry of the Special Dispensation Permits (ZSP) on December 31 2022,” reported News Day.

“Around 300 000 Zimbabweans are in South Africa as holders of ZSP.”

Whilst one rightly join in expressing one's gratitude to COSATU for the assistance in this matter; the truth is we are just kicking the can down the road. We need to address the underlying causes of Zimbabwe's economic and political mass migration - rigged elections and bad governance. 

If the 2023 Zimbabwe elections are rigged; as is now 100% certain to happen, given there have not been any meaningful reforms implemented since the rigged 2018 elections; then there will be a new wave of Zimbabwean economic and/or political refugees. 

What Zimbabwe needs desperately is help to end the country’s curse of rigged elections and bad governance. 

Zanu PF rigged the 2018 elections and SADC leaders endorse the process as “substantially free and fair” and thus giving vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. And yet it was public knowledge that ZEC had failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, for example. The election process was a farce since nothing could be traced or verified. 

No South African in his/her right mind would accept the blatant rigging by Zanu PF happening in SA. And yet South Africans turned a blind eye when it happened in Zimbabwe.

For the 2023 elections, Zanu PF has already announced that the party will deny the three million plus Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote, “until the economic sanctions imposed by the West on Zanu PF leaders are lifted!” Mnangagwa had promised the vote after the 2018 elections but now has changed his mind. 

There are 2 million or more Zimbabweans in the SADC countries alone and none of these country have imposed any sanctions on Zanu PF leaders. So why are Zimbabweans in SADC countries being denied the vote too? This is just a feeble Zanu PF excuse and must be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserve. 

President Mnangagwa was declared the winner of the 2018 elections with 2.4 million or 50.8% of the cast votes. The 3 million diaspora vote is clearly a very significant figure, 37% of the potential 8 million voters. 

How can the 2023 election but free, fair and credible when one contestant, Zanu PF, is allowed to cherry pick the electorate and deny 37% plus of the potential electorate the vote?

Admittedly, Zimbabweans have been our own worst enemy in our fight for free, fair and credible elections. There is no denying that Zimbabwe had its best ever golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Sadly the MDC leaders, who were tasked to carry out the task, sold out big time and failed to implement even one meaningful reform in five years. 

Whilst everyone else, including SADC leaders, have advised that Zimbabwe must postpone elections until meaningful reforms are implemented. It is really frustrating that it is none other than Zimbabwe’s opposition opportunists who have insisted in having the elections with no reforms.

By participating in these flawed and illegal elections, the corrupt and incompetent opposition have been giving vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. 

"Right now we are trying to help comrades with the ZSP issue. It's not looking good, especially because the government has already made a declaration… but we'll try to see if there's a way to get an extension at least," said COSATU's International relations secretary Sonia Mabunda-Kaziboni.

What will help the people of Zimbabwe greatly is for COSATU to engage:

1. the SA government to meaningful address the problems of rigged elections and bad governance in Zimbabwe and stop glossing over the problem. It is inexcusable that SA, a country that has successfully held free, fair and credible elections since 1994, should endorse blatantly rigged elections as having “gone well!”

1. Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU), COSATU’s sister organisation in Zimbabwe, and ask them why they have continued to give their blind support to the MDC regardless of the overwhelming evidence of the party is now the one helping perpetuate the Zanu PF dictatorship. 

Yes Zimbabweans in SA need help with their ZSP issues but most important of all the whole nation needs help ending the nightmare of rigged elections and bad governance! Nothing of substance can be accomplished in Zimbabwe until we cure ourselves of the curse of rigged elections. Absolutely nothing!

Chamisa in renewed calls for dialogue following murder of MDC activist by Zanu PF - what a hypocrite N Garikai

 The sheer hypocrisy and duplicity of MDC leaders when it comes to dealing with the thorny issue of Zimbabwe’s political culture of violence, never seize to infuriate me!

“That’s an issue of impunity and fertilises the breakdown of security of the person and security of the citizen," said Nelson Chamisa.

"We have so many cases of so many people, who have been attacked like this over the past years and how do you kill  somebody like a fly like that?"

"There is no shame or sense of accountability on the part of those responsible.

"This is one of many cases we face as opposition and human rights defenders who continue to be treated in such a manner.”

Chamisa was speaking of the murder of a Gutu MDC activist, Nyasha Mawere, by Zanu PF thugs. Nyasha was attended by his assailants for attend a rally address by Chamisa. The names of the three assailants were given to the Police but, as usual, there have been no arrests. 

During the 2008 elections, over 500 innocent Zimbabweans were murdered and hundreds of thousands were beaten and/or raped and millions were subjected to all manner of harassment and abuse. The elections was a watershed in that the nation witnessed some of the worst wanton violence in the country’s history.

The heinous crimes were committed by Zanu PF youths and war veterans, as the foot soldiers, backed up by the Police, Army, CIO and Prison Services personal who carried out the heavy duty stuff of abducting and killing. This was a Zanu PF instigated “Operation Mavhotera ani!” (Operation Whom did you vote for!) to punish the people for daring to vote for the MDC in the earlier, March 2008 vote. 

Of course, none of the perpetrators of the wanton 2008 violence were ever arrested and faced justice. The Police, Army, etc. were and still are to this day captured by Zanu PF; the Police, Army, etc. are nothing but a department of Zanu PF there to serve the party’s selfish interest of no regime change. 

So Nelson Chamisa is right to moan about the culture of impunity and no sense of shame on the part of those responsible for upholding the rule of law and protecting the sanctity of human life. 

Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends are shameless hypocrites for three reasons:

1. MDC had the golden opportunity during the 2008 to 2013 GNU to implement the democratic reforms which would have dismantled the Zanu PF dictatorship, end the party’s strangle hold on the Police, Army and all the other state institutions and restore the individual freedoms and rights including the right to free elections and the right to life. They failed to implement even one reform in five years because Mugabe bribe them. They forgot about the reforms because they had their snouts in the feeding trough.

1. Everyone has argued that Zimbabwe must implement the reforms first before holding elections. It is none other than MDC leaders who have stubbornly insisted on having elections with no reforms. Zanu PF has been offering a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate and MDC and company have found the bait irresistible. Mnangagwa has increases the bait by creating POLAD, a superfluous political body to reward all presidential candidates who endorsed him as the legitimate winner of the rigged 2018 elections.  

1. By participating in these flawed and illegal elections, MDC and company are giving legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF. Of course it is an outrage that the country’s fight to end the Zanu PF dictatorship and the corse of bad governance is now being frustrated by MDC who then have the chutzpah to pontificate over suffering and deaths of the victims of their blatant betrayals.

Yes, Zanu PF have created and ruthlessly retained this de facto one party dictatorship. However, we cannot deny that the 2008 to 2013 GNU was our get out of jail card which Morgan Tsvangirai and his mates failed to use by implementing the raft of democratic reforms to dismantle the dictatorship. 

We can evoke the get out of jail card by demanding the implementation of the reforms before elections and it is MDC leaders who are refusing to do so under the pretext they have “winning in rigged elections strategies!” All nonsense of course because none of these strategies have worked and after 41 years of rigged elections the insanity must be stopped. 

"There is the concept of always sitting  around a fireplace as a family to look at issues and if that fails, we always invite a neighbour,” continued Chamisa.

It was SADC who facilitated the 2008 to 2013 GNU and MDC failed to implement even one reform in five years because MDC leaders are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent. Another GNU will accomplish nothing, not as long as the same corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF and MDC leaders are allowed to play leading roles.  

Zimbabwe cannot afford yet another meaningless election process just to give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and another five more years in power. We have the get out of jail card, we must evoke it by demanding reforms before elections. 

Just because MDC and Zanu PF leaders have proven to be corrupt and incompetent beyond the pale does not mean no one else can implement the reforms. We just need competent men and women to implement the reforms and not these hypocrites; the reforms themselves are not rocket science.

MDC still can't "do the obvious - withdraw from elections" out of greed - will SADC continue punishing povo for MDC's sins P Guramatunhu

 There is a real danger of Zimbabwe sending the wrong and confused message to SADC and the international community at large; yet again. SADC and the world at large want to know whether Zimbabweans want the 2023 elections to go ahead without any democratic reforms implemented, yet again as happened in 2013 and 2018? 

In 2013 SADC leaders told Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends to their faces, not to participate in the 2013 elections until the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF blatantly cheating and using wanton violence, as happened in the 2008 elections. “If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done!” the MDC leader were told.

As we all know, MDC leader paid no heed and participated in the 2013 elections. Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig those elections, as SADC leaders had rightly predicted. 

Zimbabwe’s opposition opportunists led by Nelson Chamisa and his MDC Alliance went on to participate in the 2018 elections with not even a token democratic reform implemented. “MDC A has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!” Chamisa announced, boastfully. 

Yet again, Zanu PF blatantly rigged the 2018 elections!

“The electoral commission (Zimbabwe Election Commission) lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” state the EU Election Mission Final Report.

“Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.”

The EU report contained a string on recommendations designed to ensure the next elections meet international standards. Sadly not even one of the reforms have seen the light of day. 

Both SADC, the EU and everyone else with any democratic credential worth a spit have made it clear that it is nonsensical to keep participating in an election process so flawed the “election is done” before the first ballot is even cast!

Still, the final decision to participate or to demand the reforms before the elections is for the people of Zimbabwe themselves to make. And so far, Zimbabwe’s opposition camp led by the main MDC faction parties, have participated in these flawed and illegal elections. By participating, the opposition have given legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF. What is really outrageous about all this is that the MDC leaders know all this!

“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” wrote David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.

“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”

This was just a feeble excuse for participating because four of the MDC factions did come to gather to form the MDC A before the 2018 elections. They  went on to participate in the elections for the reason reason they had participated in 2013 and had stopped them implementing even one reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU - greed. 

Zanu has offered a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate and MDC leaders have found the bait irresistible.

Make no mistake about it Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A are participating in the 2023 elections with no reforms in place! 

“NGIYABONGA…THANK YOU MATEBELELAND.THANK YOU ZIMBABWE. It has been a memorable tour and interface. You warmly welcomed us.

You spoke. We shared joy, ideas and wisdom. We listened and heard you. Citizens together can never be defeated. #siyanqoba #KangeneUjaha #CCC- Advocate Nelson Chamisa” said Nelson Chamisa on twitter. 

What SADC , EU and the rest of the international community must understand is that Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A and all those opposition opportunists participating in these flawed elections to give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy no longer truly represent the ordinary Zimbabweans. Chamisa and company sold out by failing to implement reforms and are selling outs now on the common cause of implementing reforms and free elections. 

The number one question SADC, EU, etc. must answer is how long are you going to continue to punish the ordinary Zimbabweans for the sins of MDC leaders?

"No individual can be bigger than Zimbabwe" Kasukuwere readily admit, now - "Terror the human form divine" W Blake N Garikai

Anyone who read the latest remarks from Zanu PF former Cabinet Minister Saviour Kasukuwere must have laughed their head off. What is the idiot wittering about, they must have asked themselves!

"People must unite and deal with common challenges. No individual can be bigger than Zimbabwe," Kasukuwere told NewsDay.

"It must never be about an individual or opposition, but it is about survival of the people of Zimbabwe.  Let us create conditions for a greater Zimbabwe and stability, greater peace and no one must be scared of their future in Zimbabwe. We must have hope.”

Here is the man who made a virtue of riding roughshod over the people of Zimbabwe denying them their basic freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life. Zanu PF murdered in cold blood over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans during Mugabe’s reign of terror for the sole purpose of creating and retaining the de facto one party state headed by Robert Mugabe. 

Kasukuwere, together with all the other Zanu PF thugs, played his party in creating and retaining the de facto one party dictatorship in which Mugabe was certainly “bigger” than Zanu PF, the party, which in turn was bigger than Zimbabwe, the nation. Mugabe only lost his top-dog position in the November 2017 military coup that booted Mugabe, Kasukuwere and a few other G40 members out of the party and, for some, out of the country.

"No individual is greater than the nation. We need to admit that and ask ourselves tough questions before we do the right thing. The rule of law and property rights should be protected.  We need a better country for every Zimbabwean," continued Kasukuwere.

What a hypocrite, he never ever asked any of these questions before and certainly did not cared about the rule of law and the heartbreaking suffering of the down trodden povo until now.  

Saviour Kasukuwere and his fellow G40 members were angry to find themselves being booted out of power by Mnangagwa and his Lacoste faction. The G40 members must have turned jet-black with envy when they saw the Zimbabwe public pouring out in the hundreds of thousands in support of the November coup. 

“People were desperate to see the back of Mugabe, they were relived to see it happen and did not care how it happened!” some one rationalised at the time. 

Desperate people do desperate things! 

It is exactly four years ago this month since the November 2017 military coup and already it is clear that none of the economic recovery and political changes the people had hoped for will happen. 

Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra that expected to open the floodgates of investors, for example; was a lead balloon that never took off. Investors are a shrewd and savvy lot; they could see the coup removed one dictator only to replace him with another whilst the dictatorship itself remained untouched. 

The disillusionment with Mnangagwa and his “new dispensation and Second Republic” has been total so that many now readily admit their euphoria four years ago was total misplace. They now call the 15 November 2017 “Dzungu Day!” (Madness Day!)

The mass disillusionment with Mnangagwa and has Lacoste faction has given G40 leaders hope that they too can present themselves to the nation as the country’s saviours. If the people were so desperate for change in November 2017 they failed to see the coup was giving them the same Zanu PF dictatorship or be it under new management, the same trick can be played on the people again! All Kasukuwere and company need to do put up a show, they care and have a human heart. 

Cruelty has a human heart, 

And Jealousy a human face, 

Terror the human form divine, 

And Secrecy the human dress. 

• William Blake English poet 1757 to 1827

"Zanu PF 2017 coup coalition has collapsed" hyena fights are fierce and furious, not for MDC jackals P Guramatunhu

 Zanu PF is a party of thugs who got into politics for the sake of securing political power, absolute power, and the influence and wealth it brings. They don’t care about anything or anyone else. 

Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies presented themselves to the nation as the champions fighting to end white colonial rule and securing freedom, justice and economic prosperity for all. This was but a necessary disguise, the wolf in a sheep coat. To the ordinary Zimbabwean, Zanu PF’s 41 year rule has been that of a wolf let loose amongst the helpless sheep. 

Shared power, influence and looted wealth is the glue that has held Zanu PF thugs together and stopping them fighting amongst themselves. Wealth is finite and with time the nation’s wealth started to dwindle, especially given the insatiable appetite and wastefulness of the Zanu PF thugs; with the glue gone, the infighting in Zanu PF has gone up through the gears this last decade. It is now overdrive!

“Zimbabwe's 2017 coup coalition collapses!” screamed the Bulawayo24/The News Hawk headline. 

“The fact that Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga is contemplating challenging President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the Zanu-PF presidency at the party's elective congress next year, while factions loyal to the two protagonists are slugging it out at various levels of the party, including at provincial and district levels, is testimony to the fact that the 2017 coup coalition has collapsed.

“Under the coup arrangement, Mnangagwa was meant to pass on the baton to Chiwenga in 2023, but no sooner had he assumed power than he started consolidating his grip by, among other tactics, purging Chiwenga's allies, with the aim of remaining at the helm, setting the stage for a power battle between the two gladiators.”

Robert Mugabe had manage to pacify the demanding but wasteful Zanu PF thugs by doling out loot hand over fist. He was lucky in that he inherited the Biblical seven fat cows and seven fat ears of corn from the Smith regime. When the wealth from Smith ran out in the late 1990s, Mugabe turned to the only other asset left - land. The seizure of the white owned farms to give, mainly, to party loyalists led to the collapse of the country’s once very productive agricultural sector and it took with it the economy. 

The Zimbabwe economy shrunk by a staggering 50% in the period 2000 to 2008 alone and it has never ever recovered to this day. 

So Mnangagwa and his coup plotter inherited one thin cow and one thin ear of corn from Mugabe following the November 2017 coup. It is no surprise the dog-eat-dog factional fighting that resulted in Joice Mujuru and her faction being booted out in 2014 and then Mugabe and his G40 in 2017 continued unabated after the coup.

Soon after the coup President Mnangagwa promised “new democratic dispensation, a Second Republic” and even promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. Some people believed him whole heartedly whilst a few expressed their doubts.

Would the coup plotters risk their lives in staging the coup to seize power only to risk losing it eight months later in free, fair and credible 2018 election! It should be noted too that the coup plotters were the ones who had blatantly rigged elections in the past to keep Mugabe in power; it is naive, to say the least, to expect them to give up these dictatorial powers now when rigging the elections would secure power for themselves. 

The sceptics were right; Mnangagwa and company blatantly rigged the 2018 elections and never even bothered to implement even one token democratic reform.

The dog-eat-dog infighting in Zanu PF today is proof, if proof was needed, that the party members are as hungry for absolute power now as ever before. There was no chance of Zanu holding free and fair elections in 2018 and nothing has changed on that front. 

The opposition’s participation in the 2023 elections is only tolerated by Zanu PF purely for the purpose of giving some modicum of credibility to the flawed and illegal electoral process and, by extension, giving legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF. The opposition are nothing more than jackals at a multi-clan hyena kill. Any foolhardy jackal caught between the kill and the circling hyena clan will provide a nice hors d’oeuvre.

For all their political posturing Nelson Chamisa and company are participating in these elections to win the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is giving away to entice the opposition to participate. As much as the people are desperate for real political change and a meaningful say in the governance of the country; that will never ever happen, not until the democratic reforms to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship are finally implemented. 

What is so, so annoying about Zimbabwe politics is that MDC leaders wasted the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and thus dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship once and once for all during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They failed to implement even one reform in five years! This was the nation’s get out of jail card and MDC failed to play it.

Worse still, MDC are the ones giving legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF regime by insisting on participating in these flawed elections when everyone else has been calling for reforms before elections. 

It was USA ambassador to Zimbabwe 2004 to 2007, Chris Dell, who said Morgan Tsvangirai was “a flawed and indecisive character who would become an albatross round the nation’s neck if he ever got into power!” Dell could have said the same of the MDC leadership and they have become the mile-stone dragging the nation into the crashing abyss. 

We still have the challenge of ending the Zanu PF dictatorship, now emboldened by the MDC blundering incompetence, but first must cut ourselves free the corrupt and utterly useless MDC who were elected to deliver change but are frustrating all efforts to bring change.

Zimbabwe is a prima facie failed state, incapable of self-governing - will we finally take the cure W Mukori

 “Blacks are incapable of self-governing!” was the standard justification for continued white colonial rule. Not many things said and done by the white supremacists got under my skin half as deep as that remark!

There was no deny that many African countries had gained their independence and, it must be said, not many had set a good example of self-government. Indeed the great majority of the nations who had gained their independence before Zimbabwe had made a dog’s breakfast of majority rule. 

So the white supremacists remark, blacks were incapable of self-rule, got deep into the marrow of my bones because there was a real fear it was true. And time has proven my fears where completely justified.

41 years after independence there is no deny that Zimbabwe has become the text-book case of failed state because of chronic poor human failure, inability to govern oneself. What has happened to Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector under this Zanu PF rule captures the essence of failed national leadership.

Before independence Zimbabwe produced enough food to feed its own people with plenty left over to be the bread basket of the region. The country also produced cash crops like tobacco, cut flowers and beef; earning the country a fortune in foreign currency. 

In 2000 Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF had sucked the life out of every other sector of the economy and so they turned to the only other asset left - land. The regime instituted a programme to seize farms from mainly white farmers to give them to party loyalists; the latter failed to maintain production and the agricultural sector completely collapse and with it the economy.

By 2005, Zimbabwe had lost her coveted bread basket title to become just another basket case failed state now dependent on imported foreign food aid to feed its people. With the economy in melt down we could not even afford to pay for the imported food!

So Zimbabweans are starving in a country that is, for all practical purpose, the Biblical Garden of Eden; a truly damning indictment on Zimbabwe’s leaders and the nation at large. 

So were the white supremacists right that Zimbabweans we are incapable of self-government! Well, so far there is clearly no denying we have fcuked up big time!

There are many, many reasons one can give why Zimbabwe is in this economic mess, with the economy in total melt down and millions of our people living in abject poverty. And political paralysis as neither the ruling party and many opposition parties have a clue how to get the nation out of the mess because they are all corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless. The economic failure and political paralysis stem from the nation’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. 

We started on the right footing, before independence the clarion call was “One man, one vote!” By the time the country gained her independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe and his cronies wanted absolute power and they realised the only sure way to get it was to deny the people a meaningful vote. 

Zanu PF made it clear that if the party did not win the 1980 elections, the bush war would continue. The people voted to end the bush war, not knowing they would not only lose a meaningful say in the governance of the country but with it their freedoms, all the other human rights and their economic rights too. 

“Seek ye first the political kingdom, and all else shall be added unto you”, said Ghana's first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah. He was right!

It took the people of Zimbabwe nearly 20 years for them to finally realise that the nation was stuck withe the corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship and will never be rid of regime as long as it retained the carte blanche dictatorial powers to rig elections. 

The people have risked life and limb, as we might well imagine Zanu PF was not going to give up absolute power without a fight, to elect the opposition to specifically implement the democratic changes, reforms, to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. Reforms to restore the individual freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful vote.

 The best opportunities to implement the reforms were during the 2008 to 2013 GNU; the SADC sponsored 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) forced Mugabe to agree to the implementation of of a raft of democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship. 

The task of implementing the reforms were left to Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC colleagues in the GNU. Sadly, MDC leaders failed to implement even one token reform in five years. 

The people of Zimbabwe had risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power for the purpose of implementing the democratic changes, as the party name implied. Sadly, the taste of power made MDC leaders forget their obligation to the people to deliver change just as Zanu PF had done in 1980. 

“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidza kudya anyerere!” (MDC leaders have learned to enjoy the spoils of power quietly, they will not rock the boat!) boasted Zanu PF cronies when asked why MDC leaders were not implement the reforms during the GNU.

To be fair to the SADC leaders, they did try to have the 2013 elections postponed until the democratic reforms were implemented. “If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done!” SADC leaders had warned Tsvangirai and company.

The warning was a waste of time, as we know. Tsvangirai and company participated in the 2013 elections and, as expected, Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig the elections. And, most important of all, by participating MDC leaders gave credibility to the flawed and illegal elections process and thus, by extension, gave legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF.

MDC leaders learned nothing from their blunder of participating in the 2013 elections with no reforms in place as they repeated the blunder and participated in the 2018 elections with not even one token reform in place. 

Indeed, MDC leaders are set to participate in the 2023 elections with no reforms for the same reasons they participated in past and failed to implement any reforms during the GNU - greed and incompetence. 

So if Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies had honoured the “One man, one vote!” promise Zimbabwe would have been save the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. Still, we would have cured ourselves of the curse if Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC fiends had implemented the democratic reforms. 

Where are we, exactly? 

We are still stuck with the Zanu PF dictatorship which still enjoys the carte blanche powers to rig elections, as we had before the 2008 to 2013 GNU, with the subtle difference that de facto one party dictatorship is now thinly disguised multi-party democracy. Zanu PF has given up a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate in the elections regardless how flawed the process got. 

We started with a Zanu PF dictatorship; it is still there. We risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders to dismantle the dictatorship; they not only failed but, worse still, they are now perpetuating the dictatorship by participating in flawed elections giving it legitimacy. 

We are where we are! What can we do now to cure ourselves of this curse of rigged elections and bad governance?

We cannot stop Zanu PF, as the government of the day, going ahead with the 2023 elections even with not even a token reform in place. It is as clear as day that Zanu PF is rigging these elections. 

Zanu PF will be offering the usual few gravy train seats plus the POLAD perks to entice the opposition to participate in the 2023 elections. No doubt, the usual opposition opportunists will participate. 

What we, the people of Zimbabwe, must do is make sure these elections are seen by all with eyes to see for what they really are - 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 Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” stated the EU 2018 Zimbabwe Observer Mission Final Report. 

“As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.”

SADC’s observer mission concluded the 2018 elections were “substantially free, fair and credible”. No doubt SADC observers were using a one foot long yard stick. This time, SADC observers, especially those nations that have successful held free and fair elections, will be expected to use the same international accepted three-foot yard stick standard!  

Of course, it is insane to keep participating in flawed and illegal elections expecting a different result, especially after 41 years of rigged elections. 

If the 2023 elections go ahead with no meaningful reforms in place, then the process must be declared null and void. The declaration will mean the need to appoint an interim administration as happened in 2008 only this time measures will be taken to ensure the democratic reforms are fully implemented and the nation finally cured of the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. 

Zimbabwe is prima facie failed state, a nation incapable of self-governing, because we have failed to hold free, fair and credible elections. The cure is - implement the democratic reforms and hold free and fair elections.