Zimbabwe is a de facto one-party, Zanu PF, dictatorship. However, with the help of the country’s corrupt and incompetent opposition, the party has, so far at least, managed to keep the outward appearance that Zimbabwe is a health and functioning democracy.
The country’s worsening economic situation is forcing the regime to resort to its tried, tested and most reliable tools - blatant cheating and brute force - to retain its iron grip on power. The more the party resort to its dictatorial powers to remain in power the more the democracy make-up washes off to reveal the the dictatorship in its full ugliness.
Last week Foreign Affairs Minister, Sibusiso Moyo, the man who announced the November 2017 coup as “military assisted transition” was out to give a revised version of that nonsense. This time, the convoluted workings of Zimbabwe’s democratic system which, outsiders, may mistake for a dictatorship.
“Some (opposition parties) openly call for rolling out of mass action, even violent protests in order to oust a democratically-elected government," Minister Moyo explained to members the diplomatic corps in Harare.
"We believe that Zimbabweans must be allowed, encouraged and afforded the space to find one another, by themselves. Your excellences, you have an important role to play in this regard and we look to you to bring your undoubted influence to bear towards that objective.”
Minister Moyo and his Zanu PF colleagues can claim day in and day out that Zimbabwe is democracy; that will not change the facts on the ground. Zimbabwe is de facto one party dictatorship; a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs.
“What was accomplished by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!” boasted Robert Mugabe in 2008, as he unleashed his party thugs, rogue war veterans and the corrupted state security sectors to punish the electorate for daring to wish for a democratic Zimbabwe.
Of course, no one in the international community was ever fooled by Zanu PF’s determined effort to keep wanton violence to a bear minimum, at least until the day after the vote. Everyone noticed the party had, meanwhile, employed other more subtle tricks to blatantly deny the people a meaningful vote. The EU, the Commonwealth and everyone with any democratic credentials worth a spit condemn last year’s elections as a farce!
The country’s worsening economic situation; the dizzying 90% unemployment rate, the soaring hyperinflation, the closure of hospitals, etc.; meanings the restive population will be demanding change. And since Zanu PF has clearly failed to revive the economy, the party is going to resort to the use of blatant vote rigging and wanton violence to retain its iron grip on political power.
The party knows its use of dictatorial powers is going to attract an avalanche of criticism from the international community. The party is stating its robust defence ahead of time. As far as Zanu PF is concerned, the party is playing by Zimbabwe’s democratic rules, not the “utopian” rules, as Mnangagwa so aptly put it.
Outsiders are being reminded that the single most important rule in Zimbabwe’s electoral democracy is; What was accomplished by the bullet cannot the undone by ballot!
The irony is, it is not so much Zanu PF who have block meaningful democratic change in Zimbabwe; it is the corrupt, incompetent sell-out opposition and us the electorate who are propping up the dictatorship.
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends have sold-out by failing to implement even one reform, especially during the 2008 to 2013 GNU.
The fielding of 23 presidential candidates alone in last year’s elections, was a resounding endorsement of Zimbabwe’s electoral system, regardless of all its well documented flaws and illegalities! And the high attendance at these opposition parties’ rallies is a resounding endorsement of the Zimbabwe electorate’s continued support of these sell-out politicians. If we, Zimbabweans, are happy with these flawed and illegal elections, the international community can dismiss them as a farce; it is our voice, ill-advised as it is, that counts!
If Zimbabweans are serious about ending the Zanu PF dictatorship then we must prove to ourselves and the world that we are serious. There are Zimbabweans out there, who still cannot make up their minds whether last year’s elections were free, fair and credible, for example. They still have no clue what constitutes free, fair and credible elections; in this day and age!
If the people do not know what constitutes free, fair and credible elections; they will not be able to keep a democratic system of government even if it was given to them in a silver platter!
If we are serious about ending the Zanu PF dictatorship, then we, the people will have to stop following the sell-out opposition blindly like sheep, one. Two, we must demand the full restoration our freedoms and rights, including the right to a meaningful vote and the right to life itself, from the Zanu PF thugs knowing fully well the usurpers will fight dirty to keep the dictatorship.
Writing on microblogging site Twitter on Sunday, Dendere observed that the party’s foundations are deeply flawed: patronage, corruption, violence, anger, entitlement and greed. She wrote:
ReplyDelete“ZANU PF can never change. It’s impossible. It defies logic that anyone would expect ZANU to democratize and bring peace plus prosperity.
Its foundations are deeply flawed; patronage, corruption, violence, anger, entitlement and greed. To work within ZANU structures you’d have to change
I think it’s hard to push for change by joining any of the structures because you’ll become compromised. You also can’t join them when you’re broke because money makes people vulnerable.
Maybe this is true for all political parties – they find your vulnerabilities and exploit.”
There is some truth in what you said. I would say Zanu PF has remained a party of corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and tyrannical thugs because most of the members joined the party not with the view to change it but to benefit from the party’s culture of securing absolute power at all cost and to enjoy the benefits that comes with it.
Even those who claim to harbouring intentions of changing the party when the joined, they clearly ditched the thought as soon as they took their seat on the gravy train. Almost everyone talking of wanting to change Zanu PF once the power and influence in the party is in decline, their true intention is deceive - they just want to be viewed as a reformer and not the usual Zanu PF name tag of a corrupt, incompetent and murderous tyrant.
@ Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
ReplyDelete“Africa betrayed itself when it remained silent over the removal of Muammar Gaddafi.
Africa should have protected the Colonel because he was a strong leader and unifier! We all remained silent and since then, there has been a huge void in terms of Pan African leadership.
Countries like South Africa and Nigeria have failed to take up leadership and Egypt the largest Army itself is being manipulated with with billions of dollars in military aid every year.”
Gaddafi was a corrupt and murderous tyrant who ruled the country with an iron fist. When a tyrant dies the country he ruled, more often than not, falls apart because the tyrant had destroyed the state institutions and/or caused so much mistrust amongst the people they fear that the next leader will be another tyrant and so they all want to be the next leader and will not trust any one else.
The root causes of the chaos in Libya today are because Colonel Gaddafi was a dictator!
Africa needs strong institutions that will safe guard the freedoms and rights of all and trusted by all. Strong institutions that will guard against the excesses of those in power and guarantee orderly transfer of power. In your strong leader Gaddafi model the only way power is transferred is at gun point regardless how corrupt and useless the leader has proven to be.
Gaddafi a “strong leader and unifier”; how naive and stupid!
@ Msipha
ReplyDeleteZimbabwe's political landscape saw a new entry in the form of the #TysonWabantu movement and Saviour Kasukuwere announced that he is considering a run at the 2023 polls.
Saviour Kasukuwere a former intelligence operative and Mugabe's last Commissar has ignited fear, jealousy and excitement at one go.
Saviour Kasukuwere is an incompetent, corrupt, vote rigging and murderous thug and any talk of him leading the nation into economic prosperity is rubbish.
People like Kasukuwere are praying that Mnangagwa and his regime remain in office till 2023, they know there will be no meaningful democratic reforms implemented and the elections will be flawed and illegal. These are the muddy condition that every thugs thrives in. He will certainly contest the elections and fancy his chances of winning and stage his comeback.
What the people of Zimbabwe must fight for now is make sure this vote rigging Zanu PF regime steps down and implement the reforms to guarantee free, fair and credible elections. If we allow Zanu PF to remain in office till 2023 then we are fcuked!