"Our freedom, independence and the proud heritage left for us by
our departed heroes and heroines who paid the supreme sacrifice for the freedom
we enjoy today. We have within our blood, the traits of bravery, valour and
resilience passed on to us by generation upon generation of our departed,"
said Mnangagwa in his Independence Day address.
"As we reflect on the path we have walked and the road ahead, we
must draw lessons from the actions of our freedom fighters and the principles
that guided them. Over the years, through sweat, struggle and tribulations we
have survived and never surrendered or lost our hope.
"Today as we celebrate the birth of our nation, let us honour the
values that underpin it. These values must drive us forward. We can no longer
afford to be concerned with mere survival. Let us instead seek to blossom,
thrive and prosper as a nation, as a people, towards a brighter future in the
Zimbabwe we all want."
We are being told Zimbabwe is free and this is the Zimbabwe we wanted.
How long are we going to tolerate these insults? The true heroes and heroines
of this nation are turning in the graves to see what has become of this nation.
Zimbabwe has become a highly polarised nation of the have everything and
have absolutely nothing! The few Zanu PF ruling elite and their cronies and
families and friends live in palatial mansion, have farms and other business
empires, go outside the country for their education and health needs and, most
important of all they enjoy absolute power.
In all the 39 years since Zimbabwe gained her independence the country
is yet to hold free, fair and credible elections. “One man, one vote!” was the
clarion call before independence but was trash soon after and forgotten.
How can last year’s elections ever be judged free, fair and credible
when 3 million, compared to the 5 million we are told voted, Zimbabweans in the
diaspora were denied the vote? The regime failed even to release something as
basic for elections as a verified voters’ roll.
The have absolutely nothing are the 90% who are unemployed, the 3/4 of
the population now living on US$30 per month or less, the povo forced to make
do with the local heath care services that has all but completely collapsed.
Their suffering and misery is heart breaking and many are now dying of hunger,
lack of medicine and other poverty related illnesses.
On the political front, the overwhelming majority who have been denied
their freedoms and rights including their rights to a meaningful say in the
governance of the country and the right to life itself!
When the people have protested again the rigged elections, the
corruption, the worsening economic hardships, etc. they have been subjected to
savage brutality to cow them into silent submission.
“The introduction of a market-based exchange rate system is expected to
stabilise the economy, in the long run. However, Government is alarmed by the
recent wanton and indiscriminate increases of prices which has brought about
untold suffering to the people. This conduct by stakeholders in business,
industry and commerce is inhumane, unethical, unpatriotic and goes against the
grain of economic dialogue which the 2nd Republic has espoused,” Mnangagwa
argues.
What 2nd Republic are you wittering about? Mr Mnangagwa, we all know
that Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s elections and used brute force to ram
the results down the nation’s throat.
You have admitted that you have failed to end the scourge of corruption
because it is “deep rooted”, you said. You claim that Zimbabwe under your
leadership is different from the pariah state of Robert Mugabe, the truth is
nothing has change. The 1st Republic and the 2nd Republic is just the flip side
of the same coin!
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote
rigging thugs there will be no hope of any meaningful economic recovery. None!
After 39 years of the nation sinking deeper and deeper into this
economic and political hell-on-earth the least we must do is acknowledge that
we are lost. The Zimbabwe in which the overwhelming majority have been denied
their freedoms, human rights and humanity is not what the nation wanted. Zanu
PF has dragged us into this hell-hole but worse still the regime is keeping us
here but rigging elections and imposing itself on the nation. We must demand
that Zanu PF steps down because the party has no mandate to govern since it
rigged the elections.
The ultimate expression of our national freedom and independence is that
everyone must have a meaningful say in the governance of the country including
the right to life. And when these basic freedoms and rights are denied, as has
clearly happened in Zimbabwe, then they must be demanded.
Chamisa says it is now time for MDC and Zanu PF to work together.
ReplyDeleteWhat Zimbabwe needs is a clean start, the idea that Zanu PF or MDC will deliver that is laughable because the two party had the golden chance to do this and messed up big time. Both Zanu PF and MDC should step down but are refusing to do so for selfish reasons. The challenge is for Zimbabweans to put their foot down and demand meaningful change and not yet another fudge!
I do not think anyone is surprise with Chamisa major climbdown, he is a sell-out and this is not the first time he has sold-out. What matters here is that Mnangagwa is illegitimate by virtue of last year's elections were pregnant with flaws and illegalities. Chamisa can proclaim Mnangagwa legal from the rooftop, that will not change the reality that the Zanu PF regime is illegal and Zimbabwe is a pariah state.
ReplyDeleteZimbabwe's economic recovery is dependent on the nation first curing itself of the curse of rigged elections and pariah state.
Last year's elections should have never taken place because it was clear with no reforms in place Zanu PF will once again rig the elections just as it did in 2013. Chamisa and his fellow opposition friends participated in the flawed and illegal elections out of greed and it is the same greed that is making then recognise Mnangagwa as legal although they know the elections were rigged.
Zimbabwe is not going getting out of the hell-on-earth it is stuck in until we cure ourselves of the curse of rigged elections and pariah state. By pretending an illegitimate regime is legitimate we are only deluding ourselves and no one else and extending Zanu PF's reign and our state in this hell!
Zimbabwe's march into the abyss has been torturous and relentless. It is heart-breaking that a nation that had so much going for it to be a great success has become the basket case of a failed state. The very fact that Mnangagwa thinks the nation should be "proud" underlines just how oblivious of the seriousness of our situation he is. The tyrant and his cronies live in their own world! The most reason Zanu PF cannot be consider a part of the solution to Zimbabwe's problems. Zanu PF must be pressured to step down and the sooner this can be done the better.
ReplyDeleteIt is a complete mystery therefore why Chamisa and his opposition friends are hoping to achieve by calling for a dialogue with Zanu PF! Zanu PF rigged last year's elections, the regime is illegitimate and beyond the pale!
By repeatedly participating in these flawed and illegal elections, the opposition too has proven that they are of not much use to the nation especially during these critical transition stages of dismantling the dictatorship and building a democracy!