There is light at the end of tunnel but only if we finally see the futility of participating in flawed elections. W Mukori

 

As 2022 draws to a close and 2023 dawns, I am hopeful this will be the dawn of real change and not just another the false dawn.

Let’s face it, Zimbabwe has blundered from pillar to post these last 42 years, forever sinking deeper and deeper into this economic mess and political paralysis of our own making. The proverbial quote of hope and encouragement “the darkest hour cometh before dawn” has lost meaning because we have had one false dawn after another.

The nation’s hope for freedom, liberty and human dignity which the 1980 independence was supposed to bring was a great disappointment. Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies, the nation’s liberation war heroes, wanted to secure absolute power for themselves and did not care they were riding roughshod over the people denying them their freedoms, human rights and dignity.

Zanu PF rigged the nation’s first elections in 1980; the people were told in no uncertain terms that if the party did not win the bush war would continue. The people voted to end the war. Three years later, in 1983, Zanu PF launched the Gukurahundi Massacre, the darkest period in the country’s history, whose primary purpose was to force PF Zapu, to join Zanu PF to create a de facto one-party state. Mugabe got his wish in with the signing of the Zanu PF and PF Zapu Unity Accord in December 1987.

Zanu PF has imposed the de facto one-party dictatorship under the pretext the multiparty democracy and free and fair elections were a threat to peace and unity. And so the nation has been stuck for 42 years and counting with this corrupt, tyrannical Zanu PF government that has rigged elections to stay in power.

The country used to pride itself as the breadbasket of the region because it produced enough food to not only feed its people but with surplus to feed millions of others. The country’s agricultural sector collapsed with the seizure of white owned farms to give to Zanu PF ruling elite, most. And ever since, the nation has relied on food aid; we had become so impoverish we could not even pay for it.

Zimbabwe such good soil and favourable weather conditions someone once said, “you can plant a broomstick and harvest fruit!” Yet we are starving in the Garden of Eden. A damning testimonial to the country’s failed leadership.

Four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left the country’s economy in ruins. Unemployment has soared to 80% plus, basic services such as education and health care have all but collapsed and 50% of the people now live in abject poverty.

Talk of the darkest hour, the nation is in the middle of the worst power cuts. The 6 hours plus per day ZESA loadshedding of the last decade have now been extended to 18 hours plus.

The second false dawn came with the election of Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends. The people have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders on the understanding the party would implement the required democratic reforms to restore the individual freedoms and rights and end the Zanu PF dictatorship. Alas! MDC has failed to implement even one reform in 22 years including 5 in the GNU.

Mugabe bribed the MDC leaders with the trappings of high office and the rest, as one would say, is history.

Indeed, MDC leaders not only sold-out by failing to implement even one reform these last 22 years but worse still, ever since the GNU debacle they have participated in flawed and illegal elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy in return for a few gravy train seats.

 Zanu PF is set to rig the 2023 elections and by the same token CCC (rebranded MDC) will participate to give Zanu PF legitimacy. Where is the light at the end of this dark tunnel, you might well ask! Well bear with me.

It has been variously said that Reinhold Neibuhr himself denied writing it, and credited Friedrich Oetinger, an 18th century theologian, with its authorship; or that it was actually written in 500 A.D. by a philosopher named Boethius who was martyred for the Christian Faith. 

Both of these theories have since been discredited, and it does now appear that the Theologian Reinhold Neibuhr was the actual author (he also did in fact claim credit for it).  Niebuhr was a major influence on the German Pastor and Nazi resister, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr

It took the people of Zimbabwe nearly 20 years before they finally accepted the political reality that Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies were corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs; even when presented with the mountain of Gukurahundi Massacre evidence. The people have been equally slow in accepting MDC leaders are corrupt and incompetent even with the evidence the party has failed to implement even one reform in 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU.

Still, 10 years since the end of the GNU, there is growing evidence to show the penny has finally dropped, people are now questioning Chamisa and company’s greed and incompetence in failing to implement reforms. And question the sheer futility participating in elections so flawed there is no a verified voters’ roll, Zanu PF is denying 3 million or 37% of the potential voters, etc.

So, it took 20 years for Zimbabweans to finally accept the Zanu PF liberation war heroes were in fact corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and ruthless thugs. It has taken another 22 years for the people to accept that the MDC leaders they elected to implement the democratic reforms to end the Zanu PF dictatorships are themselves corrupt and incompetent.

The ideal solution for Zimbabwe is to implement the reforms before holding the elections. It is unrealistic to implement reforms now before the July 2023 elections; there is no time. We cannot get Zanu PF, as the government of the day, to postpone the elections. Even if we did; to what end and purpose since we will never get Zanu PF to implement the reforms too. Zanu PF will never reform itself out of office.

Zimbabwe is at a T junction we must now choose to participate, hoping against reason, that CCC’s “Winning In Rigged Elections (WIRE) strategies will finally deliver a different result that 42 years of rigged elections have failed to deliver. If the strategies fail again, it will be too late to denounce the process and challenge the legitimacy of the winner! We have travelled down this route, and will be insane to do yet again, especially after 42 years of rigged elections.

The alternative is to demand reforms and free and fair elections as the only basis for elections. WIRE is an oxymoron granting Zanu PF carte blanche powers to rig elections whilst denying the people their inalienable right to free and fair elections.

We cannot stop Zanu PF going ahead with these flawed and illegal 2023 elections nor can we stop CCC participating.

However, what we can and must do is to discourage as many Zimbabweans as possible from participating; the rural voters usually subjected to Zanu PF coercive measures leaving them with no choice but to participate. have no choice in the matter as they are coerced. And, most important of all, we must remind everyone, especially SADC, of just how flawed and illegal the electoral process is and the absurdity of granting the victor of such a process political legitimacy.

We have failed to get the democratic reforms implemented before the 2023 elections are held, we must now do the next best thing – ensure that vote rigging Zanu PF does not get legitimacy and thus get away with the rigging yet again.

In 2023 pray, God grant Zimbabweans the wisdom to finally see the futility of participating in flawed elections, so flawed there is not even something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, only to give Zanu PF legitimacy and to perpetuate their own suffering!