Tuesday, 12 December 2017

Mpofu promises "No one will be denied the vote because they do not have ID," - but not Police impartiality

Ever since the coup, everyone in Zanu PF is going the extra mile to try to convince us that the party has turned a new page it is not the same corrupt, incompetence, vote rigging and tyrannical regime of the bygone years of Mugabe.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture has assured voters that it will tirelessly work to ensure that no one is turned away from the on-going Bio-metric Voter Registration (BVR) program due to lack of proper identifying documentation,” reported Bulawayo 24.

“This was said by Minister Obert Mpofu as he addressed top ministry officials at a team building meeting held in Harare last week.

"Citizens should not fail to vote because they do not have the necessary identity documents. But rather, they should only do so on their own volition. So, let us diligently play our part," said the Minister.

Experience of years of abuse by the school bully tells me Minister Mpofu and his Zanu PF colleagues are not to be trusted because, like the school bully, they are gloss over issues. If he was since about making sure no Zimbabwean was denied the right to vote because he/she did not have identification documents to enable them to register then he should have enquired how many people were already been affected. The exercise is in its last of four months, there is no way that the Ministry would recover the lost ground.

If Minister Mpofu was really interested in turning over a new leaf then he, of all people must know that the Police have failed to keep law and order during the elections, turned a blind eye to Zanu PF inspired lawlessness and even taking part themselves by denying the opposition permission to hold rallies or worse. As Minister of Home Affairs the conduct of the Police fall under his brief. What changes is he going to implement to ensure the Police play their part in ensuring next year’s elections are free, fair and credible. 

1 comment:

  1. On Friday Zanu PF will be holding its special congress and one will have to be blind not to notice the difference – for the first time in 37 years gone will be the Zanu PF regalia with Robert Mugabe head! It started with the rape-on, “maZambia”, for woman, then rape-on and head scarfs, then rape-on, head scarf and dress.

    By the late 1990s man joined in wearing caps, then caps and shirts and soon they were wearing cap, shirt, trousers and jacket all with the Zanu PF and Mugabe’s face. All designed by Doctor Amai Grace Mugabe! If she gave up wearing her designer clothes to wear the party regalia, it was unwise not to follow suit. For the first time in living memory, there will be thousands of Zanu PF party members milling around on Friday and not even one of them will be wearing anything with Mugabe or his face on it.

    The party will have T-shirts with Mnangagwa on them but there will be no maZambia with his face, no doubt the order has already been placed!

    Zanu PF has a new leader and new regalia but other than that the party has not changed.

    Minister Obert Mpofu has been rallying his Home Affairs team to step up the issue ID, this will not make a big difference in the number allowed to vote. This is just a publicity stunt, word is out that the new Zanu PF led by His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa wants everyone to be given a chance to vote.

    The Minister knows that the Police will play their usual role of stopping “agents of regime change”, as Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuru so aptly called the opposition in his doctorate thesis. He knows that asking the Police to reform would be the equivalent of asking the new Zanu PF to give up its dictatorial power and not just the Mugabe regalia. He knows that is something the party will not do.

    It is in the interest of the new Zanu PF to promote the idea that it has changed. The truth is the thug Emmerson Mnangagwa, Chiwenga, Chihuri, etc. who planned and executed the corruption, vote rigging and political murders wearing Mugabe Zanu PF regalia will not be transformed into a democrat just because he has taken off his old Mugabe regalia!

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