Mnangagwa launch POLAD, arch- "African solution" - yeah, bury heads in sand, insane W Mukori

"We are grateful that the leadership of Zimbabwe has established the dialogue voluntarily," commented Mphakama Mbete, SA Ambassador to Zimbabwe, at the official launch of Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD).

"This is a demonstration by an African country working on an African problem to get an African solution. The success of the dialogue will have far reaching consequences to the region.”

Nonsense, POLAD is a waste of the nation’s time, opportunity and money. 

Zimbabwe’s problem is one of bad governance, a problem not unique to the country or the continent. It is a problem as old as human history and the best solution was proposed by the Greeks 2 500 years ago; democracy; government by the people for the people. We do not need to reinvent the wheel!

Ever since Zimbabwe gained her independence in 1980 Zanu PF has systematically denied the ordinary people their basic freedoms and democratic rights including the right to a meaningful vote and even the right to life itself. When Mnangagwa seized power in the November 2017 coup, he promised to hold free, fair and credible elections and thus acknowledged the desperate need for good governance. Sadly he has lacked the wisdom and vision to honour his promise and deliver the free and fair elections. 

Everyone who observed last year’s elections has dismissed them as a farce. 

“The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” stated the EU Election Mission in its final report.

“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.”

The whole election process was so flawed and illegal ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll. The only reason Zimbabwe’s opposition parties participated in the flawed and illegal elections is greed. Zanu PF has learned that as long as the party gave away a few gravy train seats the opposition will participate regardless how flawed and illegitimate the process got. 

“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” admitted Senator David Coltart in his book. He was an MDC cabinet member in the 2008 to 2013 GNU.

“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”

A number of the MDC factions did come together to form the MDC Alliance in 2018 and still they participated in last year’s elections; proof the failure to form a coalition in 2013 was just a feeble excuse for failing to “do the obvious - withdraw from the elections”! 

All the other opposition parties and candidates in last year's elections have endorse the elections as free, fair and credible, after participating it would be hypocritical not to. Chamisa has endorse the parliamentary elections but not the presidential but that is because he is fishing for a gravy train seat for himself. 

Chamisa's claim that he would revive the country's economy is nonsense. The inclusion or otherwise of Chamisa in this Zanu PF regime will not alter the reality of the regime being a corrupt and tyrannical. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state the will be no meaningful economic recovery.

Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken full advantage of the greed in Zimbabwe’s opposition camp to claim legitimacy when he knows his regime is illegitimate because the election process was flawed and illegal. He has launched POLAD as the solution to the country’s 39 years old and counting problem of rigged elections and bad governance. 

Mnangagwa has made it clear that all participants in POLAD must first accept last year’s elections as free, fair and credible and himself and his party, Zanu PF, as legitimate. The talks will focus on how to revive the country’s worsening economic meltdown, getting such things as the sanctions imposed of the regime lifted. 

In short, Mnangagwa launched POLAD as the solution to Zimbabwe’s teething economic meltdown and political paralysis of the last 39 years. There was not meaningful debate on POLAD as a way forward, all those who voiced their objections were ignored. 

Indeed one can say that POLAD was imposed on the nation with the usual Zanu PF arrogance; RainBow Towers auditorium was full of invited guests to be transported, housed, wined and fed, no expense spared (big hospitals like Mpilo has no bandages and pain killers but the regime the hundreds of thousands of dollars spend on this one event). There was the usual silverback gorilla drumming of the chest, etc. etc. 

Still, one can say here and now that POLAD will NOT bring about any meaningful economic recovery because as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs the country’s economic meltdown will only get worse. 

Zimbabwe had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and lift the curse of rigged elections and pariah state during the 2008 and 2013 GNU. If that 2008 GNU was a bull dog with no teeth then POLAD is a poodle with no teeth, no bark, neutered, etc. into utter uselessness.

POLAD is a waste of time because it will not address the central problem of bad governance. At least the 2008 to 2013 GNU acknowledge that Zimbabwe's problem was one of bad governance and proposed the raft of reforms to solve the problem. Mnangagwa and his POLAD assumes last year's elections were free, fair and credible and so there will not be even any attempt to implement the democratic reforms.

If Zanu PF is still in power come 2023 with not even one reform in place; we can be 100% certain the party will rig those elections. Zimbabwe will still be stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging Zanu PF dictatorship as we are today and have been for the last 39 years!

Insanity is trying the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. After 39 years of expecting a corrupt and vote rigging dictatorship to deliver economic prosperity only the certified insane will expect POLAD to deliver any meaningful change.

Yes Ambassador Mbete, POLAD is just a variant of an arch- ‘African solution’ to the problem of bad governance – Mnangagwa is bullying the nation into burying our heads in the sand! Even after 39 years of Zanu PF blundering from pillar to post and with the nation standing on the edge of the precipice we are still being forced to believe Zanu PF will not blunder and drag us all over the edge!