We need new ballots to save elections, argue Mandaza - there more at stake than appeasing Chamisa W Mukori

Here is a case of one whose spirit is willing to do the right thing but again and again the lack of intellectual capacity let them down. Dr Ibbo Mandaza was right, see Bulawayo 24 opinion, in saying these elections are not free, fair and credible and should have left it at that. The solutions he has offered are none starters!

“In order that these elections have any prospect of being regarded as minimally free, fair and credible, three urgent actions must be undertaken by the government with the active support of the international community,” he argued.

“Firstly, the matter of the printing of the ballot papers must be resolved by a transparent and fully observed printing in all its aspects; and likewise the collation and distribution of the ballots to province and constituency. While time might not allow any change of printing, all other aspects must be transparently observed by all stakeholders.”

There are many, many other ways Zanu PF is using to rig these elections. So even if the regime was forced to use new ballot, it will still rig the vote.

Deep down, I would not be surprise if Chamisa, naïve as he is, knows the new ballots will do very little to slow down much less stop the Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut. He is only insisting on new ballots to save face.

There is a lot at stake in making sure these elections are free and fair - the nation’s political stability, economic recovery and ultimately the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans whose lives is a living hell right now because we have failed to hold free and fair elections these last 38 years. It would be irresponsible to forfeit another chance to have free elections just to appease anybody, even worse an upstart like Chamia of failure to implement the reforms during the GNU got us into this mess in the first place.  

“Secondly, on the matter of the voters' roll, all irregularities must be dealt with in a transparent and urgent manner, with an independent audit. Electronic copies of the roll must be readily available to all that request this, whether political parties, candidates or citizens.”

Get real! The reason why ZEC/Zanu PF is stubbornly refusing to release the voters’ roll is because they know it is in shambles. How long do you think it will take to clean up the voters’ roll? A lot longer than two weeks. If we are going to postpone the elections we might just well do a thorough job and implement all the reforms.

“Thirdly, there must be removal of all the military personnel currently deployed within the communities in the country. This should be observed and audited by a multi-party group that includes representatives of the major international observer missions.”

All this would not be necessary if only Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had implemented the democratic reforms when they had the golden opportunity to do so during the GNU!

As of today, there is only 10 days left to the voting day; let the elections go ahead. There is nothing to be gained from trying to have them delayed.

There is a mountain of evidence showing these elections are not free, fair and credible; the international community must say so in their election observer reports. President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF junta must be given the reports, proof they have failed to deliver on their promise to hold free and fair elections. They will be asked to step aside to allow the appointment of an interim administration that will be tasked to hold free and fair elections.

Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess because we have blundered from pillar to post and when we had the golden opportunities to sort out our problems we have wasted them all. The way forward now is for Zimbabwe be given a chance to implement all the democratic reforms; there is nothing to be gained from wasting time printing new ballot papers when the elections have already been rigged.