"Indefinite lockdown is a ploy to deny vendors a livelihood" - double jeopardy of living in a pariah state P Guramatunhu

When Mnangagwa seized power following the November 2017 military coup he was painfully aware of his former boss and mentor, Robert Mugabe’s pathetic record as a corrupt, incompetent and murderous tyrant who had brought economic suffering to his own people. He was super confident he would do better than Mugabe!

On the political front, he declared Zimbabwe a “Second Republic, a new democratic dispensation” and promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. To his follow coup plotters and Zanu PF loyalists; he promised that Zanu PF iron grip on power was unshaken.

“Zanu PF ichatonga! Igotonga! Ivo vachingohukura! Nokuhukura!” (Zanu PF will rule! And rule! Whilst they (calling for democratic reforms) bark! And bark!) Mnangagwa assured Zanu PF members on his return from his short exile following the coup.

Mnangagwa made a big song and dance of the democratic space he had created, he restrained the war veterans and party thugs to make sure the wanton political violence of the 2008 elections were not repeated, for example. The populous were reminded of the 2008 violence and that it will return if Zanu PF was to lose the elections; the party dogs bared their teeth were straining on a short leash.

Mnangagwa pointed refuse to implement even one meaningful democratic reform; keeping his boastful promise to party hardliners to let those calling for reforms bark and bark! The regime failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll.

On the economic front, Mnangagwa was confident his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” clarion call would open the flood gate of investors and lenders. Investors and lenders had shied away from doing business in Zimbabwe precisely because the country was a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs.

Investors are a shrewd lot, they were not going to be fooled into believing the mere musical chairs game of the November 2017 coup was enough to transform the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF party into democratic party. By blatantly rigging the July 2018 elections Mnangagwa confirmed beyond doubt that Zimbabwe was indeed still a pariah state, just as it was during Mugabe’s days.

The failure to revive the economy is the one thing that has irked Mnangagwa, the growing army of vendors eking a living sell all manner of trinkets and rubbish has become a daily reminder of his failure.

"Whilst almost all sectors of the economy have opened up without much restrictions, the informal sector in yesterday's announcement was said to begin a phased reopening. Considering the number of our membership and indeed those reliant on vending in general, there is no specific mention of when we can safely begin the reconstruction of our livelihoods," Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) said.

"We urge the authorities to look into this issue with the urgency it requires. Of further concern is that this indefinite extension further impacts upon the construction and completion of new vending sites as we fear this maybe used as an excuse to keep vendors from plying their trade and providing for their families."

There is no denying that Zimbabwe’s level 2 lockdown is designed to keep the vendors off the streets and markets. This is not the first time Zanu PF has tried to hide the poor and destitute in society, the evidence of its failed economic policies.

We all remember rounding up of the prostitutes sending them to the farms, “minda mirefu” before the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government meeting in 1991. Operation Murambatsvina (Remove dirty) where those in power have destroyed the shanty dwellings and selling stalls used by the poor and vendors have become a regular occurrence.  

The regime has promised to provide food to the needy during lockdown but has failed to do so. Frankly, everyone knew this was just another empty promise the regime was never going to keep. Never!

The poor have become more that just an embarrassment to the Zanu PF regime, they now constitute a serious threat the party’s iron grip on power. The poor are now a multitude and their economic situation has become so desperate; it clear the pressure for change is growing and one of these fine days the regime’s retaining wall of tyrannical oppression will burst to release a Tsunami.

There is no denying that the regime is using covid-19 as cover for its latest Operation Murambatsvina and force the poor off the streets and off the regime’s sight!

No one should ever be denied a livelihood and a chance to live. It is morally reprehensible that those denying the vendors a livelihood are the ones whose incompetence and greed have destroyed the nation’s economy and left millions of ordinary people with no choice but to eke a living as a vendor.

Such is the sickening double jeopardy of living in a pariah state; the heartless tyrants are not content they condemned millions of innocent people into a life of abject poverty, they are disgusted the poor for being poor and spit on them at every opportunity.