Man is supposed to be a creature of reason; tyrants are creatures of
habit, for reason and logic count for nothing in their world. To the tyrant
what is, does not matter; it is what he says is, that matters; regardless how
nonsensical that may happens to be.
When Mnangagwa and his junta staged the November 2017 military coup,
they told the world that it was not a coup but “a military assisted
transition”. A few weeks latter the junta even managed to collar a judge to
rule the coup was “legal, constitutional and justified!”
As far as I know, Professor Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwe’s current Minister of
Finance, was not a Zanu PF propagandist or apologist like the likes of Nick
Mangwana before his appointment. He has been in his new post for less than six
months and already he speaks the party’s double-Dutch lingo perfectly.
“Just as we open up our economy and democratic space, so too are we
opening our arms to the world,” he told the European parliament.
“The dark times are behind us, and the future is bright and positive; a
future of cooperation and dialogue. A future whereby Zimbabwe is an active and
responsible member of the global community.”
Of course, his audience did not believe a word of any of this nonsense.
The real irony here is that he believes the nonsense himself and walked away
convinced his audience believed every word he said!
How can Zimbabwe say the “dark times” be behind us when Zanu PF has not
done little to end the scourge of corruption or any of the other problems
holding back the nation, for example! In 2016 Robert Mugabe confessed the
nation was being “swindled” of a staggering US$ 15 billion in diamond revenue.
Although Mugabe remain in office for another year after the confession, he
never arrested even one swindler.
Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe with a promise to follow a “zero
tolerance on corruption” policy. He has been in office for over a year and yet
he too has not arrested one swindler or recovered one dollar of the looted
billions. Indeed, the looting has continued unabated! The swindlers are the
untouchables!
Mnangagwa also promised to hold free, fair and credible elections when
he took over. A promise he clearly had no intention of keeping because he
pointedly refused to implement even one single democratic reform, designed to
take away Zanu PF’s carte blanche dictatorial powers to rig elections.
The EU MPs and officials, Professor Ncube was addressing would have read
EU Zimbabwe Election Observer Mission report. The EU had as many as 240
observers on the ground, itself a sign of how seriously they value free and
fair elections as a basis for good governance. The observers’ final report was
pretty scathing.
“The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not
always act in an impartial manner,” stated the report.
“The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained
numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and
verifiability. Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive
use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election
period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election
campaign.
“As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet
international standards.”
So by blatantly rigging the elections Zanu PF confirmed Zimbabwe was
still a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs just as was the
case during Mugabe’s days. This slammed the door shut to all hope of economic
recovery; investors do not do business in pariah state.
“We are undertaking a shared journey towards a better and more secure
future. The road is long, winding and at times bumpy. But there is no other
way. This is the road to an upper middle-income economy, ala Vision 2030, and
if we travel it together, with patience and purpose, we will realise our
vision,” Minister Ncube concluded.
“The new Zimbabwe cannot go it alone. We must open our arms to the
international community, international investors, and international financial
organisations.”
Minister Ncube, by failing to do something to end corruption, failing to
hold free and fair elections, etc. Zimbabwe has effectively slammed the door
shut in the face of would-be investors. The new Zimbabwe you see through your
Zanu PF rose tinted ministerial limo it not the same pariah state ruled by
corrupt and vote rigging thugs, investors see!
Minister Ncube is hoping to get new investment and funding from the EU;
he will get none! He will be travelling to the US with the same begging bowl
only to get the same response.
President Mnangagwa, Minister Ncube and the rest of the Zanu PF junta
want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to be seen as a democrats
joining the rest of the international community to do business. And yet they
also want to hang on to Zanu PF’s dictatorial powers and privileges including
the right to blatantly rig elections and for the few ruling elite to continue
looting the nation’s resources at the expense of the majority.
How can the EU or anyone treat Zimbabweans as a serious people if someone
like Minister Ncube would lie about something as well established and factual
as Zanu PF rigged the recent elections! Our failed to hold Zanu PF to account
has not helped our fight to end tyrannical rule.
We are clearly not yet ready for a just, free, democratic and prosperous
Zimbabwe. If we were then there is no better way to demand free, fair and
credible elections then demanding that those who rig elections must be
punished; so far we have always rewarded the usurpers by granting them absolute
power. Mnangagwa rigged last year’s elections he is cocksure he will remain in
power to the 2023 elections. We are no yet ready to say no to that!
It seems to me that Professor Ncube is obsessed about pain, the greater the pain suffering inflicted the surer the cure! He would dispense with anaesthetic so the patient feels every cut and tag. Those who pass out at the operating table are the lucky one! No pain killers during recovery either!
ReplyDeleteWorst of all Professor has not done his home work and refuse to take advice from others; he has been warned Zimbabwe must deal decisively to end corruption, mismanagement and the culture of vote rigging making it a pariah state. Investors and lenders do not do business in pariah state.
"We must all be humble and austere, and government is leading by example. We are continuing to make big cuts to perks and unnecessary expenditure, so that government lives within its means," said Minister Ncube.
Nonsense, of course, the regime has imposed the 2% tax on all electronic money payments designed to tax the 75% living on US$1.00 and yet the minister has done nothing to stop the US$15 billion in diamond revenue being "swindled", as Robert Mugabe once revealed.
The Zimbabwe economy will never recover as long as the country remains a pariah state and the country will remain a pariah state as long as Zanu PF is allowed to rig elections. Nothing of substance can ever be achieved in Zimbabwe until until we rid ourselves of the curse of rigged elections and pariah state.
The EU must not prop up this Zanu PF regime, it is illegitimate and it will never deliver anything of substance! The EU election observers have confirmed the July 2018 elections were rigged!
@ Grace Kwinjeh
ReplyDelete“A worse leader than Mugabe was in the minds of many, an inconceivable thought. Once a thriving economy, the Zimbabwean economy had been systematically consigned to the doldrums thereby causing untold suffering and penury. It is against this background that the military coup of November 2017 was celebrated with so much pomp. Zimbabweans believed again! Surely it could not get any worse, they had seen the 'worst' as personified in Mugabe. However in just over a year, the long suffering people of Zimbabwe have been proven wrong. The sad reality has struck: Mugabe was a better devil after all. In fact Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe's long time understudy and confidante who wrested power from his godfather has redefined failure and has inadvertently canonized his maligned predecessor a saint,” you said.
Well you nailed it there my sister when you said “a worse leader than Mugabe was, in the minds of many, an inconceivable thought”. Why was it inconceivable after ? The answer is obvious; these people had never conceived it possible that Robert Mugabe could be as corrupt, incompetent and a murderous tyrant as he turned out to be. Even with a mountain of evidence of economic meltdown and his hands red with the blood of the ten of thousands innocent Zimbabweans murdered to establish and retain the de facto one party dictatorship still they would not believe their own eyes.
They did not have the intellectual capacity to comprehend what Mugabe had done and so would not believe the evidence until 20 years or so into the dictatorship.
Emmerson Mnangagwa was Mugabe’s right-hand man who has carried out Mugabe’s dirtiest of jobs; the looting, the blatant vote rigging and played a major role in the shedding of the blood of over 30 000 political murders. Intellectual, Mnangagwa is brain-dead and such people make the worst tyrant because they have to hide their inferiority complex in being ruthlessly oppressive. In short the only reason anyone with half a brain assumed Mnangagwa would not be as bad or worse than Mugabe is because they were just too lazy to ask themselves the right questions.
The ability to think is a human characteristic but alas not all humans are able to think. Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because we have more than our fair share of citizen who are incapable of one logical thought! It pains me to say it, the more so because it is true!
Mnangagwa rigged last year’s elections the only reason why many people have already accept Zanu PF as the government of the day is because they lack the courage to tell the thug to his face that he is illegitimate and must step down.
The country does not need Nelson Chamisa and his MDC Alliance, they have already proven beyond doubt that they are corrupt, incompetent and sells-out.
All attempts by both Zanu PF and MDC leaders to hang-on to power should be seen for what it is - holding the nation to ransom.
The best solution for Zimbabwe right now is for Zanu PF to just step down and allow the nation the political space and time to implemented the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the autocracy Zanu PF imposed on the nation.
The President said the move has be done to prevent generalised price hikes which are hurting the ordinary commuting citizens.
ReplyDeleteWe publish an excerpt of the statement below:
Starting midnight today, fuel prices have been increased. Diesel pegged at $3.11 per litre, Petrol pegged at $3.31
These prices are predicated by on the ruling official exchange rate of 1:1 between the Bond note and Government is aware of attempts by certain elements seeking to cause unrest in the country by capitalising on fuel shortage.
Where criminal traces are apparent, the law will take its course.
Government to enhance the export incentive scheme by an additional 2.5%.Government is also putting in place a package of measures to cushion its workers, until a full review of cost of living adjustment package due in April 2019 is effected in the context of current budget.
Government guests by way of foreign missions and other registered foreign bodies and tourists will fuel and refuel at designated points at price US$1.24 and US$1.32 for diesel and petrol respectively.
So the price of fuel has gone up from $1.32 to $3.32 an increase of a wapping 150%. There is no doubt that the prices of goods and services will go up 50% at the very least. And yet government gave a teacher earning $400 per month a $40 or 10% wage increase.
The problem here is that we have a regime that has no clue how to end the economic meltdown but will never admit it. We are stuck with this corrupt and vote rigging regime. The solution is for us to demand that Zanu PF steps downed stop deluding ourselves that we can ever get the regime to do anything of substance.
After 38 years of Zanu PF misrule we must stop expecting miracles from the regime!
Zanu PF does not have the divine right to govern the country and that is the message we must now send to Mnangagwa and his junta. They are in power illegally and they must now stop holding this nation to ransom!
The price of petrol has gone up from $1.32 to $3.32 "based on the exchange rate of 1:1" said Mnangagwa. Does this mean that RBZ will be selling the US$ to the companies source the fuel at official exchange rate and so fuel must be sold to the consumers at the same exchange rate of 1:1. Unless this is made clear and is properly policed this is going to result is the ordinary Zimbabweans being short changed by those in positions of power and authority.
ReplyDeleteThis Zanu PF regime is supposed to end corruption and instead is creating so many opportunities for the corrupt ones to set shop!
Zanu PF has failed and must be forced to step down.