“What electoral reforms?” asked Francov.
“I have seen and read many articles on the need for Zimbabwe to
reform/change its electoral laws. But I am yet to know or understand exactly
what/which laws need to be changed and how they should change.”
You have raised some real important points and worthy our serious
consideration.
It has been impossible to have a healthy and functioning democracy
in Zimbabwe because most of the people out there do not even have a clue on
what constitute free, fair and credible elections and so it has been easily for
Mnangagwa to blatantly rig the elections and insist the elections were free,
fair and credible.
For elections to be free, fair and credible the process must
satisfy laid out laws and procedures in much the same way a game of football is
governed by rules everyone must observe. For elections, we have rules saying
who can and cannot vote, those eligible to vote must then register and be
listed in a voters’ roll, the voters’ roll must be verified and produced at
least a month before nomination day, etc., etc.
Not only did ZEC fail to produce a verified voters’ roll a month
before nomination day; they never produced one even to this day.
“The electoral commission (ZEC) 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 Zimbabwe 2018
Election Mission final report.
“As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to
meet international standards.”
Of course, if you do not have the verified voters’ roll you cannot
verify who voted and who was denied the vote, how many voted more than once, etc.,
etc. The opportunity to rig the process is limitless and with no verified
voters’ roll they know they will get away with murdered!
Many outsiders have been baffled as to why Nelson Chamisa and his
friends in the opposition camp participated in the 2018 elections when ZEC had
failed to produce something as basic as a voters’ roll? The answer is simple –
greed!
“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 David Coltart in his book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of
Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
“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.”
Coltart was an MDC-N Minister of Education in the 2008 to 2013 GNU
that failed to implement even one democratic reform in five years.
Robert Mugabe bribed the two MDC faction leaders with the
trappings of high office and, with their snouts in the feeding trough, they forgot
about implementing the reforms.
SADC leaders, who had helped to hammer out the 2008 Global Political
Agreement and got Mugabe and Zanu PF to agree to the raft of reforms, literally
begged MDC leaders not to participate in the 2013 elections until the reforms
were implemented. SADC leaders wanted the elections postponed until reforms
were implemented.
Zanu PF was quick to point out that MDC leaders had never tabled
any reform proposals in parliament, which was true. Patrick Chinamasa, who was
Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs throughout the GNU, called a
press conference to confirm there were no outstanding reform proposals. None!
So, MDC leaders had failed to implement even one reform during the
GNU because they were corrupt and were bribed to forget about the reforms using
the trappings of high office. They could not boycott the 2013 (and future) elections
to protest (pressure Zanu PF) the failure to implement reforms because it was none
other than MDC leaders themselves who had sold-out on reforms. And so MDC have
participated in the flawed and illegal elections since the GNU because they had
no choice; they had the golden chance to implement reforms and they wasted it.
As Coltart readily admitted above, by participating in flawed and
illegal elections MDC are giving “the process credibility” and by extension
giving the result legitimacy. True enough, Mnangagwa has given the 23
presidential candidates in the July 2018 as proof Zimbabwe is a healthy
democracy and the elections were free, fair and credible.
The reason why the opposition have participated in the flawed
elections is greed, they knew Zanu PF was offering a 1/3 or so gravy train
seats plus a corresponding share of the annual Political Party Finance Act pay
out. The opposition have found this bait irresistible.
As can been seen from the details above many things must change,
must be reformed. It is a legal requirement that ZEC must produce a verified
voters’ roll, for example. So one must then look at what reforms are required
to force ZEC to carry out this task?
It is common knowledge that state institutions like ZEC, Police,
Judiciary, Public Media, are all but Zanu PF departments in all but name. The
State President has the power to appoint and fire ZEC, Police, etc. The law
must be changed force these public officials to appear before a parliamentary
committee with the power have the official removed from office if their
performance is unsatisfactory.
In some cases the open up of the democratic space would produce
the desired change, for example a healthy and competent media will expose the
corrupt and incompetent opposition politicians who have been participating in
flawed elections out of greed.
Here is a list of five democratic reforms Zimbabweans should be
demanding before the next elections in 2023;
a) a verified voters’ roll
b) Zimbabweans in the diaspora what have a vote
c) Zanu PF must stop politicising state assistance especially in
the rural areas that has turned the people into medieval serfs beholden to Zanu
PF leaders and their proxies
d) want a free public media, Police and other state bodies
e) corruption must be stamped out, this is the source of billions
of dollars bankrolling the Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut.
See bulawayo24.com/index-id-opinion-sc-columnist-byo-198673 for
more details of the above reforms.
The link below will open many other articles on elections and
other related issues.
It is no exaggeration than many Zimbabweans out there would say
the 2018 elections were rigged. Ask them why and it’s light out!
If we want a democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe, then we must earn
it. There really is no excuse why the majority of people do not know what
constitute free, fair and credible elections in this day and age. If we cannot
be bother to ensure we have free, fair and credible elections then we deserve
the corrupt and vote rigging dictatorship. And we have certainly got our just
deserve!
@ Francov
ReplyDeleteIt is good that you are asking, we definitely need to have a serious debate on democracy and good governance. It is very disappointing that many Zimbabweans have no clue what the 2008 to 2013 GNU was about and why it was a total failure.
Every Zimbabwean has a right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and this right has been deny ever since the country gained her independence in 1980. We need to ask how the right has been denied and then implement the reform to stop it ever happening again.
Zanu PF leaders and operatives made it clear in 1980 that if the party failed to win the elections the war would continue. This is threatening the voters, a common theme that has been repeated countless times ever since. The nation should enact a law prohibiting the use of all forms of violence and impose stiff punishments on all those found guilty of the crime.
In Zimbabwe the Police have often turned a blind eye to politically motivated violence, we should enact a law to force the Police to carry out their democratic duties without fear or farvour.
Zimbabwe has really done nothing of note to help contain the corona virus, we are not doing enough tests to quickly identify and isolate corona virus hotspots. We have vaccinated just over 30 000 and need 10 000 000 to reach head immunity. Lockdown measures are being eased and school are reopening in ten days time.
ReplyDeleteZimbabwe is in for a rough ride, corona virus cases and deaths will be soaring up and down willy-nilly and the country will be going in and out of lockdown like a yoo yoo!
The country is losing US$1.2 billion a year to gold smugglers alone. Enough money to have bought enough vaccines for country's 15 million population. Our failure to ensure we have a competent government accountable to the people all these last 41 years has come home to haunt us. We must address this problem now or many, many Zimbabwe will suffer and many will die in the months ahead.
It is true that President Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections soon after the November 2017 military coup. He then refused to implement even one reform and went on to blatantly rig the July 2018 elections. He even had the cheek to insist the elections were free and fair. How can the election be free and fair when the regime failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll!
ReplyDeleteOf course, the opposition had no business participating in an election knowing the process was so flawed it is a mockery to call it an election. The only reason they pitched their noses and participated was because they were after the few gravy train seat offered as bait.
The real disappointment is that many Zimbabweans had no clue Zanu PF and the opposition were short changing them, even to this day still many have no clue, and hence the reason the politicians have all got away with it. There is really no excuse, in this day and age, why Zimbabweans have remained blissfully ignorant of what constitute free, fair and credible elections. They chose to be ignorant and so now the must pay the price - blissfully suffer and die!
It is true that many Zimbabweans out there would agree that Zanu PF has been rigging elections all these last 41 years. Ask them how and they cannot answer.
ReplyDeleteKnowing what constitutes free, fair and credible elections is not rocket science but it is not grade one stuff either. It will take a little effort and anyone will master it because it is all common sense, really!
There are lessons to learn from the divinely inspired story of Moses and the Children of Israel leaving Egypt, the land of slavery, to the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. It took them 40 years of wandering in the desert and facing all manner of challenges from hunger, thirst and being attacked by hostile nations before they finally got there. The moral of the story is the Promised Land comes with a price tag - you have to earn it!
Zimbabweans did not have to face the physical challenge of traveling from A to B but they have only to make the mental journey. Sadly, many never even made the effort.
Of course, if you do not even know what constitute free, fair and credible elections, you will be short changed! And for 41 years and counting Zimbabweans have been short changed!
Teachers can remind government to capacitate them all they want, we all know and so does the teachers that it is not going to happen. The Zimbabwe economy is in total meltdown, has been for decades now, and education and health are some of the services that have been systematically starved of funds.
ReplyDeleteWe all know the root cause of Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is decades of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness that has made us a pariah state. Ordinarily the people would have booted the failing government but not so in Zimbabwe, Zanu PF has rigged elections ever since the country's independence in 1980, we cannot boot them out!
Zimbabwe is a very rich nation, rich enough to be paying its teachers a living wage. The country is losing a staggering US$1.2 billion per year to gold smugglers alone. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans are gold-panners, "Magorongoza", and they are digging everywhere. The panners themselves get peanut the big operators buying the gold and smuggling it out of the country are the ones making the killing. Government has done nothing to stamp out the looting because the ruling elite are the Godfathers behind it all!
If teachers are serious about being paid a living wage then they should start by finally address the elephant in the room - rigged elections and bad governance. There will be no meaningful change in Zimbabwe until we rid ourselves of the curse of rigged elections.
The teachers, like many other Zimbabweans, have avoided the issue reform and free, fair and credible elections all these last 41 years; they cannot afford to do so any more.
It is gratifying that Zimbabweans are starting to pay attention to the problems of bad governance and making sure elections are free, fair and credible is the alpha, omega and everything in between of good governance. As a nation we have neglected our duty and responsibility to elect competent leaders and to remove from office those who have failed to make the grade.
ReplyDeleteZanu PF leaders have rigged elections and thus placed themselves above the people these last 41 years. We, the people, pretended not to notice and Zanu PF have usurped even more of our power to assume absolute power for themselves.
After decades of enjoying absolute power, the influence, the wealth and the good life; it is little wonder the Zanu PF thugs are fighting tooth and nail to hang on to their absolute power, influence, etc. they are addicted to them all. The thought of giving any of it up is simply unthinkable.
Addicted they may be, still the thought of the economic meltdown, political paralysis and the tragic human misery this de facto one-party dictatorship has brought carrying on beyond the 2023 elections is UNTHINKABLE!
If Zimbabweans finally apply themselves to the challenge before us they will know, if elections go ahead with no reforms, they are being short changed big time and have the good sense to demand the plebiscite must be declared null and void! The growing interest in what constitute free, fair and credible elections gives me reason to believe Zimbabwe are indeed applying themselves!
@ Israel
ReplyDeleteWe have a serious problem of bad governance in Zimbabwe and to do nothing about it, which you are suggesting, is foolish!
There is nothing in holding free, fair and credible elections that would violate the Ten Commandments much less offend God. There is much in rigged elections that violates the Ten Commandments and offend God!
The US President said there was no progress on fundamental reforms required to foster rule of law, democratic governance, and the protection of human rights, hence the decision to extend the sanctions by another year.
ReplyDelete"The actions and policies of certain members of the government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States," Biden said.
"For this reason, the national emergency declared on March 6, 2003, and the measures adopted on that date, on November 22, 2005, and on July 25, 2008, to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond March 6, 2021. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 USC 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13288."
Eighty-three Zanu-PF officials and 37 State-linked companies are on the US targeted sanctions list.
In 2003, under Executive Order 13288, the US declared a national emergency and blocked the release of property of certain officials linked to the late former President Robert Mugabe's administration.
This, the US said, was to "deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States constituted by the actions and policies of certain members of the government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions."
"These actions and policies had contributed to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Zimbabwe, to politically-motivated violence and intimidation in that country, and to political and economic instability in the southern African region," Biden said.
But Presidential spokesperson George Charamba yesterday said: "We are not interested in that. That is not a story for us. It is a big story for you guys and not for us. We have a country to run."
Zanu-PF information director Tafadzwa Mugwadi tweeted: "Sanctions have actually hardened us. The party is now tried and tested. We have now mastered the art of retaining power and consolidating it. As long as sanctions are there, Zimbabwe will soon become a one-party State. People like (MDC Alliance leader Nelson) Chamisa will be taken like rebel leaders and it won't end well."
The arrogant dismissal of the tragic reality in Zimbabwe by regime is to be expected. Zimbabweans must now accept the reality that Zanu PF ruling elite are now addicted to enjoying absolute power, the influence, wealth and the good life that go with it. They are not going to risk losing it by implementing democratic reforms and giving the people back their freedoms and rights.
Whatever hardships the people face due to the sanctions we must remember that these are nothing compared to the hardship brought about by the corruption and the tyrannical oppression.
We have to use all the pressure points to force these Zanu PF thugs to restore our basic freedoms and rights. The sanctions is one pressure tool in the box, we must use it. The sanction must remain.
Of course, it is disheartening that we supported the imposition of the UN sanctions against the white Ian Smith regime in the fight to end white colonial oppression. And now we are back calling for new sanctions in the fight to end black oppression! The 1980 independence accomplish nothing other than us swapping white oppressors for black oppressors!
President Mnangagwa has this afternoon commissioned 50 buses from the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company stable as the Second Republic accelerates its efforts to provide a cheaper, efficient and cost effective transport system.
ReplyDeleteThe 50 buses bring to 212 new buses that Zupco has procured in recent months.
It would come as no surprise at all that ZUPCO has been losing money handover fist ever since its launch in the 1980s when the then Oman Bus Company was forced to sell its buses to the government owned ZUPCO. The government arm-twisted the company by denying it access to foreign currency to buy spares and new buses, forcing it to sell.
We all know why government did not want ZUPCO to operate and compete with Oman Bus, the later would have folded decades ago even with the billions of dollars government subsidies!
No doubt, billions of dollars have been poured into this new scheme to revive ZUPCO but it is money wasted because the corruption and mismanagement at the heart of the company has remained.
Zanu PF is a regime obsessed about control, the party has to own and control everything. It command agriculture has been a failure. Education and health care, another disaster! Mnangagwa is desperate to have one area, project, he can call a success; he is pouring billions of dollars into ZUPCO but it will all end in tears.
Government has struggle to rule the civil service and should leave all those activities that can be left to the private sector to the private sector!
SOUTH Africa power utility, Eskom, will require government funding of approximately R1 billion per week - the equivalent of R6 million every hour of the day - to remain both financially and operationally stable in 2021.
ReplyDeleteWithout the cash, it will not be able to service its "unsustainable debt burden" of R480 billion. That state of affairs was laid before Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday morning.
A presentation, recapping the utility's dismal 2020 financial results and ambitious recovery plan, showed slight improvements during lockdown, but that results in 2021 are expected to be worse than the year before.
In 2020, Eskom managed to normalise its coal stock, bring the troubled Kusile Unit 2 online, and improved debt collection from defaulting municipalities. This was accomplished with government's help - to the tune of R49 billion in bailouts.
But continued financial losses, delayed maintenance, and unplanned plant breakdowns led to 46 days of load shedding during the 2020 financial year. This, despite demand decreasing by between 1 360 MW and 5 680 MW - or roughly 10 percent of Eskom's total generation capacity - during lockdown Alert Levels 3 to 5, respectively.
One is forced to swallow hard, it is a bitter pill to swallow. I don't know about ESKOM but as for ZESA they certainly failed to make the hay whilst the sun was shining. It is no secret that ZESA has been crippled by decades of gross mismanagement and now the hard times are here and the company has no reserve, it is already broke!
ESKOM will be looking at ZESA not only paying for all imports but clear outstanding debts!
@ Rushizha Patrick
ReplyDeleteI hear you! The council employee, village head, chief, etc. all know that they got their job or position because they support Zanu PF and are willing to break the law saying they must carry out their duty in a none-partisan way. Now just suppose that many ordinary people knew not only that the councillor was breaking the law in asking for Zanu PF membership card but more significantly that she/he will not get away with it if this was reported. And indeed there are case after case of individuals who are reported and are fired. Of course, the practice will stop!
Our weakness is we have not taken the trouble to know our rights and then to demand that they are respected. There are not many Zimbabweans who would give the partisan distribution of state aid as proof the elections were rigged!
@ Mbofana
ReplyDelete“ZANU PF promised to improve the economy from the ousted Robert Gabriel Mugabe era, whereby a loaf of bread was 90 cents; the creation of jobs under the 'Zimbabwe is open for business' mantra; the building of 400,000 houses in the first eight months of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa's coming into power through a military coup d'etat in November 2017, and a subsequent 1.5 million more housing units between 2018 and 2023, at a rate of 300,000 a year, or 25,000 a month, or 6,250 per week, or 892 a day; as well as opening up of democratic space, with genuine media, political, and electoral reforms).
MDC promised to improve service delivery in urban areas they presided over, including consistent and reliable water supply, refuse collection, repair of local roads, and so many other pledges.
Honestly, if we are to mark these two main political players' performance, would it not be true that none of them deserve anything higher than a 'U' (if it were O-Levels), or an 'F' (if it were A-Levels), as they have not managed to fulfil even one hundredth of what they promised the electorate.
What I even find more laughable is the ruling ZANU PF's attempt at convincing these same voters, that they can do a far much better job than the MDC, if they took over urban authorities. Are these people for real?”
I totally agree, both Zanu PF and MDC deserve nothing better than a “U”. But after collecting a string of Us in every set-task year in year out why is it that the two parties are still in power after 41 and 21 years respectively of mediocre performance.
The answer is that Zanu PF has devised a system denying the people any meaningful vote and say in who governs. You and me and the mob out there can give Zanu PF thugs all the “U” grades we want but when push comes to shove, the elections, Zanu PF will blatantly rig the elections to ensure a landslide victory for the party and that is what really matters.
Ever since the MDC failed to implement even one reform to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, which was their number one task, MDC leaders have all but given up on securing free, fair and credible elections. The opposition have settle for the few gravy train seats Zanu PF has been giving away as bait to entice the opposition to participate in the flawed and illegal elections.
The MDC are still in power regardless of the string of Us grade performances because Zanu PF want them there and the people themselves have not yet woken up to the reality that MDC leaders are no longer fighting for free and fair elections.