“In his first televised address, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah
al-Burhan Abdelrahman said he was also cancelling a night curfew ordered by his
predecessor and ordered the release of all prisoners jailed under emergency
laws put in place by ousted President Omar al-Bashir,” reported New Zimbabwe.
“A coalition of groups leading the protests said it had accepted an
invitation by the armed forces to meet on Saturday to discuss a new civilian
government.”
In a rare but welcome show of visionary leadership the AU has reportedly
give the military council two weeks to hand over power to civilian rule.
The days, weeks and months before and after revolution are the most
important time in a nation’s history because, in that short window of
opportunity, the nation’s core is melted and cast anew. If the new cast is
deformed and hideous it can be improved upon whilst it is still hot and malleable
but with each passing day it will be cooling and hardening.
Once the core is set the character and temperament of nation, whether
democratic or tyrannical, will cast in stone. If the nation gets it wrong, it
may take another generation or more for another revolution and another
opportunity to melt the core and make a new cast. All this is a familiar tale
in Zimbabwe.
In 1980 Zimbabwe had its golden opportunity to replace the racist and
oppressive white colonial government with a just and democratic government in
which the freedoms, rights and dignity of all were sacrosanct. Robert Mugabe
and his Zanu PF thugs hijack the revolution and instead imposed a corrupt and
tyrannical de facto one-party dictatorship on the nation. For the last 39 years
the nation has been stuck with the dictatorship with tragic economic and social
consequences!
Sudan gained independence from Britain on January 1, 1956, after a military
coup in Egypt forced the British government to grant Sudan independence.
The country has blundered from one crisis to another because of bad governance;
the last 30 years under the dictator Omar Al Bashir have been particularly bloody
and chaotic.
The removal from power of
Al Bashir has melted the core and the people of Sudan have golden chance making
a new cast of Sudan. May God and Allah grant the people them the serenity and
wisdom to cast a new Sudan the nation and posterity and we, their friends and
well-wishers, can all be proud of!
True but it is also true that people get the government they deserve. After 39 years we cannot deny we have had many golden opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship and have wasted them all. How many Zimbabweans out there can cross their heart and wish to die and say they have done their best to stop/end the Zanu PF dictatorship?
ReplyDeleteIt took most of us 20 years to admit Zanu PF was a corrupt and tyrannical regime and that we needed democratic changes to end the curse of rigged elections. And yet most people have never bothered to understand what these changes were and hence failed to make head way in getting the changes implemented during the GNU when the nation had the best chances ever to do so.
Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year's elections and yet most Zimbabweans still have no clue what happened. They don't even know what constitutes free, fair and credible elections. They cannot get their heads round the simple reality it is utterly meaningless to have elections without a verified voters' roll.
Yes, Ruhanya Zimbabwe is turning 39 years under an anachronistic and predatory Zanu PF dictatorship but only because we, the people, have allowed the regime to ride roughshod over our freedoms, human rights, hopes and even our humanity. At 39 years of age one would think we are old enough to think and see beyond the here and now. Alas, that is not so. We are as helpless and an infant because we are too lazy to think! THINK!
We are in this political and economic mess because we, the people of Zimbabwe, have elected to do nothing about good governance! What good will all this cursing and swearing when we continue to allow Mnangagwa to remain in office when we all know he rigged last year’s election? "Chava chingondora chava chimombe kutadza kutunga hurema hwacho!" as one would say in Shona.
Addressing the ruling party’s Youth Assembly in Harare, Mnangagwa said, “In agriculture, the land reform is irreversible and Section 72 of the Constitution is very clear in this regard. However, the same Constitution provides that no compensation is payable in respect of its acquisition, except for improvements effected on the land before its acquisition.
ReplyDelete“For a long time Government has provided through the fiscus for such payments in respect of the said compensation on improvements of the land. Government will meet its obligation as outlined in the Constitution,” he said.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we fought for land and there is no way we will retract our position with regards to the land reform.”
It was not everyone who benefited from the land reforms and those who benefited from getting the land and the improvements on the farms did not pay one dollar for it. Indeed the people who were given the seized farms have received many questionable subsidies because they did not make any economic sense. So for government to now be paying the compensation to the white farmers using public funds can only be seen for what it is yet another subsidy to the few who benefited from the farm seizures!
It is no secret that Zanu PF leaders and their families and friends are the main beneficiaries of the chaotic land reform!
When the white farmers were booted, literally, off the farms they were not allowed to take away even some of their movable assets such as cattle, harvested crops, plant and machinery. There was no justification for this other than greed. And now Zanu PF is forcing the ordinary people to foot the compensation bill when those who got the movable and immovable assets are there and should pay for them. The whole land seizure and now compensation exercise stinks. There is no justice in this!
So far so good! When the military coup stepped in to remove Omar Al Bashir after months of public protests the coup plotters thought the removal of Al Bashir would be enough to appease the protesters. Wrong, the protesters accepted it as a first step nothing more and hence the reason they rejected the proposal of the military council taking over.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mnangagwa and his coup plotters removed Mugabe in November 2017 hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans were agog with joy. Mnangagwa assured his Zanu PF hardliners that Zanu PF will rule forever and continued with the party's vote rigging schemes as before. Zanu PF blatantly rigged lat year's elections and the people of Zimbabwe hardly even noticed it!
The people of Sudan have a good chance of implementing the democratic reforms and set Sudan on a democratic path if they elect a competent civilian interim administration.
Zimbabweans are not yet ready to end the dictatorship. They are out day celebrating Zanu PF's corrupt and tyrannical rule. The country's on the edge of the precipice with unemployment a nauseating 90%, basic services like health care all but completely collapsed, the people are facing the daily headache of shortages of everything and when they can get these things the prices are beyond their reach, etc., etc. Only village idiots would see this as reason to celebrate!
"Kufarira nhamo sorugare!" (Celebrating one's trials and tribulations as if they were good tidings!) as one would say in Shona!
Of course, as long as the people remain blissful unaware of the mess they are in they will happily march on! They have clearly not suffered enough, they will not be disappointed because hell is a bottomless pit!
I pray that my brothers and sisters in Sudan find the wisdom and do the right thing and find their way out of the hell Omar Al Bashir had dragged them into.