It
was the firebrand former Zanu PF MP turn independent MP Margaret Dongo who once
said of her follow Zanu PF MPs, cabinet minister and other senior party leaders
“vakadzi vaMugabe!” (They are Mugabe’s subservient concubines!) She said this
is sheer exasperation at how utterly useless the party leaders had become. Instead
of expressing an alternative point of view which would have enriched government
decisions, they accepted everything Mugabe said and did without a memoir, even
when the tyrant was clearly doing something outrageous, such as the Gukurahundi
massacres.
It
did not take long after the formation of the GNU for Mugabe to extend his harem
to Harvest House, MDC HQ. When it comes to MDC leaders bringing about
meaningful democratic change, which is what the nation has risked life and limb
to elect them into power to do, Tsvangirai and his MDC friends have proven to
be utterly useless, they might just as well be vakadzi vaMugabe too!
The
MDC leaders had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms
proposed by SADC in the 2008 Global Political Agreement. The reforms were
designed to stop Zanu PF rigging future elections and thus stop a repeat of the
blatant vote rigging and wanton violence of 2008. MDC had five years to
implement the reforms and yet failed to get not even one reform implemented.
Not even one reform!
With
no democratic reforms in place it was clear that Zanu PF would once again rig
the vote and use violence to secure a landslide victory. How much violence the
party used has always depended on how effective the vote rigging schemes
happened to be. The enormous wealth coming from the looted diamonds has enable
the regime to bankroll very elaborate and expensive vote rigging schemes. It
was evident that with no reforms in place Zanu PF was going to rig the 2013
elections and SADC leaders warned Tsvangirai and his MDC friends not to contest
the elections until reforms are implemented.
“If you go into elections
next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done,” SADC leaders warned
the MDC leaders at the regional group summit in Maputo in June 2013, according
to Dr Ibbo Mandaza who was there.
In
fact, the signs that the elections were being rigged were there for anyone to
see; SADC leaders saw the signs and so did the MDC leaders themselves. David
Coltart confirmed in his recent book that MDC leaders had complained of why ZEC
had allocated more voter registration centres in Mhondoro with a population of
100 000 than in Harare or Bulawayo each with a population of 2 million plus.
The first is a rural area and thus a Zanu PF strong hold whilst the last two were
urban and MDC strong holds.
ZEC
had also, stubbornly refused to release the voters’ roll a month before voting
day, at the latest, as is required by law. Alarm bells the size of church-bell should
have been ringing in MDC leaders’ heads warning them against the folly of
contesting elections Zanu PF was clearing set to rig!
So,
we should make this crystal clear here; by contesting an electoral process
knowing Zanu PF would rig the vote MDC leaders were not serving the people of
Zimbabwe, who yearned for democratic changes to restore their freedoms and human
rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections.
Indeed,
what these vakadzi vaMugabe in Harvest House were doing by contesting the
flawed elections was give the process credibility, as David Coltart readily admitted.
“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.”
Of
course, Morgan Tsvangirai and most of his MDC friends will never admit that
they had given up on securing free and fair elections and contested the flawed
and illegal elections for the sake of the give-away gravy train seats. Coltart
must have agonized over making the admission in his book. Right up to voting
day, MDC leaders maintain the 31st July 2013 elections would be free
and fair.
Before
ZEC had finished counting the vote, Tsvangirai address a press conference to
complain of how “Zanu PF had stolen the elections!” Next, his party adopted a
congress resolution not to contest in any future elections until the reforms
are implemented and thus finally taking on board the SADC leaders’
recommendation which Coltart have “obvious”.
Although
Tsvangirai and company will readily admit that not even one democratic reform
was implemented since the rigged July 2013 elections they have, nonetheless,
decided to contest next year’s elections regardless. They are once again after
the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away to entice the opposition to
participate. By participating the opposition are once again giving the “so flawed
and so illegal process,” credibility to use Coltart’s phrase.
It
took about 20 years for the people of Zimbabwe to accept the political reality
that in Mugabe the nation had an incompetent, corrupt and murderous tyrant who
did as he pleased without the usual constrains, checks and balance one expected
from parliament and cabinet. Both parliament and cabinet was stuffed full of his
subservient concubines. The tyrant has similarly charmed, bribed, bamboozled,
etc. members of the opposition, they are now utterly useless.
After
17 years is politics, five of which in government, and yet Morgan Tsvangirai
and his MDC friends cannot name not even one democratic change they have
brought. Indeed by stubbornly continuing to contest flawed and illegal
elections they are now actively helping Zanu PF to stay in power by giving the
flawed process modicum of credibility!
If
we, the people of Zimbabwe, are serious about wanting and end to Zanu PF’s
corrupt and tyrannical rule then we must accept that Tsvangirai and his
opposition friends have become utterly useless. They are vakadzi vaMugabe in
the same way Dongo meant of Zanu PF MPs and cabinet ministers.
Shuvai Mahofa declared national heroine!
ReplyDeleteHow ironic that the nation has generated so many national heroes and heroines during the 37 years the nation has suffered its greatest economic collapsed and over 30 000 murdered in politically motivated violence. It is shocking that many of those declared heroes are themselves responsible for the mismanagement and corruption and some have shed the innocent blood! Future generation must review these decisions that make a mockery of justice and common sense!
There are some most basic requirements for free, fair and credible elections that no one, absolutely no one, can never deny these are indispensable having a voters’ roll is one of them. By contesting the July 2013 elections with no voters’ roll in place MDC leaders did not only know that Zanu PF was blatantly rigging the elections but worse still they were knowingly playing an active role in the rigging and hiding the evidence.
ReplyDeleteThe government of the day has a legal obligation to help all citizens who so wish to register so they can vote and yet in the run up to the 2013 elections the Zimbabwe government made it impossible for many would be voters to register and then latter to vote. Whilst the regime made it easy for its hooded youths to cast multiple votes.
MDC leaders KNEW what Zanu PF was doing was “so flawed and so illegal”, as Coltart admitted. They only reason they never insisted on the release of the voters’ roll a month before voting day, as is demanded in the constitution, or at any time since the rigged elections is because they KNEW the voters roll would contain the irrefutable evidence of the vote rigging. They KNEW that the voters’ roll was the smoking gun that Zanu PF rigged the July 2013 elections.
With no verifiable voters’ roll in place the whole electoral process is open to abuse and allowing Zanu PF to hold the election, with it’s vote rigging reputation, it is folly to expect the process to be free, fair and credible. Having failed to wrestle control of the electoral process during the GNU, because MDC leaders had kicked reforms into the tall grass, the logical and obvious thing to do was for MDC not to contest the flawed elections.
So, Tsvangirai and company not only let Zanu PF off the hook by making sure no reforms were implemented during the GNU they were doing the same again by insisting in contesting the 2013 elections regardless of all the evidence that the elections were being rigged. MDC leaders waivered their right to demand the release of the voters’ roll and right to challenge the election result.
MDC leaders knew there was no way Zanu PF would get away with refusing to release the voters’ roll since this is a legal requirement. The voters’ roll was the smoking gun of Zanu PF’s vote rigging.
The only logical reason why MDC leaders were going the extra mile is making sure no reforms are implemented, they do not boycott the flawed elections, they waiver their right to demand the release of a verifiable voters’ roll, etc. is that MDC are now Zanu PF’s active partners in the dictatorship.
MDC are knowingly allowing Zanu PF to rig the election and stay in power in return Zanu PF will allow MDC leaders to win a few gravy train seats.
We, the people, are the ones being taken for fools here by MDC leaders who know the elections will be rigged but keep up the pretence that if we work even harder at voter registration and then voting we will still defeat Zanu PF!