Zanu PF gang blamed for 2 Kwe Kwe murders - how many more must die before CCC finally prioritize reforms P Guramatunhu

The images of the brutal violence at the CCC rally in Kwe Kwe over the weekend is a reminder of the wanton violence of the 2008 elections. The nation had the golden opportunity to deal with this problem during the 2008 to 2013 Government of National Unity (GNU). Sadly, the problem was never dealt with, and hence the deja vu!

Two CCC supporters were killed and 17 others serious injured in the Kwe Kwe violence.

“The violence was allegedly instigated by a Zanu-PF gang wielding machetes. This behaviour is synonymous with a local Zanu-PF aligned terror gang monikered Al-Shabab, after the Somali-based terrorist group,” reported Bulawayo 24.


"And this is what Zanu-PF intruders did to us. They were so angry because of the huge turnout at our rally. They unleashed violence using stones machetes and iron bars," commented CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa on twitter.

The four most important questions that must be asked and answered are:

1)    Could the barbarism inflicted by Zanu PF thugs on CCC supporters have been avoided? The answer to that is yes, we could have ended this curse of political violence once and once for all if the 2008 to 2013 GNU had implemented the raft of democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA).

 

2)    Why did the GNU fail to implement the democratic reforms and end the curse of rigged elections and wanton violence? The MDC leaders who were tasked to implement the reforms turned out to be corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent; Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office, and they forgot about implementing the reforms.

 

3)    Where do we go from here? The barbarism will continue, as long as Zanu PF retains the carte blanche powers to rig elections and resort to the wanton violence to guarantee the party’s 2/3 majority and presidency and continue to get political legitimacy from MDC/CCC continued participation in the flawed elections. Of course, MDC/CCC leaders have always known that Zanu PF is rigging these elections and will not hesitate to use violence to secure victory. They have also known that Zanu PF is offering the 1/3 or so parliamentary seats as bait; this they have found irresistible.

 

4)    Can this cycle of rigged elections and bad governance be broken? Yes, it can be broken. Deny Zanu PF legitimacy by either stopping MDC/CCC participating in the flawed elections or show MDC/CCC for the political sell-outs they are for insisting in participating in flawed elections. By condemning the 2023 elections as a farce you deny Zanu PF political legitimacy, which is exactly what happened in 2008 and forced the regime to sign the 2008 GPA in 1) above. This time measures will be taken to ensure competent leaders are tasked to implement all the reforms.

 

It is all very well for Chamisa and his MDC/CCC friends to pontificate endlessly about Zanu PF barbarism; the truth is the regime would not still be riding roughshod over the people if MDC leaders had not sold out. The 2008 to 2013 GNU was Zimbabwe’s get out of jail card and why MDC/CCC leaders have not played this card all these years beggars belief. Chamisa et al must explain why they have not played get out of jail card and not waste time wittering about the jail’s thick walls, the razor-fence and all the other top-notch security measures. 

As much as it is Zanu PF thugs who are established, retained the de facto one-party dictatorship and are still in power today, it is nonetheless important to note that it is the corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent MDC/CCC who have been helping Zanu PF stay in power since the 2008 GNU. Without political legitimacy from MDC/CCC Zanu PF will be forced to sign another Global Political Agreement agreeing to the implementation of democratic reforms as happened in 2008!

The idea Zanu PF will give up its dictatorial powers to rig elections to allow peaceful democratic change is naïve to say the least. By failing to force the opportunistic opposition participating in these flawed elections and thus giving Zanu PF legitimacy Zimbabwe is closing the door to peaceful democratic change and be left with no other option other than violent street protests and/or another military coup. 

"It's settled, Chamisa, not Mwonzora, is nation's hope" - another Mnangagwa vs Mugabe false choice N Garikai

 

In 2017 outsiders not familiar with the Zimbabwean people’s warped thinking were rightly surprised that Zimbabweans came out in their hundreds of thousands to support the November 2017 military coup. The military coup was an internal power struggle within Zanu PF and nothing to do with the ordinary people.

After 37 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule the people were desperate for change but the military coup was clearly offering to remove Robert Mugabe and a number of the G40 leaders around him, and Mnangagwa and his Lacoste faction of Zanu PF were taking over. The people were desperate to see the end of the Zanu PF dictatorship; the emergence of one faction as the dominant one did not end the dictatorship and so was of value to the masses.

Coming out in support of Mnangagwa and Lacoste was as foolish as a goat celebrating the victory of one clan of hyenas over another especially when all the fighting had left the victors hunger and ready for a feast!

It did not take long for the Zimbabwe public to realise the so-called Second Republic and the old Mugabe dictatorship in all but name. Mnangagwa had promised “zero tolerance on corruption”; corruption has instead increased as he was forced to put away most of Mugabe loyalists out to pasture on very generous packages, to buy their loyalty to him. Meanwhile he has had to appoint his own team they really believe it is their turn to loot. And boy oh boy, their hunger for power and wealth is insatiable and so too is their wastefulness.

If there were any lingering doubts the Second Republic and its promise of democratic change was con, all the doubts disappeared like morning mist when Mnangagwa and company blatantly rigged the 2018 elections. When a few people gathered to protest, he ordered the army to shoot to kill.

Zimbabwe is in this man-made hell-on-earth because we have grabbed the solution that offered itself as the right solution and run with it. If anyone thought the with the memory of the November 2017 fiasco still fresh in our minds, Zimbabweans would be careful not to repeat the same foolishness again.

There is no bigger fool than he who never learn from the past, from experience. Trust Zimbabweans to dive head-log into another shallow pool!

“This last Sunday's CCC rally has clearly showed that Nelson Chamisa has an unmatched natural connection with the grassroots and represents the best of this generation giving a fresh start to Zimbabwe's political arena,” wrote Leonard Koni in an article titled “Citizen Coalition for Change the only hope”.

“The question of who is biggest opposition leader in Zimbabwe between Nelson Chamisa and Douglas Mwonzora has been put to rest.”

The choice before the nation was never that of Chamisa vs Mwonzora no more than was it Mnangagwa vs Mugabe in 2017. Chamisa and Mwonzora were both in the MDC from 1999 to 2018 when they fall out following the Chamisa’s seizure of the party’s leadership. More significantly, the two gentlemen were in the GNU that failed to implement even one token reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and they have all participated in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy.

Chamisa and Mwonzora are both hell-bent on participating in the 2023 elections knowing fully well Zanu PF is rigging these elections and that participating will give Zanu PF legitimacy. They are participating regardless because they are after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is offering as bait; they don’t care that the nation is paying dearly for their greed.

The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders for the principal purpose of delivering the democratic changes, reforms, necessary to stop Zanu PF rigging elections. MDC leaders have not only failed to implement even one token reform in the 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU, but by participating in flawed elections are perpetuating the Zanu PF dictatorship.

Both Chamisa and Mwonzora have proven beyond all doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent. How one who has already proven to be corrupt and incompetent can still represent the nation’s hope beggars belief.

Limit our choice between Mnangagwa or Mugabe, Chamisa or Mwonzora is symptomatic of one who have no clue what constitute a good and competent leader and so is forced to select whoever they are presented with. Chamisa or Mwonzora is as meaningless to povo as a mouse choosing a cobra or black mamba!

EU calls for free elections falling on deaf Zanu PF ears - forgetting CCC, it takes two to tango N Garikai

 

The EU calls on the Zimbabwe government to implement the EU 2018 election recommendation but to no avail because they are ignoring Zanu PF’s political partner – it takes two to tango!

“The EU follows closely the electoral agenda in Zimbabwe and stands ready to continue its support to electoral reforms – an important pillar to strengthen democracy – based on the recommendations of the 2018 EU Election Observation Mission. The EU is preparing for a follow-up mission,” reads the EU’s recent statement.

“Moreover, the EU welcomes the reassurances given by the authorities of Zimbabwe that they will be inviting international electoral observers for the 2023 elections including an EU Election Observation Mission.”

The recommendations of the 2018 EU Election Observer Mission are absolutely necessary if Zimbabwe is to hold free, fair and credible elections. Not even token reforms have been implemented.

On the other hand, it is no secret that Zanu PF will be risking losing the elections if the regime was to implement these recommendations. The EU pressure on Zanu PF to implement the recommendations is reduced if not totally neutralized by Zimbabwe’s opposition’s determination to participate in these elections knowing fully well not only that Zanu PF was rigging but more significantly that by participating they were giving Zanu PF legitimacy.

Zimbabwe’s opposition has been participating in these flawed elections for selfish reasons.

“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 in his book The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe. Coltart is a former MDC – Ncube Senator and Minister of Education in the 2008 to 2013 GNU.

“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.”

EU’s call for election reforms and free and fair elections is falling on deaf Zanu PF and MDC/CCC ears; as long as Chamisa and company continue participating to give Zanu PF legitimacy there will never be free, fair and credible elections. It is high time that EU acknowledged for there to be meaningful political change in Zimbabwe pressure must be brought to bear on both Zanu PF and the MDC/CCC because there is a symbiotic relationship between the two.

Zimbabwe is standing on the edge of the precipitous abyss and another rigged election may well send the nation tumbling over the edge. Both Zanu PF and MDC/CCC must now be told in no uncertain terms that they each have a role to play in making sure 2023 elections are free, fair and credible.

"We will protest rigged elections" says Chamisa - but why keep participating, it's insane P Guramatunhu

 Insanity comes in all manner of degrees and disguises but have two things in common; one, it is mind bogglingly repetitive. Or as the great physicist Albert Einstein aptly put it, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!”

Two, the consequences of insanity can be dehumanising and catastrophic to those concerned! Man is a creature of reason, the insane have lost the capacity to think and reason; they have lost their humanity.

When I was a small boy, I visited my aunt whose husband worked as a nurse-aid at Ingutsheni Hospital in Bulawayo. This is hospital for the mentally challenged and the visit was an eye-opener into what it means to be insane.

I observed one patient trudging back and forth in the midday heat, watering a bed of flowers with a leaking bucket. The patient was soaked through and through from head to foot with water and mud without making much progress.

“Gumbo!” called out my uncle. “You have the problem with the leaking bucket!”

Gumbo took the bucket from his head and to examine it. He acknowledged the leak and posed for a while, thinking what to do. “I know!” he said with renewed hope and enthusiasm. “I will carry the bucket on my shoulder!” And with that set off!

We all laughed! My uncle explained that it is okay on a hot day, in the middle of winter it was no laughing matter!

Zimbabwe is stuck for 42 years and counting with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. Four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left the country in economic ruins; the country’s basic services such as education and health care have all but collapsed and millions are now living in abject poverty.

The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic mess is the failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. The nation is stuck with the Zanu PF dictatorship these 42 years because the regime rigs elections and the country’s opposition is at sixes and sevens as what to do to stop Zanu PF rigging elections!

The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect the now late Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) friends to bring about the democratic changes, as the party’s name implied, needed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections. After 22 years, 5 of which in the 2008 to 2013 GNU, MDC has failed to implement even one reform.

Nelson Chamisa, who took over the leadership of MDC now renamed Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC), is as irrational as any Ingutsheni Hospital patient!

"We commissioned experts to analyse the voters roll. I had been tipped off by some senior government officials that the document was being tampered with.  We have infiltrators in government departments — we have infiltrated all government departments," Chamisa told his supporters on Sunday.

"We will not let ZEC get away with its manipulation. Starting with this by-election, if ZEC does not address these anomalies, it will not be well.  There will be instability in the country. On the issue of voter manipulation, do not panic. We have strategies.

"The first strategy is to ensure that ZEC policies are compatible with the Constitution. If they don't heed our demands, then we will take legal remedies. But we know that the courts may not be able to deliver justice fairly. We have our own solution. We will go to the streets. We will protest against ZEC."

Chamisa was commenting on the many irregularities and illegalities Team Pachedu has uncovered in the 2022 voters’ roll.

Zanu PF has many, many vote rigging tools using the voters’ roll is one of the tools but not the only one. Zanu PF has already decided to deny 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote, a very significant number considering Mnangagwa won the 2018 elections with 2.4 million votes. “As long as the sanctions imposed on the regime by the West remain,” acting party spokesperson, Patrick Chimanasa, explained.

It is a very documented fact that Zanu PF has used bribes and coercion to reduce the rural voters, 50% of the electorate, into medieval serfs beholden to the overbearing Zanu PF thugs and their proxies. Rural areas remain “no go” areas to the opposition and Zanu PF will frog march their victims to vote for the party. The party has other ways to help it rig these elections such as unlimited funding from the wholesale looting, monopoly over the public media, etc., etc.

But even if one gave Chamisa and company the benefit of the doubt and assumed that stopping ZEC messing around with the voters’ roll is the number one leak, game-changer leak, in the Zimbabwe elections. It should be noted that ZEC has never ever produced a verifies voters’ roll, for obvious reasons, and has already disowned the roll Team Pachedu is using and fired the ZEC staff who released it.

ZEC will maintain the voters’ roll Team Pachedu is using is not the official roll, it contained raw data from the field and was yet to be cleaned up. That is a reasonable argument, and no court will say otherwise.

No doubt the voters’ roll that will be used on election day will not be a verified roll and every precaution will be taken to make sure Team Pachedu or anyone else does not get a copy.

Zanu PF is rigging these elections Chamisa and company know this for a fact, they are participating knowing ZEC has failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll for Pete’s sake. They also know that by participating in the flawed elections they are giving Zanu PF legitimacy.

Gumbo’s decision to carry the bucket on his shoulder was insane because it did not address the problem of leaking. Chamisa and company not only failed to implement the reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging during the 2008 to 2013 but are participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. Of course, it is insane to then try to take away the legitimacy using the courts and/or street protests especially when the strategies have already proved ineffective.

Poor, poor Zimbabwe, the country is sinking into this man-made hell-on-earth and instead of demanding reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections the nation is being dragged deeper and deeper into the abyss trying to win rigged elections!

No more mumbo-jumbo, Chamisa must announce credible plan to stop Zanu PF rigging or that CCC is boycotting elections W Mukori

 

The A1 problem in Zimbabwe is the failure to hold free, fair and credible elections which is why the nation has been stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime for 42 years with the tragic economic and political consequences we can see. It has taken decades to understanding the link between rigged elections and bad governance but thank God, the penny has drop!  

Zanu PF is rigging these by-elections and, even more significantly, is rigging the upcoming 2023 harmonised elections. By participating in these flawed elections MDC/CCC are giving the process some modicum of credibility and thus giving the results legitimacy and thus help perpetuate the Zanu PF dictatorship.

The A1 question Nelson Chamisa and his CCC friends must answer without any equivocation is “How are you stopping Zanu PF rigging the elections?”

The failure to answer the question will lead to one equally clear-cut course of action: do not participate in the flawed elections. Participating in the flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy is insane, especially after 42 years of rigged elections.

This is not the first time MDC/CCC leaders have been told it is insane to participate in flawed elections; SADC leaders told them to their faces in June 2013.

“In 2013 the Maputo Summit, in June 2013, before the elections, the Maputo Summit was all about having the elections postponed – the SADC summit. I went there,” Dr Ibbo Mandaza, Director of SAPES, told Journalist Violet Gonda.

“I was there at the Summit and Mugabe pretended to agree to a postponement of the elections. If you recall, the postponement was based on the need to reform at least electoral laws.

“And after that Summit, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, all of them were called to a separate meeting by the Heads of State of SADC in the absence of Mugabe, that same evening. And they were told; I was sitting there outside the room with Mac Maharaj; they were told ‘if you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done’.”

Of course, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends knew that Zanu PF was rigging the elections and that boycotting the elections was the only rational thing to do. Tsvangirai and company ignored the SADC leaders’ advice and participated in the 2013 elections because of greed, as David Coltart, himself an MDC Minister in the 2008 to 2013 GNU and senior member of CCC, confessed.

“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,” wrote Senator Coltart 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.”

If the failure to form a coalition in 2013 was the excuse for participating then MDC should have boycotted the 2018 elections because four of the main MDC factions did form a coalition, MDC Alliance (MDC A). Greed got the better of them and they participated in the elections even when it was clear ZEC had failed to produce something as basic a verified voters’ roll!

“MDC A has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!” boasted Nelson Chamisa, the MDC A Presidential candidate, dismissing call to boycott the 2018 elections. It was all just hot air, of course; the only way to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections was by implementing the reforms before holding the elections.

David Coltart’s half-hearted confession that greed was stopping MDC/CCC doing the obvious thing and stop participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy is the nearest to a mea culpa of MDC sold out by failing to implement even one reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and are selling out by participating in flawed elections.

The overwhelming majority of ordinary Zimbabweans had no clue the 2008 to 2013 GNU was first and foremost about implementing the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections and hence the reason the nation failed to even register MDC leaders’ blatant betrayal in failing to implement even one reform.

Very few Zimbabweans even heard about the SADC leaders ‘If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done!’ ultimatum to MDC leaders much less understand the consequences of disregarding it.

Time and the tragic suffering brought on by the country sinking deeper and deeper into economic and political despair has forced many Zimbabweans to sit up and listen. Time and suffering are the best cure for ignorance.

In the late 1990s, the people of Zimbabwe finally realised that as long as Zanu PF enjoyed the carte blanche powers to rig elections and remained in power the country’s relentless march into economic ruin and political paralysis was unstoppable. They have risked life and limb to elect Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends of the understanding the party would deliver the democratic changes the nation was dying for.

After 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU, MDC leaders have failed to bring about even one democratic change. What is clear is Tsvangirai and company had no clue what the changes were much less how they would be implemented. None!

And so, with the country sinking deeper and deeper into the economic and political abyss the ordinary Zimbabweans have been forced to put the meat on the bone. It is not just democratic change the nation wants but more specifically democratic change to stop Zanu PF rigging elections!

Tomorrow, Sunday 20th February 2022, Nelson Chamisa must either announce a credible plan to stop Zanu PF rigging elections or confirm that CCC will not be participating in any more of these flawed and illegal elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. After 42 years of rigged elections enough is enough of this greed and insanity!

Ramaphosa under pressure to end indifference to Zanu PF rigged 2023 elections P Guramatunhu

 

The worsening economic situation in SA is forcing ANC to revisit its indifference to Zimbabwe’s curse of rigged elections and bad governance. SA cannot afford a new wave of economic and/or political refugees flooding across the Limpopo River if Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections are rigged!

“The unemployment rate in South Africa hit a new record high of nearly 35% in the third quarter of 2021 which some allege had an influence on the African National Congress (ANC) dismal performance in last year's local government elections,” wrote Tapiwa Gomo in Bulawayo 24.

“For the first time since 1994 - when South Africa attained independence - the ANC garnered less than 50% - in fact 46% - of the vote marking its worst result in 27 years.

“The ruling ANC has responded to this, partly by targeting foreigners who the ruling party and others accuse of many things including taking jobs and economic opportunities from locals, illegal migration, crime, drug dealing and all sorts of ills.

“Some special permits have been scrapped.”

Many Zimbabweans have sort refuge in SA to escaped political oppression and/or economic chaos back home starting at the turn of the century in 2000. The situation in Zimbabwe has got progressively worse not better over the years forcing even more Zimbabweans to leave the country.

If next year’s elections are rigged, signs are Zanu PF is rigging these elections, then we can be sure of a new wave of economic and/or political refugees leaving the country.

The economic situation in SA, the most popular destination for Zimbabwean refugees, means many will not be welcomed there anymore! The pressure for Zimbabwe to sort out its economic and political mess is that much greater. The pressure on the regional leaders, notably SA, to make sure Zimbabwe sort out its problems is that much greater too.

SADC leaders know the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic and political mess is the country’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. After decades of rigged elections SADC leaders pressured Zanu PF to sign the 2008 Global Political Agreement, agreeing to the implementation of a raft of political reforms to end the culture of rigged elections.

Sadly, MDC, Zimbabwe’s main opposition party led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai turned out to be corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent. They failed to implement even one meaningful reform in five years of the 2008 to 2013 GNU. SADC leaders made one last minute bid to have the 2013 Zimbabwe elections postponed until reforms were implemented and, once again, MDC leaders paid no heed.

Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig the 2013 elections as SADC leaders had predicted. The region leaders ignored the rigging and endorsed Zanu PF’s electoral victory – Zanu PF was the only game in town and it was futile to pretend otherwise.

However, endorsing Zanu PF rigged elections and perpetuating the pariah state across the Limpopo River in 2013 and 2018 has not brought the desire economic recovery as we can see. President Cyril Ramaphosa will be damned if he will repeat the same folly of endorsing yet another rigged Zanu PF elections next year especially if the next thing is a flood of economic and political refugees pouring into SA.

There are Zimbabweans who know and understand SADC leaders’ disappointment with MDC leaders’ failure to implement the democratic reforms during the last GNU. They know and understand implementing the reforms is Zimbabwe’s ticket out of this hell-on-earth Zanu PF landed the nation into. They will implement the reforms and all they need is the opportunity to do so.

By refusing to endorse Zanu PF rigged 2023 elections, SADC will recreate the same political crisis of no legitimate government that led to the formation of 2008 to 2013 GNU in Zimbabwe. The subtle difference is that the new GNU will have competent men and women who will implement the reforms.

CCC duplicity: insists on participating in rigged elections and bank on "(violent) peaceful protect" to end Zanu PF dictatorship N Garikai

Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections! No one in Zimbabwe should ever say they did not know this!

“Team Pachedu said a total of 170 867 addresses that were in the 2018 voters roll have been edited by Zec between 2018 and 2022, with Glen View South having the highest number of edited addresses (19 758), followed by Mangwe, Lupane East, Zaka East, Luveve, Kuwadzana and Chiredzi North,” reported Bulawayo 24.

"Zec has also moved many people from Glen View South constituency to Harare South constituency. The mass movement of voters across constituencies and wards when addresses have not changed implies that Zec is illegally changing electoral boundaries," Team Pachedu said on Twitter.

"One typical illegal movement involves hundreds of voters from Zvimba East to Glen View South (Chirangano Car Park Tent).”

Zanu PF is rigging these 2023 elections; the party has been rigging elections since the country’s first post-independence elections in 1980. In 1980 the party had no control over any part of the electoral process however its campaign message to the voters was clear as bell – if Zanu PF does not win the election, the bush war would continue. The people voted to end the war!

Once in power, the regime has captured the various state institutions such as ZEC, Police, Judiciary, Army, war veterans, traditional leaders, etc. so that they all worked to deliver a Zanu PF electoral victory. The vote rigging has grown in extend and sophistication over the years.

The vote rigging juggernaut has been funded by the party’s capture of every facet of human economic activity allowing mismanagement and corruption to grow and spread. Mismanagement and corruption are the cancers killing the nation and yet everyone is frightened of cutting them out because they are so widespread and deep rooted and go to the heart of everything the patient will be just an empty shell after the operation!

Besides, it is no secret that Zanu PF thugs have vowed to burn down the whole country than see some one else rule Zimbabwe! Of course, Zanu PF thugs are holding the nation to ransom and those who are burying their heads in the sand and pretend the opposition can win rigged elections are only helping Zanu PF achieve its no regime change objective!

There is no denying that Zanu PF is rigging these elections and by insisting on participating in the elections with no reforms, the opposition are giving vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and thus perpetuating the dictatorship.

Stopping the Zanu PF dictatorship was not ease from the start since the party was the one that spear headed the war to end white colonial rule; as the liberation war heroes, Mugabe and company viewed it as their divine right to rule. Still, if it was hard to stop the Zanu PF dictatorship in the 1980s, it is even harder doing so now. After 42 years of enjoying absolute power and all the influence and wealth it has brought. Zanu PF ruling elite and the cronies have become addicted to power and they are buried deep in their trenches; flushing them out will not be ease.

The only sure way to end the Zanu PF dictatorship peacefully is by insisting on the implementation of democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections. Those who think Zanu PF will ever lose elections in which it has carte blanche powers to rig are daydreaming; that will never ever happen.

Chamisa and his CCC friends are calling on people “to vote and then stay at the Polling Station to defend their vote!” This is a call to protest the rigged election results and we all know there is no such thing as “peaceful protest” in Zimbabwe.

Violent street protests and/or another military coup will end the Mnangagwa Zanu PF dictatorship but at the cost of wanton distraction of property, human suffering and many lives. And, worst of all, there is no guarantee the system of government to emerge out of the ashes will not be yet another dictatorship, even worse than the Zanu PF dictatorship.

It is tragic the nation, even now after 42 years of rigged elections, is spurning option of peaceful change by demanding reforms before elections. Holding the elections without reforms will result in Zanu PF rigging the elections and trigger violent protests, guaranteed!