“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it.” Said the Spanish/American philosopher and essayist George Santayana.
After 40 years of blundering from pillar to post and with
the country facing the greatest existential threat of our generation one would
think the penny has finally dropped, Zimbabweans have finally woken up to the
reality they cannot be making the same foolish mistakes of the last 40 years!
Alas that is not so. The existential threat has made some Zimbabweans panic
they not only want to repeat the same mistake but expect the world to join them
in the headless chicken rat race!
“We are calling upon all progressive Zimbabweans to sign
this petition for a National Unity Dialogue between Emmerson Mnangagwa and
Nelson Chamisa, with input from the Business community, the Church, Civil
Society, the Youth and Citizens for them to put their differences aside, unite
and work together in a power sharing arrangement such as a Government of National Unity for the sake of
peace, development and a secure future for all Zimbabweans,” pleaded Moses
Machipisa.
There is no denying that the Zimbabwe economy is in serious
trouble and that there is no denying that the situation cannot be allowed to
continue as it is. Still it is nonsensical to believe the Zanu PF and MDC GNU
will be anything; it will be a Zanu PF government in all but name. How can that
constitute change? Here are the reasons why:
1)
We are in this mess because of the two leaders!
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF regime are the ones who have masterminded the country’s
economic ruins and political paralysis. They created this de facto one-party
dictatorship and have ruthlessly retained it. Mnangagwa and his ruling elite
are profiting from the corruption, mismanagement and chaos and they are not
going to reform themselves out of power.
2)
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends had the
golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and wasted it. They have
given up on implementing reforms and have settled for the few gravy-train seats
Zanu PF has been giving away as bait for participating in the flawed elections
and giving the process credibility and Zanu PF legitimacy. MDC will never
implement and meaning reforms. Never!
3)
Zimbabwe is in this economic mess and political
paralysis (both the ruling party and the main opposition parties leaders are
corrupt and incompetent) because for the last 40 years the nation was stuck
with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime that rigged elections
to stay in power. Mnangagwa blatantly rigged the July 2018 elections to stay in
power. This Zanu PF regime has no democratic mandate to govern; it is per se illegitimate.
Zanu PF has rigged elections these last 40 years and instead of standing up to
the regime and demand free, fair and credible elections we have time and time
again rewarded the party with absolute power. The proposed new GNU is just a
subtle way of legitimising the illegitimate Zanu PF and keeping the party in
power. Both Zanu PF and MDC were involved in the 2008 to 2013 GNU that failed
to implement even one reform in spite SADC leaders, who were the guarantor of
that agreement, best efforts to get the reforms implemented.
4)
The whole world would like to Zimbabwe get out
of the political and economic mess, they will help up on one condition: we must
demonstrate to the world that we are ready to do our bit to get Zimbabwe out of
the hell-on-earth we landed ourselves in. We must at least show the world that
we understand what we did wrong these last 40 years hence landing us in this
mess. The suggestion that we want a GNU led by Mnangagwa and Chamisa proves to
the whole world that we have not understood the three points above and
therefore are not ready for democratic change. If anyone thinks that SADC
leaders would ever want to be involved in yet another GNU after the frustrating
experience of the 2008 GNU which failed to implement even one reform in five
years then they need their heads examined!
5)
We need a GNU because this Zanu PF government is
illegitimate but we need to say this ourselves and not expect the international
community to say it. Zanu PF has held the country and the nation hostage and
for once in our 40 years of Zanu PF misrule we need to look Mnangagwa straight
in the eyes and tell him so and not expect the world to say it for us. And most
important of all, we need to tell Mnangagwa and his regime that they must step
down to allow the nation to appoint an interim administration tasked to
implement the democratic reforms leading to the holding of free, fair and
credible elections. Both Zanu PF and MDC cannot be part of the interim administration
because they were in the 2008 GNU that failed to implement even one reform!
The petition to get Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa to form the GNU will have more than one million signatures on it if that is what Moses Machipisa is aiming for. Mnangagwa is stupid but even he can see the pariah state label in weighing the nation down. The international community was not fooled by the phony July 2018 elections with its failure to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll. Whatever legitimacy Mnangagwa thought he was going to get by having a crowded contest, 23 presidential candidates alone, the post-election reports from the observers said it all – they dismissed the whole process as a farce!
ReplyDeleteOf course, Mnangagwa and his cronies Andrew Wutawunashe and his fellow church leaders know the proposed GNU will be Zanu PF in all but name and it will never implement even one democratic reform hence the reason they are pushing hard for it. They tried bringing it is through the front door, it failed. Back door, that too was shut in their faces. Window, chimney, etc. have all failed but still they will not give up. They accept the need for a GNU, anything to take away the pariah state label, as long as they are in it to make sure no meaningful reforms are implemented.
I totally agree, the next GNU must implement the reforms without failure and the only guarantee we have of that happening is that Zanu PF and MDC leaders must not play any role in the interim administration. None! The number one reason why these two parties and their proxies must be excluded from the new GNU is that Zanu PF blatantly rigged the July 2018 elections and MDC were their partners in the crime landing the nation into this mess. And we are now giving them a role in the GNU and reward them for their treasonous act!!!!!
Chamisa has boasted that he will give Mnangagwa and his regime legitimacy and revive the Zimbabwe economy by get the IMF, WB and the rest of the international community back on board as soon as he and his MDC friends have the keys to their ministerial limos! All nonsense, MDC leaders were tea-boys in the 2008 GNU in this one they will be manikins; the world will never be fooled by that!
God knows we have made some shock blunders these last 40 years, we need to do something right for a change. Well here is something we can do and do it right, implement the democratic reforms and restore our people’s freedoms, rights and self-respect. It is sheer folly that this important task should be compromised for the sake of appeasing corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who are holding the nation hostage! I will be damned if I will let that happen! Fcuk ED! Fcuk Chamisa! They have caused enough suffering and death already; they are out!
Go ahead Moses Machipisa we know you can collect 20 million signatures (in a country of 16 million) if you so wished, given Zanu PF’s 40 years vote-rigging experience, to support your Zanu PF and MDC GNU. Mnangagwa will declared a Third Republic. Chamisa and his MDC friends will too wear their multi-coloured Mnangagwa scarf, copycat of the southern hornbill wattle, to mark their acceptance in the Zanu PF family. No one of any consequence will even notice any of these pantomime theatricals. No one!