The Zanu PF spirit to revive the Zimbabwe economy is willing but the intellect is weak!
When then Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow conspirator staged the November 2017 military coup, “a military assisted transition” as they insisted in calling it, they all agreed on the need to revive the comatose Zimbabwe economy. How to do it was the million dollar question.
Mnangagwa promised that the post putsch government will have “zero tolerance on corruption”, hold free, fair and credible elections, scrapped obnoxious laws such as the indigenous law and relaunched the country as a second republic - putting distance between his new administration and Mugabe’s pariah state. With that he announced to the world that “Zimbabwe was open for business!”
No one was fooled, certainly not the savvy and shrewd foreign investors the slick marketing was hoping to attract. They knew Mnangagwa would never stamp out corruption since it is his political power base and as for holding free elections that was a bridge too far. Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig the 2018 elections and, to rub it in, Mnangagwa insists the elections were indeed free, fair and credible.
The November 2017 military coup had remove the dictator Mugabe and a few of his close allies but only to have another dictator in his place. Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs; a failed and chaotic state that no one would want to do business with. No one!
It took a year or two for the reality that “Zimbabwe is open for business!” was dead in the water to sink in. But sink in it did. And the regime abandoned attempts to lure foreign investors and focus on getting Zimbabweans to rebuild the country’s crumbling economy.
“Nyika inovakwa nevenevayo!” (Zimbabwe will be rebuilt by Zimbabweans!) was the new Zanu PF jingle for the last three years!
It was just another empty jingle completely at odds with the reality in the country. Millions of Zimbabweans have left the country in the last 20 years as economic and/or political refugees leaving the country with up to 80% skilled manpower shortage in key sectors such as engineering, health and education. The few skilled people left in the country are under utilised because the economy has all but collapsed.
So there is precious little rebuilding going on in Zimbabwe because there are few skilled Zimbabweans in the country to do the work and the economic meltdown is so bad even the few left are under employed!
And so the regime has flip flop back to attracting foreign investors!
“Zimbabwean government officials and corporate leaders are gearing for a major capital markets conference in London, United Kingdom, during the last week of next month to mobilise private capital to finance domestic development,” reported Bulawayo 24.
The event, set for April 20-21, will be addressed by Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube and key players in the primary capital markets, corporate leaders, financial institutions and investment bank executives, and public accounting firm heads, as well as secondary market players such as fund managers and stockbrokers from Zimbabwe and overseas.
So we are back to “Zimbabwe is open for business.” And hoping the same foreign investors we failed to entice in 2017/2018 will not notice that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state governed by the same corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs. It is nonsensical to ask if Zimbabwe is going to have yet another disputed 2023 elections. The election process is so flawed and illegal it is disputed already, long before the voting started.
The Zanu PF regime has denied 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote, for example, in what is clearly a case of the regime cherry picking the electorate. Most of these people are in the diaspora as economic and/or political refugees and they blame Zanu PF for their plight. They are not likely to vote for the regime and hence the reason they are being denied the vote.
By failing to hold free and fair elections to stop regime change and thus consolidating Zanu PF’s iron grip on power. But, more significantly, the party is, per se, yoking the nation to a corrupt and tyrannical regime. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Making Zimbabwe a pariah state, a failed state, and the economic mess and political paralysis are what one would expect in a pariah state.
President Mnangagwa and his Junta cronies think they can trick investors into believing Zimbabwe is a healthy and function democracy so they can hang on to the pariah state and still enjoy the economic success and political stability of a democratic system of government. How naive!
What President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies have clearly failed to understand is what every good mother instills in her children from a young age; you cannot have your cake and eat it too! Zimbabwe is pariah state and as long as it remains a pariah state, there will be meaningful economic recovery. None!
No doubt, President Mnangagwa has received repeated assurance that “Zimbabwe is open for business: mark 2!’’ will be a resounding success. Zanu PF is renowned for paying millions of dollars for PR and dubious services, some one is making a killing at Zimbabwean taxpayers’ expense! The price we pay for having dunderheads in State House!
Mbalula said that the Americans and the British were refusing to let up because they wanted regime change.
ReplyDelete"We've got a problem here in Zimbabwe and it's brewing. And you think it's going to be the problem of the Americans; it's going to be our problem for the longest of time.
"Americans must give peace a chance... We need a roundtable; we need peaceful negotiations," Mbalula said.
He said that South Africa had to continue refusing to side with either Russia or Ukraine, and instead push for negotiations toward a peaceful solution.
What is nauseating here is that Zanu PF has rigged elections ever since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980. In 2008, following a particularly outrageous election in which Zanu PF blatantly cheated and used wanton violence, the AU and SADC leaders were finally forced to admit Zanu PF rigged elections. It was SADC leaders were forced Zanu PF to sign the 2008 Global Political Agreement, agreeing to the need for Zimbabwe to implement democratic reform to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
Sadly, not even one token reform was implemented and SADC leaders knew it and even tried to get the 2013 elections postponed until reforms were implemented. Alas, their advice fell on deaf ears.
What is infuriating here is that SADC and SA in particular have not only completely forgotten that with no reforms implemented Zanu PF continued to rig elections but, worst of all, now does not even recognise the people of Zimbabwe’s right to a meaning say in the governance of Zimbabwe.
Why has ANC leaders taken it upon themselves that regime change in Zimbabwe must be because the Americans and British’s doing and the democratic wish of the people Zimbabwe! Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections and it is outrageous that ANC is stubbornly refusing to admitting it!
When President Mnangagwa and his November 2017 putsch conspirators insisted in calling the military coup a “military assisted transition” one is tempted to believe they actually believed they had fooled the whole world with that nonsense. It was just a taste of the foolishness and the empty promises that were to follow.
ReplyDeleteMnangagwa launched his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” convinced the whole world had swallowed his foolishness and empty promises hook, line and sinker.
He is rigging the 2023 election; he has failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll for Pete’s sake! And yet he still believes he can still outwit the investors into believing Zimbabwe is now a healthy and stable democratic country. He really is a dunderhead!
Still, the joke is on us, Zimbabweans: how is it possible we have allowed ourselves to be governed by dunderheads and for over four decade!!!!!!! A sick joke really because we have paid dearly for our folly and will continue to pay far beyond the Biblical seven generations!
Responding to the ruling, President Chamisa said: “It is impossible to have a credible and acceptable election without an audited voters roll.”
ReplyDelete“Dear ZEC & ED; Disputed elections are bad for our country. It’s impossible to have a credible & acceptable election without a credible & audited voters’roll.
Why keep public records secret? Why personalize and privatize pubic information & institutions? Let’s #fixthis now!,” said President Chamisa
We all know that the failure to hold free, fair and credible elections will only confirm that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state, a failed and chaotic state no one in their right mind would want to do business with. We also know that CCC will participate in these flawed elections, even without something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, and condemn the nation to the pariah state status because you lot are after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is offering as bait.
These twittered comments are just political posturing. CCC will participate no matter what - you have always participated why should 2023 be any different!
Zimbabwe cannot afford these sell outs and the insanity must and will be stopped.
@ Chinono
ReplyDelete“Zimbabwe is not ready for polls without a Voters Roll Mr President.
That is part of poll rigging!
The region, the continent and the rest of the world should be told the truth that we are not ready because the ruling party is working in cahoots with
@ZECzim to rig the election!”
How anyone can freely participate in an election without something as basic as a verified voters’ roll beggars belief. In the case of CCC and company the explanation is self evident greed.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” confessed Coltart in his Book, , The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
@ Jonathan Moyo
ReplyDelete“It is as amazing as it is revealing that this Trevor Ncube tweet has attracted hateful vitriol from self-proclaimed change champions, thereby raising fundamental questions about the kind of change they say they are seeking!”
CCC leaders and supporters are up in arms against Chapman and his DUZ party because they after the same gravy train seats on offer as bait. Both parties know that Zanu PF is rigging these elections and their participation will only give Zanu PF legitimacy.
How anyone can participate in elections without even something as basic as a verified voters’ roll beggars belief. But not if you are a sell out and now the sell out camp is getting crowded and they are fighting each other like wild cats.
It is for the people of Zimbabwe alone in a free, fair and credible elections to decide who rules Zimbabwe including having regime change. ANC must keep its big nose out of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhEhVeXZJHU
ReplyDeleteWe can do it if we Register as voters!
ReplyDeleteFellow Citizens- your vote is your voice and with your voice you have your power- With your power we can Change the world.
This is the only opportunity we have to change our circumstances.
To win big, We must register big!
Where ever you are- tell a friend, a neighbour, workmate, wife, husband, your children , schoolmates, boyfriend or girlfriend and all your loved ones to register as voters.
This is the Call the Act.
This is message explains exactly why Zimbabwe is stuck: we have leaders who do not even have the common sense to admit something is not working even when they have the evidence.
MDC/CCC has always admitted that Zanu PF was rigging the elections but insisted in participating regardless because the party has “winning in rigged elections (wire) strategies.” None of these strategies have worked in the past hence the reason why the party has never had the keys to State House.
For the 2023 elections, the MDC/CCC flagship wire strategy was mass voter registration, followed by mass voting and then guard the vote. Well the first phase was a clear failure as the party only registered ¼ million voters, 4% of its own set target of 6 million, in the four years to 30 May 2022.
There has been a hive of voter registration activity since May 2022 but these are bused Zanu PF supporters registering in late at night. Two weeks ago, there videos of Zanu PF bused from Domboshava and Goromonzo, to register in Harare! This is a very common practice by Zanu PF, these late registrants will not appear on the voters’ roll and allowed to vote on production of the voter registration slip. They will vote in the rural constituency and vote again in the urban area.
How anyone can bury their heads in the sand and pretend CCC’s mass voter registration is still working beggars belief.
Of course, CCC leaders know Zanu PF is blatantly rigging these 2023 elections but they soldier on because they also know that Zanu PF will give away a few gravy train seats to the opposition to entice them to participate no matter how flawed and illegal the process gets. Zanu PF needs the opposition’s participation to maintain the façade Zimbabwe is a healthy multiparty democracy.
Chamisa and company have to keep up the appearance CCC will win big to hide the real reason they are participating is greed. It is a tragedy there are many Zimbabweans out there who are so naïve and gullible they believe the oxymoronic nonsense of winning in Zanu PF Mafiosi rigged elections even after 43 years of rigged elections.
TEMPERS are flaring after the High Court Tuesday blocked the release of electronic voters roll with critics claiming the ruling reflects lack of democracy in Zimbabwe ahead of 2023 elections.
ReplyDeleteHarare High Court judge, Never Katiyo ruled that the voters roll was a sensitive document which should not be dished out carelessly.
Zanu PF will never release a verified voters' roll because it is indeed a key party of the regime's voter rigging. The party knows that it will get away with it because it also knows that the opposition will participate in the elections no matter how flawed and illegal the process gets as long as they are assured of winning a few gravy train seats.
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC/CCC friends had their golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They sold out then, not even SADC leaders' constant nagging would get the MDC leaders to implement even one token reform; it is naive to expect MDC leaders to do anything now when Zanu PF has all the trump cards!
CCC will participate in 2023 elections with no verified voters roll, Zanu PF knows that.
Prt 1 of 2
ReplyDeleteThe triggers for the subsequent collapse of the Zimbabwe State were many. The first was the decision in 1997 to pay the veterans of the liberation war reparations for their sacrifice in the form of a grant that cost us $3,6 billion — a huge sum at that time, outside the budget and just printed by a panicky regime.
The second came the following year when it was decided to enter the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo to remove Mobutu Sese Seko and replace him with Laurent Kabila. This lasted for three years and cost us hundreds of lives and millions of dollars in military hardware. In all, the war cost approximately US$2 billion. It was a success, but the cost further deepened the fiscal crisis at home.
Perhaps the third trigger was the depreciation in the local currency. At independence, one local dollar was able to buy two US dollars. Now after successive financial problems, the depreciation of the local currency started. Slowly at first and then more rapidly, reducing living standards and increasing costs.
The long-suffering population began to stir and the outcome was the birth of the first real opposition party in the form of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). This emerged in September 1999 and in March the following year, the ruling party Zanu-PF suffered its first national defeat in a national referendum on a new Constitution
The commercial farm sector was occupied by 6 000, largely white farmers and they employed over 300 000 workers who, with their families, made up a substantial bloc of voters. In 2000, they voted for the opposition MDC and their employees publicly backed the new party.
Mugabe made the decision that this bloc of voters had to be eliminated in political terms. A decision similar to that in the Soviet Union was made by Joseph Stalin which led to the genocide of the Kulaks (independent farmers) in that area of the world.
Zimbabwe's fast-track land reform programme resulted in the great majority (95%) of the remaining white farmers being removed from their farms and the land nationalised.
In an economy created in Zimbabwe by 80 years of settler administration, this was the final straw that broke the system.
Farm output collapsed by over 70%, export earnings fell by half and employment fell from 1,2 million to 600 000, the majority in the civil service.
It is difficult to imagine the outcome today. By 2008, Zimbabwe was effectively a failed State. In 2009, the World Bank stated that the country resembled a State that was coming out of a war. Just look at the statistics:
- Three million people died from preventable causes and life expectancy fell from 64 years at independence to 37 years.
Five million people fled the country for greener pastures — three million to South Africa.
- We had the highest mortality of women in childbirth in the world and the highest mortality of children under five years old.
- 150 000 people were infected with cholera and thousands died.
Part 2 of 2
ReplyDelete- 150 000 people were infected with cholera and thousands died.
- 75% of our total population was on food aid supplied by the international community.
- The total revenue to the State in 2008 was just US$280 million, the average civil servant earned less than US$50 a month.
- Inflation was at world record levels with prices doubling every three hours, the domestic currency was worthless.
- Retail shops were completely empty, fuel filling stations closed.
- Over 70% of all children were not in school.
- State hospitals were either closed or inoperable.
- Power consumption, a sure indicator of economic activity, halved.
The political crisis deepened with a clear victory by the leader of MDC in the presidential vote in the 2008 elections, followed by manipulation of the result and a run-off that was so violent, it was not recognised by the African Union.
The crisis was so serious that the Sadc States appointed then South African President Thabo Mbeki as special representative with instructions to intervene.
He convened a series of meetings with the three main political parties in Zimbabwe and began the tortuous negotiations towards an accommodation that would bring stability to the country and allow some normalcy to return.
The talks were held in absolute secrecy and when completed, resulted in the signing of an agreement to establish a unity government with three parties in government for the first time.
The mandate restored some semblance of stability and got the economy back on track. It then took another five months to get a Cabinet agreed and once this was done, it was sworn in with Mugabe as President and Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister.
In the next four years, 2009 to 2013, inflation was dealt with, political and economic stability restored and the revenues to the fiscus expanded rapidly — from US$280 million in 2008 to US$4,3 billion in 2013, 70% per annum on average.
But the scars of the collapse remained, all savings were wiped out, all financial institutions were bankrupt, the local currency ceased to exist.
Only now, after the forced retirement of Mugabe in November 2017 and the appointment of a new government, can we really say we are seeing real recovery and growth.
Eddie Cross is an economist and former Bulawayo South legislator. He writes here in his personal capacity.
Well once again you have failed to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth! The primary purpose of the 2008 to 2013 GNU was to implement the democratic reforms to restore the rule of law and ensure the blatant cheating and wanton violence of 2008 elections will never be repeated. You and your MDC friends slept on the job and failed to implement even one token reform in five years. Zimbabwe is groaning under the curse of rigged elections and bad governance to this day because MDC leaders sold out on reforms!
Where is the post 2017 military recovery and growth you keep wittering about? The coup was nothing more than removing one corrupt and murderous dictator only to replace him with another. Zimbabwe is still a pariah state, nothing has changed, and as long as the country remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. None!