Mnangagwa’s continued democratic reformer pretensions are an insult to all Zimbabweans and will not fool UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson!
“Your re-election to this high office (Prime Minister) is testimony of the tremendous trust and confidence that the people of the United Kingdom have in you,” wrote Mnangagwa in his congratulatory letter.
Mnangagwa knows the result of the elections was the true reflection of the democratic wish of the people of the United Kingdom. Neither the defeated Labour party nor anyone else have cause to complain about the elections being anything else other than a free, fair and credible elections. Everything in the election process, from the voter registration, the campaigning, voting and counting of the votes; every step was transparent, traceable and verifiability. The same could not be said of Zimbabwe’s last year elections.
Everyone, the Americans, the Commonwealth, the EU and even Zimbabwe’s own Human Rights Commission condemned Zimbabwe’s elections as a farce.
“The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” stated the EU Election Mission final report.
“Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.”
3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote; a very significant number considering Mnangagwa was elected by 2.4 million.
ZEC failed to produce something as basic to democratic elections as a verified voters’ roll! Of course, this was a deliberate and calculated move, Zanu PF did not want a transparent, traceable and verifiable electoral process.
“It is understandable, Right Honourable Prime Minister, that you resume your occupancy of this office as you primarily focus on completing the Brexit process that you commenced earlier on,” continued Mnangagwa.
“Zimbabwe continues to implement Political, Economic, Legislative and Electoral Reforms designed to open up political space, improve the ease of doing business and facilitate the return of Zimbabwe to the family of the progressive Global Community. It is our fervent hope therefore that these Reforms will also enable your new Government to support Zimbabwe's return to the Commonwealth Organisation.”
Mr Mnangagwa you promised to implement the democratic reforms “to open up political space, improve the ease of doing business, etc.” soon after the November 2017 military coup, two years ago now. You have not implemented even one token reform. Not one!
Indeed, you keep talking about opening up the democratic space by day and closing it by night. “Those who we fought during the liberation struggle, the whites, are still fighting so they can claim power again … Our enemies are not resting,” said Mnangagwa addressing his supporters.
“We don’t want violence, so I said soldiers go and silence these people, they were silenced. The Legion. Sort them out … We will crush our enemies, and they are being crushed.”
The Legions were the innocent Zimbabweans who had dare to protest the soaring cost of living in January 2019. The protestors were “sorted out” alright; 17 were shot died, hundreds were injured and there followed two weeks of wanton violence in which hundreds of thousands were arrested, beaten and/or raped.
Two weeks ago, UK Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Melanie Robinson, made is clear that Zimbabwe’s re-engagement and application to join the Commonwealth were on the back burners and there they will stay until there is democratic changes in Zimbabwe.
Zanu PF will never implement any meaningful reforms; with its checked economic and political record of decades of corruption and tyrannical oppression, the party will never win free, fair and credible elections. So Zanu PF will never reform itself out of office.
The only way forward is for Zanu PF to step down to allow the country to appoint a body that will implement the reforms and finally give the nation a chance for a clean and democratic start.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will get the Brexit process done and dusted in one month’s time! And you, Mr Mnangagwa will never ever implement any meaningful democratic reforms so the people of Zimbabwe can finally freely choose their leaders and not have leaders imposed on them in rigged elections.
Every thinking Zimbabwean welcomed Ambassador Melanie Robinson’s firm and no nonsense stance on Zimbabwe and there is no reason to doubt that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will do anything else! Indeed, freed from the EU restrains, one hopes that PM Johnson will move swiftly and decisively reinstate the targeted sanctions imposed on the Zanu PF regime.
"It is understandable, Right Honourable Prime Minister, that you resume your occupancy of this office as you primarily focus on completing the Brexit process that you commenced earlier on. We in Zimbabwe wish you well on this endeavor."
ReplyDeletePM Boris Johnson will have Brexit done and dusted in six weeks time! And you, Mnangagwa have been blubbering about implementing reforms for the last two years and have nothing to show for it. You will never ever implement any reforms because you know you will lose free, fair and credible elections.
Once Britain is out of the EU, Brexit is done and dusted, the British will reinstate the targeted sanctions on Zanu PF thugs!
"This is necessary for a revolutionary mass party. Indeed, 'the people are the sea and we are the fish swimming in the sea.' Such an approach will see us dominating elections in perpetuity.
ReplyDelete"The commissariat department, working in liaison with the Women's League, the newly-formed War Veterans League, the Youth League and the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology, has the onerous responsibility of mass mobilisation towards economic development and in readiness for the 2023 elections. The party can certainly achieve the envisaged five million voters as targeted by our Commissariat Department," said the President.
All Zanu PF cares about is “dominating elections in perpetuity”. The party has destroyed the nation’s economy to the point where 90% of our people are poor and 34% now live in extreme poverty according to WB report, hospitals and schools have all but closed, 7.7 million are facing starvation this year, etc. The party has only noticed these things as a threat to its strangle hold on power and its response it step up its use of brute force to silence dissent and to reinvigorate its vote rigging juggernaut.
How ironic that Mnangagwa penned off a congratulatory letter to UK PM Boris Johnson on his electoral victory and promised that Zimbabwe will implement democratic reforms to ensure next elections will be free, fair and credible. Meanwhile, back in Zimbabwe he is doing the exact opposite, stepping up the vote rigging.
"All party members and the nation as a whole must shun retrogressive tendencies such as laziness, indiscipline, greed, corruption, selflessness and immorality, among other vices," said Mnangagwa in his conference closing speech.
ReplyDelete"I further challenge every public servant and party member to reform, reinvigorate and turn over a new leaf towards a result-oriented culture. Excuses for non-performance will no longer be tolerated.”
Nonsense, you promised “zero tolerance on corruption” two years ago; you have failed to arrest even one of the diamond swindlers or recovered one swindled dollar. “Corruption is deep-rooted!” was your feeble excuse!
Worst of all, you promised free, fair and credible elections only to blatantly rig the elections. Your excuse this time is your insatiable greed for absolute power, the influence it brings and the opportunity to loot the nation’s wealth.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thugs and as long as the country remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery.
Zimbabweans are living in abject poverty and many are suffering and dying from easily curable ailments. This situation cannot go on like this, the cup is full to over flowing, change is coming.
The Zanu PF reign of terror is coming to an end!
Vision 2030 is a mirage, Zimbabweans have been chasing this mirage since Mugabe's days of "Gutsa ruzhinji!" (Mass prosperity!) which morphed into mass poverty. 90% of our people are poor with 34% living in extreme poverty, according to a recent WB report. We can bury our heads in the sand and pretend Zimbabwe is on course for this upper middle income by 2030 or open our eyes and end this Zanu PF dictatorship a.s.a.p.
ReplyDeleteWhilst Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thugs the will be no meaningful economic recovery! None!
He added; “I hear some of you saying Charumbira has been prosecuted, do not worry…Chiefs, veterans of the First Chimurenga and the Second Chimurenga equals Zanu PF.”
ReplyDeleteChief Charumbira was taken to court by the Election Resource Centre (ERC) towards last year’s harmonised elections over statements judged to have been politically inclined towards Zanu PF support.
The court ordered him to withdraw his statement but has ignored the ruling without any consequences.
There are those who think Zimbabwe can be reformed one bit at a time; they are wasting their time and the the nation’s time. Wholesale reforms as envisaged during the 2008 GNU is what is required!
“The Government and the people of Zimbabwe take this opportunity to express the confidence that your renewed mandate will also enable you to continue to support our re-engagement efforts with both your country and others.
ReplyDelete“I was pleased to receive your Special Envoy on 6 November 2019 and earnestly hope that we have more of this supportive interaction in the very near future.
“Zimbabwe continues to implement political, economic, legislative and electoral reforms designed to open up political space, improve the ease of doing business and facilitate the return of Zimbabwe to the family of the progressive Global Community.
“It is our fervent hope therefore that these reforms will also enable your new Government to support Zimbabwe’s return to the Commonwealth Organisation,” Mnangagwa wrote.
This is infuriating, Mnangagwa is promising to implement political reforms, the same reforms that he was supposed to implement BEFORE last year’s elections. After 39 years of rigged elections, Zimbabweans were once again denied the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country. And now they are expected to believe Mnangagwa will finally implement the reforms.
Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s elections, the party has no mandate to govern and must resign. Zanu PF will never implement any meaningful reforms and it will be unforgivable if Zanu PF is once again allowed to bluff and rig the next elections.