Friday 15 July 2016

Tsvangirai proposes wishy-washy reforms to give Mugabe another "soft landing" by Wilbert Mukori


In response to the nation’s worsening economic meltdown and the growing street protests, Morgan Tsvangirai proposes the formation of the National Transition Authority (NTA) to steer the nation out of the mess.

“The broad mandate of the NTA will be to steer the country on a path towards the return to legitimacy through truly free, fair and credible elections whose outcome is not disputed,” said Morgan Tsvangirai in his statement.

Well if Tsvangirai had been paying any attention throughout the negotiations of the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) and throughout the five years of the Government of National Unity (GNU) itself the principle objective was to implement a raft of democratic reforms and write a new democratic constitution so Zimbabwe will have free, fair and credible elections. Tsvangirai and his MDC friends were reminded a thousand times by the SADC Heads of State and others to implement the reforms but of course MDC leaders ignored the warnings.

It would been heartening to say that Tsvangirai had finally waken up to the critical task of implementing the democratic reforms as the only sure way to get the free, fair and credible elections – even if this be waking up when the GNU is over, at least one would think he will finally focus on the task going forward. It is not heartening because a look at what he is proposing shows that he still has no clues what the reforms are.

Here are the five things he is proposing NTA should do:

  1. “Supervise the implementation of the Constitution, including the alignment of laws to the same

 

  1. “Oversee and monitor the work of Commissions such as the Human Rights Commission, National Anti-Corruption Commission, National Peace, Healing and Reconciliation Commission, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and others.

 

  1. “Oversee the political reform agenda, some reforms of which are now enshrined in the new Constitution as well as being involved in the preparation for credible elections.

 

  1. “Oversee and monitor food aid and distribution

 

  1. “Develop a shared National Vision and economic reconstruction programme. Our country needs its own Marshal Plan”


Whilst every thinking Zimbabwean would agree that the single most important task for the nation right now is to do whatever is necessary for free and fair elections and it good to note that it has finally dawned on Tsvangirai that Zanu PF cannot be trusted to carry out this important task hence the need for this NTA. Sadly, from his list of the five tasks for NTA, it is clear Tsvangirai still does not have a clue what really needs to be done to deliver free and fair elections!

 

The new May 2013 constitution is too weak and feeble to deliver free and fair elections and therefore realigning the existing laws to it will be a waste of time. Senator David Coltart has admitted in his book, The Struggle continues, that the new constitution gave “far too much power to the executive” without the usual democratic checks and balances. No amount of tweaking of existing laws will take away these excessive powers and, of course, we can count of tyrant like Mugabe to take full advantage of the dictatorial powers.

 

Some of excessive State President’s powers include the having the sole power to hire and fire ZEC and all the other institutions’ personal with none of the democratic check and balance to guarantee the respective body’s independence. No amount of supervision of ZEC by NTA will make up for the commissioners’ lack of independence or professionalism, for example.

 

“Details of the transitional mechanisms including the composition, structure, form, relationship to the State executive, establishment processes, signposts and roadmap to elections will be negotiated with other stakeholders whom I will engage soon on these proposals,” continued Tsvangirai.

 

“I am giving President Mugabe an opportunity to soft land the national crisis. He will have only himself to blame if citizens take matters in their own hands. The ball is in his court. I urge SADC and the AU to provide wise counsel to him. The ball is now in his court.”

 

Well, well! For someone who has a proven record as a corrupt and incompetent leader Tsvangirai really likes to command from up high!

 

Zimbabwe’s worsening economic meltdown will force Mugabe to accept meaningful political reform. It is clear that since his unceremonious exit off the gravy train following the rigged July 2013 elections, Tsvangirai has been desperate to carve a new political role for himself. He is so desperate that he will sell-out just as he did during the GNU.

 

Mugabe, for his part, will be tempted to cut a deal with Tsvangirai; the above wishy-washy arrangement will suit the tyrant just fine because Zanu PF will emerge strong just as happened in 2013. The only thing stopping Mugabe accepting this “soft landing” offer is that he knows SADC, the international community and every thinking Zimbabwean out there will reject the arrangement because it will do nothing to get the nation out of the mess.

 

The people of Zimbabwe want a peaceful and meaningful way out of the current political and economic mess that Mugabe landed the nation into and nothing short of implementing ALL the democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 GPA will do. If asked, the people of Zimbabwe would want to recover all that Mugabe and his family and cronies have looted from them given back. A “soft landing” for the corrupt and murderous tyrant Mugabe after all the misery he was caused; what a stupid idea!

9 comments:

  1. SADC and the international community know Tsvangirai is corrupt and incompetent, the ordinary people of Zimbabwe may be slow to see him for the idiot he is but not SADC. People will see another Tsvangirai and Mugabe administration as just another Zanu PF dictatorship; last time people were willing to give it time to unfold they will not even bother give it another look.


    He has accused SADC of conspiring to give President Mugabe a "soft landing" in proposing the GNU and yet he was the one whose incompetence was to give the tyrant a soft landing during the GNU and a guaranteed re-launch after the GNU. And now he is the one who is seeking to give the tyrant yet another soft landing! If anyone deserve a crash landing after rigging the 2013 elections it is Mugabe and Zanu PF.

    A crash landing for Zanu PF will be bad for Tsvangirai because the truth about the looting in Marange will come out and Tsvangirai was the MDC leader who gave it his approval. He was rewarded with the Sea Cruise and very little else but still Mugabe will want the nation to know Tsvangirai is corrupt. Tyrants like him are not the type to keep a secret, especially when they are going down. Mai Mujuru has already receive notification that her diamond looting activities will be splash to the world if Mugabe ever gets into trouble!



    Tsvangirai is stepping up a gear on his public demos because he is feeling the pressure of the social media activists achieving more than he has ever done with all his MPs and all the political platform he has had! Poor Tsvangirai, it is at times like this that he must know he is incompetent and feel it!

    Tsvangirai is a corrupt and incompetent leader who has sold-out before and is just itching to do so again; any one who cares about this nation must not allow him to sell this nation again. After Mugabe and his cronies Tsvangirai is the next most dangerous individual to the nation's well being. His blundering incompetence has cost this nation one lost chance for meaningful change, he must not be allowed to cost us another chance!

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    Replies
    1. It is the Zimbabwe electorate themselves who will allow Tsvangirai to sell them again! Ignorance is a curse especially when self-interest results in one shooting oneself in the foot again and again.

      In this day and age no has any excuse for not knowing that what Tsvangirai is proposing here will not deliver and meaningful democratic changes. We are back to the debate on the new constitution, Zimbabweans approved it is the 2013 referendum because they would not listen to anyone who warned that it was weak and feeble and would never deliver free and fair elections. President Mugabe blatantly rigged the July 2013 elections and thus proving the point of the constitution being weak.

      MDC have since argued for the realignment of existing laws to the new constitution although they have failed to show how that would stop Zanu PF rigging the next elections. MDC are taking the nation down another dead end and the people will be very foolish to follow them again!

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  2. I cannot believe that MDC-T met and approved this rubbish! Not just Tsvangirai but his whole team are beyond the pale. After the GNU screw-up one was hoping they would now be making a concerted effort to redeem for their spectacular failures! Not a bit of it, instead they are still chasing shadows!

    One has to question the sanity of MDC followers; what kind of people will still be putting their faith is such corrupt and incompetent people?

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  3. As a nation we never learn from the past and thus repeat the same mistakes over and over again. It is like playing the game of snakes and ladders except that instead of it being a matter of chance we go out of our way to step on the snake's head and instead of sending us to START we have now sunk way below were we started in 1980!

    We like to boast of being one of the most literate nation in Africa, we are certainly chaining out more university graduates and post graduates (some after only 3 to 5 months part-time studies with no A level qualifications much less the traditional first degree, how is that for competency) per capita GDP than any other nation in human history. Sadly, we are the only nation in human history for whom education has been a curse and not a blessing because the nation's GDP has sunk like a stone as our literacy has soared!
    We are now too well "educated" for our own good or else our education system has cemented the ghetto mentality instead of freeing us from it. Zimbabweans, with their brainwashing ed-ucation, are now even more tuned to respond to empty slogans and to follow blindly whatever leader is put before them, be it a murderous tyrant like Mugabe or a certified village idiot like Tsvangirai.
    Who would have thought it possible that education can be a curse and not a blessing as it clearly has become for Zimbabwe!

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  4. Yes Zanu PF has its own problems but there were many chances to save this country from the Zanu PF dictatorship that went begging. When Mugabe closed the front and back doors to democratic government, the Lord open the window; it is our fault that we have never taken advantage of the open window!

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  5. True but are you sure of where you are going because, so far, this nation has been travelling deeper and deeper into hell! If we are not careful this could well be the first step of another thousand mile-journey taking us even deeper into hell!

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  6. As long as the herd of mindless wildebeest dressed in red continue to follow him Tsvangirai will continued to blunder from pillar to post making the whole nation pay for his stupidity!

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  7. @ Nomazulu

    The appointment of two new VP for MDC raised three key points for me:
    1) The MDC-T party constitution does not call for three VPs otherwise the positions would have been filled a long time ago. So these two additional VP positions must have been proposed since the party’s last congress and therefore the proposal should have been table at the next party congress for approval BEFORE the posts are filled.

    2) Given that the VP are very senior positions, just one level below the president position, surely they should have been filled following a proper and transparent electoral process since all other positions in the party were a result of elections. It is not right that Tsvangirai should change the party’s constitution and appoint key party leaders willy-nilly.

    3) MDC-T should stop this Zanu PF rat mentality of expanding the party leadership structure to accommodate everyone. Whereas birds grow and leave the nest; rats never leave the nest, the make the nest bigger! President Mugabe has always had a bloated cabinet, created one layer of bureaucracy after another in the form of provincial governor, executive mayors, etc. just to accommodate cronies and party loyalists. Government is there to serve the public and not the individual party members!

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  8. Government has appointed a company to investigate the $15 billion looted from Marange. The company’s findings are expected in two months-time, in September.
    We await the results of the audit but are not holding our breath - we do not expect much. The truth of the looting in Marange will only come out after regime change because we do not expect the regime to investigate itself!

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