Zanu PF is blatantly rigging the 2023 elections and the
party knows that there is real danger of SADC and AU condemning the process and
deny Zanu PF legitimacy as happened after the 2008 elections. The party’s
strategy is therefore double edged, the blatant cheating and wanton violence
will be accompanied by the propaganda to draw attention away from the flawed
and illegal election process.
President Mnangagwa and his cronies must be really
pleased with the way African leaders in both SADC and the AU have responded to
the anti-sanction mantra. Every hour spent discussing sanctions is an hour that
would have been spend discussing Zimbabwe’s flawed and illegal election
process! As much as Zanu PF will go into overdrive with its anti-sanction propaganda,
the regime’s legitimacy and thus continued rule depends on this, we too must
intensify our campaign to remind the SADC and AU leaders to keep their eyes on
the ball – free, fair and credible elections.
Zanu PF is denying 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora,
by the regime’s own reckoning, the vote, for example. This is a very
significant number given Mnangagwa was declared the winner of the 2018
elections with 2.4 million votes.
“Zanu PF will not grant the diaspora vote as long as
sanctions imposed by the West remain,” acting party spokesperson, Patrick
Chinamasa explained. Nonsense! One does not beat up the wife and children
because he quarrelled with the neighbour!
Why should the ordinary Zimbabweans be denied their
fundamental right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country because
the West imposed sanctions on Zanu PF?
It is no secret that the majority of Zimbabweans in the
diaspora are economic and/or political refugees and they blame Zanu PF for
their plight. And so, most of the diaspora votes would not be voting for Zanu
PF and, worse still, the party would not have the same opportunity to rig that
vote as it does with the local vote.
Zanu PF is denying 30% of the population the vote. How can
the election be free, fair and credible when one contestant is allowed to
cherry pick the electorate? Is the right
to a meaningful vote sacrosanct or not? This is the question SADC, AU and all
the election observers must bear in mind here.
It is most reassuring that the British and American continue
to support the ordinary Zimbabweans demanding free, fair and credible
elections.
“UNITED States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) yesterday
rubbished anti-sanctions marches that took place on Tuesday, saying the
demonstrations will not jolt them into removing them until there is rule of law
and democracy in the country,” reported Bulawayo24.
“The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Anti-Sanctions Day was held
on Tuesday in solidarity with the Government of Zimbabwe to force the US and UK
to remove the sanctions imposed in 2001 following chaotic and bloody invasions
of white commercial farms.”
Zanu PF is hoping SADC and AU’s tous pour un, un
pour tous (all for one, and one for all) anti-sanctions support will be
replicated endorsing Zanu PF rigged 2023 elections. The regional and continent
leaders must remember that national elections are, above all, about the sacrosanct
right of all ordinary citizens people to a meaningful say in the governance of
the country.
Zimbabwe is standing at the very edge of the precipice,
four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left millions
of Zimbabweans living in abject poverty and hopeless despair. The situation is
socially, economically and politically unsustainable. The cure for Zimbabwe’s
economic and political mess is implementing the democratic reforms to ensure
free, fair and credible elections. By endorsing yet another rigged Zanu PF
elections SADC and AU leaders will be once again helping Zanu PF ruling elite
stay in power at the expense of the ordinary citizens desperate for good
governance.
SADC and AU leaders musketeers style support of Zanu PF
over sanctions is foolish enough and it must not be repeated come the 2023
elections to grant vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and push Zimbabwe over the
precipitous abyss!
The US said the sanctions were targeted, and not meant to harm the Zimbabwean economy.
ReplyDelete"Earlier this year we delisted 11 people, and we are continuing to look carefully at the programme… We aren't stopping certain kinds of transactions. We're aware that because of the depth of the problems and the duration of this programme, there probably are a lot of companies which believe that doing business in Zimbabwe is just too difficult."
The US said the economic decay in Zimbabwe was a result of mismanagement and corruption.
"….We want legitimate businesses to be able to do legitimate business in places, and that includes Zimbabwe," the US added.
Business tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei is accused of profiting from misappropriation of property when his company, Sakunda Holdings, redeemed government Treasury Bills at up to 10 times their official value. The UK government alleges that his actions accelerated the devaluation of Zimbabwe's currency, increasing the price of essentials, such as food, for Zimbabwean citizens, a development which culminated in human rights violations
Anyone who can spell their name will also know that mismanagement and corruption, not sanctions, are the main causes of the country’s economic meltdown. Those calling for the lifting of the sanctions are doing so to appease Zanu PF.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the country is stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. And the only way to end the dictatorship is by forcing the regime to implement reforms and hold free elections. Sanctions is one tool to pressure the regime to change. It is therefore disheartening, to say the least, that anyone would want the sanctions lifted for the sole purpose of appeasing the regime!
It is too late now to get any meaningful democratic reforms to be implemented before Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections which must happen by 31 July 2023 at the latest or could happen as early as March 2023. It will take a lot more than 8 months to implement reforms and even longer for the changes to permeate and take effect.
ReplyDeleteZanu PF is as keen as mustard to hold the elections with no reforms in place because it is the party’s only guarantee to rig and win. The party is counting on SADC and AU to show the same sympathy and solidarity with the regime over the rigged elections as they are showing over the sanctions issue. Other than 2008, both SADC and AU have turned a blind eye to Zanu PF election irregularities and illegalities; the regime is hoping they will do so again.
Pressure must be brought to bear on SADC; especially SA, Zambia and Botswana who have a history of holding free and fair elections; judge the 2023 elections against internationally recognised standard and not some one-foot long yard stick! Zimbabwe’s economic and political mess is destabilizing the country and the region, and the three countries are in the front line!
Zimbabwe cannot afford to let Zanu PF get away with yet another rigged election, nor can SADC!
"We have gone into the countryside and there is massive support, that is why they are panicking. They know that defeat is imminent.
ReplyDelete"You cannot be violent while you have the support, you are only violent when you are on your way out. That is the character and conduct of the defeated and losers," Chamisa said in reference to Zanu-PF and its leader, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Chamisa's remarks come amid an escalation of politically-motivated violence across the country as the it heads towards 2023 polls
The people of Zimbabwe are so desperate for change, if is no exaggeration to say they would vote for a donkey if the choice was ED or the donkey! Zanu PF was able to use its vote rigging powers to turn MDC’s 73% win in the March 2008 elections into defeat. The failure to implement reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU means Zanu PF still enjoys these vote rigging powers. It is naïve, to say the least, to think that Zanu will lose an election with such carte blanche powers. Zanu PF has a dice with 6s on all the six sides, it is stupid to bet against the party failing to throw a 6!
What Chamisa is failing to get into his thick hard is that Mnangagwa and Zanu PF have accepted they will not win free, fair and credible elections and hence the reason they are rigging, they are using a loaded dice. By failing to implement reforms Chamisa is the only who is being foolish by pretending CCC can win rigged elections, by betting against Zanu PF throwing a 6!
After 42 years of rigged elections the nation is desperate to implement the reforms and put an end to this insanity of trying to win rigged elections, of betting against Zanu PF failing to throw a 6 when it is self-evident the party cannot throw anything else.
The truth is CCC are after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is giving away to entice the opposition to participate that is why Chamisa and company are hell bent on contesting these flawed elections. We, the people, have been slow to read the writing on the wall!
CCC president Nelson Chamisa said he was not too soft on Zanu PF and was strategising to lawfully remove Zanu PF from power.
ReplyDeleteFormer ZANU PF youth league political commissar Godfrey Tsenengamu, who now leads his own party, recently said Chamisa lacks the political clout to dislodge ZANU PF.
If there is one thing everyone with half a brain or more would agree on, it is that CCC has no clue how to remove Zanu PF from power. None!
Chamisia’s number one strategy was mass voter registration followed by mass voting, come voting day. The strategy is dead in the water because as of 30 May 2022 the party had only registered ¼ million or 4% of its own 6 million target!
Still, CCC is hell bent on participating in these flawed elections because the party is after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away to entice the opposition. But of course, CCC will never admit they are participating out of greed and so have to keep up the pretence they have a strategy win more than the bribe seats!
The real tragedy here is the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans who are participating in these flawed lections because they believe Chamisa and company have a plan. It is a great pity that even now with the benefit of hindsight these simple-minded people have not realised that MDC has failed to implement even one reform in 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU. When you have such a naïve and gullible electorate you know there is no limit to how far the nation will sink!
Chamisa has a strategy to remove Zanu PF. What a sick joke!
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday implored Zanu-PF supporters to shun violence in their mobilisation campaigns ahead of the 2023 elections.
ReplyDeleteHe made the remarks while addressing central committee members at the ongoing congress in the capital.
Mnangagwa said: "The path of peace, tolerance and non-violence must remain the fundamental hallmark of all mobilisation efforts as we galvanise the party membership and people of our great motherland to vote for Zanu-PF.
At least he is tacitly acknowledging that there is no peace and tolerance and that there is violence. It is very sad that the country is still plagued by the culture of rigged elections and violence. Of course, it is impossible to have any meaningful debate on policies and development when there is no peace and elections are rigged.
The people of Zimbabwe need to wake to the reality that the nation will not get out of this economic and political mess we are stuck in without first dealing with the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. The solution is implementing the democratic reforms and guarantee free elections.
The people must stop following this CCC nonsense of having strategies to win rigged elections. Why accept the rigging? Zanu PF does not have the right to rig elections! Implement the reforms and stop the rigging once and once for all!
Mashonaland Central based political analyst Dr. John Mbizvo said, "The emptiness of the Mashonaland Central bay is an indictment on Kazembe Kazembe , he won the provincial elections, his team won across the board and these are his delegates his people who are walking out on the President, Congress and the party."
ReplyDeleteMbizvo added that: "The party now needs to investigate this and look into Mashonaland Central closely, what are the causes of this form of behavior and will it affect the party in the upcoming elections these are the hard questions that need honest answers and remedial action because clearly the symptoms are there that there is an underlying sickness in Mashonaland Central structures which needs to be healed."
Echoes of the 2008 operation “bora musango” (kick the ball out) in which Zanu PF MPs in Mashonaland Central got more votes than the party’s presidential candidate, Robert Mugabe, received. The disgruntled party leaders had instructed their supporters to vote for party MP candidate and for the presidential race vote for Tsvangirai, the opposition’s candidate.
The Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut stopped ZEC announcing the results of the March 2008 vote and it took six weeks to whittle down Tsvangirai’s 73% vote to 47%, enough to force a presidential run off. In in the run off the party used wanton violence to punish the voter for having rejected Zanu PF in the earlier vote.
The primary purpose of the 2008 to 2013 GNU was to implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the vote rigging juggernaut. Sadly, not even one reform was implemented. Operation bora musango will not work this time because the vote rigging juggernaut is switched on.
MDC not only sold out by failing to implement any reforms these last 22 years, including 5 years in the GNU, but continue to sell out by insisting on participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy in return for the few gravy train seats offered as bait!
The solution to Zimbabwe’s economic and political mess is implementing reforms BEFORE elections. MDC/CCC’s “winning in rigged elections (WIRE)” strategies are oxymorons doomed to fail. Why allow Zanu PF to rig elections in the first place? For Pete’s sake, Zanu PF does not have the right to rig elections; that is the point!