Chamisa 2021 Agenda demanding "comprehensive reforms" - yet, as before, will contest 2023 with no reform W Mukori

 Zimbabwe is in serious economic and political trouble because the nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical ruling party, Zanu PF, and an equally corrupt and incompetent opposition party, MDC, for 41 years and 21 years respectively.

Zanu PF rigged the first independence elections in 1980 by making it clear if the party lost the elections the bush war would continue. The people voted to end the war and Zanu PF’s number one task ever since has been consolidate its iron grip on power by hook and by crook. The party has then used its absolute power to loot and thus causing the economic meltdown.

The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb, over 500 lost their lives in the wanton violence of the 2008 elections alone, to elect MDC on the understanding the party would implement the democratic changes designed to dismantle and end the Zanu PF dictatorship. The nation has the best chances ever to implement the democratic reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU.

Mugabe bribed the MDC leaders with the trappings of high office and they failed to implement even one reform in five years. Worse still, MDC leaders have since abandoned the cause of democratic reforms and free, fair and credible elections.

Ever since the 2013 elections MDC leaders have participated in flawed and illegal elections, knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging the elections. They have soldiered on regardless because they also knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats, 1/3 or so plus the cut of the annual Political Party Finance Act pay out, to entice the opposition to participate; a honey pot MDC leaders found irresistible!

Both Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa are corrupt and incompetent; as were the late Mugabe and Tsvangirai the two’s respective mentors before them. And so it is not surprising the two have many things in common and here are some:

1)    Never ever admit to failure even when there is overwhelming evidence you messed up big time

The Zimbabwe economy is in total meltdown and the root cause is corruption. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Dr John Mangudya admitted the country could bankroll its economic recovery from the wealth generated from selling gold. “Gold is to Zimbabwe what oil is to Nigeria!” he said. The country is losing a staggering US$1.2 billion per annual to gold smugglers. And Mnangagwa insist the root cause of the economic meltdown is the sanctions imposed on a select few Zanu PF leaders!

There is no hope of any meaningful economic recovery as long as nothing is done to end the criminal waste of the nation’s human and material resources through corruption. Mnangagwa keeps talking about the country thriving and attaining middle income status by 2030, “vision 2030”. This is all cloud cuckoo land, of course!

Ever since the March 2020 Supreme Court judgement confirming that Nelson Chamisa’s seizure of the MDC leadership following Tsvangirai’s death had violated the party’s own constitution, the party has imploded. Chamisa still continues to refuse he did anything wrong and blame Zanu PF for all the party’s troubles.  

In his Zimbabwe 2021 Agenda address this afternoon, Chamisa acknowledge the MDC A has lost many of its elected officials, lost its party office, the millions of dollars from Political Party Finance Act taken away, many leaders have joined the MDC-T faction or worse, etc., etc. This has all strengthened the party, said Chamisa!

2)    If push comes to shove, admit the problem, take the sting off, and do nothing about it

Following the November 2017 military coup, Mnangagwa was quick off the mark in promising to hold free, fair and credible elections. He wanted to reassuring the nation and the international community at large of the coup plotters’ commitment to democracy and that the coup was a one-off aberration. This was one promise he and his coup plotters had no intention of honouring as they pointedly refused to implement even one token reform.

After the 2018 elections Mnangagwa addressed the issue of Zimbabweans in the diaspora who were denied the vote. He promised this will not happen again in the future. It has been two and half years since the last elections and still government has not done a thing to facilitate the registration of Zimbabwean in the diaspora. This is a promise that will be ignored.

MDC leaders were elected on the ticket to deliver democratic change, as the party name implies, they have failed to bring about even one democratic change in 21 years. In 2014 MDC-T made a party resolution not to participate in elections without first implementing the reforms. The resolution has ignored.

By participating in flawed and illegal elections MDC are giving the process credibility and, by extension, the results legitimacy. It is sheer hypocrisy for Chamisa and his MDC A to therefore question Mnangagwa’s legitimacy when they knew all along they will give him legitimacy by participating.

In his Zimbabwe 2021 Agenda address Chamisa, once again talked of the need to implement comprehensive democratic reforms before the next elections. We all know, more so Zanu PF, he was just paying lip-service to reforms; MDC A will participate in the 2023 election with not even one token reform implemented.

Chamisa called for changed to allow Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote; he said it because to please those in the diaspora.

When it comes to democratic reforms, MDC are shedding buckets of crocodile tears! "Jema newadya!" as one would say in Shona. After 41 years of rigged elections, Zimbabweans must wake up to the reality that neither Zanu PF nor MDC will deliver the free, fair and credible elections the nation has been dying for all these years.