“At a time that long-suffering Zimbabweans are struggling to
make ends meet, President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF is splurging up to $60
million on a new fleet of cars, trucks and buses, ahead of next year’s eagerly-awaited
national election,” reported the Daily News.
“This also comes as the country’s stone-broke government is
planning to splash millions more on brand new cars for traditional leaders, in
a move that has been roundly condemned as “sickening vote buying” by Zanu PF
ahead of the watershed polls — and not withstanding other more urgent needs.”
Bad news is like a migraine headache, it does not matter how
often, for how long and never mind that this has been going on for years; each
attack is as painful as ever. You never ever get used to the pain you not to feel
it! Zimbabweans are the poorest in Africa, according to AfrAsia Bank report,
how can the ruling party be squandering millions on new party cars and buying
votes when even the most basic services such as health and education are all
but collapsed. This does not make any sense!
“As the MDC and also as the country’s largest and most
popular political party, this is why we are strenuously pushing for electoral
reforms in order to make the playing field even,” was the
response from Obert Gutu, MDC-T spokesman.
It should be the smoothing forlorn crying of titihoya, one
of the birds of the veld. But, knowing it was Tsvangirai and his MDC friends’ selfish betrayal that has landing us all in this hell-on-earth;
Gutu’s voice is the raucous protest of a crow. Not a
sound someone nursing a headache would want to hear!
The people of Zimbabwe must never forget that the nation would
have finally rid itself of Mugabe’s corrupt and
tyrannical regime in 2013 if only Tsvangirai and company had implemented the
democratic reforms and thus stopped the vote rigging. SADC leaders warned MDC
not to contest the July 2013 elections with no reforms in place but were
ignored.
Since the rigged elections, MDC leaders vowed not to contest
any more future elections until all the reforms are implemented. Yes, is was
going to be a much tougher challenge to get the reforms implemented post the
GNU but it is not an impossible task.
To date, MDC has failed to get even one reform implement and
it is clear they have given up. The party has certainly not “strenuously
pushing for electoral reforms”; Gutu is lying.
MDC leaders are not supposed to contest the next elections
according to SADC’s advice and the party’s
own “No reform, no election!” resolution. And yet Tsvangirai and company are
preparing to contest the elections regardless of there being no reforms in
place and the certainty the elections will be rigged.
“How are we supposed to compete with a mafia organisation
that has looted, ransacked and grabbed the country’s natural resources to push
its wicked and nefarious political agenda?” came the hypocritical raucous cries
of Obert Gutu.
MDC contested the flawed 2013 elections, against SADC
advice, because they were after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away as
bait. By contesting the elections the opposition are giving the process the
modicum of democratic legitimacy, the political oxygen Zanu PF needs to avoid
the fiasco of the 2008 elections resulting in the GNU.
MDC are, once again, ignoring SADC advice and their own
party resolution to contest the 2018 elections with not one reform in place for
the same gravy train seats. But to listen to the hypocrites, they want to make it appear as if they are contesting
the flawed elections against their better judgement and they are doing us all a
great favour – that is what makes their treacherous betrayal so, so patronising
and irritating!
Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is so serious and the suffering
it has brought so bad, the country cannot afford another rigged election. It is
now incumbent on the people to stop the opposition selling-out on implementing
the reforms by once again contesting the flawed elections. Tsvangirai & co.
must be pressured to honour their own “No reform, no election!” resolution. They
have sold-out in the past, they must not be allowed to do so this time!
If Morgan Tsvangirai had implemented the democratic reforms when MDC the golden opportunity to do so then we would not be in this mess. They went on to contest the 2013 elections even thou they knew the elections will be rigged and that boycotting the elections would have force the implementation of the reforms as David Coltart admitted.
ReplyDelete“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 elections,” explained Senator Coltart.
“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.”
Gutu is blabbering here about “not competing with the mafia” and yet he is having sleepless nights thinking about which constituency he should contest for in the coming elections.
As long as Zanu PF offers these opposition opportunists the few gravy train seats we can kiss goodbye to getting any reforms implemented and the holding of free, fair and credible elections! These two-faced opposition politicians will complain and bitch about the need for reform but when push comes to shove they will sell-out on reforms for whatever Zanu PF offers them to kick reforms back into the tall grass!
It was Zanu PF who stopped the implementation of the reforms during the GNU and are doing so to this day – it is MDC and these self-seeking opportunist opposition politicians. President Mugabe’s true cunning was in conning Tsvangirai into forgetting the reforms during the GNU and since then into contesting flawed elections!