USA will press Zanu PF for reforms - as long as assured MDC legitimacy, Zanu PF will ignore reforms N Garikai

 

“Zimbabwe was among some of the worst human rights offenders last year as President Emmerson Mnangagwa's regime continued to unleash violence on opponents and activists with impunity, an annual assessment by the U.S. State Department on global human rights said Tuesday,” reported Zimlive.

 

“The 2020 Human Rights Report that evaluated about 200 countries painted a grim picture across the world saying violations of liberties escalated with some countries using Covid-19 restrictions "as a pretext to restrict rights and consolidate authoritarian rule."

 

“Given the dire outlook, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said President Joe Biden's administration had "placed human rights front and centre in its foreign policy" and would continue to press for reform.”

 

Pressure for reform has accomplished very little in the case of Zimbabwe because Zanu PF has had help in defusing the pressure from Zimbabwe’s opposition. For all their song and dance as the champions of democratic change, MDC leaders are the ones working tirelessly to stop any meaningful democratic reforms.

 

The Americans and their western allies must wake up to reality that whilst their have been calling for democratic reforms for decades now it is the MDC that has helped Zanu PF ignore the reforms and still remain in power.

 

Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had many golden opportunities, the best of which were during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, to implement the democratic reforms to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. They failed to implement even one reform in the 5 years of the GNU.

 

Ever since the GNU debacle, Zanu PF cronies have continued to ride roughshod over the people denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to free elections and have got away with it because the opposition have participated

 

By participating in these flawed and illegal elections Zimbabwe’s opposition opportunists are giving credibility to the process and, by extension, giving legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF regime. And these opposition opportunists know this!

 

“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,” wrote Senator David Coltart, MDC A Treasurer General.

“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.”

 

As we know, the three main MDC factions plus four other opposition parties formed the MDC A just before the 2018 elections. They participated in that year’s elections knowing fully well that the process was flawed and illegal. They were after the few gravy train Zanu PF was offering and greed prevailed.

 

The MDC A and the rest in the opposition camp are gearing for the 2023 elections and are once again ignoring calls for reforms to be implemented first! And as long as Zanu PF knows the opposition will participate guaranteed, the party too will ignore the calls for reforms!

 

It is all very well to condemn the Zanu PF dictatorship and say nothing about the MDC the party that has done more to keep Zanu PF in power than otherwise! It is futile to pressure Zanu PF to accept democratic reforms when MDC will give Zanu PF legitimacy regardless the vote rigging.

 

The Americans and their western allies have been pressing Zanu PF for democratic reform for the last 20 years and nothing has changed because MDC are the ones giving vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. Unless Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A sell-outs are themselves pressured to stop participating in flawed and illegal elections, then nothing will change.

 

Many people are asking whether the tragic events unfolding in Myanmar since the 1^st February 2021 military coup could have been avoided if Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) had acted decisively in clipping the military junta in that country when she had the half chances. The debate will hinge on how good were those half chances.

 

There is no denying that Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC colleagues have had excellent opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. They “were busy enjoying themselves during the GNU and forgot why they were there!” remarked one SADC diplomat is sheer exasperation at MDC leaders’ failure to implement even one reform in 5 years of the GNU.

 

There is no denying that MDC A and the opposition’s participation in these flawed and illegal elections is undermining all local and foreign effort to get the democratic reforms finally implemented! If Zimbabweans are happy to have rigged elections, it is for Zimbabweans alone to decide.

 

Outsiders can only add their voice to call for reforms if this is what the locals themselves want. Of course, the ordinary Zimbabweans want reforms it is Zanu PF and the opposition sell-out alone who are benefiting from the status quo.

 

Zanu PF will continue to ignore demands for democratic reforms and good governance as long as the party is assured of the opposition’s participation in flawed elections giving the party legitimacy.

Come full circle: Mugabe failed to deliver prosperity and declared war and now Mnangagwa is doing the same P Guramatunhu

 When Robert Mugabe got into power in 1980, he was cocksure his scientific socialism would bring economic prosperity to the masses, “Gutsva ruzhinji!” as he never tired of saying. Instead of build on the robust and vibrant economy he had inherit at independence he destroyed it. Instead of delivering mass prosperity he delivered mass poverty.

When President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe following the November 2017 military coup; “military assisted transition”, as the coup plotters insisted in calling it; he was cocksure he would revive Zimbabwe’s comatose economy and everyone will live happily ever after! He was sure there would be a flood of investors in answer to his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” clarion call.

Sadly, there was not even a single investor much less a flood!

Mugabe’s Zimbabwe was renowned for gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness marked it as pariah state. The decades of the criminal waste of human and material resources was the root cause of the economic meltdown. The November 2017 coup had not addressed any of these underlying problems and by blatantly rigging the July 2018 elections, Mnangagwa had confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state. Investors are a shrewd and savvy lot; they were not going to do any business in a pariah state!

By the late 1990s it was clear to Robert Mugabe that his regime had failed to deliver Gutsva ruzhinji and to stay in power he resorted to the use of violence. The 2008 elections were particularly hard for Mugabe and Zanu PF as they took place at a time when the Zimbabwe economy had all but collapsed.

The collapse of the country’s agricultural sector, triggered by the seizure of the white owned farms that started in 2000, coupled with the voodoo-economic of printing money had fuelling the hyperinflation peaking at to world record heights of 500 billion percent in 2008! The Z$ was a worthless piece of paper, pensions, life-savings and investments lost their value, etc. The Zimbabwe electorate were angry with Zanu PF and were desperate for change.

“If there was Mugabe and the donkey on the ballot, people will vote for the donkey!” remarked Professor Jonathan Moyo, at the time!

Mugabe and Zanu PF were soundly beaten by Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC in the March 2008 vote. Zanu PF, notably Mnangagwa who boasted about it, stop the results being announces and ordered a recount that was to last six weeks. Mugabe admitted in a Freudian slip that Tsvangirai had garnered 73% of the votes and the recount had whittled that down to 47% to justify a run-off.

To make sure that Mugabe was going to win the run-off, Zanu PF launched “Operation Mavhotera papi!” (Operation Whom did you vote for!) This was a rhetorical question to the electorate who were being punished for having voted for Tsvangirai in the March vote.

Zanu PF mobilised the militant war veterans and the party’s militia youths, the green-bombers (nicknamed after the green fly feeds and lay its maggots on faeces) as the foot-soldiers in the reign of terror that was to follow. The Army, Police, CIO and Prison Service personal provided the plains, backup and cover to the foot-soldiers and also carried out the tougher assignments such as the abductions and cold-blooded murders.

Millions of Zimbabweans had their property destroyed, beaten and/or raped and over 500 were murdered during Operation Mavhotera papi.  

“Zanu PF has declared war on the people!” said Tsvangirai when he announced his withdrawal from the run-off!

We have come a full circle!

Now that it is clear to Mnangagwa that his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” is well and truly dead in the water and the country’s economic melt is not as bad as 2008 but is sure heading that way. He knows that the Zimbabwean people are once again desperate for change and would want to see the coming 2023 elections deliver that change. His reaction is to once again mobilise the foot-soldiers and all for Operation Mavhotera papi mark 2 with a subtle difference!

Zanu PF will be going into the 2023 elections with a well-oiled vote rigging juggernaut. Unlike in 2008 when the party had to stop the counting and took six weeks cooking the vote count; the party must control every aspect of the election process and intervene early to ensure party victory. The party must deny a whole segment of the electorate, such as those in diaspora, the vote. Once again, there will be no verified voters’ roll and the party must exploit the many opportunities this gives to rig the vote; etc.

Mnangagwa is mobilising the coercive component of Operation Mavhotera papi now, 28 months before the elections.

"In our political mobilisation matrix, our women and youth leagues must not be left behind. I commend the Youth League for their recent successful mobilisation efforts," Mnangagwa told party members,” instructed his Zanu PF Central Committee meeting.

"However, much more needs to be done by the Youth League structures at provincial, district, branch and cell levels to encourage their peers to join the party as voters.

"To this end, joint grassroots mobilisation activities between leagues of the party and its affiliate organisations must now saturate the political space.

"War veterans are challenged to display their unflinching war time vibrancy and mobilisation acumen as we prepare for 2023 elections."

No doubt the Joint Operation Command (JOC) comprising the top brass in the Army, Police, CIO and Prison Services who provided the plans, backing, etc. in the 2008 Operation Mavhotera papi have the revised plans, personal, everything ready for deployment.

The early deployment of the coercive arm is to remind the voters they will be punished if the voted for the opposition. The violence will be turned down during the campaigning period when election observers are around and thus creating the impression the whole election was free of violence. This is project harvest fear!  

Mnangagwa and Zanu PF have failed to revive the economy but be that as it is, the regime is making sure that there will be no regime change. There will be no reforms implemented and the will be no free, fair and credible elections in 2023.

The nation had its best chance ever to get the reforms implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Sadly, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends who were given the task of implementing the reforms took their eyes off the ball. Mugabe bribed the lot with the trappings of high office are the rest is history.

Still, the economic and social situation in Zimbabwe is desperate; 50% of the population are living in abject poverty, education and health care have all but collapsed, etc. The cup is full and overflowing. This cannot go on for much longer, change is coming.

Mnangagwa can be pushed to accept change by the nation refusing to participate in the 2023 elections until the reforms are implemented. This has been hard to do because it was none other the MDC leaders who have broken rank and participated in the flawed elections for the sake of the few gravy train seats Zanu PF was dangling.

It is almost certain that Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A and the rest in the opposition camp will be participating in the 2023 elections with no reforms in place. The task here will be to convince Zimbabweans and SADC leaders the elections were a farce and should be declared null and void. The rest of the international community will not need any convincing the elections were rigged, they know that already as their 2018 election reports clearly stated.

Declaring the 2023 elections null and void will put Zimbabwe in exactly the same political situation the country was in after the international community rejected the 2008 elections process. The country will be forced to form another GNU and, this time, make sure the reforms are implemented.

If Zanu PF continues to resist peaceful change, the party should know that it is leaving the nation with no other choice but to have violent change. And Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies will be responsible for all the death and destruction that violence will entail!

Mexico covid-19 deaths up 60%, error due low testing - Zimbabwe deaths probably 10 times official and rising N Garikai

 

“Mexico has published revised figures indicating that the number of deaths caused by corona virus is 60% higher than previously reported,” BBC reported.

 

“More than 321,000 people are now believed to have died from Covid-19 in the country.

 

“The revised toll places Mexico with the second highest number of Covid-related deaths in the world, after the US.”

 

Mexico’s President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has faced widespread criticism over his handling of the crisis, notably the country’s failure to test, trace and track as diligently as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

 

“Experts have long warned that Mexico's true death toll is probably much higher due to a lack of testing. It is also believed that a shortage of intensive care beds in many states has led to a large number of people dying at home,” continued the BBC report.

 

“The new figures came after a review of "excess deaths" and a review of death certificates.”

 

There is no doubt that the real corona virus deaths in Zimbabwe are much higher than the official figure of 1 519 for the same reasons as Mexico – not testing and many people dying at home because there are no health care facilities.

 

In mid December 2020, for example, at the peak of the corona virus variant first identified in SA and was confirmed to have spread to Zimbabwe and other countries in the region; SA was carrying out over 44 000 tests per day. Zimbabwe, with ¼ SA’s population should have been doing over 11 000 tests per day. The country was doing 1 500 tests per day or 10% of what it should.

 

As of today 28 March 2021, SA’s official corona virus death toll stands at 52 663. One would expect Zimbabwe’s corona virus death toll to ¼ that of SA or over 13 000.   

 

If you carry out fewer tests you have fewer corona virus cases and deaths; that is common sense. If 10% tests resulted in 1 500 deaths, 100% would give 15 000 death; which would agree with the figure in the paragraph above.

 

Indeed, one would expect Zimbabwe’s corona virus death toll to be much higher than the straight forward ¼ that of SA. By failing to carryout the test, trace, track and isolate as diligently as per WHO recommendation, it means many people with the virus at every stage along the way were not put into isolation when they should. These people would have helped the virus spread far and wide!

 

Whilst SA has ordered enough vaccines to vaccinate enough of its population to reach herd-immunity by the end of this year, 2021.

 

Zimbabwe has less than 1 million of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine doses, enough to vaccinate 500 000 (two doses per person). Zimbabwe will be looking to donated vaccines to reach its 10 million herd-immunity and will be very lucky to reach that target by June 2022.

 

God only knows how much economic disruption and human suffering and deaths the nation will be inflicted in those 18 months!

 

“The truth will set you free!” so goes the adage. In Mexico’s case the truth about the country’s corona virus deaths will save many from the corona virus infection and save many lives too – assuming pressure will be brought to bear of President Obrador to ramp up the testing and vaccination programme, improve health care facilities, etc. Mexico is a healthy and functioning democracy, the people’s voice counts!

 

Zimbabwe is not so lucky! The true corona virus death toll will remain a closely guarded state secrete and President Mnangagwa will continue boasting of how well the regime has handled the corona virus pandemic. Zimbabwe is a de facto one-party dictatorship with corrupt and incompetent opposition, a toothless poodle at best. This last year the MDC A has all but imploded as a result of the internal factional fighting rendering the opposition utterly useless at the very the nation needed the poodle to at least bark and raise the alarm!

 

It was bad enough that Zimbabwe had the great misfortune of having had a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical government for 40 years at the onset of the corona virus pandemic. The country was one of the least prepared nations to deal with the pandemic because our economic was in a mess and the health care had all but collapsed. Having the same corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF in power to deal with the pandemic is a nightmare. The regime has handled the pandemic with its characteristic blundering incompetence, turning the tragedy into a catastrophe of Biblically proportion.

 

Officially Zimbabwe’s corona virus death toll is 1 519 as of 28 March 2021. The true figure is probably 15 000 plus, 10 times as high. And we are not yet out of the woods, by the time the country reaches its 10 million herd-immunity, June 2022, the death toll will have surge up. Zimbabwe could well end up with one of the highest per capita corona virus death rates in the world!

 

In 2008 Zimbabwe’s inflation rate peaked at 500 billion percent the highest in modern human history! And now we are in line to claim another world record! How I wish it was for something the nation can be proud of and not to once again hold our heads in shame over!

"MDC will not disclose its WIRE strategies" - another rigged elections to test that, how foolish N Garikai

 MDC Alliance is gearing up for the upcoming 2023 national elections although it is clear not even one democratic reform would have been implemented since the last elections. The party’s leader, Nelson Chamisa was not concerned about that!

 

“We will not discuss and disclose our strategies on social media platforms. We are serious about our next steps,” Chamisa reportedly answered when he was asked about going into yet another election with no reforms.

 

“If you want to understanding our value just check how our opponents are panicking and misbehaving.”

 

Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess with 50% of the country’s population now living in abject poverty and the education and health care services have all but completely collapsed after decades of being starved of funds. And as long as the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical thugs who have rigged elections to stay in power.

 

After 41 years being stuck in this hell-hole the country desperately needs a clearly, workable, fool-proof, tried and tested plan A, with backup plans B and C, mapping out how the nation is finally going to ending this curse of rigged elections and the pariah state. The last thing this nation should accept is yet another unconventional solution of which we, the people at the coal face of it all, are not permitted to know but expected to blindly follow and hope for the best!

 

MDC leaders have had 21 years, 5 of which in the GNU, to bring about the democratic changes the nation has been dying for. They had their best opportunity to do so during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Sadly, they sold-out and failed to implement even one reform in the five years.

 

Ever since the failed GNU, MDC leaders have participated in flawed and illegal elections on the basis the party had devised Winning In Rigged Elections (WIRE) strategies. The party has always refused to disclose what these strategies were but, most notably, none of the strategies have ever worked because Zanu PF was always won the elections.

 

It has become as clear as daylight, that the WIRE strategies are feeble excuses why MDC leaders keep participating in these flawed and illegal elections knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging and they were helpless to stop the rigging.

 

What the nation wants to know is what is being done to end this curse of rigged elections and bad governance! After 41 years of rigged elections we what free, fair and credible elections; that is not too much to ask!

 

The reason why MDC A and the rest in the opposition camp have participated in the flawed elections is because Zanu PF has been giving away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate. It is these bait seats the opposition are after.

 

By participating in these flawed elections, the opposition gave the process credibility and gave the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.

 

So, both Zanu PF and the MDC leaders have gained something from these flawed elections. It is the ordinary Zimbabweans who have lost everything since they have been left stuck with Zanu PF in power and the consequences of Zimbabwe being a pariah state!

 

The way out of this economic and political mess has been staring us in the face all along – implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. Just because Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friend took their eyes off the ball and failed to implement even one reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU does not meaning no one else can implement the reforms much less that the reforms are no longer required.

 

Of course, there is no chance of Zanu PF implementing any reforms before the 2023 elections or ever. Why would Mnangagwa and company reform themselves out of office, especially when they know they are guaranteed to get legitimacy from the guaranteed participation of the opposition in the flawed elections.

 

The party failed to explain why it has, unilaterally, abandoned the universally acknowledged strategy of implementing the reforms in favour of the downright idiotic tactic out-rigging Zanu PF, given the latter’s a well-oiled vote rigging juggernaut! The nation is not interested in these WIRE strategies because everyone is sick and tired of rigged elections; they just want this problem sorted and not kicked down the road!

 

The people have watched with a sense of foreboding and despair the events that has torn MDC A apart; the people can see the root causes of the implosion are self-inflicted blunders.

 

There is no denying MDC A has lost a lot of political credibility; as has MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora and other opposition parties!

 

There is no doubt that Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies will be going into the 2023 elections with not even one token reform in place. No doubt MDC A and the usual opposition suspects will participate in the flawed elections, fighting over the few gravy train seats on offer. The political question that must be nagging President Mnangagwa is Can Zanu PF get away with another rigged elections given MDC A and company have lost political credibility?

 

“MDC A will not disclose its WIRE strategies!” So, the nation is having yet another 2023 elections, rigged, just to test MDC A’s revised WIRE strategies! How foolish is that! 

Matemadanda fired for "verbal diarrhoea decimating MDC A" - demand now is for credible opposition P Guramatunhu

 

“Zanu PF has relieved Victor Matemadanda from the political commissar post over incompetence and his verbal diarrhoea remarks on the decimation of the opposition MDC Alliance,” reported Bulawayo 24.

 

“Speaking at the Zanu PF Mashonaland East provincial co-ordinating committee meeting in Marondera on Sunday, Matemadanda took numerous jabs at MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, including saying his party is melting like a candle and they (the ruling party) are not yet done.”

 

Actually, everyone in Zanu PF is very pleased; none more pleased than President Mnangagwa himself; that MDC A is imploding. The last year has been bad enough for Zanu PF without having to worry about MDC A highlighting the many problems.

 

President Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra; launched soon after the November 2017 coup and of which he was cocksure would deliver economic recovery; died soon after the launch. The regime’s failure to keep its promise to hold free and fair elections, to stamp out corruption, etc. confirmed the country was still a pariah state and snuffed out all hope of any meaningful economic recovery.

 

Investors are a shrewd and savvy lot; they do not do business in a pariah state.

 

As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, there will be no meaningful economic recovery much less the economic miracle of Zimbabwe becoming an “upper middle income nation by 2030, Vision 2030” that President Mnangagwa and his Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube, wittering about!

 

The corona virus pandemic has made the country’s bad economic and health situation even worse. And by handling the pandemic with the usual blundering incompetence, Zanu PF has turned a tragedy into a catastrophe. The country has managed to keep its official covid-19 cases and deaths figures very low by not testing for the virus, for example.

 

The price of not testing is infected people who should be in isolation continue to live in the community and thus spread the virus.  

 

So far, Zimbabwe has secured enough vaccines to vaccinate 500 000 and will be very lucky to reach the 10 million head-immunity by the end 2022 as we are depending on donated vaccines. SA, which is buying most of its own vaccines, is hoping to achieve its head immunity by the end of this years. The delay in reaching the head immunity will cause more economic disruption and cost more human suffering and deaths.

 

Zimbabwe has the money to buy the vaccines and lots beside; if only the country would act and stop the wholesale looting that has being going on for decades now!

 

"We don't need anyone's money (to finance development) as we can do it on our own. Sometimes it's just the mindset and belief to achieve that," Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr John Mangudya, told Business Times last month.

 

"Like what oil is to Nigeria, gold is to Zimbabwe. The precious mineral alone has the potential to turn around the country's fortunes.”

 

It is estimated that Zimbabwe is losing a staggering US$1.2 billion worth of gold is smuggled out of the country every year.

 

On 3 March 2016 then President Mugabe admitted that the nation had lost $15 billion worth of diamonds because of the looting and plunder in Marange and Chiadzwa.

 

Of course, President Mnangagwa must be very, very pleased that MDC A is imploding and therefore have completely taken their eyes off the ball. Otherwise, he and his entire Zanu PF cabinet would been squealing like pigs if just one MDC A MP had forced the regime to carry out corona virus tests as WHO recommendations and thus forced the regime to reveal the true covid-19 cases and deaths figures.

 

However, as much as Zanu PF is very pleased that MDC A is imploding, Mnangagwa knows the importance of keeping up the pretence that MDC A is a formidable opposition. The importance of be subtle!

 

“Usachenjedza vanyamukuta kuzvara uchada!” (Never insult the midwife whilst you still need her expert service!) so goes the Shona adage!

 

Zanu PF leaders are well versed in being subtle!

“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidza kudya anyerere!” (MDC people have learned to enjoy the gravy train good-life and not rock the boat!) Zanu PF cronies boosted during the 2008 to 2013 GNU when asked why MDC leaders were not implementing the reforms. They would always follow this with a finger to their mouth!  

 

It was in Zanu PF’s interest to string Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends along even though they were selling out by failing to implement the reforms. Even after the GNU, Zanu PF has been very careful never to gloat about MDC leaders being corrupt, incompetent and sell outs because Zanu PF’s legitimacy is dependent on maintain the pretence that MDC leaders are a credible opposition.  

 

Victor Matemadanda has mockingly dismissed Chamisa, whose MDC A has all but imploded, as nothing but a Chihuahua that has lost its teeth, bark and can hardly stand. It is absurd that the marauding elephant, Mnangagwa, should even consider Chamisa a threat.

 

By completely discrediting the MDC A as a political force, Matemadanda has given the people of Zimbabwe the impetus to demand the implementation of democratic reforms leading to the holding of free, fair and credible elections. This is exactly what Zanu PF has fought hard to avoid! And no wonder Matemadanda has been summarily fired -  he lacked political fineness to appreciate incompetent and corrupt MDC was exactly what Zanu PF needed as the opposition!

"Zimbabwe elections are a waste of time and money" - who says and more significantly, why? W Mukori

 Dear Tendai Ruben Mbofana

 

Thank you for the excellent article, 'ZANU PF won't reform itself out of power', so why are Zimbabweans not using their own powers to push for genuine reforms?’ in Bulawayo 24. A good read!

 

“The recent thought-provoking comments by expelled ZANU PF member of parliament, Killer Zivhu, to the effect that elections in Zimbabwe were a sheer waste of time and the nation's resources, as the outcomes will always be contested and disputed - rather, arguing for inclusive dialogue between all major political players, and the setting up of a unity government - have, understandably, set tongues wagging, and attracted vibrant debate amongst the population,” you wrote.

 

I would like to take the above snippet and interrogate it.

 

Who says Zimbabwe elections “are a waste of time and nation’s resources” and, more significantly, why? These are key questions that are often ignored and yet, in answering them, are the explanation of why we are in this mess and how we can get out.

 

Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies would ideally want Zimbabwe to be a de jure one-party state as contrast to the present de facto one-party state. He tried to have the constitution changed in the late 1980s and dispense with the necessity of holding regular elections; he failed.

 

He did the next best thing, created a de facto one-party state in which Zanu PF rod roughshod of the people denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life. Ever since the 1980 elections Zanu PF has rigged elections as the only sure way the party would keep its iron grip on power.  

 

Zanu PF would only consider the elections a waste of time and resources in so far as the nation should have accepted a de jure one-party state. As for disputing the elections because the process was not free, fair and credible; Zanu PF leaders will swear on all the holy books you want that the elections are free, fair and credible!

 

As for the MDC and the rest of the opposition politicians they should be dismissed as fork-tongued hypocrites! MDC leaders cannot complain that elections are rigged when they are the ones who failed to implement the democratic reforms to end the culture of rigged elections. They had 5 years during the 2008 to 2013 GNU to implement the reforms and failed to implement even one token reform.

 

Worse still, everyone in the opposition camp knew that with no reforms in place Zanu PF would rig the July 2018 elections, hands down. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll for Pete’s sake.

 

Still the opposition participated in the flawed and illegal elections regardless because they all knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats to entice them to participate. They all found the bait irresistible and did not care the elections would be rigged.

 

Of course, the opposition politicians knew that by participating in the flawed elections they would give the process credibility and, by extension, give the result legitimacy. Nelson Chamisa and his MDC A’s complaining that Mnangagwa rigged the elections and so lacked legitimacy was ignored with the contempt it rightly deserved – he was being childish in wanting to keep his cake and eat it too.

 

The suggestion that Zanu PF and MDC leaders should form a government of national unity is just another piece of recycled nonsense. The two parties were in the 2008 to 2013 GNU that failed to implement even one democratic reform. It is naïve to think a new GNU would do any better!  

So, the only people with good reason to view Zimbabwe’s flawed and illegal elections as a waste of time and the resources are the ordinary Zimbabweans themselves. Elections are much more than just about the people’s right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country, they are the key, the DNA, of good governance.

 

Leaders who embrace free, fair and credible elections are not just being liberal and are accepting “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!” They are accepting that they are infallible and therefore must be accountable to the people who pay the ultimate price of every mistake they, the leaders, make!  

 

There is no denying that the ordinary Zimbabweans are the ones who have suffered and many have died because of 41 years of Zanu PF misrule. The misrule has lasted all these years precisely because Zanu PF rigged the elections, usurping the people’s right and power to have a meaningful say in the governance of the country.

 

So, the ordinary Zimbabweans must voice their objection to the flawed and illegal elections and demand the implementation of the democratic reforms to restore all their freedoms and rights including the right to free elections and even the right to life itself! 

"Soldiers' wages quadrupled whilst teachers' remain stagnant" - stoking another "military assisted transition", long overdue N Garikai

 I shudder to think what would have become of me if I had missed one month of schooling in any one year! I was not one of the bright pupils, as all my teachers would acknowledge. I needed the teachers’ guidance every step of the way!

There is no doubt that the corona virus lockdowns have caused serious disruption to the children’s education the world over. 2020 was a wasted year and everything possible must be done to make sure students catch-up. It is folly to assume whatever student were supposed to have learned in all of last year, they learned it!

Losing a whole year of schooling and be push to the next level frightens the day out of me! Between you, the reader, and the brick wall, I repeated my third year at school and that helped.

If it was for me to decide, I would strongly recommend every student should repeat because, like it or not, education is like building a house, the house is only as sold as the foundation on which it stands. I would rather have a single storey building with a solid foundation than a five-storey building with a dodgy foundation; the former will never stand the test of time and the latter will not.  

As if the disruption caused by corona virus was not bad enough, the Zimbabwe student is facing the reality of yet another academic year being written off!

Last year, learners spent the better part of 2020 not attending class due the global Covid-19 pandemic resulting in students writing Grade 7 final examinations producing pathetic results.

said students will also be affected this year if teachers are not well remunerated and will as a result boycott work.

"We urge the government to expeditiously resolve the challenges faced by teachers or else 2021 would be a wasted year," Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) President Takavafira Zhou warned in an interview with NewZimbabwe.com.

Zhou claimed the salaries of government employees in state security departments including the army, police, prison and the Central Intelligence Office (CIO) quadrupled this month while teachers' wages remained stagnate.

Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who have been rigging elections these last 40 years to stay in power. Four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left the country’s economy in ruins.

And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. There will be no money to pay teachers a living wage; Takavafira Zhou and his fellow teachers should know this by now.

President Mnangagwa and his government are paying security service personal four times the wage of the teacher or nurse because Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruling by fear and needs to placate the repressive agents. As the economic meltdown gets worse and worse, it is getting worse and worse, the regime will have to quadrupled the soldiers’ wages again and again. And still this will not be enough because, without the economic recovery, these wage increases are only fuelling inflation!

The country has already witness one military coup, “military assisted transition”, as the November 2017 coup plotters called it. The country has remained a pariah state or be it under new management and so, the economic meltdown has continued.

If 2021 is another wasted school year then this generation of students will never ever catch-up. Never! Can you imagine what kind of a nation Zimbabwe will be with 60% or so of all those who were 5 to 20 years old in 2020 whose education attainment is so low they can be considered mentally blind, deaf and dumb! 

The economic, social and political situation is getting worse and worse, this is unsustainable. A country whose education and health care have all but totally collapsed has no future! A new military assisted transition, hardly three years since the last, is already long overdue!

American object to postponed by-election - focus on reforms and not cheerleaders to rigged by-elections P Guramatunhu

 The Americans, the opposition and everyone who genuinely want to see an end to Zimbabwe’s curse of rigged elections and bad governance must be careful not to send mixed and confusing messages.

The 2018 elections proved, as if we needed any such proof, that it is impossible to hold free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe without first implementing democratic reforms. We know, for example, that 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote. And that ZEC failed to produce something as fundamental to democratic elections a verified voters’ roll; a legal and common-sense requirement.

It should be noted here that the law calls for the production of a verified voters’ roll at least a month before nomination day. ZEC not only failed to meet the nomination day deadline it failed to produce a verified voters’ roll for the voting day itself or thereafter. There is no verified voters’ roll in Zimbabwe! None!

“We also note the government’s selective enforcement of Covid-19 regulations to indefinitely postpone by-elections and prohibit MDC Alliance gatherings, while permitting internal elections and gatherings for the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) party and its allies to go forward,” said US Department of State, according to a New Zimbabwe report.

“Zanu PF is misusing the levers of government to silence critics, neutralise opposition, and entrench its political power over the Zimbabwean people.”

The US Department was reacting to recent reports that ZEC would resume voter registration and other activities. However the holding of by-elections will remain suspended.

Are we saying it is ok to hold by-elections with no verified voters’ roll?

In less than two and half years Zimbabwe will once again go to the polls and not even one of the raft of democratic reforms has been implemented. I would rather pressure this Zanu PF regime to implement the reforms and make sure 2023 elections are free, fair and credible than waste time and resources holding fraudulent by-elections.

If Zanu PF fails to implement the reforms before the 2023 elections; millions of Zimbabweans in the diaspora are denied the vote, there is no verified voters’ roll, etc., etc.; the plebiscite must be declared null and void. We must not give Zanu PF the excuse for failing to implement the reforms.

We know that Chamisa and his friends in the opposition camp are the ones itching for the by-elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process happens to be. They have participated in similar fraudulent elections in the past because they also know that Zanu PF gives away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition – these they find irresistible.

 

Of course, Chamisa et al are selling out in participating in flawed and illegal elections giving the process credibility and the result legitimacy to feed their insatiable greed. We should be condemning these opposition opportunists and not be seen as their cheerleaders!

"Chamisa dared us to dream" - insanity of zealot since his dream is Winning In Rigged Elections (WIRE) P Guramatunhu

  “How can he (Obert Gutu) say MDC died with Morgan Tsvangirai when MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa garnered 2,2 million votes in the 2018 presidential elections?” counted Chief Chiduku in Bulawayo 24.

“Chamisa embodies the aspirations of born-frees.

“That he narrowly lost to President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the 2018 elections means a lot to us young people. He dared us to dream.”

This is typical of people who are confused and/or whose understanding of the issues are so narrow and vague what they say does not make any sense.

Chamisa’s Constitutional Court challenge of the 2018 presidential election results were based on premise that he had won 2.6 million votes and the MDC A supporters rallied behind him. He failed to produce all V11 forms, the piece of paper giving vote count for each candidate issued by each Polling Station, to show where he got that figure; but that was inconsequential to the MDC A wildebeest herd.

ZEC declared that Mnangagwa got 2.4 million votes and Chamisa got 2.2 million votes. ZEC admitted in its affidavit to the Constitution Court that it too did not have all the V11 forms; it 10 987 V11 forms and about 10% were missing; hence the reason ZEC had third different vote tallies it could not reconcile.

V11 forms are supposed to be completed and signed by ZEC officials in the presence of all the contestants or their agents who will add their signature as the witnesses to the voting process. One copy of the V11 is posted at each Polling Station.

A second copy of the V11 is retained in the ballot box together with the ballots and all the other materials used in the voting process. The ballot box is then sealed and ZEC officials and the witness will all attach their signatures.

A third copy of the V11 is kept by the ZEC officials for use in the next stage of the counting process. This is the copy ZEC command centre received. If, for whatever reason, the V11 form to ZEC command centre was lost, then the vote count from the affected Polling Station would not be included in the vote count until the sealed ballot box was opened. For ZEC to miss over 1 000 V11 forms and to have the votes from these missing V11 added to the total count regardless; should have set-off alarm bells ringing non-stop – this cannot be a free, fair and credible elections.

The failure to produce V11 was not the only cause for alarm. 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote. During his visit to the USA for the Heads of State and Government annual UN meeting in September 2018, Mnangagwa promised Zimbabweans in the diaspora will vote in future. He did not give any reasons why they had been denied the vote in the past because there was no excuse.

Indeed, ZEC had failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, both a legal and common-sense requirement. Without a verified voters’ roll the opportunities to rig the vote are limitless.  

Why MDC A and the rest in the opposition camp participated in these flawed and illegal elections, knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging the elections, baffled the uninitiated. The reality is the opposition politicians were after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF was giving away as bait; they did not care that the elections were rigged and the masses were being denied a meaningful say in the governance of the country.

By participating in these flawed and illegal elections, MDC A was giving credibility to the process and by extension giving legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF regime.

What is really infuriating about it all is that MDC A leaders themselves knew their participating was giving legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF as David Coltart readily admitted in his book.

In his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe, David Coltart, former MDC – Ncube and Minister of Education in the 2008 GNU, gave details of how Zanu PF was flouting the electoral rules in the upcoming 2013 elections. It was clear the elections were not be free, fair and credible and yet he and everyone else soldiered on.

“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 elections,” wrote Senator Coltart.

“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 feeble excuse because three of the main MDC factions plus four other opposition parties formed the MDC A coalition and still there was no talk of boycotting the 2018 elections. They were all after the few gravy train seats and greed prevailed.

“MDC A has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!” Chamisa’s feeble excuse for participating in elections knowing Zanu PF was rigging.

MDC A are gearing to participate in the 2023 elections with not even a token reform in place. The leaders are talking of devising “Winning In Rigged Elections (WIRE) strategies”. All nonsense, of course. Without something as basic as a verified voters’ roll the really is no limit to what one can do to rig the vote.

What Zimbabwe needs desperately right now is clear minded people who will discard these WIRE strategies with the contempt they rightly deserve and demand the nation focus on implementing all the reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

We can rule out Zanu PF implementing any reforms before 2023, especially when the party knows MDC A and the rest in the opposition will participate with no reforms. What Zanu PF should know here and now is that if the elections go ahead with no reforms the process will be declared null and void, regardless of Chamisa et al participating in the flawed elections. Enough of this nonsense of elections with no verified voters’ roll, millions denied the vote, etc.

Zimbabwe must never again be bamboozled by Mnangagwa, Chamisa or anyone into yet another flawed and illegal election process and allow the result to stand! The nation has made this foolish mistake these last 41 years and it will be insane to repeat the same mistake again!