“Zimbabwe is in transition and determined to overcome the reality that we are a collapsed economy with a collapsed currency, due to the illegal economic sanctions imposed on our economy. Since I took over the leadership of Zimbabwe, much has been accomplished with indicative recovery, stabilisation and growth. Immense progress towards macro-economic and fiscal stabilisation, as well as high-impact projects that pave the way for a private sector-led growth have been made,” said President Mnangagwa in his speech to the UN General Assembly.
What recovery was he wittering about?
“Annual inflation in Zimbabwe was 300 percent in August, according to new data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At that level, the troubled southern African nation's inflation rate is the highest in the world,” reported Bulawayo 24.
“Annualised inflation in Zimbabwe was measured at 175.66 percent in June, up from 97.85 percent in May. In a statement released on Thursday, IMF head of delegation Gene Leon said Zimbabwe was experiencing what he described as severe economic difficulties.”
Zimbabwe has now the dubious honour of having the highest inflation rate in the world overtaking Venezuela with 135.3%.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who are in power because they rig elections. When Mnangagwa took over from the late Robert Mugabe in 2017; he promised a new Zimbabwe, “a new dispensation”.
He promise “zero tolerance on corruption”, the true main cause of the economic collapse and not sanctions. In 2016 Mugabe admitted the country was “being swindled out of US$15 billion in diamond revenue alone”.
The Zanu PF ruling elite were the swindlers and they have used the looted wealth to pay for their palatial mansions, finance their vast business empires, buy the posh cars and pay for their extravagant lifestyles. Mugabe has never arrested even one diamond swindler. After two years in office, Mnangagwa too has yet to arrest one swindler.
We know the wholesale looting has continued unabated because the then Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, told parliament in 2017 that government was getting 1/6 of the expected revenue from diamonds. The situations has not changed.
“Corruption is deep rooted!” was Mnangagwa’s excuse for failing to end corruption.
Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections as part of his post Mugabe transformative reform agenda. He failed to keep this promise too. By blatantly rigging the July 2018 elections he confirmed that Zimbabwe was a pariah state and nothing had changed. Nothing!
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s collapsed economy and currency is not “the illegal sanctions” as Mnangagwa and Mugabe before him, would have us believe; it is the country’s pariah state tag. It is impossible to do business is a pariah state with all its criminal waste of human and material resources through corruption and mismanagement and the uncertainty brought about by the regime’s disregard of the rule of law.
Zimbabwe’s economic recover depends on one thing, above all else - curing ourself of the curse of rigged elections and pariah state tag. The Mnangagwa Zanu PF regime is illegitimate since it rigged last year’s elections. The regime should step down to create the political space for an interim administration whose primary task will be to implement the democratic reforms to guarantee next and future elections are free, fair and credible.
The country started with a robust economy in 1980 and has beeb in decline ever since and today we have a collapsed economy. We have corrupt and incompetent regime that will never admit failure and since it is expert at rigging elections, we are stuck with it!
“Let me conclude by reiterating that Zimbabwe is reforming and undertaking a shared journey towards a better and more secure future,” concluded Mnangagwa.
Why is Zimbabwe stuck with a corrupt, dysfunctional and oppressive political system that needs reforming nearly 40 years after independence? And what meaningful reforms can Zanu PF implement when it was the party that ruthlessly established and imposed this de facto one-party dictatorship in the first place?
“Zimbabwe is determined to overcome the reality that we are a collapsed economy. Much has been accomplished!” Yeah right! Next elections must be free, fair and credible, no stone will be left unturned to ensure this is so. And every Zimbabwean will finally have a meaningful say on all these fictitious accomplishments and on the governance of the country!
WE learnt with interest of the opposition MDC's resolution to ambush the police and State security agencies by engaging in flash demonstrations at different locations at the same time in an effort to circumvent police prohibition orders.
ReplyDeleteEver since the 2008 to 2013 GNU when MDC leaders took their eyes of the ball and failed to implement even one meaningful democratic reform, even with the repeated reminders from SADC leaders to do so, MDC leaders have abandoned reforms or anything with any hope of being effective. They have pursued strategy designed to keep them in the public eye but would accomplish nothing else.
In the five years 2013 to 2018 MDC spent a lot of time, sweat and treasure promoting National Election Reform Agenda (NERA). Morgan Tsvangirai launch the initiative amongst a lot of media coverage and fun-fare. Ask, what were these electoral reforms; no one would say.
Ask whether any of the opposition endorsing the reform agenda would boycott the elections if Zanu PF failed to implement any of the reforms and they all said they would participate. A dead give away NERA was just token politics!
“We have a winning in rigged election strategy (WIRE for short) announced Obert Gutu, when he was the main MDC faction spokesman, summed up the party’s new token politic strategy - they have accepted that Zanu PF has the right to rig elections and they will be fighting for any scraps within that political reality.
MDC intents to fill the period up to the 2023 elections with demos to pressure Zanu PF to share power - no reforms.
MDC will never ever deliver free, fair and credible elections without which there will never ever be any meaningful political and economic changes. Zimbabweans have to wake up to this reality!
From my discussions on recent events, I have perceived that the use of military forces has a profound negative impact, including in the minds of the population, who fear these forces are not adequately trained to handle demonstrations. On this point, I would like to stress that the involvement of the military in the managing of assemblies contradicts the Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa, as they provide that military forces must only be used in exceptional circumstances and only if absolutely necessary. This same criteria has been used by the CCPR that has recommended "to ensure that public order is, to the maximum extent possible, upheld by civilian rather than military authorities" (CCPR/C/VEN/CO/4).
ReplyDeleteI am also concerned that the MOPO bill contains notification requirements for certain gatherings, including cumbersome administrative processes – that amount to an authorization, not a notification regime. It is also of concern that spontaneous assemblies are not protected in the bill, which does not recognize the right of individuals to engage in spontaneous public gatherings.
I have requested to be briefed on how the notification procedure is implemented in practice in different provinces and found that it is extremely burdensome in terms of administrative requirements but also very intrusive in its demands, undermining the exercise of this fundamental freedom for public gatherings and private meetings.
I firmly believe that the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly should not be subjected to authorization. At most, a prior notification procedure is sufficient, in order to facilitate peaceful assemblies and to take measures to protect public safety and order and the rights and freedoms of others. Moreover, spontaneous assemblies should be recognized in law and exempted from prior notification in conformity with the jurisprudence of the CCPR that reaffirms that article 21 contains an obligation to facilitate spontaneous assemblies without interference.
I am also concerned by the provisions of the MOPO Bill regarding the administrative liability of organizers as well as the criminal liability of organizers and participants of gatherings. Such legal consequences undermine the exercise of the right to freedom of assembly especially as the law does not clearly define the administrative or criminal offenses and the language could provide for a very extensive interpretation of the liability of individuals entitled to exercise this right.
Finally I would like to express my concern in relation to the provisions that allow the police broad discretion to disperse public gatherings as well as the broad search and seizure powers given to law enforcement agencies. The United Nations Basic Guidelines on the Use of Force by law enforcement officers, provide important guidance on these matters in line with international human rights standards.
Although the UN representative was concerned with the specific issue of freedom of assembly and association it is ease to see how this affects other freedoms and rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections.
The EU, Americans, the Commonwealth and almost all the other democratic nations and institutions condemn Zimbabwe’s last year elections as a farce. It should be noted that whilst the regime had made the effort to keep the peace before the elections the violent repression, some of which was pick in this report, started soon after the elections. Of course, this was a deliberate and calculated move.
The UN is one of the few organisations whose deafening silence of the elections was taken by the regime as a resounding endorsement of the process. One only hopes this damning report will finally force the UN to open its eyes to the calculating and tyrannical Zanu PF regime we are dealing with here!
This Zanu PF regime will never admit that it has failed and since it routinely rigs elections to stay in power it means the nation is well and truly stuck with the regime. The only way out is to go back and implement the democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
ReplyDeleteNo one has said there are no human rights violations in Afghanistan but why should that justify continued human rights violations here in Zimbabwe?
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