Giving Mugabe a hero's send-off proves we love our dictators and don't want change, not yet W Mukori

Zimbabweans are not yet ready to end the de facto Zanu PF one-party dictatorship and with it the economic meltdown and political paralysis.

Last year Mnangagwa and Zanu PF blatantly rigged the elections. Everyone with any democratic credential worth a spit condemned the elections.

“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 Observer Mission 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 process was so flawed and illegitimate 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote; this must be contrasted with the 2.6 million Mnangagwa says he received to win the presidential race. ZEC failed to produce a verified voters’ roll although this is a legal requirement.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa, joined by 130 other parties and 21 other candidates for the presidential race, contested the flawed and illegal elections. They knew Zanu PF was going to rig the elections but they also knew the regime would give away a few gravy-train seats as bait. It was these seats they were after.

By participating, MDC and the rest of the opposition parties and candidate gave the elections that had otherwise “failed to meet international standard” – a diplomatic euphemism for rigged elections – some modicum of credibility.

The real shock in this was the reaction of the Zimbabwean people themselves to the blatant rigging by Zanu PF and the MDC’s selling-out! There was a deafening silence from the people; it was all water off a duck’s back.

If the people Zimbabwe do not know what constitute free, fair and credible elections and/or do not care that Zanu PF rig elections and MDC provide the regime some political cover then Zimbabwe is clearly not yet ready to end the Zanu PF dictatorship.

As if to underline the Zimbabweans’ political inaptitude; last year they showed the whole world they have no clue what constitutes free, fair and credible elections, this time they are mistaking Robert Mugabe, the corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous dictator for a hero.

Dictionary definition of a dictator will read: “A dictator is someone who has absolute power — or who at least behaves as if they do by bossing others around. In government, a dictator is a ruler who has total control over a country, with no checks or balances to prevent abuse of power, typically one who has obtained control by force (instead of through free, fair and credible elections).”

Mugabe fits that definition perfectly!

Mugabe’s cronies and apologists have gone to town over his heroic contribution in the fight for Zimbabwe’s independence and gloss over the corruption and tyrannical political oppression since independence human mistakes he should be forgiven for. This is nonsense, it was no mistake that Zanu PF rigged the 1980 elections and all the subsequent elections that followed these last 39 years! These were all deliberate and calculated acts to establish and retain the de facto one-party, Zanu PF, dictatorship and to secure absolute dictatorial powers.

To dwell on Mugabe’s war time heroic and ignore what he did after independence is to fail to recognise one basic historic fact that not everyone who fought in the war of independence subscribed to the common cause of freedom, justice and liberty for all. Mugabe was a mercenary fighting for a reward, he wanted to remove the white colonial oppressors but only to take their place.

He wanted absolute power for himself and was prepared to ride roughshod over the ordinary people, denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of Zimbabwe and even the right to life! And that is exactly what he did in 1980 and beyond! Mugabe’s hands were red with the innocent blood of over 30 000 he murdered for selfish political gain!

The very fact that millions of Zimbabwe have been conned into believing that Mugabe was a hero even with all the evidence of the destroyed economy and the political oppression and murders, is proof they are not yet ready to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. By accepting Mugabe the dictator, the people have also accepted the Zanu PF dictatorship itself, or be it under a new dictator Emmerson Mnangagwa, which is very much alive and thriving.

As a rule of thumb, people generally get the government they deserve; we in Zimbabwe certainly deserve this corrupt, incompetent, vote ring and murderous Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its entourage of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties! If we are so naïve and stupid to give a ruthless dictator like Mugabe a hero’s send-off then we deserve the dictatorship and all the suffering and deaths it has brought. There is more suffering and deaths to come; Mnangagwa blatantly rigged last year’s elections and the regime is set to remain in office till 2023 and beyond.