Zimbabwe is now facing a very serious economic meltdown because
of decades of mismanagement and corruption by this Mugabe regime and as long as
Zanu PF remains in power the economic situation will only get worse. To finally
end Zanu PF’s now 36 years in power, we need to stop the regime rigging
elections by implementing the democratic reforms.
We have known this since 2000 but instead of implementing
the reforms we have wasted time on building opposition coalitions and other
gimmicks. Building opposition coalition is a gimmick on par with Shona adage of
setting a mouse trap to catch an elephant! (Kuvaraidza zura kuteya nzou neriva)
Coalition will never
stop vote rigging just a mouse trap will never catch an elephant
To some people uniting the opposition into a coalition has
become the panacea to Zimbabwe’s political paralysis.
“It is such a desperate situation that the people of
Zimbabwe find themselves in - and we all know that a desperate person is
capable of doing anything and is unpredictable - as desperate times call for
desperate measures,” wrote Tendai Ruben Mbofana.
It is very true that our political and economic situation is
pretty desperate, there is no denying that.
Mbofana is right in saying “a desperate person is capable of
doing anything and is unpredictable”. But if he had posed to think then he
would have come to the logical conclusion that, no matter how desperate the
situation may be one must always resist acting out of desperation because more
often than not one will do the wrong thing making the situation worse and not
better. Instead he opted for the easy but irrational solution of desperate
measures and offered one such desperate solution for one political and economic
mess.
“However, the fact is
that this country is headed for calamity if no concrete efforts are made
immediately to remedy the situation,” acknowledged Mbofana.
“This is where the opposition needs to show real leadership. The opposition needs to step up and play the role that the people of Zimbabwe expects of them.
“The opposition is fraught with such divisions that come 2018, the vote will seriously be split that no one party will claim the honours.
“This had been a serious challenge in a number of countries where dictators have thrived - they have thrived not necessarily as a result of their oppression of the people, but because the opposition failed to act as a united force, and therefore, split the popular vote,” proposed Mbofana.
“This is where the opposition needs to show real leadership. The opposition needs to step up and play the role that the people of Zimbabwe expects of them.
“The opposition is fraught with such divisions that come 2018, the vote will seriously be split that no one party will claim the honours.
“This had been a serious challenge in a number of countries where dictators have thrived - they have thrived not necessarily as a result of their oppression of the people, but because the opposition failed to act as a united force, and therefore, split the popular vote,” proposed Mbofana.
A united opposition may have been the answer in other
countries; it is NOT the answer here because Zanu PF did not “win” the last
elections because the opposition vote was split, it rigged the vote.
President Mugabe had total control of the whole electoral
process; ZEC did nothing to stop him paying NIKUV to tamper with the voters
roll so deny many opposition supporters were denied the vote and ZEC and the
Police turned a blind eye to Zanu PF youths were bussed in and were able to
cast multiple votes. Mugabe bought each Zanu PF candidate contesting the
elections a new car plus $10 000 compared to the opposition who got $700 or less.
As long as Zanu PF retains total control of the State institutions like ZEC,
Police, etc. and has unfettered access to billions of dollars of looted wealth
to bankroll its vote rigging schemes the party will continue to “win” future
elections.
The
only way meaningfully end Zanu PF’s dictatorial control of State Institutions
like ZEC and Police and force transparency in the funding of elections by
implementing the democratic reforms designed specifically to break the
dictatorial umbilical cords, etc. To talk of uniting the opposition when
nothing has been done to implement the democratic reforms is an exercise in
futility comparable to wasting time setting a mouse trap and hoping to catch an
elephant!
All this talk of grand coalition is nonsense, MDC did not lose the 2013 elections because the opposition vote was split. Mugabe rigged the elections so that nearly one million opposition voters were denied the chance to vote whilst his supporters were bussed from one polling station to the next casting multiple votes.
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is not one of splitting the opposition vote but rather one of stopping vote rigging. A grand coalition will stop splitting the vote but will not stop Zanu PF rigging the elections.
The only way to stop Zanu PF rigging the next elections just as they rigged the 2013 elections is for the nation to implement the democratic reforms.MDC failed to get even one reform implemented throughout the GNU and since the July 2013 they have still failed to get one reform implemented.
The opposition loves talking about forming a coalition as if it is the panacea to end splitting the vote and vote rigging when they know it is not. The only reason they do so is because they have no clue how to implement the reforms. They are therefore banking on the hope that the voters are not smart enough to see they are being short changed!
@ Zunde
ReplyDeleteTo believe someone like Mai Mujuru, Dudymus Mutasa, Jabulani Sibanda, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti can be rehabilitated is to believe that a wolf in sheep coat can become a grass eating sheep and even get to love chewing the cud! Of course Mai Mujuru will promise the nation anything, anything at all if that will them get back on the gravy train, they are pretty desper-ate to get back on that train because life is tough for anyone off the train.
They cannot wait to get back so they can take up the looting from where they left off when they were booted out of Zanu PF. We may get the likes of Mutasa, Bhasikiti and Sibanda to slow down on the bloodletting when they are back in power but as for the looting that will not stop. These men and women have watched with satisfaction these net-worth climb year on year for 34 years and in the last two years they have seen their fortune drop like a stone in a pond; they greatest concern right now is to get back in power and revive their fortune.
Zim PF are builders alright, they have all done very well thank you building their own fief-doms and fortunes and that is all they will ever do.
The trouble with Zimbabweans is we love recycling everything esoecial our corrupt and in-competent leaders because we are just too lazy to think of the good qualities we want in our leaders and then go out and find such leaders.
Those who want to marry Mai Mujuru can go ahead. "Chembere mukadzi hazviedzani nokuvata mugota!" the Shona would say. (Having an old lady for wife is better than having no wife!) Except in this case she will be a disaster for not just you, the village but the whole nation if she was ever to be president; of that we can be certain because she has a proven track record of being lazy, corrupt and incompetent! Mujuru has changed her party name from Zanu PF to ZimPF just as she changed her maiden name but as for being lazy, corrupt and incompetent that will never change!
There are reports of rioting in places like Epworth in Harare.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with rioting is that, like all violence revolutions, no one can control it. President Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs must be held responsible for all the destruction of property, beating and even deaths that may result from the rioting because it was they refusal to embrace peaceful change that has left the nation with no choice other than the route of violent change.
@ Gaba
ReplyDeleteTrue but you should have asked why MDC failed to implement reforms during the GNU and you would understand our situation even better.
Yes I agree that an opposition party that boycott elections will be replace by half a dozen other opposition parties but what of it. The party that decides to boycott elections should do so on principle and not on condition other parties boycott elections too. If the elections are not free, fair and credible then the opposition are fighting over the crumbs, scraps and the bones that Zanu PF thrown at them.
Ask yourself, would you betray the whole nation's right to meaningful democratic say and even the right to life for the sake of scraps? For me the answer is a no. It is another matter for someone whose mind is set on getting a seat on the gravy train and how many others they betray along the way is of no consequence.
@ Tanonoka
ReplyDeleteGrace has tried hard to position herself as Mugabe's successor; the spirit is willing but the brain is weak. Ever since she burst on the Zimbabwe political stage she has been shooting herself in the leg. Joice Mujuru and many others are probable as dumb as Grace but whilst the former has said very little and left people to guess who dumb she is the later her opened her mouth and left no one in any doubt that she is dumb.
The final nail in Grace's presidential ambitions was when she cross swords with the war veterans and the security sector big wigs; she wanted them kicked out not knowing they are the ones who have done all the dirty work of intimidating, beating and evening murdering of opposition party supporters and civilians to keep Mugabe in power.
Robert Mugabe tried threatening the war veterans but they stood their ground because they knew if they did not they will be in the dog-house as the scraps of food and bones the regime is throwing their way would be stopped if Grace was top dog.
Grace has accepted that she will not be president with her usual hot-headed arrogance. She knows her privilege lifestyle is only secure as long as Mugabe is president and so she has made it clear he will remain president. She will get him a wheelchair if he should be too old to walk and when he dies she wants him to rule from behind the grave!
It is almost certain that Mugabe will not be in State House for much longer, whether he or his wife likes it or not. When he rigged the 2013 elections he thought he would rig economic recovery too, that was a bridge too far. The nation is sick and tired of unemployment, poverty and other economic hardship and the recent rioting is the beginning of the end of his reign. If he does not leave the state house now then he will be booted out!
@ Tawanda
ReplyDeleteIf Mugabe manages to stay in power – it is doubtful, given the rioting of the last few days - until the 2018 election then he will win those elections hands down.
The opposition has failed to get even one single reform implemented although they promised to after the rigged 2013 elections. As long as Mugabe has total control of the whole electoral process and all the key players like the Police and ZEC then the regime will come up with a very elaborate vote rigging scheme. The regime continues to looted billions from Marange - most people have completely forgotten Zimbabwe has diamonds reserves worth $800 billion - it can afford to be very generous with everyone and there is nothing money cannot buy particularly as relates our corrupt politicians!
I could understand the call to build a coalition once the main task of implementing the reforms was done but to focus on building coalition and forget implementing the reforms is stupid. These people are like someone going to battle with the shield but no spear!
ReplyDeleteThe point about implementing the reform is to stop Zanu PF denying the opposition supporters the right to vote on the one hand and then allowing its own supporters to cast multiple vote was clearly happened in 2013. In the end President Mugabe had 62% of the counted vote against opposition's total of 38% so even if all the opposition votes had gone to Tsvangirai Mugabe will still have won!
Whilst it is true that the many of the opposition people are failing to get their heads round that mathematic reality than 62% is larger than 38%. One would think that there will be Some opposition members smart enough to see the mathematical imperative of 62% will still beat 38%. The only reason why they still concentrate on making sure the opposition does not split the 38% vote is because they are powerless to tackle the biggie - stopping the vote rigging.
Having failed to get even one reform implemented when they had the chance to do so during the GNU has left MDC more determined than ever to kick reforms in the long grass and keep it there. Those people who have called for the implementation of the reforms have been a thorn in MDC leaders' backsides because they know they messed up during the GNU and worse still they know it is not going to be easy to get any reforms implemented now.
Whilst I readily acknowledge that getting Zanu PF to implement any meaningful reforms is not going to be easy I would still nonetheless fight for that then waste time making sure there is only one opposition candidate in each contested position and that he/she all the 38% of the votes and delude myself that 38% will someday beat 62%. I know that to be nonsense and will never ever be a party to that kind of nonsense!
@ Maita
ReplyDeleteIf you accept that the reforms are "needed" and we cannot get anywhere until they are implemented then surely our task in to find ways of forcing Zanu PF to implement the reforms and stop wasting time taking part in elections whose outcome we know before voting begin!
I beg to differ with you there; SADC was not "a toothless bulldog" during the GNU. MDC failed to get any reform tabled in parliament although SADC had done their best to encourage them to do so. It is not helping our cause, if you start blaming others for our own shortcomings; you just burying your head in the sand which means you will make the same mistake of following the same corrupt and incompetent MDC leader!
I see where you are coming from but you should have fully explored what the options are to not imple-menting reforms. If we do not implement the reforms then Zanu PF will continue to rig elections.
ReplyDeleteMugabe won the last elections with 62% of the vote so even if the opposition had field only one opposition presidential candidate and he/she had got all the 38% Mugabe would still be president.
As long as Zanu PF is allowed to rig the vote then the party will decide what victory margin they want and adjust the various parameters to deliver the result be it by increasing the number of bussed in party supporters, turning the screw on the rural voters to make sure they vote for the party, etc. etc. As for who in the opposition gets the scraps is really academic!
If we are serious about ending this Zanu PF dictatorship then there is no other way other than implement-ing the democratic reforms. Opposition leaders like Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti , Welshman Ncube are quite content with the scraps Zanu PF throws at them. They need to tell their supporters that the opposition will win the next elections and give the same excuse when that does not happen but that is not important what matters is keeping the supporters’ hopes high of winning the next elections!
The opposition are lucky in that we have an electorate with an infinite capacity for suffering and whose mental agility is no better than that of caveman because they can be told the same lie over and over again without ever realizing they are being taken for a ride!
I will say amen to that!
ReplyDeleteBy refusing peace change President Mugabe and his cronies have left the nation with no other way out but to seek violent change. Now the fire of revolt has been lit there is no putting it out until Mugabe and his thugs are flushed out of power!
President Mugabe has clung on to State House like a binnacle onto a rock but if he thinks he can still cling on in the face of the flames of revolt then he will be cooked and the ashes will fall off!