Zanu PF and MDC, Baal's priests, know 2018 elections are flawed and illegal but pretend otherwise W Mukori

The national elections season is now upon us and the two camps have already emerged, set up their stalls, ready to do battle. One camp is saying the elections should go ahead; political parties must produce their election manifestos, select the candidates to contest, go out there and campaign for votes, etc. ZEC must get cracking with registering voters, produce the voters’ roll, print the ballots, etc. And we, the people, must place our assigned role of registering to vote, attending rallies and, come voting day, cast our vote.

The second camp, is calling on the nation to boycott the elections on the basis that the elections will not be free, fair and credible. Their argument is a simple one; Zanu PF used its total and undemocratic control of every aspect of the election process to rig the vote and after 37 years of rigged elections, it is insane to keep contesting flawed elections.

No one denies that Zanu PF has been rigging elections.

Indeed, the opposition has routinely complained of Zanu PF “stealing the elections” after each election. Mugabe himself has even boasted of his vote rigging.

“Nothing accomplished by the bullet can be undone by the ballot!” Mugabe instructed his supported as their carried out his instructions in overhaul his defeat in the March 2008 vote into an 84% landslide victory using wanton violence in the run-off three months later.

Mugabe did not only claim electoral but also claimed that the election was free, fair and credible. Such is the sickening prerogative of bullies and tyrants; they claim onto themselves to be the investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner in all matters including those in which they are, above all, the wrong doer!

No one accepted Mugabe’s claim that the elections were free and fair; not even SADC and AU who had turned a blind eye to Mugabe’s vote rigging antics in the past; not after such blatant vote rigging and barbaric violence. SADC forced Mugabe to sign the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which gave birth to GNU tasked to implement a raft of democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and stop vote rigging.

Sadly, not even one reform was implemented in the five years of the GNU, so Zanu PF was once again free to rig the elections as before. SADC warned MDC leaders not to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms in place. As we know the latter did not listen, elections went ahead and Zanu PF blatant rig the elections.

Since the rigged 2013 elections, not even one democratic reform has been implemented. Not one! The holding of the July 2013 elections marked the end of SADC’s supervisory role in Zimbabwe’s political affairs as the guarantor of the GPA. Getting any reforms implemented after July 2013 was always going to be a challenge particularly with a Zanu PF government with a comfortable 2/3 majority in both parliament and senate. Indeed, Zanu PF has stubbornly refused to implement any reforms.

“You can’t expect us to reform ourselves out of power,” the outspoken Zanu PF political strategist, Professor Jonathan Moyo admitted. He spoke with the usual arrogance of tyrants used to riding roughshod over other people’s freedoms and human rights.

By implementing the reforms, Zanu PF would be restoring the people’s freedoms and rights including the right to free and fair elections. How ironic that Zanu PF should be the one blocking all democratic options to get meaningful reforms implemented by rigging elections and then pretend it is not its fault that no reforms are implemented.

So Zanu PF is going into next year’s elections knowing fully well the elections will not be free, fair and credible because “what was accomplished by the bullet (i.e. Zanu PF political dominance) cannot be undone by a ballot!” And the regime’s excuse for its continued denial of the people’s freedoms and rights including the right to free and fair elections is that the regime cannot reform itself out of office.

Tsvangirai and his MDC friends have never admitted that they sold-out during the GNU in failing to get even one reform implemented in total disregard of SADC leaders’ advice to implement the reforms. Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office including a farm seized from a white farmer and a $ 4 million mansion for Ncube and Tsvangirai respectively.

MDC leaders, once again, ignored SADC leaders’ advice not to contest the 2013 elections with not reforms in place because Zanu PF will rig the elections. As we know, Zanu PF rigged the elections. Since the rigged July 2013 elections not even one former has been implemented and so SADC’s advice not to contest next year’s elections is just as valid. Sadly, MDC leaders are set to contest the elections regardless.

“We would like to call upon SADC to do whatever is within its power to ensure that next year’s elections in Zimbabwe be held in a free and fair environment that will guarantee a credible outcome,” said Obert Gutu, MDC-T spokesman, in a recent statement.

Advising the opposition and the people at large to demand the implementation of the reforms and stop taking part in flawed elections is the best SADC can do to help us end this political madness. It is outrageous that MDC is, once again, disregarding SADC’s advice and will, no doubt, blame SADC for not doing enough to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. What chutzpah!

The opposition have also been calling on the people of Zimbabwe “to come out to register to vote and then going out and then make sure your vote!” Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Zimbabweans did not get into the voters’ roll last time because there were few voter registration centres, many failed to produce the documents demanded of them to register, etc.

Of those who did register nearly one million were denied the vote because their details were posted in some other constituency voters’ roll other than the one they expected. In the rurally areas, voters are frog marched to attend Zanu PF rallies and then to vote for the party. These are all well documented evidence of Zanu PF vote rigging which the opposition know can only be adequately address if the reforms are implemented. In their eagerness to contest the flawed elections the opposition are conveniently ignoring these political realities just as they have ignored SADC’s advice.

There is no doubt that Tsvangirai & co. will blame us, the people, for failing to heed his call to register and then to vote if Zanu PF should blatantly rig the election – such is our curse for having a corrupt, incompetent and shamelessly dishonest opposition.

There is clear evidence that Zanu PF’s vote rigging juggernaut, well-oiled with the billions of dollars looted from Marange, is already into overdrive. Mugabe has already kicked off his campaign with Zanu PF Youth Interface rallies in all the provinces. The regime has successfully delayed the buying of the Biometric Voter Registration kits so the voter registration will be a rushed process allowing no time to register, produce and verify the new voters’ roll, etc. Zanu PF has already won the 2018 elections with a landslide, the regime is just waiting for the country to go through the motions before they announce the result!    

The truth is Tsvangirai and company have accepted the political reality of Zanu PF rigging elections and staying in power as long as they get a share of the spoils of power. Mugabe gave them a share of the spoils during the GNU and hence the reason MDC leaders kicked reforms into touch. The opposition contest the flawed 2013 elections to win the few gravy train seats they knew Zanu PF would give away, as David Coltart readily admitted in his recent book.

“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,” explained Senator Coltart.

“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 opposition politicians have expended a much time and energy building a coalition – much more than they have spent in getting even one reform implemented They had made very heavy weather of this (not that any meaningful coalition has emerged) to mislead the naïve and gullible public; a coalition, no matter how strong, could stop Zanu PF rigging the vote; only reforms can do that.

The primary purpose of the coalition is for the opposition to share out the winnable seats, the few seats Zanu PF gives away. Even in so called opposition strong holds, Zanu PF will generate a significant number of baseline rigged votes; enough to win the seat should the opposition vote be split. This is the reason why, small opposition parties like Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube, are particularly keen to go into a coalition.

Both Zanu PF and all the opposition candidate in Zimbabwe’s next year elections know that, with no democratic reforms in place, the whole election process is a meaningless charade in which the result is a Zanu PF landslide victory, guaranteed. The opposition are contesting, in total disregard of the SADC advice not to, for the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away to entice the opposition to contest elections and give the process credibility.

As the election process gets into gear both Zanu PF and opposition politicians will themselves go through their own gears of mobilizing voters to register, selecting candidates to contest, producing their party manifestoes, holding campaign rallies, etc., etc. They are all going through the motions, they know the elections will not be free, fair and credible just as Baal’s 450 priests, in the Biblical story of the prophet Elijah, knew Baal was not a god but a powerless Idol!

Zimbabwe spent $100 million writing the new 2013 constitution, squandered $74 million on the new BVR kits, Rita Makarau, ZEC chairperson has just asked for $274 million to hold next year’s elections. Zanu PF spent at least $4 billion of its party campaign and various vote rigging schemes including US$ 10 million paid to NIKUV, the Israeli company that helped corrupt the voters’ roll. By the time the last rigged vote is cast and counted next year the party is expected to have spent $10 billion! This is all but a waste of time and treasure; the jumping around of Baal’s many priests!

Ever since independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has been sinking relentless into the economic mess which has seen unemployment soar to the nauseating heights of 90% which has left 72.3% of our people living in abject poverty. Zimbabwe is a very rich country with some of the best land and weather from all kinds of farming and with many mineral wealth and other resources. Zimbabwe could have easily become the South Korea of Africa but has, instead, become the North Korea of Africa.

Zimbabweans have the singular honour of being the poorest people in Africa. And the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic demise is bad governance, for the last 37 years the country has been stuck with a corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime. Unless we implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle and end this demonic Zanu PF rule; Zimbabwe’s economic demise will continue. The country’s present electoral circus is not doing anything to end Zanu PF’s ruinous rule.

“So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no answer. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.

“And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 1 Kings 18 verse 26 to 27.

Zimbabwe cannot afford another rigged election and five more years of Zanu PF’s ruinous reign. With both Zanu PF and the opposition determined to drag the nation through yet another flawed electoral process the only option for the common man and woman out there is to have absolutely nothing to do with this mockery of democratic election. Do not both to register as a voter. Do not attend and party rallies. Do not bother to vote! Have absolutely nothing to do with these elections other than continue to demand the implementation of the reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

By participating in any way in the flawed election, you will per se give the process some democratic credibility. This is shooting yourself in the foot as you will be forfeiting the chance to get the reforms implemented. When SADC leaders advised MDC leaders not to contest the flawed 2013 elections the regional leaders would have rejected the one horse Zanu PF elections forcing Mugabe to accept the implementation of reforms. If many Zimbabweans demand the reforms and boycott next year’s elections until the reforms are implemented it will strengthen SADC leaders’ hand in demanding the reforms from Zanu PF.

Free, fair and credible elections are the only elections we must accept anything else is totally unaccepted!