“Zimbabwe is open for business!” was more than a mantra
to Emmerson Mnangagwa and his cronies when the seized power in the 2017
military coup. It was a shibboleth! The regime’s was elected into office in the
2018 elections, using the vote rigging juggernaut alone without resorting to
the wanton violence to get it over the line, because many people gave the
regime the benefit of the doubt it will revive the national economy!
It has been five years since the coup and the much hoped
for economic recovery has not happened. Those in the know said, back then in 2017,
that “Zimbabwe is open for business!” was a lead balloon that would never fly. It
was obvious why!
Business had all but ground to a halt in Zimbabwe because
the country was a pariah state ruled by corrupt and incompetent thugs who
rigged elections to stay in power. The decades of Zanu PF gross mismanagement,
rampant corruption and lawlessness had made it near impossible for business to
survive.
Mnangagwa promised to exorcise the pariah state curse by
stamping out corruption, holding free and fair elections, etc. and thus open
the country for business. Those in the know knew Mnangagwa would never stamp
out corruption, hold free and fair elections, etc. because to do so would be to
undermine his own power base.
After37 years of rigged elections, for example, Mnangagwa
and his coup cronies knew that Zimbabweans would jump at the opportunity to end
the Zanu PF dictatorship if the 2018 elections were free, fair and credible.
And so, to remain in power Zanu PF had to rig the elections.
But, of course, by failing to stamp out corruption, hold
free elections, etc. Mnangagwa confirmed that Zimbabwe was indeed still a
pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent thugs who rig elections to stay in
power. He confirmed the country was NOT yet open for business. Who would want
to do business in a pariah state!
Mnangagwa’s failure to revive the Zimbabwe economy has
hardened the people’s resolve to have a meaningful say in the governance of the
country. The people are itching for regime change in the coming 2023 elections.
Mnangagwa and company know to retain political power in
2023, they will have to resort to wanton violence to buttress the usual subtle vote
rigging measures such as failure to produce a verified voters’ roll, pro-Zanu
PF public media, etc. In the 2018 elections, Mnangagwa had restrained the war
veterans, the Zanu PF youth militia and the traditional leaders backed by the Police,
Army, and CIO from harassing, beating the people to force them to vote for Zanu
PF. This time, he has unleashed them!
“I have heard that some parts of Mutasa South are rural
and urban. I know that in urban areas when we fought the liberation struggle
that’s where most sell-outs ran to. It honestly does not surprise me that those
from urban areas don’t support the revolutionary movement because they are
sell-outs,” thundered Mnangagwa.
“This next generation should be taught to be patriotic
about their country. They should be taught that their freedom was brought
through the liberation struggle. They are the ones to whom we are going to
leave the leadership of this country.”
Echoes of the 2008 elections when Zanu PF unleashed the
party thugs to inflict some of the worst election violence in the country’s
history. “What was accomplished by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!”
thundered the late Robert Mugabe then.
The right to a meaningful say in the governance of one’s
country is sacrosanct because it is rock on which good governance stands.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because
the country is a pariah, ruled by corrupt and incompetent thugs, in power
because they rig elections. Holding free, fair and credible elections is the
nation’s only hope of getting out of this mess peacefully.
The 2017 military coup removed one dictator only to
replace him with another. There is no guarantee that another military coup and/or
bloody street protest will do any better.
The people of Zimbabwe must stand firm in our demand for
reforms and free elections and in our demand for good governance and an end to
the curse of rigged elections and pariah state.
We know Zanu PF has never respected the citizens’ freedoms
and rights including the right to free elections and will continue to call all
those demanding free elections sell-outs to justify the blatant rigging of
elections and use of wanton violence.
As the government of the day, Zanu PF has the duty to
ensure the 2023 elections are free, fair and credible. Zanu PF is rigging the
2023 elections, just as the party has rigged elections in the past.
We cannot stop the 2023 elections going ahead nor stop
Zanu PF rigging them. What we can do is refuse to participate in any way
because doing so will only give credibility to the flawed process and thus some
modicum of legitimacy to the result. We must point out the glaring
irregularities and illegalities including the wanton violence in the election
process and make sure such bodies as SADC do not rubber stamp the process
giving Zanu PF legitimacy!
“Those who do not vote for Zanu PF are unpatriotic and
sell-outs!” Actually, the real sell-outs are those violating the sanctity of
free elections as the bedrock of good governance! The war of independence was
about “One man, one vote!” and not about keeping Zanu PF in power against the
democratic wishes of the people!
Addressing legislators at the ongoing parly's 2023 Pre-Budget Seminar, RBZ governor, John Mangudya revealed that a significant chunk of gold coins had been sold.
ReplyDelete"As at the 14th of October last week, 10 400 gold coins of one ounce had been purchased, mopping ZW$10 billion which was otherwise going to chase foreign currency.
Yeah and how many of the 10 400 gold coins are still in the country?
Two or three years ago, governor Mangudya confessed that Zimbabwe was losing a staggering US$1.2 billion per year to gold smugglers alone. “Enough to finance Zimbabwe development without having to borrow any money!” he admitted.
Nothing was done to stamp out the gold smuggling and the wholesale looting in diamonds, platinum and other resources. The selling of gold coins has allowed many more people to join in the gold smuggling or be it legally!
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and ruthless thugs who are in power because they rig elections. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, there will be no meaningful economic recovery because honest people will never want to do business in a pariah state and the crooks who are there are there to loot!
"Our outlook for inflation is very positive, we reached a peak of 30,7% in the second half of 2022 to our great disappointment. Measures have led to a decline in inflation to 3,5% in December.
ReplyDelete"We are expecting inflation to continue to go down to between 3% and 5% and in October we are expecting inflation to be lower than that due to the measures that have been taken.
If this continues to happen we will review the interest rates after December in order to contain the downside risks of high interest rates. By June 2023 annual inflation will be around 50%," he said.
So far Zimbabwe’s rate of inflation has peaked at 800% all because the regime has thrown the teachers, nurses, civil servants and all the other workers with no political muscle overboard. The country’s education and health care services have all but completely collapsed.
Inflation will soar in the coming months as the regime is expected to be generous in its vote buying activities.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa says there is rampant abuse of public funds by government bureaucrats by flouting procurement procedures, crippling service delivery.
ReplyDeleteAddressing delegates at the procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe annual conference in the capital on Thursday, Mnangagwa said government was crafting laws to punish officials charged with violating the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.
Mnangagwa said flouting of tender procedures had become the major scam by which senior government officials were stealing public funds.
"This conduct by procurement entities, which goes against the very tents of the Second Republic, will not be tolerated. My government is, therefore, cracking the whip on those who are bent on abusing public procurement processes, thereby frustrating and delaying government programmes and projects," Mnangagwa said.
"Some of my senior government officials when they are given vehicles they park them, deflate tyres and use the pool car to wait for time to expire so that they can acquire the vehicle while still quite new," he said.
When Mnangagwa got into power in November 2017 following the coup, he promised to stamp out corruption. Today, five years latter even he cannot deny corruption is still rampant.
Mnangagwa , VP Chiwenga and all the other senior Zanu PF officials are the godfathers of corruption and hence the reason they will never stamp out corruption!
This confession will not make good reading in all those African nations whose leaders and complete fools of themselves last month at the UN Annual General Assembly blaming sanctions for Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown. They are hearing it from the horse’s mouth, corruption is rampant in Zimbabwe and it is corruption, not sanctions, that is destroying the country!
On Wednesday this week, this is what Mnangagwa said while addressing a group of people that gathered for the launch of the Teachers for Economic Development (ED) at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC).
ReplyDelete"We have the Zanu-PF chairperson here (Oppah Muchinguri). You (Muchinguri) heard me telling them that the Zanu-PF party supports them (teachers). Your children here (the teachers) have chosen to stand with us. Nurture and guide them. Anenge aita musikanzwa munoshunya hamunyanyi kurova (Those who would have shown errant behaviour, don't beat them too much.)"
That is not an oblique statement, but a direct instruction to mete out violence against teachers and by extension those who are not seen to be actively supporting the ruling party.
At the weekend, this is what the President told supporters at a rally held in Mutasa: "Next year we will have elections starting from councillors, members of Parliament and President. Munotivimbisa here kuti mucharakasha twupwere utwu? (Do you promise us that next year you are going to destroy these opposition upstarts?) Hamuvarakashi chete munovasvasvanga. Svasvangai vanhu," Mnangagwa said.
Mnangagwa knows that his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” has failed to revive the Zimbabwe economy and so, to stay in power he will have to resort to brute force.
We should not be going into these elections without first implementing the democratic reforms designed to stop the vote rigging and end the culture of violence. The reforms should have been implemented during the GNU; sadly, MDC sold out and failed to implement even one reform. And now it is these MDC upstarts who are dragging the nation into these utterly pointless elections out of greed! What a nightmare of CCC's own making!
@ Mbofana
ReplyDeleteAs we, in the small town of Redcliff, near one full year without any running water in our taps, more and more urban dwellers - who had already lost hope, and disgruntled with the national government's ruination of a once prosperous country - are swiftly becoming disenchanted with our opposition-led local authorities, who have turned our lives into a living nightmare.
Zimbabweans appear a cursed lot - akin to the proverbial luckless cigarette, being burnt on one end, and bitten upon on the other - since we now find ourselves completely alone, with nowhere to run to, and no one to come to our aid, as whichever political side we turn to, we encounter those who are more interested in enriching themselves at the expense of the suffering ordinary citizenry.
I can understand why many people are blaming the opposition dominated urban councils for the poor service delivery in our towns and cities. But, the truth be told, this is nothing more than a calf blaming its mother for failing to produce enough milk oblivious of the reality of the ravishing drought. How do you expect a five-star local service when the said council is stone broke because rate payers are not paying their bills not out of choice, they are unemployed! It is idiotic, to say the least, for the same impoverished and unemployed rate payers to be clamouring for the five-star service regardless!
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical thugs who have retained an iron grip on power by rigging the elections. As long as Zimbabwe remains pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery, no meaningful improvement in the local services!