“THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) has implored
SADC to issue an ultimatum on President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa's government
to explain the fatal shooting of at least seven civilians by the military on
August 1 following the July 30 disputed polls,” reported Newsday.
“Various civic society groups who made their presentations at the 38th SADC People's Summit in Namibia challenging the regional bloc to develop teeth and pin Zimbabwe's leadership on the gross violations of people's rights.”
“Various civic society groups who made their presentations at the 38th SADC People's Summit in Namibia challenging the regional bloc to develop teeth and pin Zimbabwe's leadership on the gross violations of people's rights.”
Yes, it is good that Zanu PF should be held to account for the
shooting of the unarmed protesters but most important of all the regime must be
held to account for failing to hold free, fair and credible elections. The root
cause of all Zimbabwe’s political turmoil and instability and economic meltdown
and heart-breaking human sufferings and deaths is this one thing - the country’s
failure to hold free, fair and credible elections.
It must be stated here and now that the elections in Zimbabwe
were NOT free, fair and credible. SADC leaders owe it to the people of Zimbabwe
and the region to reverse the regional body’s election observer team’s decision
to endorse the elections as free, fair and credible.
How can these elections ever be judged free, fair and credible
when 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote? There was
no free public media. ZEC failed to produce a clean and verified voters’ roll,
this is a common sense and legal requirement that the authorities have
repeatedly ignored. Zanu PF robbed the nation blind to bankroll its
vote-rigging schemes and so the list of irregularities goes on.
Yes, these elections were relatively peaceful compared to say
the barbarism of the 2008 elections; a point noted by the SADC observers. It
will be a sad day for Africa if those in power are allowed to blatantly deny
millions of people the vote in favour of mystery voters on an imaginary voters’
roll as long as the ruling elite keep a lid on the violence.
In Zimbabwe, Zanu PF did keep the lid on the violence before and
during the voting but clearly failed to do so after voting day. The street
protesters were ordinary Zimbabweans venting their anger and frustration at
flawed and illegal electoral process that has once again blatantly denied them
a meaningful say in the governance of the country.
By failing to keep his promise to hold free, fair and credible
elections; President Mnangagwa has, whether he likes it or not, scarred away
the foreign investors and lenders he has been ever since last November’s coup. Investors
are a shrewd and savvy lot, they do not do business in pariah states ruled by
vote-rigging thugs.
In a few months’ time the people of Zimbabwe will soon realise
that the economic recovery the Zanu PF junta had promised is all a mirage and
there will be more street protests. Unemployment has soared to 90%, by the
regime’s own admission 75% of the people are living on US$1.00 or less day, basic
services like clean running water have all but collapse, etc.; it is naïve for
anyone to expect the people to put up with and not protest.
Zanu PF has so far managed to keep a lid on street protests by
using brute force as the regime did on 1st August. But as long as
the underlying cause of the people’s anger is not address, i.e. the worsening
economic hardship, what the regime was doing was add fuel to the fire and holding
down the relief valve of the pressure cooker.
This is very dangerous and SADC must do all it can to end the
political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe before the pressure cooker explode!
It is not too late for
SADC to declare the Zimbabwe elections null and void. This will clear the way
for Zimbabwe to revisit the raft of democratic reforms, very one agreed were
necessary for free and fair elections at the onset of the 2008 GNU, and make
sure they are finally implemented.
"There were also non-existent polling stations that also show the same trend of giving an advantage to the 1st Respondent over his main challenger, the Applicant. The column entitled "non-existing polling stations Magunje M Series" shows that the Applicant was credited with 1,523 non-existent votes and the 1st Respondent was credited with 5,396 non-existent votes. see page 164 - 165 of the application," said Elton Mangoma in his sworn affidavit.
ReplyDeleteThis is really unacceptable; 2 to 3 million real Zimbabweans in the diaspora alone were denied a meaningful say in the governance of the country and instead ghost voters with no body to be kicked and souls to be damned had the vote! So in Zimbabwe ghosts have more rights than real people!
These elections were not free, fair and credible and they should never have gone ahead, not without implementing the democratic reforms first. The elections must be declared null and void, period!
@ Don
ReplyDeleteDo not get carried away! Lest we forget, Mangoma was in the GNU that failed to get even one reform implemented in 5 years!
"Before Zimbabwe's general election on 30 July, there was a lot of talk about there being "landmark change" and "credibility." But in many ways it was déjà vu. Mnangagwa's ruling Zanu-PF party won the parliamentary vote, taking a majority 144 seats out of 210," you said.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you there 100%, before the elections there was a lot of talk of these elections being a game changer but anyone in the know would have told you it was all hot air, Shakespearean tale told by an idiot.
There would have been a time for such a word.
- To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
As William Shakespeare said in Macbeth.
Zimbabweans' Shakespearean idiots were warned that with no reforms in place Zanu PF will rig the elections just as the thugs have done so many times in the past. Alas the warning fell on deaf ears.
"MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" insisted the MDC Alliance presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa. All nonsense, of course, the idiot did not even have the common sense to demand that ZEC produce clean and verified voters' roll, at the very least, before the elections could go ahead!
As if it was not bad enough to have corrupt and tyrannical ruling party thugs now it turns out Zimbabwe has some of the corrupt and incompetent opposition politicians the world has ever seen. In a way, that is to be expected given we have some of the most naïve and gullible electorate the world has ever seen!
There is mystery about the need to think through what a nation needs in good leaders and going out and find such leaders. Zimbabweans have failed to do so and it shows in the shocking mediocre quality of the country's leaders and the mess the country is in.
"He (Jesus) replied, "The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: 'Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.'" Matthew 13:11 to 13.
Zimbabweans are today the poorest nation in Africa. Whilst the country is one of the riches in the world in terms of natural resource and for producing food, it is for all intent and purposes the Garden of Eden. We are starving in Garden of Eden, a damning testimonial of the country's failure to run its own affairs.
@ Peta Thornycroft
ReplyDelete"Why can't elections ever be simple in Zimbabwe? Why do they always have to be hideous at worst and complicated at best?" you asked.
The answer is very simple; Zimbabwe has some of the most corrupt and incompetent opposition politicians the world has ever seen. There is no doubt that Chamisa and company have known all along that, with no reforms in place, Zanu PF would rigged the elections they have also known that Zanu PF was offering a few gravy train seats as bait to tempt the opposition to participate in the elections regardless how flawed, illegal and meaningless the process got.
"MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" Chamisa promised. In the end MDC participated even when ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a clean and verified voters' roll!
As if having a corrupt and incompetent opposition was nor bad enough, the country has been cursed by having some of the most naïve and gullible electorate in the world. Even now with all the evidence of how breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent the MDC leaders are, they are still people out there who continue to follow MDC like sheep to the slaughter!
With no electorate that takes the business of electing competent leaders and holding them to account with seriousness the matter demands there is no hope of the country escaping from the hell-hole Zanu PF has landed us in. None!
"Mnangagwa won only 313,027 more votes than Chamisa in an election in which 72% of registered voters - just more than 4.03 million people - went to the polls, according to the ZEC. But the ZEC's published results, available on CD, provide voter turnout figures of more than 4.7 million people. Chamisa says in his challenge that 700,000 more votes were counted than the ZEC says actually voted. Who were these voters?" you continued.
"Furthermore, the Electoral Act says the winner of the presidential poll must win 50%-plus 1 of the votes. So Mnangagwa's 50.8% victory is tiny.
"The Institute for Security Studies' Derek Matyszak questions the accuracy of the ZEC's result and the narrowness of Mnangagwa's margin of victory.
"Matyszak says he expects the state to argue that Chamisa "should have called for a recount within 48 hours".
"Adding to its woes, Zimbabwe is bankrupt. It can't afford to stall.
"The situation is so bad diplomats say there will be no loans and no sympathy. The hope of a better future is gone."
The truth is the court challenge is academic there is more evidence that the elections were rigged than is stated in Chamisa's application. None of the international election observers would dare pass these elections as free, fair and credible, especially from countries with a tradition of holding free and fair elections, without appearing to be patronising hypocrites.
In any case the foreign investors and lenders can see the elections were rigging and they are not going to invest in Zimbabwe. As you correctly pointed out, "the hope of a better future is gone!"
The greatest service the international community can do to Zimbabwe right now is to tell its errand rulers the home truth: Zimbabwe must implement the democratic reforms to stop vote rigging, these elections were a total waste of time and money!
@ Kathy
ReplyDelete2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were deny the vote and now we discover 700 000 ghosts, with no body to be kick and soul to be damned, had more democratic say in the governance of the country that the living.
Mugabe never thought for one second that he would ever be forced out of office, in the end he was forced out. Now Mnangagwa believes that he is untouchable but he too will be forced out of office one of these fine days!
ReplyDeleteThe real tragedy here whilst these tyrant remain in power the country has suffered from the misrule and the instability such regimes always bring. Zimbabwe is desperate for democratic change and political stability.
@ Marallas Mechavio
ReplyDelete"Wilbert,SADC is actually concerned with post-election violence of the foreign funded, foreign handheld and subversive opposition politics of the MDC-A-Z," you say.
It is no secret that SADC leaders, like most outsiders, were very disappointed with the MDC leaders for failing to get any reforms implemented during the GNU. Everyone, including the western election observers, could not believe MDC leaders would be so stupid as to agree to go into these elections without something as basic as a clean and verified voters roll. And yet that is exactly what Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and the rest of Zimbabwe's thousands of opposition leaders did.
So it is true that MDC leaders have lost all political credibility with SADC leaders and the international community. But Zanu PF should not make the mistake of thinking that SADC leaders are all as corrupt and incompetent as Nelson Chamisa and company. SADC leaders know that Zanu PF rigged these elections and they also the regime used excessive violence to drive the street protestors off the street because the regime will be desperate to retain its iron grip on power at all cost!
You missed out one very important difference between Kenya and Zimbabwe; during the former's GNU Odinga did implement the democratic reforms which restored the independence of that country's key state institutions. Morgan Tsvangirai failed to get any meaningful reforms implemented.
ReplyDeleteTsvangirai and his MDC friends sold-out big time and Raila Odinga and his friends did not sell-out.
His spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda confirmed Friday the losing presidential candidate was looking beyond the country's borders for the best legal brains to help his cause.
ReplyDelete"We are leaving nothing to chance. As we speak, some of our lawyers from South Africa have arrived. Advocates Dali Mpofu and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi are already in the country.
"We are also expecting top lawyers from Kenya as well as Zambia," Sibanda said.
This will never change the most important fact in this matter which that these elections should have never gone ahead without first implementing the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the election.
"MDC has stringent measure to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!" Chamisa insisted.
If all the reforms were implemented MDC will not be wasting the nation's time and treasure challenging the election results.
The only Con-Court decision that we help the nation end this political circus is for the whole election process to be declared null and void and an interim administration appointed. We want the democratic reforms implemented followed by the holding of free, fair and credible elections.
After escaping an assassination attempt in June this year, President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa has tightened his security, including splashing over US$1 million in acquiring an armoured Mercedes Benz S-Class limousine, the Daily News can report.
ReplyDeleteProfessor of World Politics at the London School of Oriental Studies Stephen Chan said the Zanu-PF leader, just like any world leader, requires the best when it comes to comfort and security.
"The Queen of England, the United States President, and many other leaders have bullet proof limousines. There is nothing abnormal in this. It will become Nelson Chamisa's if he wins the court appeal and any second round. It is a lesson learned from the Bulawayo bombing," said Chan.
Professor Chan, 75% of Zimbabwean are living on US$1.00 or less a day, basic needs such as clean running water supply and health care have all but collapsed, etc. Right now, there is a typhoid outbreak in the country. The people of Zimbabwe have just gone through yet another elections process in which they were once again blatantly denied a meaningful say in the governance of the country.
The people of Zimbabwe know they are poor not because the country is poor, the country is one of the wealthiest nation on earth. The people are poor because the criminal waste of the nation's resources, both material and human, through gross mismanagement and rampant corruption.
Professor Chan, are you telling us, that it is ok for a country in which 75% of its people are living on US$1.00 or less a day to be competing with the leaders of nations whose per capita income is hundreds of thousands greater than that of Zimbabwe. Your continued defence of Zanu PF leaders and contemptuous disregard of the suffering masses is very patronising, to say the least.
PRESIDENT-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose electoral victory is being challenged in Zimbabwean courts, on Friday told his SADC peers he was elected cleanly in an election in which all his challengers were allowed to campaign freely, NewZimbabwe.com reported.
ReplyDelete"All political parties were free to campaign in all parts of the country however they saw fit," he said, adding that he led the campaign for peaceful elections in the country," he said.
"This saw an unprecedented number of people freely exercising their democratic right to elect leaders of their choice in the spirit of transparency and openness."
Soon after last November's military coup, President Mnangagwa promised to hold "free, fair and credible elections". But it was soon clear that he had no intention of doing this because he stubbornly refused to implement the democratic reforms everyone agreed at the onset of the 2008 GNU were a pre-requisite for free and fair elections. By the time the elections campaigning started President Mnangagwa was talking of "peaceful" elections, no doubt well aware that was all he was ever going to deliver.
President Mnangagwa knows these elections were peaceful but NOT free, fair and credible. It is telling that he has tacitly admitted the elections were not free, fair and credible and yet SADC, the AU and one or two other international observers have said otherwise. The rest of the international election observer have already indicated in the initial comments there were many irregularities. It is almost certain the American will be forthright and call a spade a spade, declare the elections null and void since they have failed to meet many of the demands for free elections.