Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess. The country’s
economy is in total meltdown unemployment has soared to nauseating heights of 90%
plus; ¾ of the population is living on US$30 or less per month; basic services
like health care have all but collapsed and/or a luxury with local hospital
fees now US$100 per night; etc.
Decades of Zanu PF dictatorship has stifled all meaningful
public debate and democratic competition there is no one offering the nation a
viable way out of the mess. Zanu PF has made politics such a dangerous game anyone
with anything to offer has been forced out of politics, only the corrupt and
incompetent thugs rule the roost.
It is fair to say many Zimbabweans have always mistrusted Robert
Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs’ commitment to building a free, just and fair
Zimbabwe for all. The ordinary people have allowed the Zanu PF thugs to do as
they pleased because they, the people, felt helpless. Robert Mugabe and his
thugs turned the AK 47 refiles, used to defeat the white colonialists, to
subdue the civilians.
Still very, very few people, ever imagined that Zanu PF would
ever drag the nation into such an economic and political mess as Zimbabwe finds
itself today. Many of us never understood that there were simple NO limits to
what Mugabe and his thugs would do to secure absolute power.
“The ‘new’ regime can be viewed from different angles, but
the nub of it is this: there’s a recognition that the economic fiasco of the
last 20 years was suboptimal, but Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers
will burn the house down if they feel it necessary. Make no mistake, their will
to power is every bit as intense as Mugabe’s—as is their belief that they own
the country’s choicest fruits by right of conquest,” wrote Stuart Duran in the
Aspi Strategist.
“There’s no comprehending Zimbabwe without an appreciation of
that mentality. Yet many fail to get it because they don’t read the country’s
history. In 1979, at the height of the struggle against white rule, a diplomat
who mixed frequently with Mugabe and other leaders of his party observed that
‘ZANU does not seem to attach much importance to the destruction caused by
prolonged war’. They said they were content to see Zimbabwe ‘totally’
demolished if that was the price to be paid for preventing others from ruling
it. That attitude has not changed an iota, notwithstanding the passage of 40
years and Mugabe’s departure. After all, the men who now rule wielded his
hatchets for most of that period.”
Mugabe and Mnangagwa and their Zanu PF thugs have all but
totally demolished Zimbabwe; they have frog matched the nation right up to the
edge of the precipice and hundreds if not thousands are falling over the edge
already and the numbers are set to increase; and still they hang on to power.
Mnangagwa blatantly rigged last year’s elections because the prospect of Zanu
PF losing power was unthinkable.
Mnangagwa did not hesitate to issue the order “shoot to kill”
those who dared protest the rigged elections on 1 st August 2018 and again
those who protested the price increase in fuel in January 2019. He was
reminding the nation at large that he still wielded the hatchet and would not
hesitate for even one second to use it to ensure Zanu PF’s iron grip on power is
as strong as ever.
In the 2008 elections the people of Zimbabwe risked life and
limb to make their boldest move to finally end Zanu PF’s dictatorial rule. Zanu
PF ordered the recount of the 5 million or so votes and after six weeks of
cooking up the figures Tsvangirai’s 73%, by Mugabe’s own Freudian slip, was whittled
down to 47%, just enough to force a run-off.
During the run-off Zanu PF turned lose the party thugs, war
veterans and state security operatives to harass, beat, rape and even kill the
populous into submission and force them to vote for Mugabe.
“What was won by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!”
Mugabe barked, encouraging the thuggery.
The violence was so intense over 500 were murdered and
millions were beaten and/or raped. Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from the
race and Mugabe was declared the winner with 84%, up from 27% three months
earlier, of the vote in the one-horse race.
No one could ignore Zanu PF’s blatant cheating and use of wanton
violence, not even SADC and the AU known for endorsing dodgy elections in the
past, and endorse Zanu PF’s claim as the winner. As a way out of the political impasse
of the rigged elections, SADC called for the formation of a GNU comprising the
two MDC factions and Zanu PF which was tasked to implement a raft of democratic
reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and ensure the fiasco of
the 2008 elections are never repeated.
SADC should have demanded that Zanu PF stepped down to allow
the appointment of an interim administration to implement the reforms
particularly as the MDC leaders everyone expected to implement the reforms
turned out to be corrupt and incompetent. Not even one reform was implemented
in the five years of the GNU. Not one!
Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections, the regime is
illegitimate and so the country is back in the political impasse the nation was
in after the 2008 elections. The country has yet another golden chance to make
sure the raft of democratic reforms necessary to dismantle the Zanu PF
dictatorship are implemented without failure. This time, we must insist on Zanu
PF stepping down and the appointment of the interim administration to implement
the reforms before next elections.
If Zanu PF is allowed to remain in power till 2023, either on
its own or in some wishy-washy GNU, then we can be 100% certain no meaningful
reforms will be implemented and the party will go on to rig that year’s
elections!
Stuart Doran is 100% right, “Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow
travellers ARE burning Zimbabwe down then allow anyone else to rule the country!”
We ARE insane to let them do this!
Zanu PF rigged last
year’s elections, the regime is illegitimate and must step down to allow the
implementation of the reforms to ensure next elections must be free, fair and
credible. This is not negotiable!
“We have individuals and parties that choose to disrespect the electoral and judicial systems for their selfish ends,” said Minister of Information Monica Mutsvangwa.
ReplyDelete“Such uncouth behaviour projects our country as a nation with unresolved political questions when deep down their hearts, these entities and personalities know very well that they lost in a fair and credible plebiscite.
“Politics leads the way in statecraft and if we are not stable as people in all other areas in the country will not become stable.
“Such behaviour is holding us back as a nation as it stifles our re-engagement efforts and will make recovery more painful.”
What is holding back the country is the Zanu PF thugs who rigged the elections and thus confirm to the world that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs. The EU, the Americans and many other western nations Zimbabwe is trying to re-engage had election observers in Zimbabwe last year and they condemned the elections as a farce. Instead of admitting this political reality Zanu PF is pretending these nations would have endorsed the rigged elections if MDC A had done so. It is stupid to think that these nations, investors, lenders, etc. are not smart enough to see Zimbabwe is still a pariah state.
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A and the rest of the country’s opposition opportunists are guilty of holding the nation back in that by participating in last year’s elections and by endorsing the results they gave the process some credibility, which Zanu PF is milking right now. How anyone with even half a brain would participate in an election in which there is no verified voters’ roll beggars belief!
Nelson Chamisa is being plain stupid in choosing to endorse some bits of the flawed and illegal election and rejecting others. The whole process was flawed and illegal, period!
Zimbabwe has just received US$250 000 worth of medicine from India.
ReplyDeleteHow much is Zimbabwe spending on the ruling elite who are now travelling to India for their medical health needs?
How much is India pocketing from the wholesale looting of Zimbabwe diamonds? It is no secret that India is one of the countries that has a booming diamond industry thanks to the cheap diamonds looted from Zimbabwe!
“As war veterans we are going to call the UN to act in the same manner they have acted on weapons of mass destruction.
ReplyDelete“Weapons of mass destruction have caused havoc in the Western world. The West and the Eastern world used weapons of mass destruction during wars. They are not accepted according to the Charter of the United Nations, hence they should be treated as equal to sanctions,” said Douglas Mahiya.
Douglas Mahiya is just a loose cannon and like all such people has the propensity to shoot himself in the leg or worse shoot the very people he is supposed to be protecting. Mahiya has been totally brainwashed by Zanu PF ruling elite, he is too stupid to be ever counted as one of the ruling elite, he has failed to understand the importance of free, fair and credible elections as a fundamental right.
The UN KNOWS that Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections and thus denying ordinary Zimbabweans their right to free, fair and credible elections. The targeted sanctions are designed to pressure the regime to restore this basic human right. How then can the UN call for the lifting of the sanctions?
The UN know that the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is the rampant corruption which Zanu PF has done little to stamp out. The UN know that corruption is rampant in Zimbabwe and even Mnangagwa himself was name in one one UN report as the one involved in the looting in the DRC!
Mahiya is calling for sanctions to be lifted because that will benefit the corrupt and oppressive Zanu PF ruling elite; the idiot is just singing for his supper!
“The #EconomyStupid equation is clear: For the economy to stabilise and turnaround, Zim needs significant capital from foreign investment. To get it, Zim needs a political settlement and democratic transition and that was not delivered by the 2017 military coup & stolen 2018 election!” twittered Professor Jonathan Moyo.
ReplyDeleteWell, I say, some good has certainly come out of forcing Professor Moyo into exile; he now knows what the country needs to turnaround and stabilise the economy. He did not know any of this stuff when he was in power, but a few months in a fox hole away from the palatial comforts has helped open his eyes.
Look who is talking! Not so long ago Professor Moyo was saying Zanu PF will never reform itself out of office and now that he has been booted out of the party he now agrees to the need for political reform.
ReplyDeleteZanu PF has often used the war veterans to intimidate the voters and some veterans have beaten up and raped innocent people and some have even killed. Douglas Mahiya, as one of the war veterans leaders, would know about these things and may have even played a major role in these crimes. How ironic that he should be asking the UN to help lift the sanctions when he has been involved in even worse human rights violations himself!
ReplyDelete