President
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF regime had a political boast in their popularity
rating as millions of Zimbabweans joined in the 18 November 2017 march
demanding the resignation of Robert Mugabe. This, however, has not been enough encourage
the regime to risk losing power by abandon its old ways of rigging elections.
The regime will be risking a lot more than exercise of power!
The
people knew Mugabe was rigging elections to stay in power against their
democratic wishes and they hated the tyrant and his regime for it. Initially
when the succession wars within the party started to heat up the ordinary
people were indifferent to which faction won as a goat to the outcome of
fighting hyenas. It was only when it was clear that Grace wanted to succeed her
husband as the next State President that people took sides.
Most
Zimbabweans dreaded prospect of the tyrant appointing his wife the next
president. They despised Grace for her arrogance, greed, extravagancy and,
worst of all for being an empty head with more ambition than wit. So, when the
rivalry faction led by then VP Mnangagwa stage the November 2017 coup that
forced Mugabe to resign the nation heaved a huge sigh of relief and were
thankful to the coup plotter for helping them get rid of the hated tyrant
Mugabe and, in the same stroke, end the nightmare prospect of the Mugabe
dynasty.
The country
has failure to produce a government-in-wait quality opposition party. Ever
since Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends’ pathetic failure to implement even
one democratic reforms during the GNU, all the party’s donors have deserted
them. The party has subdivided like an amebae and then started sinking into
oblivion dragged down by all the deadwood in the party.
Some
people have argued that the de facto one-party dictatorship Mugabe fostered on
the nation has stifled all meaningful public debate and democratic competition
creating a very toxic political environment in one has to be a thug to survive
and so only corrupt and incompetent individuals crowd our political stage on both
sides of the political divide, the ruling party and the opposition.
So,
in the wake of the November coup President Mnangagwa was the only political
party standing it was therefore easy to see why the nation has looked to the
regime as faute de mieux to lead. It is in this context of having no
alternative that could have implemented all the democratic reforms and went on
to win the free, fair and credible elections. Sadly, President Mnangagwa has decided
not to implement even one reform and risk losing power in a free election. The
regime has other demonic interest to consider that make losing elections simply
unthinkable.
It
was Margaret Dongo, a freedom fighter, CIO a Zanu PF MP before she finally broke
away to join the opposition, once dismissed Zanu PF MPs, cabinet members, etc.
disparagingly as “vakadzi vaMugabe” (Mugabe’s subservient concubines). Only a
first-class subservient moron would do some of the stinking dirty jobs
Mnangagwa, Chiwenga and the rest have done for Mugabe. In the end, the tyrant
fire Mnangagwa and was in the process of doing the same with the rest when
ganged up on him and stage the coup.
The
coup, named Operation Restore Legacy, was about keeping the Joint Operation
Command Junta in power at all cost. The Junta carried out the dirty work of
vote rigging, looting, political violence, murder and the military coups
(November coup was the second, the first was in 2008 to stop MDC getting into
power). After the coup, the Junta shared out the spoils of power but this was
not just about holding powerful position in the Army, party, government, etc. the
legacy was about making the Junta retained a firm grip on power at all cost as
the only guarantee the members’ dirty past will remained a secret.
In
fact, it was the prospect of Mugabe booting them out of power and then making public
the dirty things they had done for him that galvanized Mnangagwa and company to
stage the coup the 15 November coup to force Mugabe to step down. By the same
token, it is the prospect of someone else getting into power and dig up their
dirty past that is stopping President Mnangagwa from implementing even one
democratic reform and risk losing this year’s elections.
President
Mnangagwa knows that for Zimbabwe’s elections to be declared free, fair and
credible he must implement all the democratic reforms designed to stop the
wanton violence that marked the 2008 elections and also reforms designed to stop
the subvert and deny the people’s vote.
Zimbabwe’s
2013 elections were relatively peaceful, at least compared the mayhem of the
2008 elections. As long as Zanu PF has devised other more subtle ways such as
bussing its supporters from one polling station to the next to cast multiple
votes, getting Chiefs and other traditional leaders to coerce the voters on the
party’s behalf, etc. and the party is assured of victory; the party has
by-and-large managed to successfully restrain its more militant members and
maintain the peace.
President
Mnangagwa is hoping that the party will be able to do this again this year and
so to him this year’s elections must be judged on whether they were peaceful;
forget there were no reforms implemented and how blatant the subtle vote
rigging shenanigans happen to be! His main message is that SADC leaders must
concentrate on whether the elections are peaceful.
“Zimbabwe
is going for elections in four to five months’ time and we have to preach
peace, peace and peace because we know it is good for us and we have no doubt
that we will have peaceful elections,” said President Mnangagwa his counterpart
in Mozambique.
“I
assure the regional leadership that the forthcoming harmonised polls will
embrace the tenets of democracy, fair play and standards set by us in the SADC.
We will ensure that Zimbabwe delivers free, credible, fair and undisputable
elections to ensure Zimbabwe engages the world as a qualified democratic state.”
SADC
leaders must refuse to have their assessment of the elections limited to just
whether there was physical violence or not. They must ensure there is no cheating
by allowing some people to cast multiple vote, Chiefs the coercing voters to
vote, etc. and the only sure way that these things do not happen is to insist
that all the democratic reforms are implemented before the elections!
There
is no excuse for SADC leaders to buy into President Mnangagwa’s story that he
can hold free and fair elections given his track record. It was him and his
Junta syndicate who masterminded all the vote rigging, political violence and
staged the military coups and, to crown it all, it was Zanu PF that stubbornly
refused to implement reforms in the past and the party continues to do so to
this day.
Zanu
PF is rigging the elections already by bribing Chiefs with new trucks, there is
no way ZEC is going to produce a verified voters’ roll before the election,
etc. How can SADC leaders declare the process free, fair and credible without
losing their own credibility!
There is no doubt that the November 15 coup plotters staged this treasonous act for the purpose of securing political power and all the benefits of influence and the opportunity to amass even more looted wealth for the likes of Commander Chiwenga and others. But, without doubt, one of the most important, if not the number on the list, reason to stage the coup was to make sure the secrets of the coup plotters past are kept safe and secure for all time.
ReplyDelete“After the coup, the Junta shared out the spoils of power but this was not just about holding powerful position in the Army, party, government, etc. the legacy was about making the Junta retained a firm grip on power at all cost as the only guarantee the members’ dirty past will remained a secret,” as you, rightly, said.
There is no doubt that people like President Mnangagwa and VP Chiwenga know some of the things they have done would land them in Chikurumbi and the nation will be in its right to throw away the key so they are never allowed out ever again. It is one of the quarks of our failed political system that those, who by right should be in prison are instead in State House or some such high office making decision that affect us all for generations to come.
Insisting that President Mnangagwa and his Junta must be kicked out of office if they fail to implement all the democratic reforms is probably the best and safest way to force them out of office. If they are allowed to get away with holding the elections without reforms then they will have five years to consolidate their hold on power. There is no doubt that the nation will remove the Zanu PF thugs from office but that could be years from now and I hate to think the price in human suffering and deaths would be by then!
“My countrymen...so what do we do? The voters register...tiripapi? Ndipo chete panenyaya....violence i see a rebellion against it...this time people are prepared to fight back on violence but they must know that they must fight back...but pa Voter's register apo...ipapo...chete...” you say.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of any other political entity other than President Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF is a political reality which he and his friends are aware of and are taking full advantage of. There is no doubt that many Zimbabweans are loathed to say anything critical of the regime because they say to themselves: “Who else is there?” The nation is likely to even vote for the regime for the same reason.
The regime is reaping rich rewards for all its hard work stifling public debate, freedom of expression and ruthlessly eliminating all its political opponents to create the de facto one-party dictatorship that has ruled this country all these years. The three key points to be noted here are:
1) The de facto one-party dictatorship system is stifling and per se has stopped the emerging of competent political leaders within Zanu PF itself and outside
2) To shrug our shoulder and accept the reality, grime as it is, is exactly what Zanu PF wants us to do and thus unwittingly help the party achieve its set objective of ruling until the cows come home.
3) Accepting the two points above and letting them sink in will led to one conclusion and one conclusion only surrendering to the status quo is not a solution as the one re-enforces the other in an endless cycle. The solution is in breaking the cycle. We need to demand the implementation of the democratic reforms and thus end the stifling political environment so quality leaders can emerge.
The key is to refuse to hold elections, even if they can be made substantially free and fair – which will be a big ask, until reforms are implemented because as long as we have not allowed time for quality leaders to emerge, it is pointless to hold elections when the only contestant are the rot from the present faulty system. This will be contest of Tweedledum vs Tweedledee at best and at worst the corrupt and incompetent whose difference too is academic.
We know President Mnangagwa has not implemented even one democratic reform and is not going to implement any. We also know that SAD leaders have already said themselves that it is futile participating in flawed elections; they are right, it is insane. Our time, energy and treasure must therefore by expended on making sure the whole election process is seen as a sham it is and that the international community especially SADC leaders declare the election null and void.
Declaring the election null and void will allow Zimbabwe to then set up a body that will be tasked to implement the democratic reforms and thus allow the nation to have a fresh democratic start!
@ Everfaithful
ReplyDelete“Agents of the junta will always be tormented by such articles .Then as usual they boil, and turn to vulgar rather than fact filled debate. But that is all they know, that you always attack any dissenting voices.” You said all that needs to be said on the subject!
Because there is no real political threat to President Mnangagwa and his cabal’s hold on power, given the opposition parties are in “shambles,” as MDC-T MP, Eddie Cross has readily admitted; it will not be necessary for Zanu PF to resort to violence to win the elections. The people of Zimbabwe must challenge the regime for its failure to implement the democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
SADC leaders too have demanded the implementation of democratic reforms and they never suggested that if Zanu PF could carry on and frog-march voters using Chiefs and long as it stopped the violence this was acceptable. We must pressure SADC leaders not to waver on this point.
"“Agents of the junta will always be tormented by such articles .Then as usual they boil, and turn to vulgar rather than fact filled debate. But that is all they know, that you always attack any dissenting voices,” said Everfaithful above.
ReplyDeleteLo behold along comes one agent of the Junta with forming at the mouth and with puffs of steam coming out of his ears and nose with anger! Poor Ckikotikoti, you have never had to deal with such in-your face naked truth and thus are at a complete lose what to say!
@ Zimborig
ReplyDeleteHere we go another agent of the Junta who has been confounded by the truth and their devasting consequences he is at a total loss what to say! If I had asked the fools who come up with such nonsense as "full of many half truths" to pay me one cent if they fail to name one such half truth, I would be a millionaire!
Name one half truth or pay me one cent!
@ Zimborig
ReplyDeleteSo you think you are now tell me the whole truth and nothing but the truth? No one said anyone was "arrested to sign the Lancaster House agreement". Mugabe and company "walked out", the article says. Again the article is refering to the post Unity Accord opposition and that is clear in the context, after all the article had been talking about Gukurahundi massacre.
The trouble with you sell-outs is you trivilialize the heartbreaking suffering of other people and expect us who are suffering these hardships to treat you with respect. If you want people to respect you then you must treat others with respect. We are dealing with serious matters here you must show your respect by stopping to defend the indefensible. Why should someone the corrupt and tyrannical regime has denied their freedoms and human rights and forced to live of US$1.00 or less a day whilst the ruling elite live in mansions with 40 gold watches be contend with the regime?