"Blacks lie to ourselves" confessed Simbi - real genius starts with being honest to oneself W Mukori

Terence Simbi, your article; “Zidera 2018 amendments Act, What does this mean for Zimbabwe?” in Bulawayo 24 opinion; is one of the most thought provoking articles I have read in the last five years! Thank you very much for that. I hope many Zimbabweans out there will take the time to read and digest it.

“I estimate that 90%, if not 98% of Zimbabweans are yet to read the Constitution of the land or the Zidera Act, but have perceptions and opinions about these documents fed to them by either newspapers or political actors who have vested, but sinister interests in these matters,” you said.

“The ability to form personal opinions about these key issues that affect our country is thus lost to these political actors and for our country, mainly to lawyers who constitute a greater proportion of political formation membership.”

I do agree with you that very few people read Constitution of the land or the Zidera Act and yet have been making very important political decision on the basis of ignorance. It was dishearten that the nation voted to approve the 2013 Constitution by 95% when the overwhelming majority has not even read the document. Zanu PF, in its usual characteristic cynical style stampeded the nation into the referendum in the same way the regime has stampeded the nation into flawed and illegal elections processes, for example.

Whilst reading and understanding such documents as the constitution is important still some of the stuff is common sense. One does not need to read the constitution to realise that it is important that the nation has a verified voters’ roll, for example, before the elections can go ahead; especially given Zimbabwe’s history of 38 years of rigged elections. Not only did ordinary Zimbabweans failed to see the sheer folly of going into the elections with no verified voters’ roll; the political leaders too did not. Indeed, the political leaders led from the front in this!

“Morgan Tsvangirai made the stupid mistake of going into the 2013 elections with no verified voters’ roll!” said the MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa. “I will not make that mistake!”

A few weeks later he and his fellow MDC candidates were first in the queue submitting their nomination papers although ZEC had not released the verified voters’ roll at least one month before nomination day as is required by law. ZEC did not stop there, the commission failed to release a verified voters’ roll before voting day and the commission abandon the Biometric Voter Registration kits and used manual voters roll after all the song, dance and expense in getting the kits. The elections result have since shown that there was massive vote rigging including multiple voting; with no verified voters’ roll, the smoking gun, and a manual system it was easy to rig the vote and get away with it.

“By now everyone of us has seen it practically that the Blacks cannot rule themselves. Give them guns and they will kill each other. They are good in nothing else but making noise, dancing, marrying many wives and indulging in sex. Let us all accept that the BLACKMAN is a symbol of poverty, mental inferiority, laziness and emotional incompetence. Isn't it plausible? Therefore that the Whiteman is created to rule the BLACKMAN and here is a creature (BLACKMAN) that lacks foresight. The average Black does not plan his life beyond a year," you concluded, quoting Apartheid South Africa’s PW Botha.

Only a white racist supremacists like Botha would say such things. The challenge for blacks has not been so much to shout Botha down but to prove him wrong by proving beyond all reasonable doubt that we are capable of self-governing by making our post-colonial independent nation enjoyed freedom, justice and economic prosperity than that enjoyed before independence.

If the truth be said, 38 years after independence, Zimbabwe is in such an economic and political mess few will deny that Smith’s days were the “golden age” in comparison. Blacks were third class citizen with no vote but at least we had access to basic services such as clean running water, health services and many had jobs.

Today we are still third class citizens with a symbolic vote as it is always overruled by the ruling elite’s veto. The same water supply, road, etc. inherited from the whites have all but collapse after decades of poor funding and neglect. Unemployment has soared to dizzying heights of 90% and the majority of our people live in heart-breaking grinding poverty.

The few ruling elite have grown filthy rich! Zanu PF ruling elite have their political dominance to create a de facto one party dictatorship whose octopus-like tentacles now rich every segment of society more so in the rural areas where the party is the landlord lording of the politically emasculated rural serfs. Zanu PF leaders enjoy absolute power and have used it to feed their insatiable appetite for influence, wealth and good living at the expense of the impoverished majority.

The Zanu PF ruling took over from the white colonial rules as the liberation heroes only to become the next oppressor worse than the white! The greatest challenge before us today is how to end the Zanu PF dictatorship, hopeful, without replacing it another corrupt and incompetent regime.

People had hoped MDC would help end the Zanu PF dictatorship only to be disappointed as they have wasted many golden opportunities to do so.

“White people know that we African people always like to lie to ourselves and exercise wishful thinking in our conduct,” you said.

I salute you for that! It takes real courage to look oneself in the mirror and openly admit one’s weaknesses. Real strength comes from knowing ones weaknesses and better still do something about them be is reading, listen to advice, etc. and thus avoid making the same stupid mistake over and over again.

If we, in Zimbabwe, can stop Zanu PF rigging the next elections and make sure those elections are truly free, fair and credible; after 38 years of rigged elections; we have good cause say we are capable of self-government and not be lying to ourselves!