“Brand New Isuzu vehicles were recently given to the Chiefs and Mbuya Nehanda gobbled a whopping R2.8 million in cash at a time when our health infrastructure is in rotten state.
“They never think about anything other than power retention.
“Cars to chiefs because chiefs will be used to frog-march voters to vote for them.
“The people and the country are Zanu pf’s last worries,” President Chamisa wrote on his official Facebook page.
It is true that the twin-cab Isuzu trucks for each of the country’s 270 chiefs @ US$ 30 000 for a total of US$ 8.1 million at a time Zimbabwe is failing to buy enough corona virus vaccine are a bribe to the chiefs. Chamisa is spot on, the chiefs are being paid for their part in “frog-marching voters to vote for Zanu PF”!
It is no secret that voters in the rural areas, constituting about 50% of the voters, in particular have been reduced to nothing short of medieval serfs beholden to the overbearing chiefs, village heads, war veterans, green bombers and all the other Zanu PF operatives.
In 2008 SADC leaders forced Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies to agree to the implementation of a raft of democratic reforms whose primary purpose was end Zanu PF’s carte blanche dictatorial control of state institutions including traditional leaders to free them to carryout their democratic duties of safe guarding the freedoms and rights of all the citizens without favour or fear.
The reforms, properly implemented, would have ended Zanu PF’s practice of bribing the Chiefs and freed the rural voters to vote freely, for example.
The task to implement the democratic reforms were left to Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends in the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and most of the other leaders in the MDC A and MDC-T were senior MDC leaders in the GNU.
Sadly, MDC leaders failed to implement even one token reform in the five years of the GNU. Not even one reform!
SADC leaders made a last minute determined attempt to have Zimbabwe’s July 2013 elections postponed until the reforms were implemented. “If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose. The elections are done!” Tsvangiai and company were warned.
Tsvangirai et al did not listen for the same reason they had failed to implement even one reform during the GNU - greed. MDC leaders knew Zanu PF was rigging the elections but they also knew Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate.
Ever since the 2008 GNU debacle MDC leaders have participated in Zimbabwe’s flawed and illegal elections for the sake of the bait gravy train seat and knowing that doing so gave the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy!
There is very little the ordinary Zimbabweans can do to stop the 2023 elections going ahead, both Zanu PF and MDC are set to play their assigned roles, one blatantly rigging the elections and the other participating regardless how flawed the process gets.
However the one thing ordinary Zimbabweans can and must do is to denounce these elections as a farce and make sure they play no part in the whole fraudulent affair.
SADC leaders were right to condemn the 2013 elections as a farce in advance because the elections were rigged in advance. Zanu PF has already rigged the 2023 elections in advance. How can an election in which 50% of the voters are frog matched to vote for a predetermined candidate and party be anything but a rigged election!
“The people and the country are Zanu pf’s last worries!” And you have aided and abetted Zanu PF by giving the regime that “frog - matches voters” legitimacy!
The people must not only refuse to participate in these 2023 elections without first implementing the reforms but demand that elections must be declared here and now, in advance because they have already been rigged in advance, null and void.
@ EU
ReplyDelete“In February, the EU adopted a EU27 declaration (i.e. by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union) on Zimbabwe. In this context, the EU reviewed its restrictive measures, and decided to renew its arms embargo and to maintain a targeted assets freeze against one company, Zimbabwe Defence Industries, taking into account the situation in Zimbabwe, including the continuing need to investigate the role of security force actors in human rights abuses. With this statement, the EU reminded the Government of Zimbabwe that it had committed to adhere to its constitutional and international human rights obligations. Furthermore, the EU welcomed further opportunities for
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continued dialogue and engagement with Zimbabwe and reiterated its ambition for a more constructive relationship. We believe today’s meeting was an important milestone in these endeavours.
Of importance was also the topic of economic development. After two consecutive years for Zimbabwe with negative growth, economic recovery is paramount to improve the serious humanitarian and socio-economic situation, which has been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. We acknowledged the efforts to stabilize the macro-economic situation. The European Union stands ready to continue supporting the Zimbabwean people in the current socio-economic challenges.”
EU had a very high powered team of election observers in 2018 and they found Zimbabwe’s elections were not to international standards. To prevent a repeat of this, the EU recommended that Zimbabwe must implement a number of democratic reforms BEFORE the 2023 elections. It is sad to note that not even one token reform has been implemented. Not one!
President Mnangagwa promised to extend the right to vote to the 3 million or so Zimbabweans in the diaspora. This has not happened. It should be remember that he won the presidency with 2.4 million votes or 50.7% of the cast votes. How can an election in which 3 out of 8 voters are denied the vote be anything but a farce!
Zimbabwe’s economic and political recovery depends on the country ending its pariah state status and that is only possible if the country implements the reforms necessary to guarantee free, fair and credible elections. The EU can help end the pariah curse by increasing the pressure on the Zanu PF regime to implement the reforms!
"The EU and its membership expressed concern over a curtailed democratic space in Zimbabwe over the last year and reports of continued violations of human rights such as reported cases of enforced disappearances, and lengthy unjustified detentions, arrests of journalists and other limitations to the freedom of expression and the media. The EU urged government conduct impartial investigations of human rights violations and bring perpetrators to justice the EU said.
ReplyDeleteThe root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic and political problems is decades of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness that have earned the country the pariah state status. The nation has been stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical ZAnu PF regime complete with its equally corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless opposition parties because Zanu PF rigs elections.
The best opportunity to dismantle the dictatorship was during the 2008 to 2013 GNU but sadly the chance was wasted as the MDC leaders failed to implement even one reform.
The EU had a 246 strong Election Observing Mission team in Zimbabwe and produced a catalogue of elections irregularities and illegalities. The EU Mission report gave a list of reforms the Zanu PF government was to implement to ensure free, fair and credible elections. None of the reforms have been meaningfully carried out. Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections are set to be a repeat of the rigged elections of the past.
Zanu PF is hell bend on going ahead with the 2023 elections with no reforms. The party has already denied the 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote. Mnangagwa reported “won” the 2018 elections with 2.4 million votes or 50.7% of the cast votes. How can an election in which 3 out of 8 voters are denied the vote be anything but a rigged election.
There is growing number of ordinary Zimbabweans who are now understand the importance of ending the curse of rigged elections as the only sure way to end Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and political paralysis. The EU’s refusal to re-engage with this Zanu PF pariah state will help to underline the need for reforms and therefore is the right and welcomed move.
Here we go again! Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess and many of our people have been forced to leave the country out of desperation. We really need a serious debate to address the underlying reasons. It is shocking the Zanu PF apologist, Dr Mavaza should choose to ignore the economic and political realities forcing people to leave the country and pretend they are doing so out of adventure.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Mavaza and his Zanu PF masters’ know the country’s economic meltdown and political chaos are the root causes of the exodus out of the country Mavaza is misrepresenting it as adventure because he and his masters have this ice cold indifference to the suffering and even deaths of others including their own kith and kin.
The real tragedy for Zimbabwe is that Mavaza and his political masters are the ones ruling the country and set the national agenda and so for 41 years and counting the nation has been forced to ignore the real problems affecting society. This is why stopping Zanu PF rigging the 2023 elections and stay in power for another five more years is now the holy grail for the country.
ReplyDelete@ Prisca Ncube
“If politics was correct dear Mavaza we would not be here but in our beloved Zimbabwe. The Zanu politics is wrong thats the reason we are squatted in foreign lands. There is some freedom we enjoy outside home and for this reason we prefer to be where we are. Give me that freedom or death!”
What is so annoying about apologists like Mavaza is their indifference to the suffering of others and contemptuous disregard of the facts. When 49% of the population are now living in abject poverty and basic services such as health care and education have collapsed it is clear the millions who have left the country have done so out of economic and/or political desperation.
He is ignoring that reality and pretends the exodus is out of the spirit of adventure. It “allows you to be challenged in new settings and work through problems you wouldn't encounter at home, so you can develop and grow as a person”!
Whilst you, Prisca, and others have been fighting to correct the country’s failed political system Mavaza does not see anything wrong with the system. Indeed, he would even praise it for pushing so many Zimbabwe “out of our comfort zone” and seek new adventures!
Whilst Mavaza and his masters remain in power in Zimbabwe, there will be no meaningful change and end to the human suffering and exodus. We really must redouble our efforts to make sure Zanu PF does not get away with another rigged 2023 elections.
It is really disconcerting that the overwhelming majority of our rural voters have indeed been reduced into medieval serfs who are regularly frog-marched to attend Zanu PF rallies and then to vote for the party. What makes this even more alarming is that the country's opposition politicians are aware of this and treat it as if it is nothing. Chamisa does not deny this is happening but publicly acknowledges that this is indeed happening.
ReplyDeleteZimbabwe's own Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) appointed by the Zanu PF government expressed its concern over the government's use of state assistance in the rural areas as a means of controlling the voters particularly when the assistance is given to party card holders and denied to the rest.
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A friends filed a Constitutional Court challenge of the presidential election result and did not even mention the coercion of rural voters by Zanu PF. This was an issue with ZHRC, foreign election observers and many other but not an issue to Chamisa and his MDC A friends.
People have often asked why MDC leaders failed to implement even one democratic reform in the 5 years of the GNU. The truth is these MDC leaders really have no clue what constitutes free, fair and credible elections. Indeed, Chamisa's court challenge of the 2018 election result hinged on the elections were free and fair if "I am declared the winner!" Having millions of voters herded like cattle to attend rallies and to vote did not bother him as long as he is the winner!
It is ironic that Chamisa should be accusing Zanu PF of not worrying about the country and the people; he too does not care. Like Zanu PF, all MDC A care about is power.
We really must do something to stop Zanu PF and these sell-out oppositions from dragging the nation into yet another meaningless election. By participating in these rigged election only serves to give the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. We really must put an end to this madness!