"Mnangagwa is being pulled down by corruption" - feeble excuse, he has failed and must fcuk off! P Guramatunhu

Zimbabwe is facing very serious economic and political challenges. The country’s economy is in total meltdown sending unemployment to the nauseating heights of 90%, basic necessities such as supply of water and electricity are erratic, hospitals and schools have all but closed, etc. Poverty, hopelessness and despair rules the roost!

Zimbabwe’s economic decline has been a slow, “steady she goes”, 40 long years descend into the abyss. 

It took nearly 20 years for Zimbabweans to finally wake up to the reality that Robert Mugabe’s mass prosperity, “Gutsa ruzhinji!” as he never seemed to tire of telling nation; was turning into mass poverty. The people realised that to stop the economic rot, they will have to remove Zanu PF from office. And to do that, they needed to carry out a raft of democratic changes to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections.

There are many reasons why the nation has failed to end the Zanu PF dictatorship, it has lasted 40 years and counting; one of the reasons is the failure to produce a rational narrative of how to end the dictatorship. Some people have said one thing, some said the other and yet others said something totally different. Indeed it is quite common to for some of the so called political analyst to contradict themselves in the same article and even same sentence! 

“But Zimbabwe is the only country we can call ours in the whole world. We therefore need to come together regardless of our political divides. Zimbabwe now needs people to pull together,” wrote Dr Mavaza in his latest contribution in Bulawayo 24.

He is just repeating the same foolish argument Zanu PF has rammed down the nation’s throat all these last 40 years. 

Mugabe waged the Gukurahundi massacre to force his chief political challenger, Dr Joshua Nkomo and his PF Zapu to sign the 1987 Unity Accord to create the de facto one-party, Zanu PF, dictatorship which has ruled the nation with an iron fist to this day. Zanu PF’s political dominance has been such that the party has been able to do as it pleased and so the talk of “coming together regardless of our political divides” is totally meaningless. 

Zanu PF has a 2/3 majority in parliament and there is absolutely nothing that the party has failed to do because needed support from the opposition and it did not get it. Nothing. 

Indeed the de facto one-party dictatorship was ruthlessly imposed on the nation; the principle goal of Gukurahundi massacre, that left over 20 000 died, was to either wipe out PF Zapu or force the party to join Zanu PF; and was ruthlessly maintained, over 10 000 more innocent civilians have been murdered since 1987. “To ensure national unity for peace and development!” the nation was told. 

So the very fact that Zanu PF has managed to stay in power for 40 years since independence as the only dominant political power in the country is proof, if proof was ever required, that Zimbabwe is a one-party state with the monolithic Zanu PF dominating the political stage. 

The fact that Zanu PF has failed to deliver the peace, justice, freedom, liberty, economic prosperity, etc. was not because the party faced political competition. Indeed Zanu PF was doomed to be fail delivering on any of the people’s aspiration precisely because to create the dictatorship Zanu PF denied the people their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country. 

Having usurped the people’s right to hold Mugabe and his cronies to account it was no surprise that corruption mismanagement and lawlessness because rampant in Zanu PF. The political rot had set in and it soon spread like cancer with the disastrous consequences we see today. 

Of course, it is nonsense for anyone to be suggesting that the cure to Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is political unity, the very thing that caused the economic and political chaos in the first place!

“There is a lot of sacred cows within those in power. The efforts of president Mnangagwa are being pulled down by corruption in the economic sector.” continued Dr Mavaza.

He did hit the right note in the first sentence; there are certainly many sacred cows in Zimbabwe politics. People like Mnangagwa has stayed in power for 40 years and counting, although they have nothing to show for any of those years in power. Nothing!

They are indeed the untouchable sacred cows of Zimbabwe politics but only because they are able to blatantly rig the elections. 

Of course, one has to dismisses Dr Mavaza’s feeble excuse as to why Mnangagwa has failed to revive the country’s economy with the contempt it rightly deserves. Why has he allowed himself to be “pulled down by corruption” especially when he had promised “zero tolerance on corruption”! 

Besides, the people of Zimbabwe never believed Mnangagwa was ever going to revive the country’s economic fortunes and hence the reason Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 elections as the only sure way the party would remain in power. 

Of course, the nation has very good reason to be furious with Mnangagwa; he rigged the elections confident he would rig economic recovery and now finds he cannot deliver on the latter! What is he still doing in State House, he should fcuk off!

The only sure to end the economic meltdown is by ending Zanu PF dictatorship; the party must step down because it is illegitimate W Mukori

Mnangagwa has given up reviving the country's economy, he has no clue what to do. He is now focusing on how to stay in power at all cost. His main argument why he must be allowed to stay in power is that he won the July 2018 elections and has therefore the mandate to rule. The catch is, if he is allowed to stay in power till 2023, he will see to it that no meaningful reforms are ever implemented and so will be able to rig those elections and thus extend his stay in power by another five years. Indeed, Zanu PF rigged the 1980 elections and used its position in office to create the de facto one party dictatorship with carte blanch powers to rig the elections. The party has also resisted all efforts to introduce democratic reforms to dismantle the dictatorship. "Zanu PF ichatonga! Igo tonga! Imi muchingo hukura! Nokuhukura!" (Zanu PF will rule! And rule! Whilst you (calling for reform) bark! And bark!) Mnangagwa has often boasted. The Zanu PF dictatorship has lasted these last 40 years and Mnangawa and company are determined that it must last for many, many more moons to come regardless what the democratic wish of the people. And, unless we implement the democratic reforms, there is clearly nothing else to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections in 2023 and beyond! Nothing! Nelson Chamisa's 2020 Agenda has placed implementing comprehensive democratic reforms top of his party's list. It should be remember this is a volte face on MDC's party. The party has ignored calls to implement the reforms during the 2008 GNU and thereafter. "MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections," Chamisa boasted before the 2018 elections. This was just political posturing as we know. Zanu PF went on to rig the 2018 elections and the rest is a matter of historic record. Has the rigging of the 2018 elections being a turning point for Chamisa and company? They now genuinely want comprehensive reforms implemented before 2023 election. Actually, the penny has not dropped, MDC leaders are not serious about making reforms are implemented. There is nothing in the 2020 Agenda to suggest MDC want Zanu PF to step down. Nothing. MDC is counting on the Zanu PF controlled parliament implementing the reforms - that simply will never ever happen. Zanu PF will never reform itself out of office. Anyone who thinks otherwise is "barking", as Mnangagwa has said. The only way we are ever going to get the reforms implemented is by appointing a competent and independent body, free of any influence from Zanu PF, to implement the reforms. For this to happen Zanu PF must step down. We have a very sound reason to demand that Zanu PF step down, the party rigged the July 2018 elections, it has no democratic mandate to govern. Yes Zanu PF has rigged elections in the past and we, the people have turned a blind eye and allowed the party to govern. That was a grave mistake on a part, setting a very dangerous precedence and with grave consequences - the economic and political crisis we are facing today.

Today, with the nation's very survival on the line, we are being called upon to demand that Zanu PF step down, put and end to the dangerous precedence and, most important save the nation from being dragged into the abyss by Zanu PF!

"MDC financial audit meets best international standards" where is political audit, have democratic accountability black-hole P Guramatunhu.

“The audit currently underway is the first of such routine audits, which has nothing to do with the false reports of any missing funds. This is the first time any political party in Zimbabwe has subjected its accounts to an audit, and is the part of a wider programme to transform the MDC into a party which meets the best international standards of internal governance.”

It is very heartening to hear that MDC is interested in meeting “the best international standards of internal governance!” But now that the party has shown this highly commendable inclination on financial matters, will it extend it on political matters too?

The people of Zimbabwe would very much like to know why MDC has continued to participate in elections flawed and illegal elections and thus giving the process “credibility”, by your own admission Senator Coltart. 

“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 elections,” confessed Senator Coltart in his book.

“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.”

“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 Election Mission final report. 

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

You participated in the July 2018 elections and have even given the parliamentary result you thumbs up approval although the process did not meet international standards for one reason and one reason only - it got you a seat on the gravy train, you are a senator and for leader and party a generous cut of the taxpayers’ money! 

“All political parties should do the same in the interests of transparency and accountability because these are taxpayers' funds received by political parties under the Political Parties Finance Act. Currently being conducted is a routine audit to ensure that the party's finances and accounting systems are given a thorough check in the true spirit of transparency and accountability. I stress this is not a forensic audit,” continued Senator Coltart.

MDC reported got $3.4 million payout from the Political Parties Finance Act. Nelson Chamisa, as the MDC leader, got 20% of the payout, $680 000. You, senator Coltart, MP Tendai Biti and all the other MDC leaders who got seats in the senate or in parliament are receiving the usual generous gravy train salaries and allowances. 

If the truth be told, and it must be told, MDC leaders have abandoned the fight for democratic change including free, fair and credible elections to feather their own nests.

By the late 1990s it was clear that Zanu PF had systematically corrupted the nation’s state and public institutions such as ZEC, judiciary, Police, public media, civil service, etc., usurping the people’s freedoms and rights, to create the de facto one-party dictatorship. There was a national consensus on the need for democratic changes designed to dismantle the dictatorship and restore the people’s freedoms and rights.

The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb; in 2008 alone over 500 were murdered by Zanu PF, political reprisal for rejecting the dictatorship; to elect MDC leaders into power on the promise they would delivery the democratic changes the nation was dying for. 

One does not need a forensic political audit to confirm that MDC has failed to implement even one democratic reform in all its 20 years on the political stage. The political reality on the ground says it all. The Zanu PF dictatorship is very much alive and thriving. 

Indeed, by participating in flawed and illegal elections MDC are the ones giving the illegitimate Zanu PF regime legitimacy. 

“MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging elections” Chamisa boasted. He was silencing those asking why MDC was participating in the July 2018 elections when ZEC had failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll. 

Of course, MDC did not have any measures to stop vote rigging, there are none other than implementing the reforms. He just did not want to be nagged on reforms and the need to restore the people’s right to a meaningful vote. MDC has lost interest in delivering democratic changes now that the the party had reached a gentleman’ s agreement with Zanu PF to share the spoils of power! 

When it was clear to the international community that MDC leaders had sold-out big time during the GNU the former, including the party’s backers and donors, deserted MDC in droves. It is no secret MDC has survived on scraps ever since, a year ago the party had its office furniture taken away to pay its debts. No doubt having the party’s books audited to international standards is meant to make the party more attractive to the lost backers and donors. 

“All political parties must have financial audit in the interests of transparency and accountability!” The the nation has been dying for, literally, is a political audit on parties’ failure to deliver free, fair and credible elections and to hold the sell-out political parties to democratic account - boot them out! 

"Key lessons for SADC and AU to learn from Malawi judgement" said Chamisa - how ironic, what did you learn N Garikai

The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic chaos; with unemployment a nauseating 90%, public education and health care all but collapse, rocketing hyperinflation, etc. And political paralysis; we are stuck with the corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging Zanu PF dictatorship and the equally corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless opposition; is the country’s failure to hold free, fair and credible election. 

It is now 40 years since Zimbabwe’s independence, 2 500 years since the Greek gifted mankind with democracy as a system of government to deliver stability, justice and prosperity for all, and yet we still failing to hold free, fair and credible elections. Shame! Shame! Of course, we should all hang our head in shame. 

"Malawians have a fresh opportunity, courtesy of the courage and wisdom demonstrated by their judges & the support of key institutions, to have a free & fair election. Lest we forget, we here in Zimbabwe have an outstanding matter - the legitimacy of the rigged 2018 election,” comment Nelson Chamisa, President of the main opposition party, MDC Alliance.

"It’s a reminder that where institutions retain independence & professionalism it is possible to correct wrong politics. For too long our continent has been plagued by the scourge of unfair elections. It gives hope to see court’s checks & controls curtailing capture & abuse.

"SADC & AU are urged to draw key lessons from events in Malawi not to rush to endorse sham elections where people have legitimate concerns over processes. SADC and the AU as institutions of resort deserve a renewal and re-orientation to defend African people’s interests.”

The people of Malawi went to the poll to elect a new president last year. The incumbent, Peter Muitarika, was declared the winner. The Constitutional Court of Malawi has nullified the election victory when it was presented with evidence of tippexed ballot paper and other voting irregularities. 

Chamisa has, rightly, praised Malawi’s judiciary and other  institutions for their courage, wisdom and independence in uncovering the damning vote rigging evidence and declaring the election null and void. And has, rightly too, condemned Zimbabwe’s judiciary, ZEC, Police, etc for their partisan bias that has helped Zanu PF rig elections and get away with it. 

What Chamisa has refused to admit, as a matter of course, is the pivotal role he and his MDC A party have played in perpetuating the scourge of rigged elections in Zimbabwe. 

It is a matter of historic record that SADC leaders forced Mugabe and his Zanu PF party to sign the 2008 Global Political Agreement, agreeing to the implementation of a raft of democratic reforms designed to restore ZEC, etc. independence and thus guarantee free, fair and credible elections. MDC were the partners in the GNU tasked to ensure the reforms were implemented.

In five years of the GNU, MDC leaders to get even one reform implemented. Not one! 

SADC leader have literally begged MDC not to take part in elections without first implementing the reforms. The warning was ignored. 

Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends knew that by participating in flawed and illegal elections; elections Zanu PF, with the help of ZEC, judiciary, etc., were set to rig; MDC will, per se, be giving the illegitimate process and results some modicum of credibility. 

“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 elections,” confessed David Coltart, MDC minister in the 2008 to 2013 GNU, 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.”

Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF party blatantly rigged the July 2018 elections. 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote (Mnangagwa reportedly won with 2.4 million vote), ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, etc. Of course, SADC and AU leaders must be ashamed they turned a blind eye to such blatant political shenanigans and it is little wonder vote rigging and bad governance still remain Africa’s greatest curse. 

Still, it does not help Zimbabwe’s fight to end the curse of rigged elections if those tasked implement the reforms are corrupt and incompetent. Chamisa and his MDC friends have  not only waste one golden opportunity after another to implement the reforms but they are playing a dangerous game of draw attention to SADC leaders’ shortcoming to not only hide their own but to give themselves more time continue selling the nation!

"The generation that rigs elections by violence, manipulation of state institutions, corruption, TIPPEX, EXCEL scandals & dictatorial tendencies by men from the past must be put a stop. Justice demands the young generation to lead the way. Let us build a NEW AFRICA!#PeoplesGovernment" concluded Chamisa.

What has age to do with rigged elections? 40 years ago Mnangagwa and his vote rigging colleagues were younger than Chamisa is today, that did not stop them rigging elections? 

Chamisa himself and his incompetent MDC colleagues were 10 years younger during the GNU than they are today, yet they failed to implement even one reform in five years. 

In his 2020 Agenda statement, Chamisa has once again paid lip-service to the fight to end the curse of rigged elections. He said MDC’s MPs will fight to have the democratic reforms implemented in parliament, for example. A waste of time gimmick because with its 2/3 majority, Zanu PF will see to it that none of the reforms ever see the light of day. 

The only real hope of finally getting the democratic reforms implemented in Zimbabwe is for Zanu PF to step down to allow the appointment of a competent and independent body to implement to reforms. Zanu PF is under increasing pressure to step down from the fact international community who considers the regime illegitimate since it rigged July 2018 elections and pressure from the worsening economic situation. 

It is Chamisa and his fellow opposition friends who are prop up this illegal Zanu PF regime by participating in meaningless political activities such as parliament debates. 

Corrupt, incompetent and sell-out opposition leaders like Chamisa are the enemies of democratic change second only to Mnangagwa and his ruling party cronies. How ironic that those pretending to champion the fight for free, fair and credible elections are the ones doing their uttermost to undermine democracy change.  

"Pray and give thanks in all circumstances" preached Mnangagwa - don't use pulpit to preach false salvation W Mukori

It is one thing for political leaders to attend church services but another for them to then use the church pulpit to spread their political propaganda! Sadly, this has now become the norm in Zimbabwe!

“The Bible commands us to pray and to give thanks in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17-18 Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” President Mnangagwa preached to the congregation attending the Zimbabwe Indigenous International Council of Churches (ZIICC) National Day of Prayer at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

“We must always commit all our national aspirations to the Almighty God; casting our burdens to him for surely he shall sustain us.”

There is no denying that Zimbabwe is facing the toughest times in the country’s history with unemployment a nauseating 90%, the country’s education and health services have all but collapsed, an economy in total meltdown, shortages of fuel, medicine and food, etc. 90% of our people now live in poverty with 34% of them living in abject poverty, according to a recent WB report.

The root cause of the country’s economic meltdown and political paralysis resulting the country’s failure to pull itself out of the mess is bad governance, a man-made problem. 40 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness has reduced the country to a banana republic in economic ruins. 

The people of Zimbabwe have watched whilst Zanu PF destroyed the country’s economy these last 40 years, helpless to do anything to stop the destruction, because the party rigged the elections. When some people dared to protest the July 2018 rigged elections, President Mnangagwa ordered the soldiers to shoot to kill! The message he intended to send is crystal-clear, Zanu PF will not tolerate any dissent! 

So the circumstance Zimbabweans find themselves in today is serious economic meltdown, abject poverty and political helplessness after 40 years of corrupt and tyrannical oppression. Those behind the corrupt and tyrannical oppression  are arguing that “The Bible commands us to pray and to give thanks in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in.” They have even found verses in the Bible to support their position.

This is just propaganda nonsense of the highest order! When Moses pointed to the land beyond the River Jordan, the Promised Land, God did not command the Children of Israel to “pray and give thanks in whatever circumstance” they found themselves in. The Bible is replete with stories of the Israelites having to fight for every inch of the Promised Land. 

After the Zimbabwe attained her independence in 1980 we have had to fight our own battles against an enemy within our midst - those seeking to rid roughshod over others denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life! 

The moral of the countless stories in the Bible, especially those in the Old Testament, is that the children of Israel, God’s Chosen People, had to fight for the Promised Land. It is therefore nonsense to suggest that we, in Zimbabwe, can have a just, peaceful and prosperous nation without having to fight the corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs hell bend on turning the country into hell-on-earth.

President Mnangagwa is not the first character to quote the Bible out of context for his own sinister purposes.

“Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Matthew 4: verse 5 to 7.

“I have declared the Year 2020 as a year of productivity and trade. I, therefore, call upon the leadership of all churches in Zimbabwe to engage, teach and encourage their congregants to be hard working and productive. God has given us abundant natural resources throughout the country,” Mnangagwa argued.

“We must harness these natural endowments to improve the quality of life for our people.”

Indeed, Zimbabwe is a rich country endowed with fertile land and good wealth to produce food in great abundance and with vast mineral wealth and other resources. The only reason there is poverty, strive and despair in Zimbabwe is because of greed and misrule. 

Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs and 40 years of misrule have reduce the nation to banana republic with a few filthy rich tyrants and millions upon millions of filthy and political powerless paupers. 

As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. No amount of praying or hard work by the poor will revive the economy; it has not worked these last 40 years. The solution is to end the pariah state by demanding the holding of free, fair and credible elections and thus end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. 

Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis is a man-made problem, a problem of bad governance, and well within you and me, ordinary mortals, to solve. To pray for God to stop Mnangagwa rigging elections is tantamount to putting God to the test because He does not do what man can do for himself!

MDC finally comes up with 20 electoral reforms - another gimmick, Zanu PF 2/3 majority will their implementation P Guramatunhu

"THE MDC has identified 20 election principles which it wants to be incorporated into the electoral reform agenda and the proposed Electoral Bill ahead of the 2023 elections," reported Daily News.

"The new Act should criminalise coercion and undue influence on the freedoms and electoral persuasions of the electorate by influential persons and institutions," reads the MDC document..

"In developing these principles on elections, a review of best practices by other countries is taken into account, as well as recommendations from organisations focusing on elections and Election Observer Missions accredited to Zimbabwe during the 2018 elections, the Sadc Model Law on Elections, AU and UN protocols guiding democratic elections were also considered." 

This is just another one of MDC’s time wasting antics which will do nothing to stop Zanu PF rigging the next elections and we will back where we are today, stuck with the vote rigging Zanu PF regime. How can I be so certain this, one might well ask? 

Ask yourself the following three questions:

1. If MDC know these 20 reforms were necessary for free, fair and credible elections then why did the party fail to get even one reform implemented these last 20 years, especially during the 2008 GNU when the party had the backing of SADC?

1. Why has MDC participated in elections in 2013 and then 2018 knowing fully well that without the reforms in place Zanu PF would rig the elections? David Coltart has confessed why MDC leaders has participated in flawed and illegal elections - greed. There is nothing to suggest MDC leaders will not participate in the next election even if none of their proposed reforms see the light of day; they are as greedy now as ever. 

1. MDC are counting on the present parliament in which Zanu PF has 2/3 majority to implement the reforms designed to end the party’s carte blanche dictatorial powers to rig elections and stay in power. Why would Zanu PF ever agree to reform itself out of office?

All the election observers of the July 2018 elections, with democratic any credentials worth a spit, dismissed the Zimbabwe elections as 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 Election Mission final report. 

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

ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll; for Pete’s sake!

Note, the EU report was talking about the parliamentary race as well as the presidential race, these were harmonised elections. They condemned both races because the process that “failed to meet international standards" was one and the same process. Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends have rejected the presidential result but accept the parliamentary result; this is cherry picking. 

The only sure way to get the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections finally implemented is by appointing an independent body to do it. Both President Mnangagwa and his equally illegitimate Zanu PF parliament must step down to create the political space for the independent body. 

To get both Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF parliament to step down demanded a consensus condemnation of the July 2018 elections. By cherry picking, MDC undermined the call for the Zanu PF government to step down. 

Worse still, the MDC half-way house position of the Zanu PF presidency and cabinet being declared illegitimate and therefore subjected to so power sharing arrangement between Zanu PF and MDC will not deliver the reforms. A Zanu PF 2/3 parliamentary majority will never ever approve meaningful democratic reforms, as stated above.

Zimbabwe has failed to hold free, fair and credible elections these last 40 years and counting not because Zanu PF and MDC leaders did not know the 20 reforms MDC has now produced. Even if they did not, the 2008 Global Political Agreement spelt out the raft of reforms the two parties were tasked to implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They failed to get even one reform implemented because they lacked the political will to implement the reforms. Period!

For the last 40 years, the people of Zimbabwe have been denied their basic freedoms and rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections and even the right to life itself. They have been stuck with corrupt and tyrannical regime all these years and have paid dearly for it. Whatever these people had done wrong to deserve this tyrannical government, they have paid for it thousand fold. 

All the people of Zimbabwe are asking of you, me and all those in a position to help is that an independent body, with the political will, should be appointed to implement the reforms and not yet another Zanu PF led gimmick. That is not too much to ask!

"Pumping Z$500m cash so you won't be ripped off by money dealers" said Minister - you are Godfather money dealers N Garikai

“An additional $500 million in notes and coins will be put into the economy in the first six months of 2020. We expect this to ease the demand for physical cash and you won’t be ripped off by money dealers who sell cash,” said Minister Mthuli Ncube.

Hah, so he knows that the ordinary Zimbabwean is indeed being “ripped off by money dealers who sell cash!” 

When Professor Mthuli Ncube was appointed minister of finance, nearly a year and half ago now, he was cocksure that fix all the country’s economic problems and get the economy back on track. If anyone was going to see to the fulfilment of President Mnangagwa’s clarion cry “Zimbabwe is open for business!”, he was the man to do it.

After months of austerity policies that have targeted the poorest of the poor, it is now clear that the promised economic recovery has not materialised. Indeed, the economic situation in Zimbabwe is a lot worse than it was before Minister Ncube took office in September 2018. All his economic policies have made the situation decidedly worse not better!

Yes the ordinary citizen is being ripped off by the money dealer on the street, ripped off by the banks and traders who buy money at the interbank official rate and sell at the black market rate and, above all, they being ripped off by the government sitting at the apex of all this man-made financial and economic chaos. 

Of course, it is disconcerting, to say the least, that Minister Ncube and his Zanu PF cronies have failed to revive the economy. What makes their failure intolerable is that the ordinary Zimbabweans had no confidence in Zanu PF reviving the economy. None! And President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies knew the people had lost confidence in the party’s ability to govern a long time ago and hence the reason Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 election just as it had done with other elections in the past. 

The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is not so much the bad economic policies, the rampant corruptions, the gross mismanagement and the blatant lawlessness exemplified by the seizure of the white-owned farms and the vote rigging. These are serious problems but, in a healthy and functioning democracy, easily resolved. 

Although the people realised that Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies were corrupt and incompetent decades ago they were powerless to remove the regime from office because the party rigged the elections, because Zimbabwe is not a health and functioning democracy. And so stuck with Zanu PF, the problems of bad policies, corruption, etc. were not dealt with allowing them to grow and spread sucking the breath, blood and the marrow of life out of the economy and the nation. 

It has been clear to all with eyes to see that Zimbabwe was a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs. And as long as the country remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. None! 

What makes one’s blood boil with anger at people like Minister Mthuli Ncube is their decision to work for Zanu PF. They have either ignored the political reality of Zanu PF blatantly rigging elections and thus pretend Zimbabwe was a healthy and functioning democracy and not a pariah state. 

Or else accepted the reality that Zanu PF rigged the elections, Zimbabwe is a pariah state and they going to work with the regime regardless to achieve the seemingly impossible economic recovery in a pariah state.

 Whatever was Professor Mthuli Ncube’s excuse for working for Zanu PF two things are beyond dispute; he joined the regime for personal reasons, financial and egotistic. Second, his efforts to revive the economy have been a total failure. 

There is no denying that people like Professor Mthuli Ncube have undermined the nation’s efforts and sacrifices; many have paid dearly with lost treasure, life and limb; in the fight to end the Zanu PF dictatorship by working for the regime. These people must be censured and held to account, together with their political masters, for all the suffering and deaths the regime has caused. Meanwhile adding Professor Mthuli Ncube to the sanctions list will be a good start!