“Rinemanyanga hariputirwi!” (The truth will always come out no matter how much one tries to conceal it!) so goes the Shona adage. After 20 years of blundering from pillar to post the truth is now coming that MDC is a party of breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent individuals.
"Exclude me, I did not participate in that nonsense (support of the November 2017 coup). Firstly, being a scholar of history not as a lawyer alone, knowing well that where the military has taken a leading role in the changing of government, nowhere in Africa have soldiers led a democratic change,” remarked Job Sikhala, MDC Alliance deputy national chairperson.
"We knew we were going through a military coup and a military coup would only be supported by those people who did not have the eyes to see that we are being taken into a trap of a worse dictatorship.”
It is interesting to note here that most MDC Alliance leaders including the late Morgan Tsvangirai and the current party leader Nelson Chamisa publicly and unreservedly supported the military coup. Of course, Sihkala is right; supporting the November 2017 coup was foolish because the coup was never going to bring about any meaningful democratic changes as events have since shown.
What was the blind as a mole MDC leaders hoping to achieve, one might well ask.
Chamisa and Tsvangirai said they supported the coup because Mnangagwa, through his emissaries, had promised to replace the Mugabe regime with a National Transition Authority (NTA), in which MDC was to play a role, and to postpone the upcoming 2018 elections. The elections due in July 2018, were to be postponed to allow the NTA to implement the democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections, MDC argued.
We all know that MDC leaders had failed to get even one reform implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Mugabe had bribed them with the trappings of high office, ministerial limos, very generous salaries and allowances, a US$4 million mansion for Tsvangirai, etc., etc. With their snouts in the feeding trough; MDC leaders completely forgot about implementing the reforms.
MDC leaders failed to implement even one reform in five years. Not even one!
“We got in the inclusive government and just sat there, spent five years in there. We came out without doing anything,” Nelson Chamisa admitted in July this year.
Of course, Tsvangirai and company were going to get the same royal treatment of ministerial limos, generous salaries, etc. in the proposed NTA. One has to be really naive to believe the NTA would have implemented any meaningful reforms; Tsvangirai et al would have, once again, sat there, eat and did nothing else.
Indeed, if MDC leaders were truly interested in making sure the reforms were implemented BEFORE the elections, then why did the party participate in the 2018 elections knowing fully well that Mnangagwa had not implemented even one reform?
Chamisa has often commented on how Tsvangirai “died a bitter man” because Mnangagwa did not keep his NTA promise. Even with the benefit of hindsight of the broken promise to have NTA and the broken promise of holding free, fair and credible July 2018 elections; he still fails to see the folly of having trusted the Zanu PF dictatorship to deliver democratic change.
Indeed, even now, MDC is still fighting for the NTA as a way out of the country’s worsening economic and political mess. Even now, with millions of Zimbabweans living in abject poverty, with all basic services such as supply of clean water and health care all but collapse and the nation at the edge of edge of the precipitous abyss, all MDC leaders care about is another chance to sit, eat and do nothing!
Job Sikhala is spot on Mnangagwa has indeed “taken (the nation) into a trap of a worse (than the Mugabe) dictatorship” and MDC leaders too corrupt and incompetent to even see it! And to make matters worse, there are many Zimbabweans out there who still continue to trust MDC leaders to deliver free and fair elections and follow them blindly like sheep to the slaughter.
"Exclude me, I did not participate in that nonsense (support of the November 2017 coup),” said Sikhala. It is all very well for him to say that now; why did he not say so at the time and even better, do something to stop the sell-out!
ReplyDeleteJob Sikhala, David Coltart, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo and one or two other MDC leaders have admitted of the serious problems of incompetence and corruption in the party. They have been guarded in what they said and have done even less or nothing; preferring to keep the problems under wraps.
Sipepa Nkomo admitted that MDC leaders were warning of the need to implement the reforms but ignored the warnings. Coltart in his book admitted MDC have been participating in flawed elections knowing Zanu PF was rigged them out of greed.
They have all gone along with the mob; accepted being led by the blind as long as they got their share of the spoils of power. Zimbabwe has missed many golden opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship and the nation has paid dearly for it is gold, human suffering and lives and will continue to pay for generations to come!
There was nothing wrong with celebrating the ouster of Mugabe per se the fault was in viewing the coup as the advent of democratic change. The coup did not help our cause for democratic change but instead it gave the Zanu PF dictatorship another chance to regroup and relaunch.
ReplyDeleteYes it is interesting to note that Sikhala was smart enough to see the stupidity of thinking the coup was in the nation's interest but did not do about it out of greed. He, like many others in MDC and Zanu PF, have followed blind as the mole leaders as long as they got into power and a share of the spoils of power!
Zimbabwe needs quality leaders and the present political system does not encourage quality and that is why we must implement the democratic reform first and not waste time on changing the government by reshuffling the dead wood on both sides of the political divide.
There was nothing wrong with celebrating the ouster of Mugabe per se the fault was in viewing the coup as the advent of democratic change. The coup did not help our cause for democratic change but instead it gave the Zanu PF dictatorship another chance to regroup and relaunch.
ReplyDeleteYes it is interesting to note that Sikhala was smart enough to see the stupidity of thinking the coup was in the nation's interest but did not do about it out of greed. He, like many others in MDC and Zanu PF, have followed blind as the mole leaders as long as they got into power and a share of the spoils of power!
Zimbabwe needs quality leaders and the present political system does not encourage quality and that is why we must implement the democratic reform first and not waste time on changing the government by reshuffling the dead wood on both sides of the political divide.
@ Chanachamai
ReplyDelete“What I am mean is we now require " Brave Commandos" with the real love of the nation to cone out and save the rot in the same manner they did when they done the now infamous.."ED Pfeee "...thing which has led and continue to lead our peace loving nation into the unknown. Those Brave Generals and other influential low ranks officers should lead the way to the NTA...and they will be heroes forever and ever as we continue not to see real heroes of our nation in our lifetime.”
All one can say is you have clearly learnt nothing from the tragic reality of the last 40 years! It is the same brave commandos who have carried out the bulk of the dirty work to create and retain the de facto one-party dictatorship that has crashed our hopes and dreams all these years. It is the same brave commandos who have rigged elections and kept Mugabe in power and, when they fell-out with their dictator, swapped him for another.
The brave commandos did not create a democratic nation before and will not do so now! You need to wake-up and stop repeating the same foolish mistake over and over again. The last thing we want is have dimwits like Chiwenga as president!
“It is the military and only the military I repeat that have the keys and all padlocks to all doors and gates in our motherland!” Yeah right! They are the ones holding the nation to ransom.
The government of the United States was blunt, candid and unwavering about the status of bilateral relations with Zimbabwe on October 2, United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor P Nagy, Jr emphasised unequivocally that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “leadership understands what the United States is looking for, before we can begin to have a normal, constructive, positive relationship with Zimbabwe.” He was speaking in Washington DC at the US Department of State.
ReplyDeleteMark Green pointed out that today, “about 60% of Africa’s 1,2 billion people are under 25. A decade from now, there will be around 320 million Africans between the ages of 15 and 24. A whole generation of young men and women with big dreams, eager for the opportunity to make their own way. The challenge of our generation is to ensure that the opportunities are there.”
On US propositions; Green confirmed, “We offer a better way adding: “Some authoritarian actors have offered their so-called ‘help.’ It looks like shackles instead of self-reliance.” He said, the US believes the purpose of foreign assistance must be ending its need to exist.
“However, there’s a very false narrative out there which I want to correct. Some people say that the United States has sanctions against the country of Zimbabwe. We do not, repeat, do not have sanctions against the country of Zimbabwe. We have sanctions against certain individuals and certain corporations and there could be greater detail on that, but not against the country of Zimbabwe. There is nothing to stop US businesses from investing in Zimbabwe, from going to Zimbabwe.
“However, again, let’s be very frank. Zimbabwe has a reputational problem. We have great concerns over how the government treats its own citizens. We have great concerns over the space that’s available for democracy and governance in Zimbabwe. We have been alarmed with how the government has treated its own citizens. So those are the issues. But as I said, we’ve had very frank, honest and open discussions between ourselves and the highest levels of your government.
Zanu PF has ridden roughshod over the people’s freedoms and human rights with disastrous consequences in terms of the economic ruins and the human suffering and deaths it that has caused. The people would have removed the party from office years ago was it not for the fact Zanu PF rigged elections.
A growing number of Zimbabweans have woken-up to the reality that the country will never get out of the economic and political mess we are in without first dismantling the corrupt and oppressive de facto one-party dictatorship Zanu PF imposed on the nation. They are grateful for the support the Americans and other Western nations are putting on Zanu PF to end the dictatorship.
Those individuals and nations who think Zanu PF will ever reform itself are naive and, after 39 years of appeasing the regime, insane. We in Zimbabwe can ill afford to be neither!
@ Majoni
ReplyDeleteThe Zanu-PF government is taxing people dead on one hand, but is an artful dodger of tax on the other. That's an insulting contradiction.
Months ago, Mthuli Ncube, the Finance minister, introduced a 2% tax on all money transactions. That's in addition to a whole silo of other taxes people have been groaning under since Ian Smith gave up on his 1 000-year rule timeline.
It would seem like the government is genuine on raising revenue and getting the economy working. That appearance, though, dies the moment you learn that the ruling party is busy cheating, evading paying duty for imports.
Towards the 2018 general elections, Zanu-PF crafted a nice-looking manifesto. Don't bother about its promises to create employment, build more hospitals and bring down mountains to make rivers. We have been hearing that for decades. For the first time, in the wake of the 2017 coup, the ruling party was telling voters that it would be fighting corruption. That was a major highlight of the campaign manifesto.
They printed truckloads of the manifesto and dumped them in every corner of the country. But, as that was happening, little did we know that the very cars that were transporting the manifestoes were products of corruption.
After 39 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption, blatant vote rigging and murderous tyrannical oppression it is insane for anyone to still expect anything good to come out of the Zanu PF dictatorship. Zanu PF is beyond the pale. Sadly, there are many Zimbabweans who still hang on to such great expectations. Sadly, there are many insane people in Zimbabwe!
President Mnangagwa is this month expected to spell out comprehensive practical steps that Zimbabwe will take to achieve an audacious US$12 billion annual exports milestone for the mining sector.
ReplyDeleteMining and agriculture have been identified as key pillars to underpin quick economic turnaround.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando revealed this while addressing delegates at this year's MEJRKH Mining Media Awards in Harare on Thursday night.
He said Zimbabwe has the potential to generate more than US$12 billion in annual exports from mineral exports alone, but what Government has done in the meantime, is to identify "quick win" projects that should bear fruit by 2023.
Minister Chitando told delegates that President Mnangagwa will indicate mineral by mineral, project by project and also give timelines of what is expected to be generated by who, towards the attainment of the US$12 billion target.
Zimbabwe hauled US$2, 7 billion in mineral exports in 2017 and went on to achieve US$3, 2 billion in 2018.
The envisaged leap to US$12 billion in 2023 from US$2, 7 billion in 2017, when the new dispensation was ushered in, will signify over 340 percent growth.
". . . as Zimbabwe, we are endowed with the mineral resource, we do have the human capital, what we have lacked is the capital to invest, so, what is being done is first and foremost His Excellency (President Mnangagwa) coming up with the Zimbabwe is Open for Business mantra," said Minister Chitando.
"Amongst the initiatives in that mantra was to change the indigenisation law, which to a larger extent, prevented capital from flowing in.
"When that happened, as Government, we then identified quick wins, which would realise a 344 percent increase from US$2, 7 billion to US$12 billion in 2023.
This is just daydreaming, “Zimbabwe is open for business!” is dead and should have been buried a long time by now. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. No one wants to do business in Zimbabwe because it is near impossible to do business given all the economic chaos and criminal waste.
By blatantly rigging the elections Mnangagwa made it abundantly clear Zimbabwe is still a pariah state.
The Zimbabwean economy is in a deep crisis as manifested by a proliferation of unresolved deepening monetary, fiscal, social and political headaches which the illegitimate regime has clearly failed to arrest.
ReplyDeleteThe problem in Zimbabwe is a Confidence-cum-Legitimacy crisis.
The problem of disputed elections is a serious problem and is at the very heart of Zimbabwe’s worsening economic, social and political crisis. Zimbabwe has had many golden opportunities to deal with this problem but has wasted them all. MDC had five years in the GNU to implement the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging elections and Tsvangirai and company failed to get even one reform implemented. Not one.
MDC was warned not to participate in the 2013 elections without reforms but they ignored the warnings. Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig the elections. This was repeated again in 2018!
Mugabe bribed MDC leaders with the spoils of power during the GNU. And MDC has been content with the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gave away as bait for participating in flawed and illegal elections.
It is clear that MDC is propping up this illegitimate Zanu PF by failing to implement reforms and then by participating in flawed and illegal elections. It is rich that MDC should be the one pontificating about legitimacy!
MDC is talking about last year’s rigged elections now for the sole purpose of forcing Mnangagwa to share even more of the spoils of power of the rigged elections. MDC wants to go into another GNU with Zanu PF although it is clear they will not implement even one reform. Not one!
President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa will soon become a media proprietor by acquiring a stake in private Zimbabwe newspaper Alpha Media Holdings Group owned by Trevor Ncube.
ReplyDeleteInsiders have revealed that a 30% stake in the group will be controlled by Mnangagwa through his son-in-law Gerald Mlotshwa.
For democracy to work, we need a free media, freedom of expression and association - these have been wilfully lacking in Zimbabwe.
Religion has become the opium of the people of Zimbabwe and it is no surprise that our corrupt and incompetent political leaders have often abused religion in their effort to find legitimacy and pastors have become political commissar!
ReplyDeleteWhilst many would agree with the notion that Mnangagwa has failed and must step down; it is foolish to suggest that Chamisa must rule because he too has failed. Zimbabweans need to snap out of this binary, on/off, good/bad, Mugabe/Mnangagwa, Chamisa/Mnangagwa, etc. mentality.
A more rational minded person would have asked what kind of leaders does the nation want - answer, competent and accountable leaders. Since the Mugabe, Mnangagwa and Chamisa have all proven to be corrupt, incompetent and devoid of common sense or worse; a rational minded person would refuse to be boxed in and reject both as unacceptable.
In Zimbabwe, the binary mentality has now soared to new dizzying heights as both men and women of the cloth have bolstered their binary choice with claims their decision was divinely inspired!
Unit six is expected to return to service in December," the ZPC said in a statement on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteOnce complete, refurbishment of unit six is expected to add a further 170 megawatts to the national grid. "ZPC remains committed to maintain plant efficiency by adhering to scheduled maintenance programmes," said ZPC.
So why was ZPC not adhered to a scheduled maintenance programme for the last 40 years!
Unit six is expected to return to service in December," the ZPC said in a statement on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteOnce complete, refurbishment of unit six is expected to add a further 170 megawatts to the national grid. "ZPC remains committed to maintain plant efficiency by adhering to scheduled maintenance programmes," said ZPC.
So why was ZPC not adhered to a scheduled maintenance programme for the last 40 years!
@ Zimbabwe Church leaders
ReplyDeleteWe have prayerfully come to the conclusion that in light of the current political paralysis, deepening mistrust and the dehumanizing economic decline, the nation will need to take a bold decision to address the root causes of our national challenges that have a very long history and will not be fully resolved by one entity.
In this light, we are calling the nation to SABBATH on all political contestation for a period of seven years to allow for the rebuilding of trust and confidence, reset our politics and chart a shared way forward towards a comprehensive economic recovery path in a non-competitive political environment.
3. The current political paralysis and logjam characterized by the failure of the ruling party and the main opposition party to find a workable collaborative model is an issue of great concern.
The fact that the two main political parties remain stuck in the post-election mode and will soon embark on a new election mode means that Zimbabwe is unlikely to realize any meaningful engagement between these parties towards a shared constitutional alignment agenda.
Without a shared approach to national processes, the efforts by one are undermined by the other, while any positive contribution towards the national good by each is read only within a party-political perspective.
8. It is in this light that the Church leaders are proposing a national seven-year SABBATH period for the purposes of (a) establishing an emergency recovery mechanism to address the dire national situation, especially for the most vulnerable communities, (b) rebuilding trust and confidence by healing all the hurts of the past, (c) developing a shared national reform agenda to deepen our democracy, (d) establishing a shared and inclusive national economic vision.
The country is in desperate need for a way forward and the last thing we want is take time off!
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s political paralysis is 39 years of rigged elections and what we need to do is restore the democratic rule, punish Zanu PF vote rigging and to reward the party with 7 years of rule without elections!
What guarantee will the people have that the people in power will deliver any democratic changes.
The church leaders have been warned again and again in the past that they must think before they open their traps; this proposal has only come from individuals who have thought through what they are proposing. We need a serious debate and the last thing we want is dimwits mudding the waters!
Zimbabwean social media has been buzzing since the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) called for a suspension of elections for 7 years to address the political and economic problems currently bedevilling the country.
ReplyDeleteOur church leaders have been a great disappointment because of their lack of imagination and mediocrity. Zimbabwe is facing a serious threat to the nation’s very survival because of the country’s worsen political and economic crisis.
We know the root cause of the crisis is the 39 years of corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF misrule. The nation is stuck with the regime because it rigs elections to stay in power against the democratic wishes of the people.
The solution is obvious, implement the democratic reforms and stop Zanu PF rigging the elections.
Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s elections, the party has no mandate to govern and must step down to allow the nation to appoint an interim administration whose principle task would be to implement the bloody reforms. Everyone should focus all their time and energy on this single task - get Zanu PF to step down.
Our church leaders, civic organisation and even the corrupt and incompetent opposition are all united in seeking an alternative solution design to keep Zanu PF in power at all cost for no other reason than to appease Mnangagwa and company. ZHOCD are going one step further, they want Zanu PF to rule not just for the remaining four years of their this parliamentary term but have that extended to seven years with no elections!
Zanu PF should be punished for blatantly rigging last year’s elections and here we are ZHOCD want the regime rewarded with absolute power! How nauseating is that!
@ Chimuti
ReplyDeleteMDC was in the mix in the 2008 to 2013 GNU and they failed to get even one reform implemented!
The starting point is implementing the reforms to ensure elections are free, fair and credible and since the Zanu PF and MDC GNU failed to deliver that then we must have a body that will.
Zanu PF rigged last year's elections and must step down. Those calling for a GNU in which Zanu PF remains in power are doing so to appease the regime and after 39 years of appeasement and the country in a serious mess it is insane to still follow the foolish policy!
@ Timmie Dance
ReplyDelete“It’s only those that are outside the country who have those minds of letting the people suffer in Zimbabwe. There is nothing impossible if there are mediators who do these talks in honesty. People should give it a trial and see how it works.”
The notion that the people outside Zimbabwe are “letting the people suffer” is a foolish one and must be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. The people are suffering because of decades of corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF rule. The people would have removed Zanu PF from office decades ago was it not for the fact the regime has been rigging elections and using wanton violence to stay in power.
The solution to ending the suffering and misrule is obvious - hold free, fair and credible elections.
SADC leaders managed to get Mugabe to agree to the implementation of a raft of democratic reforms designed to end the curse of rigged elections. Sadly, the 2008 to 2013 GNU failed to get even one reform implemented. Not one!
The notion that we should allow Zanu PF and MDC to form another GNU, give them seven years and hope they will, this time, implement the democratic reforms is dumb! The two parties failed to get even one reform implemented in five years because neither party had the political will - that has not change!
We are stuck with this Zanu PF dictatorship but only because we, the people, have never had the courage to hold the regime to democratic account - removing some one from office is the ultimate expression of democratic accountability. We have preferred the easy option of letting Zanu PF remain in office even when we all know the party rigged the elections.
After 39 years of appeasing these Zanu PF thugs with the disastrous economic and political consequences we can see all round; it is high time we said enough is enough.
Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections, the regime is illegitimate and must step down. The proposed new seven year GNU in which Zanu PF plays a part is just another way to appease the regime and grant it legitimacy. We should be punishing Zanu PF for rigging elections and instead are rewarding the thugs with seven more years in government with no elections. How stupid is that!!!!!!
@ LaPatriot
ReplyDelete“What is the point of having elections if they are always keeping us in fight mode?”
We are always in a fighting mode because our elections have failed to remove the corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime. For the last 39 years the people have watched the nation’s economy sink deeper and deeper into the abyss whilst they remained helpless to stop the rot because Zanu PF rigged the elections denying them a meaningful say.
The question you should be asking and should have been asking for the last 39 years is; Why are Zimbabweans being denied a meaningful say in the governance of the country, particularly when those in power have spectacularly failed to serve the nation?
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis is the failure to have a government that is responsive to the nation’s needs. We cannot close our eyes to the political reality that Mugabe and now Mnangagwa and their Zanu PF thugs have been in power to serve their insatiable greed for power and the influence and wealth it brought! We want democratic change and to restore the people’s right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country.
This foolish Sabbath proposal will only seek to give legitimacy to an illegitimate Zanu PF regime and to remain in office for seven years without elections. This is madness!
@ Mukwirivindi
ReplyDeleteThe very fact that you should compare the people's relationship to the Zanu PF thugs to that of the helpless mice belling the rogue cats speaks volumes!
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because for the last four decades Zanu PF thugs have done as they pleased. Even when it was clear they were dragging the nation into the abyss, we the people have wrung our fingers helpless to stop the rot because the party blatantly rigged elections and used wanton violence to secure absolute power.
Of course, it was a foolish mistake to allow Zanu PF thugs to ride roughshod over our freedoms and rights dining us our right to a free vote and even the right to life. We have paid dearly for our folly and with the nation’s very survival now on the line the need for us to reclaim our freedoms and rights is now more urgent than ever!
If we are mice then so is Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF thugs; they too are mice and not cats. The biggest folly was not just that we gave up our freedoms and rights but worst of all we allowed Zanu PF thugs claim they had the right to deny us our freedoms and rights!
We are not going to get out of this hell-on-earth Zanu PF has dragged us into by allowing Zanu PF to willy-nilly rig elections and stay in power!
Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections and the pressure on the regime to step down would be great was it not for the sell-out MDC who participated in the flawed elections giving the regime some modicum of credibility!
@ Mukwirivindi
ReplyDeleteWilbert, let us not debate with emotions. Otherwise you will fail to distinguish between the leaves and the branches of a tree. I can see you are so religiously adamant in your faith about "the electoral reforms that MDC failed to implement when they were the majority in parliament as from 2009 to 2013".
You have to bear in mind that elections are a political game, and not a Mathematical formula where if you divide 100 by 2 you get 50. Hence there is no guarantee that MDC would have 'won' the elections even after the electoral reforms you so cherish. Zanu PF could still come up some political machinations that enable it to wine elections.
Wilbert, remember that Tsvangirayi won the 2008 presidential elections, but the resultant run-off was modelled by Zanu PF, using illegal means like violence, and Tsvangirayi chickened out of the hot kitchen, thus giving Zanu PF victory, political victory. I am not blaming Tsvangirayi, but am just emphasizing the point that electoral reforms, even if they are done, are never a guarantee to Zanu PF losing power as you and others so cherish.
No. Zanu PF is very good in political machinations that enables it to stay in power. Whereas MDC rely 100% on the anger of people due to economic hardships. Thus, in as much as you may want Zanu PF to go, the practical part of it is not as simple as a grade one Maths problem being solved by Isaac Newton. or B Channon of the New General Mathematics fame. I also hear you say Zimbos must say enough is enough, and chase away Zanupf from power. Now, surely, knowing the siamese relationship between Zanupf and the army, dating from the war days, surely the practical part of this instruction involves blood and dead bodies. Are you prepared to do so you yourself. I beg your answer. Hence, let us debate without emotions so we can see the best way forward, like the good advice the church gave, of no elections for the 7 years, and possibly an inclusive gvt with Zanupf in it.
Your whole argument is premised on even if MDC had implemented the democratic reforms Zanu PF would have found other ways of rigging the elections. In other words, it is impossible to implement democratic reforms to guarantee free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe and, worse still, it is futile to even bother implement any reforms! Of course, this is a nonsense argument and it bears no relation to the reality on the ground.
Morgan Tsvangirai and company did not implement even one reform in five years because Mugabe had bribed with trapping of high offices; the ministerial limos, generous salaries and allowances, a US$4 million mansion for Tsvangirai, etc., etc. With their snouts in the feeding trough, MDC leaders forgot about the reforms.
“MDC leaders were busy enjoying themselves during the GNU they forgot why they were there!” remarked one SADC ambassador in sheer exasperation at MDC’s failure to implement even one reform during the GNU.
Of course, it is possible to appoint a body that is competent and focused to implement all the democratic reforms to guarantee free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe. All you are offering is feeble excuses why MDC failed to implement reforms and why we should not get others who would!
@ LaPatriot
ReplyDelete“@wilbert I respect your standing on the issues surrounding governance and economic collapse but my greatest concern is that our preoccupation on the aspects of democracy is actually blinkering our vision not to focus on things that do not bring the guaranteed change.”
You are arguing in a vicious circle.
Number one; we must agree the country is stuck in a serious economic mess and in an equally serious political paralysis.
Number two: we cannot deny that Zanu PF has been in power for the last 39 years and presided over the economic and political crisis. We cannot deny the party has routinely rigged elections and used wanton violence to stay in power and thus denying the people a meaningful say in the governance of the country. In short; we are stuck with Zanu PF!
Zimbabwe’s situation is therefore one of: what can we to do after being stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship for 39 years and counting with disastrous consequences that now threats the very survival of the nation?
There are two possible solution; either we end the dictatorship by implementing the reforms or we accept the status quo. It is interesting to note that there are those who want to appease Zanu PF and grant it absolute power and they have even convinced themselves that this is the course of action that will bring change even when it has brought no meaningful change for 39 years and counting!
Deputy Government Spokesperson Energy Mutodi has blasted the Zimbabwe Christian Heads of Denominations for calling for a seven-year period without elections.
ReplyDeleteMutodi called the clergymen baal prophets.
The call by the church leaders for a GNU for seven years is both foolish and irrational.
It is irrational because whilst they accepted that the nation was facing serious a economic and political crisis they failed to realise it was caused by four decades of bad governance. The nation has failed to remove this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF regime because the country has failure to hold free, fair and credible. Mnangagwa and company rigged last year’s elections and the church leaders are proposing to let him govern for seven years without elections is tantamount to rewarding him for rigging the elections. Of course, it is dumb!
The economy is in total meltdown because Zanu PF is corrupt and incompetent and assuring the thugs that they are not doing to be accountable to anyone will only encourage them to be even more corrupt and incompetent.
I think people must take Minister’s comment with a pick of salt. Zanu PF has always rigged elections and it is nonsense that the party would refuse the prospect of staying in power with no elections.
Zanu PF will welcome this, the party is finding it increasingly difficult to rig elections and get away with it. Right now the party is still stuck with its illegitimate label and if forming the GNU would restore legitimacy Mnangagwa will be pleased!
ReplyDeleteIt is in Zanu PF's strategic interest to pretend the party does not want a new GNU and it wants to up hold the constitution and hold elections in 2023 as norm!