“EU abandons confrontation with Zimbabwe!” screamed The Herald
headline!
“CHARMED by President Mnangagwa’s open door policy and far-reaching
economic reforms, more investors will be coming from the European Union (EU)
which is prepared to extend loans to the private sector as relations between
the 27-member bloc and Zimbabwe continue to improve,” The Herald reported.
“After presenting his credentials to President Mnangagwa at
State House in Harare yesterday, incoming EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Jobst
Von Kirchmann, said the bloc is available for constructive dialogue with
Harare.
“Prior to the advent of the Second Republic, relations
between Zimbabwe and the EU were strained after the latter sided with Britain
in unjustifiably sanctioning the country following its land reform programme
that redressed land inequities.
“But President Mnangagwa’s Zimbabwe is Open for Business
policy has seen a number of European countries setting up shop in the country
in yet another remarkable feat that Ambassador Kirchmann said can only be
deepened.”
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the
country is a failed state, a pariah state, ruled by corrupt and murderous
tyrants whose 42 years in power is because they rigged elections.
The trouble with President Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF
cronies, propagandists and apologist is that they believe they can ignore the
facts and reality, make up their own narratives instead, and the whole world
will be as they wish.
President Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is open for business!”
mantra, for example, was a lead balloon that never took off. He promised to
stamp out corruption, to hold free elections, etc.; he never delivered on any
of these promises and thus confirming that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, there will be no meaningful economic
recovery and to say otherwise is wishful thinking.
The fight for Zimbabwe to implement the democratic reforms
and hold free and fair elections is therefore more than just fight for
restoration of this basic human right to a meaningful say in the governance of
the country. It is a fight for good governance, fight to end the curse of
rigged elections and to cleanse the nation of pariah state stigma.
“My mission here is targeting constructive dialogue with
Zimbabwe. I said this today when the President said the EU no longer has
sanctions on Zimbabwe, that is exactly what makes it possible for us to engage
on trade aspects, we are the fourth largest Zimbabwean trading partner in the
country,” said Ambassador Kirchmann.
What constructive dialogue can the EU have with this Zanu PF
regime?
The EU had a 246 strong team of election observers for the
2018 Zimbabwe elections and they dismissed the elections as a farce.
“Notably, major shortcomings in the pre-election environment
impacted on the free expression of the will of electors, state resources were
misused in favour of the incumbent and coverage by state media was heavily
biased in favour of the ruling party. Further, the electoral commission lacked
full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The
final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous
errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” EU Observer
Mission final report stated.
“Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the
excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the
post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the
pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe
failed to meet international standards.”
Why the EU Foreign Ministers disregarded the EU Observer
Mission’s damning report on Zimbabwe and reward the Zanu PF regime by lifting
the sanctions imposed on the regime for failing to uphold human rights
including the failure to hold free elections was a mystery.
The 2018 EU election observer mission report made 23
recommendations to bring the Zimbabwe elections process to international
standards. And a month ago the mission team leader reported that not even one
of the recommendations was meaningfully implemented. Not even one!
ZEC has failed to produce even something as basic as a
verified voters’ roll, for Pete’s sake!
Zanu PF is set to blatantly rig the 2023 elections. Blatantly
rig the 2023 elections!
Does “constructive dialogue” with Zanu PF mean the EU is
going to lower the international accepted elections standards and grant vote
rigging Zanu PF political legitimacy?
After 42 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule that
has left the national economy in ruins, forced millions of our people to scatter
as economic and/or political refugees and the millions still in the country are
living in abject poverty; of course, Zimbabweans are desperate for meaningful
change, for free and fair elections. For EU, of all people, to condone Zanu PF’s
continued flagrant denial of ordinary Zimbabweans’ freedoms and human rights and
dignity is not just an insult, it is an act of dehumanising betrayal.
In an open letter dated October 4, 2022 addressed to JSC and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), the magistrates expressed frustration at the manipulation of judicial processes involving political cases.
ReplyDelete"Sadly the issue of capture is no longer a perception but a reality. And the saddest part of this capture is that it is not spearheaded by the politicians. The kingpins (names withheld) of judicial capture are in the JSC itself . . .," partly read the letter.
"It is an open secret at the magistrate's court that there is a coterie of magistrates who exclusively deal with certain types of cases, particularly those deemed to be politically motivated.
"This is why political parties including members of the opposition are placed before the so-called Anti-Corruption Courts (ACC) to ensure that the (desired) result . . . is given by the captured ACC magistrates.
"Lawyers can argue themselves hoarse before these magistrates and their clients will never get justice as everything is done in terms of instructions from the JSC."
Well, well! It has taken 42 years before these magistrates finally realise that that our political system is rotten! The economic meltdown is affecting those who until now were comfortable and they are complaining to draw attention to their suffering in the hope the regime will be more generous. The regime cannot give away what is not there. The national cake has been shrinking for decades and our friends choose to ignore this.
The Zanu PF dictatorship creams off the nation’s wealth to bankroll the extravagant and wasteful lifestyles of the ruling elite and their cronies at the expense of the overwhelming majority who are forced to live in abject poverty. The nation’s wealth has been shrinking because the system is wasteful of the nation’s material and human resources. The system was doomed to fail but it is unsustainable economically, socially and politically.
We the long suffering povo of Zimbabwe welcome the magistrates to the real Zimbabwe now that they have are witnessing abject poverty first hand. “Kuzvionera panhino sefudya!”
@ Mbofana
ReplyDelete“I lOVE our languages and culture because they teach us so much about life.
One of the Shona language's wise adage says: "Totenda maruva tadya chakata," which literally means ‘don't count your chickens before they are hatched'.
It is quite foolish making a whole lot of hullabaloo over something that promises to be a good thing, without first waiting to see whether the "fruits" actually manifest.
Not only that, but we also pray that we all have the opportunity to eat of this "fruit" because it may actually end up being enjoyed by just a few, or taken by baboons and monkeys, or devoured by pests, or even stolen.”
It is not by accident that Zimbabwe is in this mess of economic meltdown and political paralysis stuck with a corrupt and tyrannical ruling party and an equally corrupt and incompetent coterie of opposition parties. We have sunk deeper and deeper into this hell-on-earth of our own making for the last 42 years because we have suffered from the collective self-delusion that the situation was not as bad as it appeared. We elevated our leaders on to pedestal and worshiped them as demigods who could do no wrong and as the mountain of evidence of corruption and tyrannical oppression grew, we refused to believe our own eyes.
Zimbabwe is in this mess because many of us see but cannot perceive, hear but cannot understand. We have spent decades with our heads buried in the backsides of leaders and our brains have ossified into utterly useless fatty tissue, we are now incapable of perceiving or understanding. We cannot think for ourselves!
Kudos to you, sir, by speaking truth to power you are proving beyond doubt that you perceive and understand what is going on, can reason and think for yourself. You have refused to be silence by the wildebeest herd who consider criticising the nation’s leaders sacrilege. These are very rare qualities and only those who are not suffering from self-delusions have such qualities!
The EU is selling out but only because they can see no end to the political circus in Zimbabwe. Why has MDC failed to implement even one reform in 22 years, 5 of which in the GNU? Why is CCC participating in these flawed elections only to give Zanu PF legitimacy?
ReplyDeleteChamisa tweeted: "Congratulations to the great people of #Lesotho for choosing the new, choosing hope over familiarity. Malawi did it. Zambia did it. Lesotho has done it. Nigeria will do it. We're next. Zimbabwe we will do it! Young people shall save Africa. Play your part. Bring the change. Serve and save our Zimbabwe. Get involved. One is more. Your voice matters. Your vote counts.”
ReplyDeleteThis is the political nativity that has held back Zimbabwe these last 22 years!
In the March 2008 elections 73% of the people voted for MDC but Tsvangirai and co did not get into power because the Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut was switched on in time to stop the results being announced. The wanton violence during the runoff was to punish the voters for daring to reject Zanu PF in the earlier vote.
MDC had the golden opportunity to implement the reforms and stop the vote rigging once and once for all. They failed to implement even one reform in five years.
Without reforms Zanu PF has rigged elections in the past and they are rigging the 2023 elections. “Your vote counts!” Yeah right!
He was responding to questions regards criticism his movement has been receiving from various quarters, earlier this year.
ReplyDelete"Who said the party does not have structures? There is a difference in saying the party has no structures and saying that we do not know the party structures," said Chamisa.
"If you do not know then you are not part of the family, but those who are part of the family know that you cannot exist in form and and shape without a structure," Chamisa said
Here we go again! Now Chamisa says the party has structures, so how were these structures established without party members’ participation because there are no party members! What a circus!
What matters is that CCC is hell bent on participating in these 2013 elections giving Zanu PF legitimacy for the sake of a few gravy train seats. After 42 years of rigged elections, we really need to end this insanity!
He was responding to questions regards criticism his movement has been receiving from various quarters, earlier this year.
ReplyDelete"Who said the party does not have structures? There is a difference in saying the party has no structures and saying that we do not know the party structures," said Chamisa.
"If you do not know then you are not part of the family, but those who are part of the family know that you cannot exist in form and and shape without a structure," Chamisa said
Here we go again! Now Chamisa says the party has structures, so how were these structures established without party members’ participation because there are no party members! What a circus!
What matters is that CCC is hell bent on participating in these 2013 elections giving Zanu PF legitimacy for the sake of a few gravy train seats. After 42 years of rigged elections, we really need to end this insanity!
FORMER Zanu-PF political commissar and ambassador to Mozambique Victor Matemadanda has reacted angrily after being snubbed for central committee (CC) position in the Midlands province.
ReplyDeleteSources said Matemadanda was invited to contest for a position in the CC for Gokwe but refused, saying he wanted to give others a chance since he was working outside the country.
But the Zanu-PF DCC chairperson Tawanda Karikoga reportedly persuaded him to participate and Matemadanda told him that he wanted to "consult."
"After Matemadanda had consulted, he agreed to take part. However, towards the elections, he was told that he failed to make the grade to represent Gokwe in the Central Committee and they had opted for (allies of former Security minister, Owen) Ncube and this irked the ambassador," the source said.
However, in responding to the fiasco, Matemadanda singled Karikoga out to express his displeasure.
"I am what l am, not because of an accident but because l have invested in this thing called Zanu-PF and l even invested in my own education which no one is going to take away from me. I have worked hard for who and what l am. l am not at that level which you want to put me. Please respect me.
Matemadanda represents the class of die-hard Zanu PF leaders and cronies who believe they liberated the country from the white colonialists and therefore, per se, they have the divine right to govern the country. And so Zanu PF imposed itself on the nation; ridded roughshod over the people, denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful vote and even the right to life.
The truth is the 1980 independence marked the end of white colonial oppression and the beginning of black on black oppression. And so everyone should have been enjoying their freedom and spending their time and energy on building a just and prosperous Zimbabwe the populous have been fighting Zanu PF ruling elite for their freedoms and rights.
So, yesteryear’s liberators have become today’s oppressors and so the struggle for freedom and human dignity of the colonial era has carried on to this day. If there is one issue that encapsulates the concept of Zimbabwe as a failed state, a pariah state, incapable of self-governing it is the very fact that yesteryear’s liberators have become today’s oppressors!
There is overwhelming evidence that the Zanu PF dictatorship has failed to deliver freedom and human dignity we should all be fighting to end this curse of yesterday’s liberators being today’s oppressors. Die hard Zanu PF thugs like Matemadanda refuse to see the tragic human suffering the dictatorship has cause and are fighting to retain the dictatorship and secure a seat for themselves and their share of the spoils of power! Failure, what failure?