"Panicky Zanu PF deploy riot Police" - with no reforms and no economic recovery, civil unrest is inevitable P Guramatunhu

 “Emmerson Mnangagwa’s panicky administration has deployed hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, in Harare amid fears of an imminent uprising, it has emerged,” reported Zimeye.

“Security sector sources revealed that in addition to the cops, who have maintained a heavy presence in Harare’s central business district (CBD) for over a week, the government has also secretly deployed significant numbers of undercover agents, mainly from the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to gather intelligence.

“The deployment comes at a time the governing party, Zanu PF, has been spooked by MDC Alliance Nelson Chamisa’s trailblazing nationwide campaign which it has sought to violently thwart.

“It also comes amid a general apprehension occasioned by growing discontentment over worsening economic problems.”

It is ironic that the one of justifications for the November 2017 military coup that toppled Robert Mugabe was to end the economic meltdown and avert the threat of social unrest to protest economic hardships. 

It is four years this month since the November 2017 coup and the economic recovery has not materialised. Mnangagwa’s much heralded “Zimbabwe is open for business!” has failed to attract the flood of investors because by the country is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs.  

MDC leaders have failed to implement even one democratic reform to stop the vote rigging when they had the golden opportunity to do so during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. And since the GNU debacle, they have participated in the flawed and illegal elections for the sake of the few gravy train seats Zanu PF has gave away as bribe. Zanu PF needs the opposition to participate to give the rigged election process some credibility and, by extension, give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. 

MDC leaders have known they cannot win rigged elections and have banked on the people staging street protests to vent their frustration over rigged elections and/or worsening economic hardship and finally boot Zanu PF out of office. Zanu PF knows this is the only real threat to end the regime’s iron grip on power hence the reason regime is always on the edge ready to  ruthlessly crash all civil unrest, peaceful or otherwise. 

Last week the regime rounded up war veterans, many of them in the 60s and some could hardly walk let alone throw a stone at the regime. They were voicing their anger over government’s repeated failure to increase the pension. They receive a pittance US$ 90 per month in a country whose PDL is US$ 650 per month! 

The triple tragedy with MDC’s street protest strategy are:

1. If MDC had not sold-out and remained focused and implementing the democratic reforms, Zimbabwe would have had free, fair and credible elections by 2013 at the lasted and out of this mess. As it is we are still stuck with Zanu PF and it could be many more moons before the long awaited street protests finally happen.

1. Street protests are going to be a violent confrontation, the people, MDC and Zanu PF know that; there will be lost property, broken limbs and lost lives. It is sobering thought that this would have been avoided if only MDC had implemented the reforms.

1. The street protest will, no doubt, deliver some political change but not necessarily all the democratic changes the nation wants and so the nation will end up with a weak political system that will deliver mediocre government for generations to come. At worst, the street protests may mark the beginning of endless national fragmentation and infighting as has happen in Libya.

It is disheartening to note that SADC, EU, USA and anyone with democratic sense have all argued for the reforms to be implemented BEFORE elections. 

It is the MDC leaders who have insisted in participating in the flawed elections under the pretence the opposition have devised “winning in rigged elections (wire) strategies”. The people of Zimbabwe have believed this nonsense time and time again even after 42 years of rigged elections. 

One thing is certain Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is taking a heavy toll on the nation with unemployment a soaring 90%, basic services such as education and health care all but collapse, 49% and rising of the population now live in abject poverty. 

The situation cannot continue and, by refusing to implement democratic reforms, the only other way to deliver change is violence civil unrest and/or another military coup. 

We are sleep walking into yet another violent revolution whose outcome is anyone’s guess!