It took the nation a good 20 years to accept Mugabe was a corrupt and murderous tyrant and that we needed democratic changes to dismantle his de facto one party cum one-man dictatorship. Morgan Tsvangirai and his band of followers rose to political eminence riding on the wave of popular demand for democratic change and they even named their party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The people have risked life and limp to elect MDC into power on the promise the party will deliver the democratic changes necessary to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. The party has had many, many opportunities to deliver the changes, with the best chance being during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Sadly, MDC has failed to deliver even one democratic reform. Not one! Why?
There two basic reasons for it: Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends have turned out to be breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent, a deadly combination that has rented MDC totally useless. The failure by the ordinary people to see Tsvangirai & co. for the corrupt and incompetent individuals they are, even with the mountain of evidence of their failures and blunders, has allowed MDC to continue to occupy the political stage when they should have booted out a long, long time ago.
Even with all the evidence of how Zanu PF has blatantly rigged elections in the past it is amazing that Tsvangirai and the rest in the opposition camp are still fail to see implementing the democratic reforms as the only way to stop Zanu PF’s corrupt and tyrannical rule. Whilst Tsvangirai and company grudgingly accepted the need to implement the reforms as a condition for the next elections in 2014, they have since changed their minds. They have since shifted their focus onto forming a coalition and mounting a voter registration campaign as the panacea to ending the Zanu PF reign of terror. All nonsense, of course!
Throughout the years of the GNU SADC leaders and others had tried their best to remind Tsvangirai of the pivotal importance of implementing the reforms as the only guarantee of free and fair elections. MDC leaders would not listen. Implementing the reforms still remains the only way out to ensure free and fair elections in 2018 as the British are saying, not for the first time.
“Ahead of the 2018 elections, it is essential that reforms are made to the Zimbabwean electoral system, including strengthening the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and removal of unconstitutional legislation which restricts democratic activity and human rights.” Tobias Ellwood, the under-secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, told the parliament.
“Officials remain in close contact with international partners, including the UN, to co-ordinate support in the run-up to the 2018 elections.”
It is utterly pointless to expect Morgan Tsvangirai to be coherent and focused, which he will have to be if we retain him as the leader of the opposition camp to deliver free and fair elections. Tsvangirai is breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent and therefore it is too much to expect him be the coherent and focused leader we need.
Whilst SADC, AU, UN, the British and the rest of the international community is willing to help us make sure the democratic reforms necessary to ensure 2018 elections are free, fair and credible are implemented BEFORE the elections; they will need coherent and focused local partners to work with. The onus is on us, the people of Zimbabwe to reject the current crop of breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent opposition politicians and replace them with the people with some modicum of common sense, at least.
We have had many opportunities in the last 37 years to have a competent, just and democratic government but the lack of good leadership has seen us waste one chance after another. We cannot say we do not deserve this incompetent, corrupt and tyrannical Mugabe regime complete with its entourage of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties. If we are serious about ending the economic and political mess Mugabe landed us into then we must sit up and do something about electing good leaders!
Mugabe on a charm offensive of rogue war veterans. Government has initiated a one-week exercise calling on former freedom fighters to submit applications for land in the province of their choice.
ReplyDeleteThis is just another bribe to appease the impoverished war veterans to encourage them to carry on with their dirty work of intimidating, beating, raping and even kill innocent Zimbabweans to force the people to vote for President Mugabe and his Zanu PF party in the coming elections.
The British's call to implement the reforms before the elections is in line with what SADC was saying to MDC before the 2013 elections. Tsvangirai and company refused to listen then and they are doing the same now.
ReplyDeleteThe opposition maintains that as long as they form the grand coalition and mobilise voter registration they will defeat Zanu PF. Zanu PF cannot afford to have the reforms implemented and it is no surprise the regime is stepping up efforts to sell the idea of the opposition winning even if there are no reforms. We can expect more detailed University research papers, PR reports, etc. selling this notion in the coming months. What the researchers, PR gurus, etc. cannot falsify is the fact that Zanu PF rigged the 2013 elections and will do so again unless the reforms are implemented.
Grace Mugabe is so confident of a Zanu PF victory she even boasting of winning even if her husband's copse was the Zanu PF candidate. She will not be so sure if she knew the elections are going to be free, fair and credible!
Indeed, it the elections are going to be free and fair President Mugabe would not want to contest because such elections would be the country's first free and fair elections and Mugabe knows that he will lose the elections hands down!
How many times has Mai Mujuru said she was kicked out of Zanu PF because she was the reformer who had dared criticise the regime. Today she wants us to believe it was Zanu PF women who were “at the forefront” of her downfall.
ReplyDeleteThe fundamental truth is Mai Mujuru was booted out of Zanu PF kicking and screaming; she would be in the party right now playing her party in the corrupt and tyrannical regime and getting her lion’s share of the looted wealth. She is corrupt and incompetent and that is more than enough to disqualify her for high office regardless of whether she had remained in Zanu PF or not!
As for Mai Mujuru being given this award, people can dish out awards to whoever they wish. The British knighted President Mugabe after he had murdered over 20 000 in the Gukurahundi massacres alone. Mai Mujuru was at the very heart of that regime and so why not reward her too! The people of Zimbabwe have good reason to want to see Mai Mujuru, President Mugabe and all the other Zanu PF leaders punished for the wealth they have looted, the elections they have rigged and the innocent blood they have shed.
Awarding some one who has caused so much suffering and deaths is an insult to the victims and the nation at large! A point the people of Zimbabwe will do well never to forget!
The challenge here is not contesting the elections, lack of challengers to Mugabe or the lack of public support for the challengers and thus demanding an aggressive voter registration. The real challenge here is stopping Mugabe rigging the elections and make sure the elections are free, fair and credible!
ReplyDeleteContesting a flawed election is down right stupid and we have enough stupid opposition politicians out there and adding a few more will make no difference. What we need, is a few Zimbabweans with the common sense to do the right thing - stop contesting flawed process again and again and expect a different result.
The challenge here is not contesting the elections, lack of challengers to Mugabe or the lack of public support for the challengers and thus demanding an aggressive voter registration. The real challenge here is stopping Mugabe rigging the elections and make sure the elections are free, fair and credible!
ReplyDeleteContesting a flawed election is downright stupid and we have enough stupid opposition politicians out there and adding a few more will make no difference. What we need, is a few Zimbabweans with the common sense to do the right thing - stop contesting flawed process again and again and expect a different result.