“A few days ago I had a fruitful meeting in Pretoria with my
distinguished brother and fountain of wisdom the president of the republic of
South Africa His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa on a wide range of urgent and
important issues regarding the well being of the people of Zim,” tweeted
Chamisa.
Flattery, flattery! President Ramaphosa, a “fountain of wisdom” even he
must have blushed at the clumsy attempt to flatter him!
SA and the rest of SADC nations were warned by Kofi Annan and his group
of elders of the need to resolve Zimbabwe’s unending political crisis. Sadly
the regional grouping has failed to take decisive action. The Zanu PF
dictatorship, at the very heart of the crisis, has been allowed to continue
thrive.
Zanu PF rigged the 2013 elections and rewarded with absolute power.
Instead of party then addressing the nation’s worsening economic situation the
party has been engrossed in its internal factional fighting. The factional war
climaxed in the firing of then VP Mnangagwa who took his revenge by staging the
November 2017 military coup to ouster Robert Mugabe a few senior leaders. SADC
leaders said nothing to show their displeasure.
To win over SADC leaders’ support following the coup, Mnangagwa promised
to hold free, fair and credible elections. SADC leaders should have stepped up
their demands for Zimbabwe to implement the democratic reforms designed to stop
Zanu PF rigging elections. They did not.
Mnangagwa went on to blatantly rig the 30 July 2018 elections. The SADC
election monitoring team’s report concentrated on how peaceful the election
period had been as if that was all they dared to look at. Other election teams
did notice that the whole process was flawed and illegal and thus condemned the
elections.
Rigging the elections was the easy bit for Zanu PF, rigging economic
recovery has proven a bridge too far. Before the rigged elections Zimbabwe’s
unemployment level was already a nauseating 90%, basic services such as supply
of clean water and health care had all but collapsed, etc.
By rigging the elections Zanu PF confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a
pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs. This killed off all hope
of meaningful economic recovery as no investors, local and foreign, likes to do
business in a pariah state.
The economic consequences of rigging the elections were felt immediately
as the country was hit by shortages of cash, foreign currency, fuel, food,
etc.. The worsening economic situations is causing heart-breaking economic
hardships making Zimbabwe socially and politically unstable. It is the human
suffering and the instability everyone including SADC leaders is now worried
about.
If SADC leaders had taken decisive action to ensure Zimbabwe had free,
fair and credible elections; there would be nothing for everyone to worry about
in Zimbabwe.
“The economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe is worsening and what is
important is that this affects our neighbouring countries, particularly South
Africa. We feel that Zimbabwe is becoming a regional security threat because of
the failure by Mnangagwa’s government to solve the political stalemate over his
illegitimacy,” explained Jacob Mafume, MDC Alliance party spokesperson.
“The economic crisis has the effect of causing a burden to South Africa
owing to the exodus of people that are fleeing the worsening economy. Mnangagwa
has refused to listen to our concerns, so we felt it was better for us to meet
President Ramaphosa to listen to our concerns and also to relay our message to
Mnangagwa.
“The people of Zimbabwe continue to suffer, and as a party that was
voted for by millions of people we will do what we can to offer solutions.”
One does not need to be a “fountain of wisdom” to know that it was MDC
leaders’ failure to implement even one meaningful democratic reform during the
2008 to 2013 GNU that has led to this mess. SADC leaders have warned MDC
leaders not to take part in the elections without first implementing the
reforms but were ignored.
One only hopes that President Ramaphosa will now appreciate the
seriousness of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and, together with his fellow SADC
leaders, finally take decisive actions to end the Zimbabwe crisis before it is
too late.
We, the people of Zimbabwe, now admit that it was a foolish thing to
have allowed Zanu PF to rig elections and then to get away with it. We have
paid dearly for it and have resolved never to make the same mistake ever
again.
There is overwhelming evidence to show Zanu PF blatantly rigged the
recent elections. Instead of rewarding the party as before, we are demanding
that the party must step down.
The recent elections were flawed and illegal and would have never taken
place if MDC leaders had implement the democratic reforms when they had the
golden opportunities to do so. We are not going to reward MDC leaders for
betraying the nation. We demand that Chamisa and his friends step aside.
Anyone, anyone at all, who has heard Chamisa and his MDC Alliance calling for a new GNU to implement reforms must ask them why no reforms were implemented in the last GNU? This is a question that MDC leaders have avoided answering. Indeed they have even tried to blame SADC leaders for why the GNU failed to deliver free, fair and credible elections.
ReplyDeleteAs for Zanu PF, the party would never implement an reforms and reform itself out of office. No one expected them to implement any reforms in the last GNU and no one would expect them to do so in the proposed GNU.
"MDC leaders were busy enjoying themselves in the GNU they forgot why they were there!" remarked one SADC diplomat in 2014 is sheer exasperation at the disappointing performance of the MDC leaders in failing to implement reforms. So SADC leaders know why the last GNU was a total failure.
In short, MDC Alliance are asking for a new GNU to implement reforms which the party denies that it was not its fault that not even one reform was implemented last time. They want SADC leaders to help in the formation of the new GNU and we are all to take Chamisa's word that the reforms will be implemented this time.
Chamisa is taking SADC leaders and SA President Ramaphosa for fools and not "a fountain of wisdom" if he expect him to just go along with this nonsense.
If the truth be told, it must, there was no excuse for allowing Zanu PF to play any part into the 2008 GNU. The party had blatantly rigged those elections and even boasted about it.
ReplyDelete"What was accomplished by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!" said Robert Mugabe as he unleashed the Zanu PF party thugs, the rogue war veterans, the Army, Police and CIO to harass, beat and even murder innocent and defenceless civilians. It was punishment for having rejected the party in the earlier March vote and to make sure the people voted for Mugabe in the run-off.
SADC leaders, in their infantile wisdom, decide to allow Mugabe and Zanu PF into the GNU to give the tyrant and his cronies a soft landing. Mugabe and his cronies had rigged the elections in a desperate effort to hang on to power after all the years of enjoying absolute power. Instead of booting Mugabe and his Zanu PF out of office, allowing them to share power in the GNU was to save them the public humiliation of being called cheats.
It is clear that Zanu PF did not learn the lesson because they have gone on to blatantly rig the 2013 elections and then doing the same yet again this year.
Zimbabwe is in deep trouble right now because the country has no legitimate and competent government. Zanu PF rigged the elections; the regime is illegitimate.
There is no doubt that the economic situation in Zimbabwe is now so desperate there is a real danger of the country sliding into social and political chaos. The illegitimate Zanu PF regime cannot be allowed to remain in power and drag the nation into the abyss.
Whatever interim government arrangement that comes out cannot included Zanu PF; the regime does not deserve yet another soft landing, it must go.
The arrangement cannot include MDC leaders either, they failed to implement the reforms last time out of selfish greed. There is no doubt they are as keen as mustard to be included in the new GNU for the sake of gravy train benefit; the nation has other priorities!
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services deputy minister Energy Mutodi has rubbished claims by Nelson Chamisa that he met with President Cyril Ramaphosa last week to seek help from SA to break Zimbabwe's political and economic impasse.
ReplyDeleteSADC leaders would be very foolish to let Zimbabwe become a failed state under the illegal Zanu PF regime. The economic situation in the country is dire and cannot be allowed to go on. SADC must step in now before Zimbabwe becomes socially and political unstable and drag the whole region down into the abyss with it. Time is running out for SADC to act!
@ Mazhongorizhwa
ReplyDelete“Was it that simple, I don't believe so, what I remember there was so much debate on security sector reform & Zanu PF refused to budge even an inch. To make matters Mugabe wouldn't have signed what he didn't like. Food for thought,” you say.
Actually the process to implement the reforms was as Patrick has stated above. What you must do (which MDC leaders failed to do in reply to Minister Chinamasa’s statement above) is give us an example of one reform proposal MDC submitted in parliament.
As for “Mugabe wouldn’t have signed what he didn’t like”. Well we know he did not like sharing power with MDC and would have never signed the Global Political Agreement forcing him to do so. The Agreement also called for the implementation of the raft of democratic reforms and signing off proposed reforms was part of honouring that agreement. It was not MDC leaders’ business to save Mugabe being held to account for failing to honour the GPA by making sure there was no proposal for him to refuse to sign!
The real food for thought here is that even with the benefit of hindsight there are Zimbabweans who still refuse to accept that MDC leaders sold-out on reforms during the GNU. A healthy and functional democracy demands a vigilant and well informed electorate ready and willing to hold leaders to account. A naive and gullible electorate always ready to follow leaders blindly like sheep to the slaughter is a curse to the nation!
@ Mbofana
ReplyDelete“In as much as we, indeed, should pray for our nation and our leaders – it is completely different when we are used as political puppets, under the guise of ‘subjecting ourselves to authority’, and ‘having hope for our country’.
Religion has become the opium of the people and this is very true in Zimbabwe. It is pleasing that there a few people who are beginning to see the evil side of how churches have been co-opted into the country’s corrupt and oppressive political system. Instead of Church leaders speaking against corruption, rigged elections, etc. they are falling over each other in singing the praises of the same corrupt and incompetent political leaders.
Indeed, it is now fashionable for corrupt and incompetent politicians to become active church members and even church leaders!
It is a crying shame that religion has been corrupted to the point of being utterly useless!
VERITAS
ReplyDeleteSTATUTES REQUIRING CONSTITUTIONAL ALIGNMENT
____________________
Note: Acts marked with an asterisk (*) were purportedly aligned to the Constitution by the General Laws Amendment Act, 2016 (No. 3 of 2016) or by the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment Act, 2016 (No. 2 of 2016). The extent of their alignment was only partial at best, as the following list shows.
1. Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act [Chapter 10:27]*
The Act should be repealed or, at the very least amended:
• To guarantee and facilitate access to information; some sections unnecessarily restrict access to information. “Excluded information”, to which access cannot be obtained, includes:
o information about how the President exercised his discretionary powers (section 4 and First Schedule to the Act);
o parliamentary records protected by parliamentary privilege (ditto);
Also, individuals who are neither citizens nor permanently resident, and unregistered media organisations, have no right to information under the Act (section 5(3)).
• To remove the restrictions on foreigners participating in the production of local newspapers and other media. Under section 65 of the Act, foreigners cannot be mass media owners in Zimbabwe, and under section 79(3) journalists
cannot be accredited, save for short periods, unless they are citizens or permanent residents of Zimbabwe. The restrictions stifle investment in the media and violate freedom of expression – a right which is enjoyed by foreigners as well as Zimbabweans.
• To remove the restrictions on the activities of journalists who are not accredited under the Act. Under sections 78(4) and 79(7) of the Act unaccredited journalists cannot be employed on a full-time basis by media publishers and
news agencies, and this unjustifiably restricts the scope of their work, thereby violating their own freedom of expression and that of their employers.
• To abolish the criminal offence of abuse of journalistic privilege (section 80).
At the very least, journalists charged under the section should be given a defence of “reasonable publication” if they rely in good faith on information provided by sources which they have no real reason to believe to be unreliable.
The defence should be available if it was reasonable for a person in the position of the defendant journalist to have published the material in the manner and form he or she did.
2. Acquisition of Farm Equipment or Material Act [Chapter 18:23] The Act should be amended to ensure that “fair and adequate” compensation is paid for farm equipment seized under the Act, as provided in section 71(3)(c)(ii) of the Constitution. The Act merely provides for farm equipment to be valued by government valuers, without laying down any criteria whatever for their valuation (section 5) and states that if the acquisition or proposed compensation is contested the Administrative Court may fix any compensation it deems reasonable in the circumstances (section 8(4)).
What Veritas are saying here is spot on, the realignment has been done in accordance with the new Constitution but still leaves a lot to be desire precisely because the new constitution itself is weak and/or the relevant law or institution should have been reformed in parallel with the writing of the new constitution.
A few weeks ago the Con-Court, Justice Rita Makarau, ruled that POSA was unconstitutional for example. The government was given six months to replace it with another law. The government does not have to come with another law as the State President has the same power contained in POSA given him under section 209!
@ Bhongabesabe
ReplyDelete“But wasn't the new constitution meant to bring in the much needed reforms. If the constitution was silent on those reforms then why did the MDC campaign for the people to vote yes. Remember it was MDC which campaigned loudly for people to vote yes, i don't remember them telling us that the new draft constitution was no good. In fact, if my memory saves me well, it was Zanu which used to say negative sentiments against the draft constitution only to turn pro at the eleventh hour.”
You are spot on there. MDC assured the nation that the 2013 elections would be free, fair and credible thanks to the new constitution, “an MDC child” Tsvangirai called it.
This year MDC Alliance told the nation another story. “MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging elections!” Chamisa said.
MDC leaders are corrupt and incompetent and they sold-out on the implementing of reforms alright.
We need a new GNU to implement the reforms but both Zanu PF and MDC leaders must be excluded from the new arrangement! They messed up last time and we do not need them to throw the spanner in the works!
What is so disappointing here is that the nation is stuck with a corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. It obvious to everyone else with half a working brain that the regime has managed to stay in power because it rigged elections. None of the 90% unemployed or 75% living on US$1.00 a day would vote for the party in a free, fair and credible election because they would not want to be unemployed, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to stop Zanu PF rigging elections and staying in power against the democratic wishes of the people would be to ensure the elections are free, fair and credible. One would have thought in this day and age we would all know what constitutes free, fair and credible elections. Sadly that is not the case.
We have people like Timothy Thorton either genuinely have no clue what constitute free and fair elections or they pretend not to know. Either way the result is the same the nation is stuck. The nation is facing the possibility of total economic collapse triggering social and political instability and instead of discuss what the nation should do to stop the collapse we are still discussing what constitute a rigged election!
In this day and age, 38 years after our own independence and we still have people who do not know Zanu PF rigged the 2018 elections! It is nauseating that anyone could be that shallow, thick and slow. Yet here is one such character, Timothy Thorton, and, which is worse, there are hundreds of thousands other like him! SAD, VERY SAD!