Yes, Zimbabwe is heading for yet another rigged elections. Zanu PF has
learned the lessons from the past and by putting these into practice, the party
is hoping to get political legitimacy from SADC and AU and thus get away with
the rigging.
Zanu PF was forced to sign the 2008 Global Political Agreement,
accepting the need for implementing the democratic reforms designed to
dismantle the carte blanche dictatorial powers that had kept the party in power
since independence in 1980. And to accept to share power with MDC in the 2008
to 2013 GNU.
Zanu PF expected SADC and the AU to turn a blind eye to the cheating and
wanton violence of the 2008 elections as the regional and continental bodies
had done in the past. Of course Mugabe was shocked that they not only refused
to grant him legitimacy but had the audacity to impose the GPA on him knowing
fully well that if implemented that would end his Zanu PF dictatorship.
Mugabe learned three important lessons during the GNU:
1) That the days of the
de facto one-party state were over and so he embraced the concept of Zimbabwe
as a multi-party democracy. And so, whilst Zanu PF has done everything in its
power to retain and benefit from the exercise of its dictatorial powers it has
been extra careful to maintain the new multi-party façade.
2) Even as he signed the
2008 GPA, agreeing to the democratic reforms, Mugabe must have been hatching
schemes to make sure as few as possible meaningful reforms ever see the light
of day. Of course, he was pleasantly surprised that not even one meaningful
reform was implemented in the five years of the GNU. Morgan Tsvangirai and his
MDC colleagues turned out to be corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent. He
bribed them with the trappings of high office and the rest is history!
3) Mugabe learned, and
so too has Mnangagwa after him, that he can cheat and use wanton violence to
retain absolute power as long as he gives up the sweeteners to guarantee
MDC/CCC participation in the elections no matter how flawed the process got.
Mnangagwa has learned that lesson so well he has even created POLAD to reward
losing elections candidates.
Nelson Chamisa and his CCC friends are hell bent on participating in
these elections regardless of the mounting evidence the process is flawed. CCC’s
repeated claims of having winning in rigged election strategies have fooled
some in the past but not this time. The truth is CCC are hell bent on
participating in these elections out of greed, a fact first admitted by David
Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in
Zimbabwe.
“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,”
confessed Coltart.
“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.”
So SADC granted Zanu PF political legitimacy in 2013 and then again in
2018 rigged elections on the basis MDC’s participation. Now that there is irrefutable
evidence MDC/CCC is participating in these flawed elections out of greed, there
will be no finger behind which SADC can hide.
CCC has lost political credibility so how their participation give the
2023 election process credibility and Zanu PF political legitimacy?
Ever since the 2008 GNU, Zanu PF has had to perform a very delict
balancing act; continue to blatantly rig the elections as the only sure way the
party would retain its iron grip on absolute power, on the one hand. On the other
hand down play its dictatorial practices, even prop up the opposition, to keep
the appearance Zimbabwe is a healthy and functioning democracy.
Zimbabwe was a de facto one-party dictatorship before the 2008 GNU. Zanu
PF emerged at the end of the GNU in 2013 with all its dictatorial powers intact
with just the de facto one-party state persona replaced with multi-party state façade.
The November 2017 military coup gave Mnangagwa a chance to promote Zanu
PF’s transformation from a one-party dictatorship to a multi-party democracy.
He renamed the country a Second Republic, new dispensation and he even promised
to hold free and fair elections. All lies of course, he blatantly rigged the
2018 elections just as he is blatantly rigging the 2023 elections.
Well, Zanu PF’s high stakes balancing act is now over. MDC/CCC has been
exposed as a discredited opposition party that failed to implement even one
reform in 23 years, 5 of which in the GNU and is hell bent on participating in
flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed.
The truth of Zanu PF as a de facto one-party dictatorship masquerading as
multi-party democracy with the help of the corrupt and incompetent MDC/CCC sell
outs was bound to come out. And now that it in out, the gene is out of the
bottle, it cannot be put back.
“Renemanyanga hariputirwi!” as one would say in Shona!
15 comments:
In the wake of disputed polls marred by violence, Zimbabweans have often looked up to SADC to use its own statutes to police its delinquent member country.
Article 4 of the 1992 Windhoek Treaty states that "human rights, democracy, and the rule of law" are principles that guide the actions of its members.
Similarly, Article 5 commits member states to "consolidate, defend, and maintain democracy, peace, security, and stability" in the region.
Last weekend, regional leaders convened in Windhoek, Namibia, for the SADC extraordinary Troika Summit, which addresses regional security crises
In an interview, Mandaza said the coming in of the Zambian leader will not result in any shift from SADC's lukewarm policy towards the cycle Zimbabwe's contested elections.
He said SADC is "historically and politically constrained from playing the kind of role especially that of an interventionist kind in the affairs of a fellow member state that is expected of it".
"It is essentially an interstate organization, and therefore statist in orientation, almost impervious to and unable to deal with crises," he said.
"Therefore, it's unlikely that Hakainde Hichilema will dare act beyond the usual that has been expected of a member of SADC ever since its inception in April 1980. It would be good if he surprised us though."
SADC did act in 2008 following the cheating and wanton violence by Zanu PF, it was SADC who forced Zanu PF to sign the 2008 Global Political Agreement agreeing to a raft of democratic reforms. We all know that it was MDC leaders’ fault not even one reform was implemented in five years. Credit where credit is due!
SADC is on record asking Zimbabwe’s 2013 election to be postponed until reforms are implemented. The told Tsvangirai and the MDC banded mongooses to their faces “If you go into the elections next month, you will lose. The elections are done!” The banded mongooses paid no heed and SADC granted Zanu PF legitimacy in disgust at the MDC leaders’ betrayal and incompetence.
Zanu PF is blatantly rigging the 2023 elections and dragging the whole nation and the region into the abyss. SADC leaders have a clear choice to either call a spade a spade and refuse to endorse another rigged Zanu PF election. Or grant Zanu PF legitimacy under the pretext they are punishing MDC/CCC leaders. Punish the people of Zimbabwe and the whole region just to get at the banded mongooses! Of course, that is stupid!
The sponsors: Robert Chapman formed his own party after being denied the CCC presidency as per our 2018 agreement. Jonathan Moyo, Mandi Chimene and Patrick Zhuwawo rejoined Zanu Pf after realizing this was only child's play. Grace Mugabe simply vanished after RGM's death.
Kasukuwere and Walter Mzembi now have their own presidential aspirations rather funding the warring CCC cult. The Open Society foundation of George Soros withdrew its funding when Chamisa lost the supreme court ruling of 2020
Lastly the USAID and the National Endowment For Democracy openly announced the withdrawal of funding to the CCC and over 200 of its affiliates(NGOs) following the PVO amendments recently passed by the government
MDC lost many of its donors after the 2013 elections when it was clear the party had failed to implement even one token reform in 5 years of the GNU.
Still, Zanu PF is desperate for legitimacy, Chamisa knows that Mnangagwa will bankroll CCC just for the sake of keeping the façade Zimbabwe is a multi-party democracy. With Zanu PF blatantly rigging the 2023 elections, Mnangagwa increase the allowances of MPs by the US$ 40 000 just to whet the opposition’s appetites, Zanu PF’s legitimacy is at stake now more than ever.
Team Pachedu condemns ZEC delimitation report.
Zanu PF is rigging 2023 elections and the evidence of that is mountain high and yet CCC is ignoring the evidence under the pretext they have "winning in rigged election" strategies. CCC are participating in these flawed elections giving Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed and it is insane to allow this madness to continue!
When SADC leaders realised that not even one democratic reform had been implemented in the 5 years of the GNU, they asked for the 2013 elections to be postponed until reforms are implemented. “If you go into the elections next month, you will lose. The elections are done!” they warned Morgan Tsvangirai and his banded mongoose MDC friends. The banded mongooses ignored the warning as we know and SADC leaders made one of the most dramatic volte-face in the regional body’s history. They endorsed the rigged elections and granted Zanu PF political legitimacy.
“If the people of Zimbabwe are happy participating in flawed and illegal elections, what business is it of SADC to stop them!” many argued. The banded mongooses were assumed to represent the people of Zimbabwe.
Well now that we know MDC/CCC are corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless, with not an iota of political credibility, what excuse will SADC leaders give for granting vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. How can an election in which there is not even something as basic as a verified voters’ roll be a credible, free and fair process?
No doubt, these elections will be an opportunity for leaders like President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia to show the true metal of his democratic credentials were not just a flash in the pan!
@ Chicken Breast
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, voting expecting the opposition to win when they failed to do so even with 73% of the votes. Only a village idiot would believe CCC’s nonsensical of winning in rigged elections strategies. Their flagship strategy of mass voter registration is DEAD IN THE WATER. As of 30 May 2022, ZEC had registered ¼ million new voters or 4% of its own target 6 million.
You can bury your head in Chamisa’s back side and participate in these flawed elections only to give Zanu PF legitimacy and for Chamisa and company to get their reward of the few gravy train seats. It is the consequences of your insanity, another five more years of this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime, that am I concerned about. After 43 years of this madness it would treasonous to left VIs like you do as they please!
I cannot stop Chamisa and you participating in the flawed elections but I will see to it that everyone knows he is doing it out of greed and you out of sheer stupidity!
@ Wakurawarerwa
“You can't stop elections in a nation with 100 opposition parties. That's not an option.”
Elections must be free, fair and credible, if the process has been reduced to a mockery in which getting 73% of the votes is not good enough to win then it is pointless participating. The reason why Chamisa and company will never boycott the Zimbabwe elections is because they are after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is offering as bait. CCC do not care that the elections are rigged as long as the bait seats are assured!
MDC leaders failed to implement even one reform during the GNU, when they had the golden opportunity to do so because Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office. There were no 100 opposition parties then!
CCC deputy spokesperson Felix Magalela Sibanda told NewsDay that instead, the opposition, led by Nelson Chamisa, will have a convergence at different levels to allow its members to decide who will represent them in the forthcoming elections.
"We are not going to have primary elections, candidates will be selected by local people in that constituency or ward. We are going to have a convergence where local people are going to choose their representatives. We are going to call everybody who believes in the rules of the CCC, so that they select their suitable leaders through consensus. The local leaders won't be imposed by external forces," he said.
However, Sibanda said the party had not released any template for aspiring candidates.
"The party has not released the actual guidelines. So all those people who are campaigning, I wonder if they are CCC members because our members are disciplined," he said.
There will be no primary elections to elect candidate but “convergence” and no one knows yet what that entail! This is not surprising; confusion is at the heart of everything CCC does. One of the Cs in the party’s name should stand for Confusion!
One thing is clear the dog-eat-dog fight to be party candidate will be fierce, ruthless and dirty. Mnangagwa’s generous bonus of US$40 000 housing loan, over and above the generous salary and allowances for MPs, has whetted the appetites of many people. None of these opposition candidates are even concerned about the mounting evidence that Zanu PF is rigging the elections. They know that and don’t care as long as they become one of the few opposition candidate who win the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is giving away to entice the opposition to participate.
Implementing the reforms to ensure free and fair elections is the prerequisite for ending the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. MDC/CCC leaders have all but forgotten about the reforms in pursuit of the bribes Zanu PF offered during the GNU and now for participating in flawed elections. With the country in total economic meltdown after decades of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship that has 49% of our people now living in abject poverty; Zimbabwe cannot afford another rigged elections and five more years of this madness.
The opposition participation must be exposed for what it is – a sell-out out of greed. CCC has no political credibility and therefore a discredited opposition cannot give credibility to this flawed election nor give legitimacy to vote rigging Zanu PF! This argument must be forcefully made especially to SADC leaders who have granted Zanu PF legitimacy in the past on the basis of opposition participation.
@ Daily Maverick
While switching support in substantial numbers away from Zanu-PF, many voters expressed concern about whether the election would be free and fair. Some 47% of voters believe the 2023 election will not be free and fair compared with just 38% who say it will be. “Cheating in the counting process” was cited as the biggest threat to a free and fair election (41%), with “the government abusing its power” cited by 29% and “security force violence” cited by 21%.
The survey also showed that Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party is set to win the parliamentary election, outperforming Zanu-PF, which has held power for 43 years since independence in 1980.
When asked, “Thinking ahead to the next general election, which party will you cast your vote for?”, 52% said they would vote for the CCC, while only 40% said Zanu-PF.
The survey makes interesting reading but otherwise is totally irrelevant because it ignored the political reality that elections in Zimbabwe are not free, fair and credible. The nearest the country came to holding free elections was in the March 2008 vote when Morgan Tsvangirai garnered 73% of the votes, according to Mugabe’s Freudian slip. The Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut which had been switched off until the vote count was quickly switched back on to stop the results being announced.
The party then went on to recount the votes and after six weeks Tsvangirai’s 73% was whittled down to 47%, enough to force the run off. During the run off Zanu PF used wanton violence to punish the voters for having rejected the party is the earlier vote. The voters got the message and voted for Mugabe giving him a 84% landslide victory.
The primary purpose of the 2008 to 2013 SADC sponsored Government of National Unity was to implement the democratic reforms to stop a repeat of the 2008 cheating and wanton violence. Sadly, not even one meaningful reform was implemented during the GNU or since.
Zimbabwe Election Commission has just produced the delimitation report and has continued to stubbornly refuse to produce a verified voters’ roll, for example. Zimbabwe has never ever produced a verified voters’ roll. Never! How can we hold free and fair elections without a verified voters’ roll!
The Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut was back switched on in March 2008 and has never been turned off ever since. Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections. Yes, Chamisa would win the elections with 52% of the vote if the elections were free and fair. The elections are NOT free and fair!
@ Brett
The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect MDC/CCC leaders on the belief they would implement democratic changes. After 23 years, 5 of which in the GNU, they have not implemented even one reform. Since the GNU debacle, they have but given up on reforms and they are now insisting on participating in flawed elections claiming they have winning in rigged elections (WIRE) strategies. They are undermining SADC, EU, Commonwealth and all those calling for reforms before elections.
Of course, Chamisa and company know the sold out during the GNU and their so-called WIRE strategies are just hot air. They have implemented no reforms and are keeping Zanu PF in power because there are content will a share of the spoils of power. Some of the smarter leaders like Tendai Biti and David Coltart have admitted to the folly of participating in these flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy.
The problem is with us ordinary Zimbabweans, we have been painfully slow in opening our eyes and minds to see and comprehend MDC/CCC leaders for the corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless individuals they are. We have amongst us some shallow, thick and real stupid people who think political leaders are Gods who must not be questioned much less held to account for anything. These are the village idiots who have held the nation back. Thank God the VIs are now being silenced allowing the rest to open their eyes and minds!
Rinemanyanga hariputirwi!
CCC’s political credibility is being questioned like never before. A discredited opposition cannot give these elections credibility nor give Zanu PF legitimacy! Change is coming! Watch this space!
"Zimbabwe, like Rhodesia before it has reached a ‘Lancaster House' moment, a point at which there is no possible solution without coherent regional and international action," reads an analysis by academics Ibbo Mandaza and Tony Reeler, co-conveners of the Platform for Concerned Citizens.
"Of course, Zimbabwe isn't in the middle of a civil war, but its political polarisation is so entrenched that negotiation is the only way forward, and that will require mediation of a serious and sustained kind. President Emmerson's political actor's dialogue isn't taken seriously by credible opposition politicians."
I too would join Ostallos Siziba in the dismissive; "Mwonzora is on something strong." Mwonzora does not understand that it is not for those in power today to abandon the constitutional obligation of holding the elections in favour of a GNU. The 2008 GNU came about because the 2008 elections had failed to produce a legitimate government because the process was flawed and illegal.
If the present election process too fail to produce a legitimate government, the process is still flawed and illegal since no meaningful reforms were implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, there will certainly be the need for a new GNU.
However, Mwonzora and his colleagues in both CCC and Zanu PF can be certain of one thing, they will play no role in the new GNU. They failed to implement even one reform during the last GNU, of course, it would be insane to have them involved again! This would be the fourth bite of the cherry; if one counts the 1980, 2008 and the 2017 chances; and reset the country’s political system. This time we must get it right; no if not but!
A faction allegedly aligned to the Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is said to be on cloud nine amid reports that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to gazette the new electoral boundaries in the next 14 days following submission of the final report by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chair Justice Priscila Chigumba recently.
This is a typical Zanu PF diversionary tactic. The regime is making a mountain out of a molehill of how the delimitation process has favoured one Zanu PF faction over the other. The real big issue here is that the delimitation was carried out without a verified voters’ roll. The regime does not want this discussed and so it creates an alternative but fictious and irrelevant narrative!
Zimbabwe should not be holding these elections without something as basic as a verified voters' roll. This insanity must be stopped! 2023 must be the last rigged elections!
Results of a British organisation survey of Zimbabwean voters show that Nelson Chamisa will defeat the incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, obtaining an outright majority of votes in elections scheduled for later this year.
The survey was conducted for The Brenthurst Foundation by the London-based SABI Strategy Group, which is not affiliated with a Zimbabwean party. The survey, conducted in January using an in-depth 15-minute questionnaire, shows Chamisa would win 53% of the vote to Mnangagwa's 40% among those who say they will definitely vote.
The result is more evidence of the sliding dominance of "liberation" parties as economic growth in the region lags behind the rest of the developing world - and much of Africa.
If this survey was done before the March 2008 vote, it would have given MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai 73% of the votes but, as we all should know by now, that was not good enough to give him the keys to State House. The Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut, which had been switched off up to voting day, was quickly switched back on to stop the results being announce and then to conduct the wanton violence to secure the 84% for Mugabe in the run-off.
Attempts to have the vote rigging juggernaut dismantled during the 2008 to 2013 GNU failed to get even one token reform implemented because MDC leaders sold out. The vote rigging juggernaut is still switched on. Zanu PF is rigging these elections just as it rigged the 2008 elections.
The regime has failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, has denied 3 million in the diaspora or 37% of the potential voters the vote, etc. How can the elections be free and fair when one side cherry picks the voters, etc.
This survey is utterly meaningless because it is not founded on the political realities but cloud cuckoo land!
@ Chitando
"Mnangagwa is totally out of touch with reality. He still believe that hungry, jobless and hopeless voters are gullible to vote a failure like him.!!!! "
He knows that only too well and hence the reason he has a very well-oiled, well-funded, vote rigging juggernaut. Zanu PF has been rigging elections for decades and it is the village idiots who are conned by people like you into believing CCC has winning in rigged elections strategies.
Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections and CCC is participating to give Zanu PF legitimacy for the sake of a few gravy train seats. The challenge is to make sure the gullible voters open their eyes and see they are being taken for fools!
@ Hungwe
SADC refused to recognise Zanu PF legitimacy in 2008 and they asked MDC to boycott 2013 elections until reforms are implemented. It is therefore nonsense to say SADC will have granted Zanu PF legitimacy if MDC had boycotted the 2013 elections.
What VIs like you are refusing to accept is that MDC not only sold out by failing to implement reforms but are selling out now by participating in flawed elections giving the regime legitimacy for the same reason – greed. You can bury your head in Chamisa’s back side all you want that will not change the reality that by participating you are perpetuating the Zanu PF dictatorship!
President Mnangagwa has today been presented with a Presidential Villa by his counterpart President Teodore Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.
Named Villa Zimbabwe, the property, which is fully furnished, is reserved and will only be used by the Zimbabwe President whenever he visits the West African country.
Zimbabwe Ambassador to Nigeria, Maxwell Ranga, who also covers Equatorial Guinea, said the Villa signifies the cordial relations between the two nations.
President Mnangagwa toured the Villa, which has a full staff compliment.
When you are a dictator you always live in fear of losing power especially when the country you are ruling with an iron fist is in total economic meltdown and the people are desperate for change. It is wise then to have a few bolt holes and hiding places! No doubt Mnangagwa will be sending a few emissaries to make sure the larder in the Villa is well stocked with gold, diamonds and other valuables to guarantee a comfortable lifestyle if he or any of his family members should ever have to call this home!
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