“People have different views and opinions. Where has ZEC
deviated from the constitution. Point and then I can be held liable. To just
say elections are not free and fair without facts and evidence of
transgressions of the electoral act is utter nonsense,” commented Raise Muzanenhamo
in Bulawayo 24.
Yes people have different points of view and opinions and
that is way we must focus on facts, reality, truth, etc. supported by proven
evidence.
It is a historic fact that the 2008 elections were NOT free,
fair and credible as the process was marred by blatant cheating evidence by the
six week to recount and whittle down Tsvangirai’s 73%, by Mugabe’s own
admission, to 47% to force the run-off. The run-off was marred by the wanton
violence by Zanu PF thugs, rogue war veterans led by Jabulani Sibanda, Joseph Chinotimba
and many others, serving and retired security services personal led by
Engelbert Rugeje (promoted by ED to Zanu PF National Political Commissar) and
others. The violence was to punish the people for having rejected Mugabe and
Zanu PF is the March vote and force them to vote for Mugabe.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Chiwenga and other members of the Join
Operation Command (JOC) masterminded and directed the barbarism of 2008
elections. JOC is the ruthless junta behind all the corruption, vote rigging,
tyranny and political murders in the country these last 38 years. Last November
Mnangagwa and many of the JOC members stage the military coup to topple Mugabe,
the tyrant they had ruthless imposed on the nation for 37 years.
To this day, Mnangagwa maintains that the 2008 elections
were free, fair and credible just as the junta insist last November’s coup was
not a coup but a “military assisted transition”. So ED and the junta are
certainly not reliable witnesses especially on matters concerning free, fair
and credible elections.
SADC stepped into the Zimbabwe political mess after the 2008
elections debacle which everyone including SADC and the AU had condemned as a
farce. SADC managed to get Zanu PF to agree on the need for Zimbabwe to
implement a raft of democratic reforms designed to take away the party’s carte
blanche powers to rig elections. The reforms, if implemented, would have
restored the independence of public institutions like ZEC, the Police, etc.
freeing them from the corrupting influence of Zanu PF.
Not even one of the reforms were implemented during the five
years of the GNU. Not even one!
So, for President Mnangagwa to now claim that “ZEC is
independent!” is nonsense. How can it be when the reforms designed to restore
its independence were never implemented. Needless to say he is NOT a reliable
witness on election matters, as stated above.
President Mnangagwa and his junta committed high treason 8
months ago in staging the military coup to even suggest that they will have any
qualms rigging these elections is silly. Rigging elections has been their
day-job for the last 37 years and the crowned it with the coup; it has never
bothered them before, why should it bother them now?
Least people forget, these elections are a de facto referendum
on the November coup. President Mnangagwa and his junta know that if they were
to lose the 30 July vote, “the military assisted transition” will be crossed
out and “military coup” scribbled in its place. As for the coup plotters they
will have their day in court. Of course, President Mnangagwa and his coup junta
are rigging these elections because it is not just about retaining absolute
power and all the luxuries it has brought, their necks are on the line!
“Where has ZEC deviated from the constitution?” you asked?
The simple answer to that is as long as ZEC failed to
deliver free, fair and credible elections, then it has deviated from the
constitution. ZEC has failed to register 1.5 million out of the targeted 7
million because the registration exercise was started very late, September 2017
when it should have started January 2015 at the latest, and the whole exercise
was chaotic as the official did not have required forms, etc.
ZEC has failed to produce a clean and verified voters a
month before nomination day, which was 14 June, at the latest. This is a legal
requirement! ZEC has still not released a clean and verified voters’ roll to
this day, 8 days before voting day and counting. It is nonsensical to talk of the
elections being free, fair and credible when there is no credible, clean and
verified voters’ roll! These elections are a sham and ZEC has played a shameful
role in delivering it!
If Justice Chigumba and her fellow commissioners were honest
and outstanding citizens then they will be the first to admit these elections
are not free, fair and credible. Of course, they all knew that it would be impossible,
I repeat IMPOSSIBLE, for the unreformed ZEC to deliver free, fair and credible
elections. They all took up the job regardless because they are after the
generous rewards they knew Zanu PF would pay. Pretty good wages for one little Judas
Iscariot kiss!
@ Sinqobile Sibanda
ReplyDelete"The extremely appalling part is the endorsement of the illegal regime by the African Union and SADC. These bodies should be putting excessive pressure on the coup d'état engineers to keep away from politics and return the country to civilian rule as per constitution of Zimbabwe," you said.
In my view, both SADC, the AU and the international community at large would NOT have allowed these elections to go ahead without first implementing the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. They all condemned the 2008 elections because of Zanu PF's blatant vote rigging and wanton violence. SADC is on public record saying the 2013 elections must be postponed to allow reforms to be implemented first. The elections went ahead because Zimbabweans themselves did not want to listen.
Similarly this year's elections are going ahead although not even one reform has been implemented. Zanu PF is rigging these elections but we are wrong to blame SADC and AU for letting this happen because we are the ones who have failed to demand the reforms before the elections.
We have been easily con by village idiots like Chamisa into believing "MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" In our political naivety, we are our own worst enemy!
MDC Alliance leader and presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa told his supporters that Angolan president Joao Manuel Goncalves has dispatching his foreign affairs minister to Zimbabwe to assess the situation in the country ahead of the watershed July 30 elections.
ReplyDeleteIf he was to be blunt with MDC and the rest of the opposition hot-heads then the minister will ask: Why did you people agree to go into these elections with not even one reform in place after all the blatant vote in in 2013 and beyond?
If MDC has been warned once it has been warned 100 000 times and 100 000 times again not to go into these elections without implementing the reforms. Chamisa claimed that "MDC had stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" Now the idiot is admitting he was lying.
What does Chamisa want SADC to do in these remaining 8 days to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections?
There real in NOTHING SADC or anyone can do now!
The right course of action is to let these flawed and illegal elections go ahead. SADC election observers will then point to the failure to produce a credible, clean and verified voters' roll and all the other blatant irregularities in the report. SADC leaders will have no choice but to condemn these sham elections and this time they can put their foot down and demand the implementation of the democratic reforms!
"G40 is not ended, but I denounce them. However, Zanu-PF has the capacity of cleansing itself," admitted President Mnangagwa to his Zanu PF supporters in Marondera.
ReplyDeleteThe factional fighting in Zanu PF is not over, not by a long shot, G40 is down but not out. There is no doubt that the embarrassing incident of the blatant vote rigging in Rose Camp Police Station in Bulawayo was the work of G40 sympathisers. It is no secret that most Police and CIO officers were G40 supporters. After the November coup the Army went out of its way to humiliate Police and CIO and many senior members were purged. The Police were hitting back.
A month ago there was the bomb in Bulawayo at a Zanu PF rally which claimed two lives and people were injured including senior Zanu PF leaders. The bomb underlined the reality that Zimbabwe is NOT politically stable and the failure to hold free and fair elections cements this fact.
President Mnangagwa and his junta cannot afford to hold free and fair elections since they know that these elections are a de facto referendum on the November coup. G40 are backing MDC and if the opposition was to win G40 will pile the pressure on Chamisa to arrest the coup plotters. Zanu PF has no choice but to rig these elections!
Opposition political parties should stop making "unreasonable" demands to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) as they risk inciting public unrest, which has the potential to spawn grave and unintended consequences, former United Nation secretary-general Mr Kofi Annan has said.
ReplyDeleteThe team also took great except to the attacks of ZEC's female commissioners, especially on social media.
MDC leaders like Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, David Coltart, etc. were all in the GNU and they failed to get even one democratic reform implemented in five years. They are the ones who have dragged the nation into these flawed and illegal elections contrary to the sound advice not to take part without reforms.
"MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" Chamisa has insisted. He is now panicking because it is clear he was lying.
The regime's failure to hold free, fair and credible elections is a very serious national issue that has far reaching social, economic and political consequence in Zimbabwe and the region. By attacking ZEC officials and not the failure to deliver free and fair elections MDC leaders and the supporters are drawing attention away from the important issue.
MDC leaders have proven beyond all doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent. It will be a real tragedy if the long suffering people of Zimbabwe are going to be punished for MDC leaders' blundering incompetence! The Elders and the international community must focus on Zanu PF's failure to hold free, fair and credible elections and ignore MDC leaders' attention seeking "unreasonable demands" and down-right foolish behaviour.
IN TERMS of funding alone, the ruling Zanu-PF party has clearly had a huge advantage over the competition as campaigning gets into the final stretch for the crunch July 30 elections.
ReplyDeleteHuge billboards and banners of President Emmerson Mnangagwa feature on buildings and along the streets of towns and cities across the country.
Zanu-PF also imported hundreds of new vehicles for the campaign from a reported $200 million war chest.
The ruling party received $6m from treasury in April this year under the country's political parties finance legislation.
"I will say with confidence Zanu-PF is a political institution which has its commercial set up and its own mechanism to raise funds and indeed it's not subject to audit by the people." Said Zanu PF director of information Danny Musukuma dismissively when he was pressured to comment on the matter.
In my view, the issue of Zanu PF having unfettered access to millions of dollars to bankroll its varied and expensive vote-rigging and vote-buying is a far more serious matter than the issue of the presidential ballot paper having two column instead of one! Why MDC is making a mountain out of a mole hill out of the ballot design beggars belief!
@ Anthony Mkondo
ReplyDeleteWhen we came together in November to rid ourselves of the old order, we never thought for one minute that it would be the MDC trying to drag us backwards. We stood up for freedom, for unity, for progress. Now we have ED holding rallies of white supporters, and the MDC making deals with Grace Mugabe!
So it is time to raise our voices and call for unity, peace and progress. We must use this final week of campaigning to educate those around us of the dangers of the G40 and Grace Mugabe. Zimbabweans are an educated and intelligent people. We know who she is and we know what her games are. It just appears that many of us were too naïve to think that Chamisa would actually ally with her. But the deal has been done.
You can rant and rave all you wish about Robert Mugabe, his wife, G40, Nelson Chamisa, MDC, etc. You are right that Mugabe is evil and his coming back into power will be a disaster for the country. What you are failing to say is that ED and his junta are evil too as they are but the flip side of the same Mugabe coin! It was none other Mnangagwa and his junta who masterminded and implemented all the corruption, vote rigging and blatant violence that has kept Mugabe and Zanu PF in power for the 37 years.
Last November's coup was about who was the top-dog in the Zanu PF dictatorship and not about dismantling the dictatorship itself. Zanu PF remains a party of corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thugs as we can see with the blatant vote rigging taking place right now. Forget the talk of post-coup Zimbabwe as a "new dispensation", it is all nonsense! Zanu PF has not changed one bit!
People should not even fool themselves into believing Zanu PF is going to lose these elections; it has carte blanche powers to rig the vote and it is doing exactly that. Mnangagwa is much the continuation of the Mugabe's Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical regime; same dictatorship different management.
What the people of Zimbabwe must do right now is condemn these flawed and illegal elections and demand the whole shebang is declared null and void. Zimbabwe will only get out of the mess the country is in by implementing the reforms and holding free and fair elections!
@ Faccy
ReplyDeleteMDC has its supporters but how many of them will be able to vote on 30 July 2018? How many Zanu PF numbers will be casting multiple votes? Zanu PF is rigging these elections, you can bury your head in the sand but will be forced to admit this simple reality by noon of the 30 July 2018!
@ Noble Ngara
ReplyDeleteYou always manage to come up with all manner of nonsense every time you say something!
"What you are too stupid to see is that the association with Grace is the beginning of the end for your for two critical reasons:" you write.
1) anything associated with dsiGrace Mugabe is unelectable in Zimbabwe.
2) any party associated with the name Mugabe will not get any funding anywhere---- hence you see that every international community has condemned Chamisa's approach----commonwealth, Elders, SADC, AU, EU, UK, China and even the USA has withdrawn funding from Zim NGOs to starve Chamisa---even if he wins, which he wont, the future of his admin will be worse than Bob's ---at least Bob was respected in Africa----but you are too fanatic to see reason----go into the streets with your boss on Tuesday and when you get your asses kicked hard, you will wake up!
What you should have said anything associated with Robert Mugabe, his wife or anyone of the Zanu PF thugs is unelectable in Zimbabwe and has been for decades. The only reason Mugabe and Zanu PF have remained in power for 37 years is because elections were rigged. Guess who has been rigging elections for Mugabe and Zanu PF? Ah, you will never guess! Well it was Comrade Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa also known as "Ngwena", Crocodile!
Just for the record, Zanu PF under Mnangagwa's leadership is still unelectable because it is still a party of corrupt, vote-rigging and murderous thugs. Zanu PF is rigging these elections just as it has rigged past elections. Guess who is rigging these elections? That is right, the same lizard!
I do not know about the international community condemning Chamisa but I believe they are ignoring him and his MDC friends because they are corrupt and incompetent. I also believe that the international election observers who are in the country right now are going to condemn these elections as a sham. You cannot have credible, free and fair elections when you do not have something as basic as credible, clean and verified voters' roll!
Wezhira Wezhira
ReplyDeleteThe law says ZEC must release a clean and verified voters' roll at least one month before nomination day which this time was 14 June 2018. Even to this day, ZEC has yet to release a clean and verified voters' roll. Are you saying ZEC did not break the law?
It is inconceivable that President Mnangagwa would have gazettes the nomination day without consulting ZEC just to be sure they were ready for it. I should remind you that the voter registration exercise started very late and President Mnangagwa would have been aware of this as he was the minister of Justice up until October last year.
But even if we assumed that he did not know that ZEC was not ready, one must ask why ZEC did not bring this up with the President.
It will be naive to believe that President Mnangagwa is blissful unaware of all these failures on the part of ZEC much less that Zanu PF will not take full advantage of failure to produce a clean voters' roll.
If you are going to rig the elections you certainly do not want anyone to know and one sure way is to make sure there is no clean and verified voters' roll. It would be the smoking gun! A crocodile does not hunt in clear water; it will muddy the water, so neither it nor the fish can see each other but it does not need to see the fish. It let the panicked fish blunder into open jaw and SNAP!
Senior military leaders played down the threat this week, saying the top brass would not have tolerated a mutiny, that they were "above petty party politics" and the idea of keeping Zuma in power by force did not even arise.
ReplyDeleteThey insisted the army was loyal to the Constitution and that the chief of the army, General Solly Shoke, had continuously championed this.
"When Ramaphosa spoke of a bloodless leadership change [at an army event in Kimberley four days after his inauguration], it was in contrast to the situation in Zimbabwe," said one military commander.
And yet the fact remains that a coup did happen in Zimbabwe and the region did nothing about it. Monkey see, monkey do!