"Vote overwhelmingly and counter (Zanu PF) rigging" - regurgitated nonsense, didn't work before and will not now N Garikai

 

The 2023 elections are nigh upon us and already the volume of material offering fool proof strategies on how the opposition can win the rigged elections in growing.

 

“The only option left for the opposition is to put lock nuts and tighten screws on any rigging machinations through deployment of polling agents at every polling station and mobilisation of their voters to vote overwhelmingly and counter rigging,” proposed Leonard Koni in Bulawayo 24.

 

“Opposition leader of MDC-Alliance Nelson Chamisa still have a chance and the edge to finish off Mnangagwa as he is getting more support especially from the young people and virgin voters who are resonating well with the people's Community for Convergence Change.”

 

Deploy polling agents, mobilise voter registration, etc.; these are the same strategies proffer with the same zeal and guaranteed success last time. The strategies did not work back then and will not work now for the same reason – they are foolish.

 

The 2008 elections were a watershed election in that they showed there is literally no limit to what Zanu PF will do to blatantly cheat and use wanton violence to secure electoral victory. And so, it foolish to ever think there is anything the opposition can do to “overwhelm” the Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut. Whatever the opposition has come up with, Zanu PF has had a thousand and one ways to counter it!

 

It is no secret that most people in the diaspora will vote for the opposition, for example. Zanu PF has denied the 3 million or so Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote.

 

Koni talks of mobilising “virgin voters”. How many of them have even one utility bill in their name? By demanding a utility bill in one’s name as one condition for voter registration, Zanu PF has denied hundreds of thousands of potential voters the vote. Many of those who did manage to register still failed to vote because their name was posted in a wrong constituency, misspelt or something.

 

If the opposition cleared all the huddles Zanu PF had set; the regime responded by raising the bar higher and higher. There is no limit to how high Zanu PF can raise the bar, can rig the elections, but there is human limit to how high the opposition can jump.

 

It is interesting to note that people like Leonard Koni have never ever demanding that Zanu PF must hold free, fair and credible elections. To them, Zanu PF has the right to rig elections, a divine right which no mere mortal should ever question. As mortals our challenge is to devise strategies to win rigged elections.

 

Of course, this is idiotic nonsense. The people of Zimbabwe have a right to meaningful say in the governance of the country; a right to free, fair and credible elections. Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies have usurped the people’s power and denied them their freedoms and rights.

 

What some people often forget is that by participating in these flawed and illegal elections people are, like it or not, giving credibility and legitimacy to every segment of whole sodded affair. From the foolish assumptions that Zanu PF has the right to rig elections, the flawed elections themselves to the illegitimate government born out of the rigged elections.

 

MDC leaders have known all along that as long as Zanu PF enjoyed the dictatorial powers to rig elections, the party will win the presidency and majority in parliament and senate. They have also known that by participating they were giving Zanu PF legitimacy. They have done all these things regardless because they also knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate. Chamisa et al have found the gravy train bait irresistible.  

 

The ordinary Zimbabweans have played their part and participated in these flawed and illegal elections because their believed the lies of strategies to win rigged elections. As the country sunk deeper and deeper into the economic chaos and political paralysis the people became more and more desperate for change. Desperate people do indeed do desperate things, in this case believe the nonsense strategies to win rigged election.

 

But after 41 years and counting of Zanu PF rigging elections and dragging the nation deeper and deeper into the abyss many Zimbabweans are finally realising the sheer stupidity of believe Zanu PF could ever lose an election given the party’s limitless power to rig the election.

 

The solution to ending Zimbabwe’s curse of rigged elections and bad governance it is not to mobilise the people “to vote overwhelmingly and counter rigging”. The clarion call should be to mobilise the people to demand free, fair and credible elections; as a God given right and the solid rock foundation on which to build a good and democratic government.  

 

After 41 years of mobilising to “counter vote rigging” without success only the insane want to travel down the same path!