ZESN admits reforms "fall short" of election demands but still lack resolve to heed SADC' advice N Garikai

The issue of implementing democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections has been on the national agenda for ever since the GNU years. The Global Political Agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the GNU was all about implementing a raft of democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections and not a repeat of the rigged elections of 2008.

As the GNU’s five-year term ended with not even one reform in place SADC leaders, who drafted the GPA and were it guarantor, did not hesitate to advise MDC leaders not to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms in place.

“If you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done!” SADC leaders warned Tsvangirai and company at the June 2013 SADC summit, according to Dr Ibbo Mandaza who was there.

Tsvangirai and company did not listen to SADC leaders’ warning and the went ahead and contested the July 2013 elections. It was only after Zanu PF had blatantly rigged the elections that MDC leaders seemed to come to their senses because they passed the party congress resolution of “No reform, no elections!”

I said, “seemed to come to their senses” because they have since conveniently forgotten the resolution; they are all tripping over each other in their rush to contest the elections even thou not even one reform was implemented.

So, in contesting next year’s elections with no reforms in place Tsvangirai and company are disregarding SADC’s advice not to contest, disregarding the bitter experience of the rigged July 2013 elections and disregarding MDC’s own party congress resolution of “No reform, no election!” Whereas the ordinary Zimbabwean would have looked to the country’s army of civic society organisation for advice on what to do given that no reforms were implemented and the elections will be rigged, once again. Sadly, there has been mixed messages and confusion from civic society.

"There have been some amendments to the Electoral Act but as ZESN we say they fall short; most of our laws have to be aligned to the Constitution,” commented Andrew Makoni, chairperson of Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN).

"The process has been painstakingly slow and there were just piecemeal adjustments. We still call for the alignment of these laws to the Constitution."

Everything is as clear as mud! What the people want to know is does ZESN believe Zanu PF is going to implement any of the reforms to ensure next year’s elections are free, fair and credible?

It is almost certain, with less than a year to go before the elections, that Zanu PF is not going to implement any reforms. Indeed, the party’s bigwigs like Professor Jonathan Moyo and VP Emerson Mnangagwa have already boasted the party will never implement any reforms. “Zanu PF will never reform itself out of office,” Professor Moyo said.

The futility of contesting elections knowing fully well the whole process is a farce is something no Zimbabwean with a half brain cannot continue to ignore. But ignoring the whole electoral process is a farce is exactly what ZESN is doing.

"As ZESN we are ready to deploy 2 000 educators who will work in various wards throughout the country. Since we have 1 950 wards, some of our educators would be mobile, hence cover as much ground as possible,” announced Makoni.

"While we might have wanted to start voter education as far back as possible, we could not do so as we had to be accredited by ZEC first and I am glad that only two weeks ago we were given the green light.”

It is not surprising that ZEC has left ZESN very little time to carry out its voter education properly; the whole voter registration has been delayed it is impossible to see how ZEC will produce a verifiable voters’ roll before the elections although this is a legal requirement. The regime failed to produce a verifiable 2013 voters’ roll and it turned out this was the smoking gun in many of its vote rigging exploits.

Zanu PF is already rigging the 2018 elections and hence the reasons everything is being rush to allow no time for auditing and producing a verifiable voters’ roll.

Whilst many people would want to believe that ZESN’s primary function is to help ensure the system deliver the people’s right to a meaningful democratic say in the governance of the country. By participating in the electoral process even when it is clear the process is flawed, ZESN giving the process the veneer of credibility.

It is extremely frustrating that, even now with the benefit of hindsight, Tsvangirai and his corrupt and incompetent friends in the opposition camp are still as keen as mustard to contest elections they know will be rigged. Worse still, one has to repeatedly probe the country’s GNOs to get them to bark; their laissez-faire approach human rights has turned them into toothless poodles in the tyrant’s hands instead of the fearless defenders of human rights the nation has been dying for.

What is the point ZESN condemning Zanu PF’s failure to implement even one meaningful democratic reforms when the Network still continue participating in the flawed and illegal electoral process giving it credibility!!!!!