"AAH! Waunoti chikwata ndiani? Ini mien wenyika!" retorted Chief Tangwena. Alas! Millions are still squatters! W Mukori

 How many rural peasant own even one acre of land today, 46 years after independence? NONE! 

Smith instituted the Tribal Trust Land system where land is own communally to ensure rural people are deny ownership of the land. Whites were granted title deed to the land where ever they settled be they farmers, miners, missionaries, urban dwellers, etc. but not blacks.

The late John Robertson, a renowned Economist and Banker, advised Ian Smith of the social and economic benefits of granting rural blacks title deeds to even a few square metres of land on which their mud huts stood. Still he refused to give them title deeds because, he argued, economic empowerment will lead to demands for meaningful political empowerment. He was not prepared to give the blacks the voice and the vote.

John Robertson gave Robert Mugabe the same sound advice to grant rural peasant title deeds. After all this was the A1 reason for the liberation war! Mugabe refused to end the TTL system for the same selfish political reason. Zanu PF has deliberately kept the rural people poor and in servitude, they are no more than medieval serfs fearful and dependent of the over bearing Zanu PF rule elite and their bully proxies chiefs, headman, war veterans Zanu PF green bombers, etc. 

Zanu PF has always, always, considered the rural areas as its political strongholds and no-go areas for its political opponents dating back to the nation’s first nationwide elections in 1980. Contrary to the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement, Zanu PF did not withdraw all its freedom fighters to designated Assembly Points during the campaign period. They remained in the field to keep political opponents out, creating no-go areas, and their campaign message to the rural masses was that if Zanu PF did not win the election the bust war would continue. 

Of course, povo voted to end the bush war. And having lost their vote then the people have never got it back. Denying the rural people title deed to even a few square metres of land has allowed Zanu PF to deny them all meaningful political power! 

Chief Tangwena asked Queen Elizabeth of England for a whip with which to fight Ian Smith for denying him and his people the right to own their own ancestral land. He must be turning in his grave to see 49% of Zimbabweans today living in extreme poverty because they continued to be deny the right to own the same ancestral land and this time by fellow blacks but for the same cynical and selfish political reason!  

"AAH! WAUNOTI CHAKWATA NDIANI? INI MWENE WENYIKA! " RETORTED CHIEF REKAYI TANGWENA. "MHOSVA YOMUSARINYA (MISCELLANEYEPI. NDIBVIRE! (Whom are you calling squatter? Me the own of the land! I am being charged under the Miscellaneous {Mischief} Act. Get lost!)

Chief Rekayi Tangwena must be turning in his grave to know that millions of ordinary Zimbabweans, 49%, are living in extreme poverty today because the Zanu PF regimes is denying then title deeds to even a few acres of land - the one asst that would economically, politically and socially change their lives - for the same cynical and selfish political reasons Ian Smith deny blacks title deeds.

Here we are, 46 years after independence, we are still fighting for the right to own our own ancestral land! The Queen of England owned the Tribal Trust Lands (TTL) during colonial rule and now the State President owns all the TTL turning rural povo into nothing more than medieval serfs forever beholden to his and his bully Zanu PF ruling elite and proxies!

We really need to settle this issue once and once for all. Every Zimbabwean has the right to own property, land is the one property that means everything to the rural people. EVERYTHING! Some self-righteous buffoon is denying them that right!

"A little learning is a dangerous thing!" Zimbabwe has many curses and a little learning is one of them. W Mukori

 So kudya maputi as contrast to eating omelette is now a virtue, the pinnacle of human achievement guaranteed to turn everyone green with envy! No wonder we are a failed state; we really have some really stupid people! 

A few moons ago you were defending Chamisa’s idiotic lie that he had plugged all Zanu PF vote rigging loop holes used to con millions to participate in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. Now you praising Chiwenga to the high heavens, ignoring Chiwenga is a corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous Zanu PF thug. 

"A little learning is a dangerous thing”warned Alexander Pope. He was right, Zimbabwe is a failed state because we have nincompoops and buffoons who know fcuk all and yet think they are God’s blessing to the nation. 

We have buffoons who have rigged elections to stay in power for 46 years and counting because they believe they have the divine right to rule Zimbabwe. They are pushing Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 to extend their stay in power beyond what is stipulated and to give themselves even more dictatorial powers. All under the pretext they will turn round the country’s economic melt down three fold in four years, vision 2030! 

Zimbabwe’s curse is to have given the nincompoops the voice and the vote because, in their infantile stupidity,  they are the ones keeping the sell outs and buffoons in power. The nincompoops had the “shallow draughts intoxicate the brain”, Pope warned, and are so drunk they now consider them to be Pierian spring from which others come and drink! 

“A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”

A Little Learning

by Alexander Pope

 

A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again.

Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts,

In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts,

While from the bounded level of our mind

Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind;

But more advanced, behold with strange surprise

New distant scenes of endless science rise!

So pleased at first the towering Alps we try,

Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky,

The eternal snows appear already past,

And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;

But, those attained, we tremble to survey

The growing labors of the lengthened way,

The increasing prospects tire our wandering eyes,

Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,

As those move easiest who have learned to dance.

'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence;

The sound must seem an Echo to the sense:

Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows,

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,

The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar:

When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,

The line too labors, and the words move slow;

Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain,

Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.

Hear how Timotheus' varied lays surprise,

And bid alternate passions fall and rise!

While, at each change, the son of Libyan Jove

Now burns with glory, and then melts with love,

Now his fierce eyes with sparkling fury glow,

Now sighs steal out, and tears begin to flow:

Persians and Greeks like turns of nature found,

And the world's victor stood subdued by Sound

The power of Music all our hearts allow,

And what Timotheus was, is DRYDEN now.

Chiwenga is against CAB3 not because he knows what it REAL is about. Has no clue, just rest. Ignorance rules the roost! W Mukori.

 WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL No. 3 REAL ABOUT? HOW MANY ZIMBABWEANS KNOW WHAT IT IS ABOUT?

The tragedy for Zimbabwe is that even after 46 years of blundering from pillar to post, the penny has not yet dropped. Many of us are still unaware we are a failed state much less do anything about it! 

Here is chaos personified! A few moons ago it was Pamberi naChiwenga and now it is Pasi nagudo! So what was heralded a solution a few moons ago is now a danger; if this is not chaos what is? 

Why ignorance continues to rule supreme in this day and age speaks volumes of who we are!

Theologians say God kept the Children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years to weed out the slave mentality out that nation. It has been 46 years since independence and yet ignorance remains. All the advantages of history and human progress that should have helped us to learn from our own mistakes and those of others have had no effect. None! 

Chiwenga is not against CAB3 not because he knows what it is really about. He does not. He is against it because he believes it is his turn to be top dog just as in 2017 Mnangagwa believed it was his turn to be president. We are just going round and round in circles! 

What Tongogara & co. said before 1980 matters not a jot, their failure to honour "One man, one vote!" is everything. W Mukori

 @ Tongogara

It is not what Tongogara, Mugabe, Zvobgo and the rest of Zimbabwe's black nationalists said before 1980 that maters; it is what they said and did after 1980 that matters!

 History has shown that Zanu PF leaders did change completely as the prospect of power loomed. They made it clear that if the party did not win the 1980 elections the bush war would continue and thus throw out of the window the ideal of “One man, one vote!” 

The party has never ever held free, fair and credible elections ever since. Idealism evaporated like mist in the morning!

Worst of all the party and the nation has yet to sort out the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. Zanu PF thugs still believe they have the divine right to rule by virtue of conquest and have rigged elections and worse to secure that right. 

The nation had many chances to implement the democratic reforms and end the Zanu PF dictatorship, with the best chance coming during the GNU. Alas! the chances were all wasted. Morgan Tsvangirai and his banded mongoose MDC fiends sold out. 

Zanu PF's failure to honour and uphold "One man, one vote!" is at the very heart of why we are a failed state. The right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country is more that just a right; it is the essence of good governance.   

If VP Chiwenga should finally become President it would be by right of conquest and not “by direct popular vote”, as Mapuranga insists. Wilbert Mukori

“General Constantino Chiwenga is the next President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Not maybe. Not possibly. Not if circumstances permit. Not subject to amendment bills, parliamentary arithmetic, or the preferences of commercial networks that have confused their bank balances with political permanence.” wrote Lieutenant General Winston Sigauke Mapuranga in Bulawayo 24.

“And let me be equally clear about the timeline. 2028. Elections. As scheduled. 

“As constitutionally mandated. As the people of Zimbabwe are entitled to.”

What a truck load of bulls****t! 

“What kind of leaders would an armed struggle throw up?” Mahatma Gandhi and his fellow Indian nationalist asked themselves when they too were presented with the choice os whether to continue with the passive resistance in the fight to end British colonial rule of India. 

This was not an abstract and rhetorical question but one grounded on reality.

Alas! Zimbabwe has given the whole world the worst case scenario text book answer to the rhetoric question “What kind of leaders would an armed struggle throw up?” 

“A year on from the coup that ousted Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe remains perched between piecemeal reform and old ways that are as intractable as they are destructive. That’s because the country is ruled by a clique with a partial and conditional commitment to change—and a total, obdurate determination to retain and enjoy power,” wrote Stuart Duran in ASPI Strategist.

“The ‘new’ regime can be viewed from different angles, but the nub of it is this: there’s a recognition that the economic fiasco of the last 20 years was suboptimal, but Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers will burn the house down if they feel it necessary. Make no mistake, their will to power is every bit as intense as Mugabe’s—as is their belief that they own the country’s choicest fruits by right of conquest.”

Lieutenant General Maporanga is right, “CAB3 is not a development instrument. It is not a continuity agenda. It is not about Vision 2030 or boreholes or solar panels or hospital refurbishments worthy as some of those programmes are.CAB3 is a blocking mechanism.”

However he is being totally dishonest in saying the bill “has one primary political function to prevent General Constantino Chiwenga from ascending to the presidency through the direct popular vote that he would win.”

Zimbabwe has never ever held free, fair and credible elections. Never ever! And of all people, Mapuranga knows that. 

The nearest the nation has ever got to holding free and fair elections was the March 2008 elections after SADC had piled the pressure on Zanu PF to carry out a number of electoral reform. When it was clear that Zanu PF was losing the elections it was none other than Mnangagwa and Chiwenga who launched Operation Mavhotera Papi to blatantly cheat in the vote count and use wanton violence in the presidential run-off. Were those the actions of some one who has ever believed in winning the “direct popular vote”?

Mnangagwa and Chiwenga were once again the masterminds behind the 2017 military coup that ousted the late dictator Robert Mugabe after 37 years of rigged elections. The primary purpose of the coup was not to end the curse of rigged elections born of leaders thrown up by the liberation war who believed they have the divine right to rule the nation. The coup was a Zanu PF factional war to settle who was to be the top dog, the dictatorship itself was to remain untouched. 

Mnangagwa and Zanu PF did not win “direct popular vote” in 2018 or 2023; the elections were rigged. Chiwenga and Mapuranga know this!

Mnangagwa and Chiwenga fell out because the former was supposed to serve one five years term and then step aside. He is set to serve ten years and still refusing to step aside. 

The primary purpose of CAB3, as far as Chiwenga and his supporters are concerned, is to engineer a mechanism to allow Mnangagwa to stay in power  two more years beyond 2028. The bill seeks to entrench Zanu PF’s dictatorial strangle hold on the nation and this appeals to many Zanu PF cronies which is why the bill has become so divisive within the party. 

Whether CAB3 passes or not the ordinary Zimbabweans know that they will continue to be denied a meaningful say in the governance of the country. If Chiwenga and his cronies manage to stop CAB3 by hook or by coup, they will not risk losing power by holding free, fair and credible elections. 

So if VP Chiwenga should ever become President it will be “by right of conquest,” as Stuart Duran would rightly say and not “by direct popular vote”, as Singauke Mapuranga would have us believe!  

When will Zimbabweans finally realise CCC are Zanu PF team B, playing for team A to win and have legitimacy? W Mukori

Paul Mangwana boasted soon after the 2013 Constitution was approved in the March 2013 referendum that Mugabe “dictated” the constitution. And this explains why the new Constitution is weak and feeble. A reality that Mwonzora and his MDC fiends have never acknowledged and they have knowingly conned the nation to accept the constitution and to participate in elections, etc. insisting the constitution would deliver a democratic result. 

A dictator’s creed will never deliver a democratic result expected of a democratic constitution. Never! 

Zanu PF is not only relying on the dictator’s creed clauses relating to specific definitions such as “term of office”, etc. to make sure the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 sails through. The regime has many, many other tools at its disposal to get what it wants and has deployed them already. The regime been bribing key players including MPs and senators to approve the process and has used coercive force to silence descending voices. 

The truth is opposition leaders like Mwonzora, Chamisa, Madhuku, Biti, Timba, Mahere, etc., know that the 2013 Constitution is weak and feeble. They know Zanu PF is rigging elections and that participating would only give the regime legitimacy. Still they have soldiered on and participated regardless and they have even conned the ordinary people to participate because they also knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate. 

The regime need to maintain the facade that Zimbabwe is a healthy multi-party democracy to get political legitimacy. Zanu PF was forced into the GNU in 2008 precisely because the blatant cheating in the March vote and the wanton violence during the run-off had shattered all pretence a multi-party democratic election. Zanu has been very careful never to repeat that mistake ever again. 

After the 2018 rigged elections Mnangagwa created POLAD, a body composed of all the losing presidential candidates who publicly endorsed the rigged elections as having been free, fair and credible and Mnangagwa was the legitimate State President. POLAD members were rewarded with cars, diplomatic passports and many other benefits. Lovemore Madhuku and Khupe were some of the beneficiaries of POLAD. 

Mnangagwa introduced a US$20 000 nomination fee for all presidential candidates for 2023 elections. A deliberate and calculated move to stop the flood of candidates eyeing POLAD privileges. He disbanded POLAD post 2023 elections much to the anguish of those who had paid the US$20 000 fee eyeing the POLAD gravy train seat!

So the nation is well and truly "stuck between a rock and a hard place”, Zanu PF ruthless political machinations and MDC/CCC sell out trickery. Stuck between two equally unpleasant, difficult and, in this case, two false choices.   

The key here is the realisation that Zanu PF and the MDC/CCC have been cooperating all along. Mugabe bribed Tsvangirai and his MDC fiends during the GNU to forget about implementing reforms and to pretend the 2013 Constitution was a democratic constitution. Ever since the GNU debacle they have participated in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy for a share of the spoils of power. 

To the uninitiated and ordinary Zimbabwean they have a political choice of Zanu PF or MDC/CCC. MDC/CCC leaders’ failure to implement even one reform in 26 years and their idiotic lies to con the people to participate in flawed processes to give Zanu PF legitimacy is proof Chamisa & co. are Zanu PF team B in all but name - playing for team A to win and have legitimacy for a share of the spoils. 

Democratic elections are about real choices and results are about the true wish of the people in a free, fair and credible elections process. Zimbabwean elections are a farce, the process is so flawed and illegal the main contestants know it but pretend otherwise to deceive the voters.

As long as the people remain ignorant, naive and gullible to the false choice and electoral fraud Zanu PF and their junior partners MDC/CCC are playing nothing will ever change. If the CAB3 passes it will be yet another significant mile-stone in Zimbabwe’s descend to become a fully fledged De jure dynastic, as distinct from the present de facto one-party, dictatorship comparable to that of North Korea. 

2008 elections showed barbarism Zanu PF would sink to and the folly of participating regardless. W Mukori

 The only question that matters here is are we finally smart enough to understand what is going on here and put an end to all this s***t!

This Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3) circus is not getting us out of the hell-on-earth economic mess and political paralysis we find ourselves in. It is dragging us even deeper int the abyss. The regime KNEW the nation was going to fight this the same way one who landed in a pit of quick-sand would fight. The more vigorously you wriggle the quicker y u sink. 

The nation should stopped participating in flawed election process "so flawed, so illegal the only logical step was t withdraw" we should have learned this after what Zanu PF did in 2008 elections and when MDC leaders failed to implement even one token reform during the GNU. 

Of course, it was insane to participate in flawed 2013 elections on the basis of MDC/CCC lies they would win rigged elections. It was real dumb to repeat the same foolishness in 2018 and then gain in 2023. 

With no meaningful democratic reforms implemented we knew what ever process Zanu PF would follow to get CAB3 would be be just as flawed and illegal as the election process if not worse since there are even less controls. Participating in the process only proved we really are ncapable of learning from the past.

Zanu PF three options:

a) Push through CAB3 giving the regime  even more dictatorial powers and move the country ever closer to becoming the North Korea of Africa

b) Drop some of the ore obnoxious elements in the bill and even allow a referendum which the part is guaranteed to win. Zimbabwe will remain a failed state because Zanu PF's dictatorial struggle hold will remain untouched and the nation will continue participating in flawed elections to gil e the regime legitimacy.

c) Drop CAB3 completely and this will be seen as victor for VP Chiwenga's Zanu PF faction and the compromised opposition will rally behind the faction to share the spoil just as happened following the 2017 military coup. Sapping one dictator for another and thus perpetuating the status quo is not victory.

The smart move is realising that we are in quick-sand  pit and having the nerve to stop the knee-jerk reaction of wriggling. Real change in Zimbabwe will happen if both Zanu PF and MDC/CCC  leaders finally understand that ordinary Zimbabwe are NOT going to participate in flawed elections, so flawed and illegal the only logical step is to withdraw. They are finally going to do the only logical thing withdraw!