NPC petition Mnangagwa to form inclusive government and postpone election - unconstitutional N Garikai

“The convention held under the auspices of a gathering of civil society organisations, labour unions and churches, provided the new President with a varied range of issues he may need to attend to as he formulates his government,” reported The Zimbabwean.

“In our view, your commitment to inclusivity would best be epitomized by the formation of an inclusive government. Such a government will go a long way towards fostering national unity, social cohesion as well as enhance our national prospects for economic recovery. The nation has endured many years of divisive politics and unnecessary polarization. We believe that this must change and can change under your able leadership,” argued National People’s Convention (NPC) in their letter to President Mnangagwa.

There can be no question that all those involved in the NPC mean well and have the best interests of the nation at heart. Still, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. NPC’s intentions and noble but, nonetheless, totally misguided!

The argument that we need an inclusive government for economic recovery, peace, national unity, etc. is pandering to the same warped logic used to justify the stifling of public debate, freedom of expression and free press, democratic competition, etc. resulting in the creation of a de facto one past dictatorship we have today.

Zanu PF’s culture of rigging the vote and use of blatant violence have made it near impossible for a meaningful and competent opposition to emerge. In the present parliament, there is little more than a token opposition, the MDC MPs and the one independent MP are hardly ever heard. To then suggest that even this flickering opposition flame should be co-opted to join Zanu PF in an inclusive administration is snuff out this democratic light leaving us all in total dictatorial darkness.

God only knows just how strong Zanu PF is already given the party’s nearly 75% majority in parliament, its total control of all the State Institutions, the dominance purely Zanu PF created undemocratic bodies such as Joint Operation Command and all the party’s other dictatorial powers. The party will gain very little from having the opposition under its wing; it is the nation instead that will lose the only means to hold the regime to account.

“We believe that a well thought-out transitional period and mechanism would offer the nation sufficient time to establish a conducive environment for free, fair and credible elections,” NPC argue.

NPC profess to upholding the rule of law and yet the members are encouraging the disregard of one of the central constitutional demands that the parliamentary term must not exceed five years.

“A general election must be held so that polling takes place not more than thirty days before the expiry of the five-year period.” States the constitution section 158 (1) (a).

To argue that the fixed maximum term should be exceeded “to establish a conducive environment” is a frivolous and flawed argument given that there has not been a change of government since the last elections. Putting aside the undemocratic events of the last three weeks resulting in the swearing in of President Mnangagwa; no one can ever dispute that the government before and after the coup is a Zanu PF government.

If the Zanu PF government cannot carry out its constitutional duty to hold free and fair elections on time then it must say so. It will be for the nation; not NPC, Zanu PF or anyone else; to decide what is to be done to move the nation forward.

It would have been useful to the nation had NPC directed its time, effort and resources to helping build a democratic Zimbabwe by helping dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship by asking President Mnangagwa to relinquish Zanu PF’s control of the public media, for example. A free and vibrant media is vital in a healthy and functioning democracy; government has no business telling editors what to write! NPC would be applauded if it had reminded President Mnangagwa that none of the democratic reforms the last GNU were tasked to implement ever saw the light of day. His presidency would be judged a failure if he failed to get all the reforms implemented BEFORE the next elections!

It is not for NPC or anyone else to tell President how to do his job but to hold him to democratic account for failing to deliver on something as basic and fundamental as ensuring there are free, fair and credible elections and such elections are held on time.

Voter registration going full steam ahead but, Mr President, can you guarantee verified voters' roll

As of 26 November 2017, nearly half of the expected 7 million voters have registered to vote according to a report by Bulawayo 24. Of country’s ten provinces Mashonaland Central is leading with 52.8% registered voters and Bulawayo has the lowest with just over 30%.

It is impossible to register 7 million voters from scratch in four months and have the voters’ roll verified and certified in another three months in a third world country like Zimbabwe. Zanu PF knows this and has knowingly delayed the voter registration process to suit its sinister vote rigging purposes. Many of the opposition’s supporters, especially in known opposition strong holds where the process has been slowed down even further for a myriad of excuses, will never get the chance to register. Meanwhile Zanu PF supporters have no problem registering. None!

With no verified voters’ roll, many of the opposition’s registered voters will fail to vote on the day because their details will not be in the voters’ roll they expected. Nearly one million voters were denied the vote for this reason in 2013; this was a very significant number given there was a total of 5 million cast votes that year and Mugabe’s winning margin was just over one million. Because there was no verified voters’ roll, Zanu PF bussed it supporters from one polling station to the next casting multiple votes.

There is no doubt that the regime will reach its target of registering 7 million voters; easy when no one knows how many are multiple entries. The opposition have made heavy weather of getting their supporters to register in numbers, how many of their registered supporters will have their data posted correctly so they can vote in numbers too is on the lap of the Gods!

Zanu PF has pointedly refused to implement the democratic reforms to ensure free and fair elections and come the elections the party always wins with a landslide victory. The regime has pointedly refused to produce a verified voters’ roll although this is a legal requirement for obvious reasons, the verified voters’ roll is the smoking gun to many of the vote rigging shenanigans.

SADC leaders advised Tsvangirai and his MDC friends not to contest the July 2013 elections without first implementing the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF blatantly rigging the vote. Sadly, MDC leaders heard the warning but failed to comprehend its meaning. They contested the flawed elections and Zanu PF rigged the vote.

MDC leaders vowed they would not contest future elections until the reforms are implemented. “No reform, no elections!” they said.

Not even one reform has been implemented since the latest rigged elections and yet the MDC opposition are all tripping over each other to contest next year’s elections regardless of SADC leaders’ advice and in violation of their own party resolutions.

Of course, it is insane to contest elections knowing fully well the process flawed and illegal and the ordinary voters will be denied the fundamental right to free, fair and credible election.

Zanu PF learnt that as long as it allows the opposition to win a few of the gravy train seats, they will contest the elections regardless how flawed, illegal and a downright betrayal of the people’s trust the whole process happened to be.

Zimbabwe’s economy, the victim of the country’s failure to elect competent leaders, is in total meltdown sending unemployment soaring to 90%, most basic services such as education and health have all but collapsed, 72.3% of the people now live on US$ 1.00 or less a day, etc. Zimbabwe is teetering on the edge of economic collapse and instability. The military coup of two weeks ago was a warning of just how unstable Zimbabwe is today. A rigged election next year could send Zimbabwe tumbling down into the abyss. SADC leaders know they cannot let this happen because Zimbabwe’s instability can drag the whole region down her.

Whilst there is nothing else SADC leaders can do to stop next year’s elections going ahead since the opposition have refused to listen to their advice not to contest with no reforms in place. What SADC leaders can do is reject the election process as a sham and reject election result. This is exactly what happened after the sham 2008 elections and Zimbabwe, as back then, will be forced to go into some political arrangement whose principle task will be to implement the raft of democratic reforms designed to stop the vote rigging. This time SADC leaders must to put their foot down to ensure all the reforms are implemented!

President Emmerson Mnangagwa talked a lot about “new era, a democratic Zimbabwe and next year’s elections occurring as scheduled” the one thing he has pointedly refused to say is that those elections will be free, fair and credible. The current voter registration process is going full steam ahead although he, of all people, knows that ZEC will not produce a verified voters’ roll in time for the elections.

Mr. President, you are in State House today because of the coup, a treasonous act of a few of your cronies. Your legitimacy to stay in State House must now be earned by winning the majority vote in a free, fair and credible elections complete with verified voters’ roll, free media, etc. The days of rigged elections are over and there is no compromising on this matter.

"We should never remain hostages to our past," said President Mnangagwa - with no reforms, we will

Throughout his inauguration speech, President Mnangagwa, very careful NOT to promise the nation that next year’s elections will be free, fair and credible.

"That peace and harmony should be characteristic of how we relate to one another before, during and after the 2018 harmonised elections which will be held as scheduled," he said.

"Today the Republic of Zimbabwe renews itself. My Government will work towards ensuring that the pillars of the State assuring democracy in our land are strengthened and respected. We fully reaffirm our membership to the family of nations, and express our commitment to playing

"Here at home, we must, however, appreciate the fact that over the years, our domestic politics had become poisoned, rancorous and polarising. My goal is to preside over a polity and run an administration that recognise strength in our diversity as a people, hoping that this position and well-meant stance will be reciprocated and radiated to cover all our groups, organisation and communities."

He is promising the nation a democratic era but will not guarantee free and fair elections – one of the key tenets of a democracy!

In 2008, the Joint Operation Command (JOC) headed by the three amigos; Chewanga, Mnangagwa and Robert Mugabe; launched the now infamous operation "Mavhotera papi" (Whom did you vote for!) in which Zanu Pf unleashed its thugs backed by the Army, Police and CIO to punish the voters for having dared to reject Mugabe in the March vote.

"What was achieved by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!" barked former President Mugabe, encouraging the wanton violence.

Zanu PF went on to reverse Tsvangirai's 73% vote to claim a landslide 84% victory. The party claimed the elections were free, fair and credible, maintaining that all talks of violence were misplaced as violence was being committed by both sides. No one else, not even SADC and AU, accepted Zanu PF’s hen’s teeth tale. Zanu PF was forced to sign the Global Political Agreement and accepting the need to implement the wide ranging democratic reforms to restore the individual freedoms and basic human rights including the right to free and fair elections.

President Mnangagwa knows that not even one reform was implemented during the five years of the GNU. No doubt his reference to our elections being "poisoned, rancorous and polarising" is meant to reinstate the long held Zanu PF position that both Zanu PF and the opposition parties are equally to blame for the country’s culture of vote rigging and politically motivated violence! This is a nonsense that must be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserves for two reasons:

1)     The victims of all the harassment, beating, rape and murders have all been overwhelming opposition supporters and for Zanu PF’s benefit; proof the political violence is of Zanu PF’s making.

2)     It is the duty of the Police, Army and other state institution to maintain the peace, rule of law and deliver free and fair elections. They have all in failed in their statutory duties because they have all been corrupted and compromised. Police Commissioner, Augustine Chihuru, has confirmed in his recent doctorate thesis that the Police have been preoccupied with stopping “agents of regime change”, a Zanu PF euphemism for all the party’s political opponents and critics.

Whilst President Mnangagwa has tried acknowledged the country’s past mistakes, “errors of commission or omission” and desperately wanted to sound a note of the willingness to change.

“While we cannot change the past, there is a lot we can do in the present and future to give our Nation a different, positive direction,” he said.

“As we do so, we should never remain hostages to our past. I thus humbly appeal to all of us that we let bygones be bygones, readily embracing each other in defining a new destiny. The task at hand is that of rebuilding our great country. It principally lies with none but ourselves.

“I implore you all to declare that NEVER AGAIN should the circumstances that have put Zimbabwe in an unfavourable position be allowed to recur or overshadow its prospects. We must work together, you, me, all of us who make up this Nation.”

The spirit is willing to embrace democratic change but the intellect and political will are feeble!

President Mnangagwa you can scream “NEVER AGAIN” all you want but as long as the country fails to implement the democratic reforms designed to free the Police and all the other State Institution to carry out their duty and restore the rule of law, free and fair elections, etc. Zimbabwe will remain a hostage of the Zanu PF dictatorship that has ruled the country with an iron fist these last 37 years.