Thursday 19 May 2016

"2013 elections were not rigged," say opposition leader - no wonder no reforms have been implemented by P Guramatunhu


The key to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery is via democratic political reform. The only reason why the latter has remained a mirage is because the opposition leaders who are supposed to delivery it are breathtakingly incompetent. They are supposed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections and it turns out they do not even know how Zanu PF has been rigging elections!

 

 

"Can I tell you one thing? The 2008 elections were rigged, but the 2013 elections were not," Temba Mliswa told Newsday. Mr Mliswa is a former Zanu PF MP and now a leading opposition leader.

 

"You cannot rig a Zimbabwean election. The only rigging that happens is through intimidation and violence and that is what we have to deal with,” Mliswa explained.



"That is what happens because you have your agents here and the boxes are shown. In 2013, there was no rigging. Zanu PF was smart enough from 2008 by keeping war veterans on the ground and they were leading the intimidation."



So according to this simpleton, Temba Mliswa, if there is no intimidation and violence and the opposition’s election agent(s) is in the polling station and can see the ballot boxes then the elections cannot be rigged! How naïve!

 

 

Of course Mliswa is talking rubbish; President Mugabe rigged the 2013 elections and here is some of the blatant ways he used to rig the vote:

 

  1. The failure to implement meaningful media reforms during the GNU meant that Zanu PF retained it total control of the public media. There was no freedom of expression and no free press necessary for the free exchange of ideas. Morgan Tsvangirai admitted to S W Radio Africa just before the 2013 elections that ZBC Radio and TV had never granted him or his MDC party any coverage for them to present their political programme to the nation throughout the five years of the GNU.
     
    Elections are about giving the voters a choice; if the voters are forced to hear the views of one side and one side only how can that be a free, fair and credible electoral process.
     
  2. Mr Mliswa, as a Zanu PF parliamentary candidate, received a brand new car, thousands of dollars in cash plus a load of party regalia and election materials compliments of President Mugabe. President Mugabe must have spent $4 billion, at least, in the 2013 elections. MDC-T could only afford to give its parliamentary and council candidate $700 and $100 or so respectively. This is hardly fair, particularly when it turns out that President Mugabe’s generous funding was cash, materials and human resources commandeered from State Institutions plus billions looted from Marage diamonds and other resources.
     
  3. Mr Mliswa must have been aware of the nearly one million voters country wide who  were denied the opportunity to vote on polling day because their names were not in the constituency voters roll their expected. It should be noted that President Mugabe and Zanu PF candidates “won” with a margin of just over a million votes!
     
  4. In his book, The Struggle Continues former Senator David Coltart reported of “Numerous buses were seen ferrying young men into the constituency from Imbizo barracks located some 20 km from Bulawayo (Coltart’s constituency). …. In three of the polling station … .the votes cast for Mugabe were remarkably consistent: 220, 220 and 224 votes.”
     
  5. Zanu PF failed to release a voters-roll before the 2013 elections although this is a legal requirement. There is no doubt that a careful analysis of the voters-roll would have confirm the observed facts that NIKUV, the Israeli company, had tampered with the voters-roll and deliberately posted suspected opposition supporters’ detailed in wrong constituencies, see c) above, amongst the many other dirty tricks. Zanu PF has stubbornly refused to release the voters-roll because it is one of the smoking guns to how the regime rigged the 2013 elections.
     

Mr Temba Mliswa was not just another Zanu PF MP, he was the party’s provincial chairman of Mashonaland West before his ouster in December 2014 in the purge for VP Joice Mujuru and her supporters. Mr Mliswa should have been aware of all the five election irregularities listed above plus many more beside but he clearly was not; even with the benefit of hindsight he still has no clue how Zanu PF rigged the 2013 elections.

 

 

With unemployment a nauseating 90%, millions living in abject poverty, basic services like health and education near collapse, no clean running water, etc.; the economy is number one on the national agenda. What many people have been slow to grasp is that there will be no meaningful economic recovery as long as Zanu PF remains in power.

 

 

The people realized as far back as 2000 that Zanu PF was delivering mass poverty instead of mass prosperity the party had promised. Ever since the electorate has tried to remove President Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies from office but failed because the tyrant has rigged the elections. We are stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and oppressive Zanu PF regime and as long as it remains in power there will be no meaningful economic recovery. 

 

 

Hence the reason why political reform or democratic change must be pursued and delivery because without it there will never be any meaningful economic recovery.

 

 

There have been many opportunities to implement meaningful democratic reforms with the best of these coming during the GNU. All Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had to do then was to implement the 2008 GPA democratic reforms which Zanu PF had grudgingly signed onto and SADC was the guarantor. Not even one reform was implemented!

 

 

MDC leaders, just like Mr Mliswa here, did not understand how President Mugabe rigged elections and hence the reason they failed to get even one reform implemented.

 

 

What Zimbabwe needs to get out of the economic and political hell-hole President Mugabe has landed us is how to stop Zanu PF rigging elections so the country can finally have the meaningful political change. Clearly opposition leaders like Morgan Tsvangirai, Joice Mujuru, Tendai Biti, Temba Mliswa will never deliver any meaningful democratic reforms. They clearly have no clue how President Mugabe has been rigging elections so how can they know what reforms to implement to stop the rigging?

 

 

Zimbabwe cannot afford yet another rigged election come 2018 and risk the present economic chaos continuing or getting even worse. We need opposition leaders who know how Mugabe has been rigging elections to stop the tyrant rigged the next elections.

 

 

It was John Maxwell who said “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

 

 

We need opposition leaders who know the way out of this hell-hole; who know how to Zanu PF rigging elections!

10 comments:

  1. But an unfazed Mujuru told Zimbabweans “not to worry”, adding that she and ZPF were busy “strategising” for a better future for all.


    “Kuvanhu ndiko kwedu, ndiko kwatakabva. Tine vanhu, saka hatimbofa takarasisa vanhu (We came from the people and we and the people are one. We have a lot of supporters, and we will never betray the people).


    This is typical of our corrupt and incompetent opposition leaders they cannot wait for the next elections and yet they are not ready for the next elections. What democratic reform has ZimPF implemented to stop Zanu PF rigging the next elections? Not even one and yet they say they are ready!

    Mujuru “strategizing”, since when has she been capable of such a mental fit!

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    Replies
    1. @ Nguruve
      No it was not President Mugabe but rather the MDC in the first place and the Zimbabwean people themselves who told the world t f**** off by failing to get even one reform imple-mented during the GNU. But sticking with the same corrupt and incompetent opposition leaders who have already proved that they are corrupt and incompetent and are not interested in implemented any reforms we are telling the world we are not interested in getting any re-form implemented.

      Having failed to get even one reform during the GNU when Zanu PF was under the GPA cosh it is not going to be easy to get Zanu PF to do so now but that is not to say it is impossi-ble. The most important thing is to accept that nothing can be accomplished without imple-menting the reforms and then go out there and demand that the reforms are implemented.

      So far none of the opposition has demanded the implementation of the reforms because none of them believe it is the only way out.

      What is the point taking part in demos if you believe implementing the reforms is the only way out?

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  2. One of the most important things anyone who is serious about challenging Zanu PF's iron grip on power must do is implement democratic reforms to ensure elections are free, fair and credible. Mujuru and ZimPF has not done anything on this score; are we to assume that is part of her "secrets"?


    It is now two years to the next elections, time is running out for implementing reforms.


    The truth is she and her ZimPF members are just as corrupt and incompetent as the rest of the opposition.


    Mai Mujuru was in government for 34 years she has accomplished nothing of note other than sit and do nothing or play her part in the looting!

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  3. Before the 2013 elections SADC reminded MDC to implement the reforms again and again, sadly the warning went in one ear and out the other. History has the habit of repeating itself; we are now reminding the people of Zimbabwe to forget the corrupt and incompetent opposition leaders and implement the democratic reforms again and again. Sadly the warning is going in one ear and straight out the other.

    The price the nation has paid for failing to implement the democratic reforms during the GNU was that Zanu PF rig the elections and the economic meltdown which had showed some signs of recovery, at least there was food in the shops although it was imported mainly too a turn for the worse. The economy is about to take yet another serious knock as soon as the bond notes are introduced in two months. The bond notes will make it difficult for the informal traders to get foreign currency and import goods on which they are totally dependent.

    It will not be long before there is runaway inflation on the bond notes, shortage of goods, etc. We will be back to the nightmare of 2008.

    A rig 2018 election will be different from 2008 in that there will be no GNU and the slight economic recovery 2009 but rather more of 2008 and worse!

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  4. I would be happier if Tsvangirai spent even one hour a week getting the democratic reforms necessary to stop Zanu PF rigging the next elections and spend the rest of the time chasing women and staging these stupid demos! During the GNU he failed to get even one single reform implemented in five years because he was busy globe-trotting and chasing women. What a waste of space!

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  5. I am sick and tired of gimmicks; this is just another MDC time wasting gimmick. The most important task is implementing the reforms and we have had three years already and not one reform has been implemented.


    President Mugabe is very good at stringing his opponents along and he is doing just that here. He is happy to put up a show of fighting every MDC demo because he would rather occupy MDC in this trivia-pursuit than have them implement even one democratic reform. During the GNU he played the same dirty trick and MDC did not implement even one reform. Not one!

    &*@# the demos, we want the reforms implemented or the next elections will be rigged again!

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  6. Yes MDC has won the right to hold the demo but if this is at the cost of losing the fight for free, fair and credible elections which MDC is clearly losing as not even one reform has been implemented then this is being penny wise but pound foolish!

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  7. Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friend have admitted that the 2013 elections were rigged although even some of the senior leaders like Tendai Biti at one point said they were not rigged. Still the consensus posi-tion now is that the elections were rigged. All the MDC factions have all boycotted elections since the July 2013 elections on the ground that they will not take part until reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging elec-tions have been implemented. They are all preparing for the 2018 elections on the understanding the re-forms would have been implemented by then although there is no evidence of that taking place.


    MDC and all the other opposition parties are squaring up for elections with no meaningful reforms in place because they have no clue what the reforms are and how they can be implemented. The need for quality leaders has never been more pressing!

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  8. "The incentive will come and go, we hope that by the time it expires it would have brought in $4 billion," said RBZ director for exchange control Mr Morris Mpofu.

    He said it was critical to note that the bond notes were a minute percentage of the deposits that the country was holding. "If you look at this facility it's very little to warrant the return of the Zimdollar," he said.

    He said it was critical for people to understand how the facility would work.

    "If, for instance, you export goods worth $10 000, when the money is paid into a nostro (for-eign) account and your bank credits that money to your account, the RBZ will credit your 5 percent export incentive (worth $500) in bond notes into your account so that your balance will be $10 500. There is no separate account for bond notes and US dollars," said Mr Mpofu


    So why did the bank need to introduce another currency medium? Why did the bank not pay the exporter the incentive in US$?

    What are the exporters supposed to do with the bond notes? Ask the bank to convert them to US$?

    Just how is the $200 million of bond notes supposed to bring in $4 billion?

    The truth is ordinary people who have nothing whatsoever to do with export will find them-selves being paid in bond notes, take it or leave it, instead of US$. The regime will increase the face value of the bond notes in circulation to $4 billion. In other words if the regime was to honour its pledge to redeem the bond notes at the end of the day, people will get 5c for every bond note!

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  9. @ Nguruve

    MDC had the opportunity to implement the democratic reforms during the GNU, if you cannot understand that they sold-out it is a serious intellectual shortcoming on your part.

    Zimbabwe has two choices now either seek a peaceful solution which is demanding the implementation of the reforms, which is difficult but not impossible. Or allow the economic meltdown get even worse and trigger social instability in the form of demos, rioting or worse. Given your serious intellectual shortcoming, it is not surprising that you chose the latter.


    Demos and rioting will not solve the fundamental political problem that the nation is facing, i.e. the lack of quality leaders. As long as we have this autocratic political system that stifles debate and democratic competition we will always end up with corrupt and incompetent leaders!


    We need the democratic reforms as the only sure way we have competent leaders going forward. This is why anyone with half a brain would want to implement the democratic reforms!

    ReplyDelete