Zion Christian Church (ZCC) leader Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi, who is also Zimbabwe Indigenous Interdenominational Council of Churches (ZIICC) patron, is a fool. It therefore came as no surprise that when he opened his big mouth, he contradicted and made a complete ass of himself!
"Leave the politicians alone, let them play their game. Let's pray and feed the nation,” he said.
He was speaking at a press conference to reprimand the Catholic Bishops who had dared to criticise the Zanu PF government for country’s economic meltdown, the economic suffering people are facing and for the regime’s use of brutal force to silence all dissent.
“Leave the politicians alone!” That is rich coming from Bishop Mutendi and his fellow ZIICC leaders who have been hobnobbing with Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies all these years. But, worst of all ZIICC leaders have publicly endorsed this Zanu PF regime as the legitimate government.
As a nation, we can agree to differ on many things but there are some things over which we must agree and that fact that Zanu PF rigged the July 2018 elections is one of those things. It is a historic fact that the elections were not free, fair and credible. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll for Pete’s sake!
Following the November 2017 military coup Mnangagwa promised to end corruption and to hold free and fair elections. He failed to keep any his promises. By blatantly rigging the July 2018 elections he confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs.
It is notoriously difficult to do business in a pariah state where corruption is running riot. No wonder investors and lenders alike have shied away from doing business in Zimbabwe, starving the country of the desperately need foreign investment needed to kick start the comatose economy.
Zimbabwe has received but a fraction of what other nations got in international assistance to fight corona virus. The country has earned a reputation of wasting and/or, worse still, looting donations.
The Zanu PF government’s blundering incompetence is making the corona virus pandemic worse. Zimbabwe has only carried out 145 000 tests, for example, which is not good enough. The country should have done 750 000 tests to match SA’s 3 million tests with 4 times our population. So many covid-19 positive, who would have gone into isolation if they had been tested, have instead remained free to spread the virus far and wide.
Corona virus is the greatest challenge the world has faced in the last 100 years, not nation on earth has been spared or be it some have fared better than others. Zimbabwe was always one of those countries that was doomed to fare badly given the country was already in economic ruins, its health care services had all but collapsed, etc. at the on set of the corona virus.
Still, what we are witness now is how the corona virus is being made even worse than it should be because of Zanu PF’s blundering incompetence in the handling of the pandemic, the regime’s reputation as corrupt and incompetent and the country’s position as a bankrupt Banana Republic.
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and political paralysis (we are stuck with corrupt and tyrannical ruling party and an equally corrupt and useless opposition) at the onset of the corona virus pandemic was 40 years of rigged elections and bad governance.
Bad governance has not gone away and so too are the economic and political problems. Worse still, the bad governance is adversely affecting our ability to deal with the corona virus challenge making the pandemic worse than it would be with a government with even some common sense.
Zimbabwe has paid dearly in lost opportunities, lost treasure and human suffering and many lost human lives because of 40 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF misrule. The price of having the same corrupt and tyrannical government in these days of corona virus has just gone up; corona virus has caused the economic meltdown to get even worse and so the nation still pays with a surcharge for the lost opportunities, etc. plus a separate additional charge in human suffering; in a few cases, the virus causes short term pain and long term health problems too; and the loss of human lives.
After 40 years of suffering the consequences of bad governance the people of Zimbabwe have finally woken up to the reality that if they want to end their suffering they must end the curse of rigged elections. Corona virus has pushed the suffering into overdrive and focused the people’s minds on change with increased urgency!
“Let's pray and feed the nation!” What a foolish thing to say!
Zimbabwe’s problem of bad governance is a man-made problem and God does not do for mankind what mankind is too lazy and naive to do for himself! A healthy, free and functional democratic government is not a gift but a reward that must be earned and cherished.
Freedoms and basic human rights, including the right to free, fair and credible elections are not privileges for politicians to dish out to some and to deny to others. As the citizens of the country we all have sacred duty to defend our freedoms and rights and, when denied, to fight for their restoration.
"Leave the politicians alone, let them play their game." What a hypocrite! Bishop Mutendi and his ZIICC friends are the Zanu PF dictatorship’s political commissars in all but name! Rigging elections is Zanu PF’s game and only a fool would suggest that we, the people, should let these thugs ride roughshod over us ever again.
"I am … calling for a government of national unity, not because there is a vacancy … but I feel it will make us focus on running the economy only, instead of spending so much time fighting and squabbling over politics," Dube told the Daily News then.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with simpletons like Tshinga Dube is that he has never understood what is wrong with our political system, what was the purpose of the 2008 to 2013 GNU and why that GNU was a failure. Zanu PF has failed to revive the Zimbabwe economy not because Zanu PF is wasting time “squabbling over politics”. Even if it was the case it will doing so, it will be its own doing.
The real reason Zimbabwe’s economy is in total meltdown is because Zanu PF has no clue what to do to revive the economy, the party will not admit failure and since the party is able to rig elections the nation is stuck with a corrupt and incompetent government.
The primary purpose of the 2008 to 2013 GNU was to implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF from rigging elections. Sadly Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends who were tasked to implement the reforms failed to get even one reform implemented hence the reason why Zanu PF was able to rig the elections in 2013 and thereafter.
Yes the 2008 GNU allowed the nation to abandon some of Zanu PF’s more foolish economic policies such as the scrapping of the Z$ and ditch the price controls. These policy changes allowed the economy to recover but not completely because corruption, mismanagement and other foolishness remained even during the GNU.
The new GNU led by Zanu PF and MDC will not implement the democratic reforms, both the two parties lack the political will. It is insane to have yet another GNU that will, at the end of the day, fail to accomplish the primary task.
Any economic policy changes that the new GNU will bring will result in a marginal improvement at best.
Zanu PF rigged the 2018 elections confirmed the country’s pariah state status. Zimbabwe must transform from the present pariah state ruled by corrupt and incompetent and vote rigging thugs to a healthy and functional democracy.
The new GNU will be seen for what it is a pariah Zanu PF government with a few MDC leaders added in as manikins! No one will be fooled, other than simpletons like Dube!
“ACZ notes with concern the several responses by the Government of Zimbabwe to the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference which seem to discuss the fact that the Church is called to exercise its prophetic role, which can mean challenging our political leaders on their conduct of affairs, particularly if this affects the people of God,” the ACZ said in a statement.
ReplyDelete“We write this message to highlight our concerns and emphasise that; ‘Indeed The March is Not Ended’ unless and until the issues raised by the people of Zimbabwe and also echoed by the Bishops are attended to and resolved holistically.
“We make it abundantly clear that since time immemorial, the Church in Zimbabwe has spoken against injustices and has been consistent in that regard.
“Any view or postulation to the contrary would be an attempt to re-write that narrative in order to promote a negative picture of what the Church stands for.”
The statement by the ACZ was signed by, Ignatios Makumbe, the chairperson of the Diocese of Central Zimbabwe; Godfrey Tawonezvi (Diocese of Matabeleland); Eric Ruwona (Diocese of Manicaland) and Farai Mutamiri Diocese of Harare.
“Church has the Biblical mandate to speak without fear or favour, particularly to a government which believes that the ‘voice of the people is the voice of God’.”
What Zimbabwe needs is a complete overhaul of the country’s rotten political system and we cannot expect those responsible for the rot, Zanu PF and MDC leaders, to overhaul the system because they are part of the rot. Zanu PF and MDC leaders will never reform themselves out of office, we have seen that already during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, they failed to implement even one reform.
We must have the courage and vision to admit our past mistakes and seek a better world! Zanu PF has held this nation to ransom for the last 40 years, we must put an end to this madness for the sake of the long suffering people of Zimbabwe.