Mnangagwa has reclaimed Harare's "Sunshine City" status, said mayor Mafume. Dumb and stupid singing for his supper! W Mukori

 “Usa kangamwa chezuro nehope!” so goes the Shona adage, warning of the dangers of a selective memory. Zimbabweans have a very selective memory, they see only what they want to see and ignore the rest.

Harare’s Mayor, Jacob Mafume, went town and back again in praising Mnangagwa and his so-called Second Republic achievements, New Parliament Building, the world class International Airport, Mbudzi Interchange, etc. What the Mayor forgot to say is rot and decay not just in Harare but in the whole country. 

Did the nation really need a new glamorous Parliament Building when all the country top five referral hospitals are in a dilapidated state after decades of neglect and under investment? 

It is ironic that the drivers who collected the SADC Heads of State from the airport to the new Parliament Building where the August Summit was held, were instructed to follow a predetermined route. The regime was so fastidious  because all the other roads have potholes and the regime did not want the visitors to see that!

The greatest disappointment of the Second Republic is the failure to deliver any meaningful political rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections. After the November 2017 military coup, Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. He went on to blatantly rig the 2018 and then 2023 elections. 

The other day the Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube, had to abandon his national budget presentation when the whole complex lost power supply. Everyone, including Mnangagwa, was forced to leave. Even here, the citadel of the ruling elite, was not spaced the nation wide ZESA black out.

During the 2008 to 2013 Zimbabwe had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and dismantle the Zanu PF one-party dictatorship once and for all. Alas! Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends was distracted by the trinkets of high office, the E-Class Mercedes Benz limos, the generous salaries and allowances, the US$4 million mansion for Save himself, etc. And, with their snouts in the feeding trough, they completely forgot about implementing the reforms. 

“Seek ye first the political kingdom and all things shall be added unto you,” said Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first post independence President. He was right! 

Zimbabwe is a pariah state, ruled by corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical thugs who have been in power these last 44 years only because they rig elections. And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery, the rot and decay that started soon after independence in 1980 will continue. 

The millions of Harare residents faced with daily trial and tribulation of no water, no electricity, sewage overflowing into the street, collapsed health and education services, etc. have no such illusions. They know this is the epitome of hell on earth, they have lived, seen and known it everyday for 44 years and counting. Mnangagwa and his Second Republic has delivered no change other than change of name. 

Mnangagwa is reclaiming Harare’s pre-independence “Sunshine city” glory, says Mayor Mafume! No one can be that blind and stupid, he is just one more opposition leader singing for his supper! 

“Let us root out corruption from our society!” Never happen whilst Zanu PF and CCC remain partners in crime! W Mukori

When he assumed power following the 2017 military coup Mnangagwa promised “zero tolerance of corruption” and we all know that corruption has gone into overdrive since then. Every so often he has admitted his failure to end corruption.

"Meanwhile, I am deeply concerned by the cases of corruption in the local government space and the entire society. Those perpetrating such acts must face the full wrath of our country's law. Let us root out this menace from our society," Mnangagwa warned.

How nauseating! 

Zimbabwe has failed to root out corruption because those responsible for enforcing the law are themselves corrupt, they are the  godfathers of the mafia gangs controlling and directing all the wholesale looting activities. 

As long as Zanu PF retains the carte blanche powers to rig elections; corruption and all the other iniquitous activities that have left Zimbabwe a failed state with millions of our people living in abject poverty, will continue. Zanu PF will never ever reform itself out of office, especially now the regime has become addicted to absolute power and has too many skeletons to hide. 

It is no secret that Mnangagwa and many of his Zanu PF colleagues were involved in the politically motivated murders of the over 40 000 innocent Zimbabwe since 1980 to establish and consolidate the de facto Zanu PF dictatorship that has ruled the nation for 44 years and counting. 

“Zanu PF ndeye ropa!” Zanu PF cronies have boasted menacingly. Lately, the menace has been tampered with fear; fear of being held to account for the shedded innocent blood! It has taken decades for the law to catch up. The wheels of justice turn very slowly but they do turn!

In the last 24 years, Zanu PF has rigged elections and get away with the connivence of the MDC/CCC leaders. Morgan Tsvangirai and his friends have failed to implement even one token reforms even when they had the golden opportunity to do so during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. And ever since the GNU they have participated in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed.

“The (2013) 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,” confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.

The people of Zimbabwe have risked all to elect MDC/CCC leaders into power for one primary purpose - to implement the necessary democratic changes to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship, as the party name implied. Mnangagwa blatantly rigged the 2023 elections precisely because MDC/CCC leaders have failed to implement the requisite reforms.

Of course MDC/CCC leaders are corrupt and incompetent. Why the millions of Zimbabweans have failed to realise this even with MDC/CCC failing to implement even one token reform in 24 years beggars belief! The penny has not dropped and so it is almost certain that Chamisa chete chete brigade will participate in flawed 2028 elections in their millions as happened last year to give Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuate the nation’s suffering.

Nations gets the government they deserve and we in Zimbabwe deserve this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its entourage of equally corrupt and useless MDC/CCC side-kicks. 

“Let us root out corruption from our society!” We will never ever root out corruption without first implement the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging elections. No meaningful reforms have been implemented in the last 24 years nor in the future as long as Zanu PF and MDC/CCC remain partners in crime, Mnangagwa knows that!

"It is God's vision that Mnangagwa stays to deliver vision 2030." God's plan to deliver a mirage! W Mukori

 Man is a creature of reason and per se should be won over by the strength of the argument put before them. In Zimbabwe fear rules the roost especially fear of the supernatural. 

If Nelson Chamisa had told the nation last year that CCC was going to win big because “he had plugged all the Zanu PF vote rigging loop holes”; many would have dismissed his claim as nonsense (which it was, especially when one remembers that he had made a similar claim 2018). But when he suffixed the claim with “#Godisinit!” few dared to question him! 

The fear of God has been so strong that even though there was overwhelming evidence long before the vote that Chamisa had done nothing to plug the gapping vote rigging opportunities, few dared to point this out. Team Pachedu had pointed out that the voters’ roll was in shambles, for example, and going into the election without a verified voters’ roll was insane. Chamisa even failed to do something as basic as deploy election agents at all  Polling Stations even though he had received the funding for it. 

Most election observers including SADC and AU condemned the Zimbabwe 2023 elections as flawed and illegal. The claim that Chamisa had plugged vote rigging loop holes was just an idiotic lie. But because Chamisa evoke the name of God many of the millions who participated in the flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuate their own suffering are loathed, even now with the benefit of hindsight, admit Chamisa lied to them. They believed God was indeed in the plan to participate in flawed elections! 

Mnangagwa and his cronies are losing the argument to justify why he should change the national constitution to allow him to stay in power beyond the two term limit. The argument that he needs to stay to deliver his Vision 2030, upper middle income status, is as nonsensical as Chamisa’s CCC winning 2023 election. 

Mnangagwa has been in power since the country’s independence in 1980 and the country’s economy has been in decline ever since. His attempts to pretend he had nothing to do with the economic meltdown during Mugabe’s day is just nonsense since he was not only a senior member of the regime but was Mugabe’s henchman who rigged the elections and even killed many innocent Zimbabweans to keep the Mugabe led regime in power. 

But even if one gave Mnangagwa the benefit of the doubt, that he had nothing to do with the rot of 1980 to 2017; the fact remains there has been precious like economic recovery since he took over after the 2017 military coup. Unemployment is still 80% plus, millions are living in abject poverty, mismanagement and corruption are just as bad if not worse than during Mugabe days, the political repression - the prerequisite to end the curse of bad governance - is in overdrive. 

Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt and murderous Zanu PF thugs who have rigged elections to stay in power these last 44 years, or be it the 24 years was with the political connivence of MDC/CCC. And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery much less economic prosperity. 

Mnangagwa’s vision 2030 is but a mirage and Mnangagwa is trying to use a mirage to justify why he should stay in power beyond the two term limit. Very few Zimbabweans are buying the mirage! As the nation gets nearer and nearer to Mnangagwa’s end of second term in 2028, it will be even clearer that the Zimbabwe economy will have to post a 50% plus growth rate to deliver vision 2030.

It is said you can convince a blindman there is no maize samp in rice but not so with the hot chilli in his relish! 

Mnangagwa and company are smart enough to know vision 2030 is a mirage and people are not buying it. The tyrant is resorting to the tried and tasted Zanu PF way fear. Fear of violence (the regime has the means to back it up with brute force) and fear of God. It is not only Chamisa who has often evoke the name of God, Mnangagwa too has done so. And is doing it now. 

“Mashonaland East chairperson Daniel Garwe downplayed the constitutional hurdles highlighted by Zanu-PF's secretary for legal affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, who had noted the requirement for a referendum to amend term limits,” reported Bulawayo 24.

"Vision is from God that [Mnangagwa] should continue in office to build the country," Garwe stated, emphasizing that legal compliance was a procedural task, while the party's vision required Mnangagwa's continued leadership. 

If it is God’s will that Mnangagwa must serve a third term it goes without saying a constitution written by mere mortals should interfere with the Lord’s plan!

It is pleasing to note that many Zimbabweans know vision 2030 is a mirage and so why would God want someone to stay in power to build an illusion. 

Many ordinary Zimbabweans are tempted to side with the VP Chiwenga faction on the grounds that if Mnangagwa changed to constitutional provision to extend his rule this would set a dangerous precedence future leaders will want to follow. These people are wrong for two main reasons:

1. 1) As much as stopping Mnangagwa tampering with the two term constitutional clause is important people must realise Zanu PF has been violating the more substantive sections of the constitution by systematically denying the people the freedoms and rights including the right to free and fair elections. The immediate fight is for implementing reforms to ensure 2028 elections are free, fair and credible. We took our eyes off the ball of implementing all the reforms to end the Zanu PF dictatorship to support Mnangagwa military coup to remove Mugabe. We remove one dictator only to get another dictator. 

2. 2) Even if the nation stops Mnangagwa extending his rule beyond 2028 what we can be certain of is that Zanu PF will rig 2028 elections to impose another dictator on the nation. 

After 44 years of rigged elections and the nation is a serious economic mess and political paralysis, we really need to implement the democratic reforms and end this curse of rigged elections and bad governance. We need to focus on what matter for Zimbabwe and not be sideline into fighting Zanu PF factional wars only swap one dictator for another at best!

By brazenly rigging Mozambique elections Zanu PF cross the double red line, Zimbabwe must be booted out of SADC. W Mukori

 Former President of Botswana Ian Khama has called on the Southern African Development Community SADC to expel Zimbabwe if proven to have meddled with member states' elections.

It is bad enough that Zanu PF has repeatedly rigged Zimbabwe elections and the regional body has done nothing about it except that one occasion in 2008. SADC must not allow Zanu PF to brazenly interfere in another country’s elections and get away with it.

Leaders like Emmerson Mnangagwa believe the rules and laws apply to everyone else and not to them. They are above the law especially when the application of the said law should threaten their iron grip on absolute power. 

Of course, this is nonsense. No one, absolutely, no one is above the law!

After 44 years of enjoying absolute power Mnangagwa and company are addicted to power; the very idea of giving it up is unthinkable. Beside, Mnangagwa and many of his Zanu PF cronies amassed their wealth illegally. They cannot produce any tax returns to account for their wealth. 

Worst of all, many have skeletons in the closets, basements, mine-shafts, everywhere from the Gukurahundi massacre in the 1980s to the more recent politically motivated murders of the 2008 electoral coup and 2017 military coup. No wonder Mnangagwa and company have risked all to rig elections and retain power at all cost, as the country’s checked political history shows. 

SADC did force Zanu PF to accept many electoral reforms resulting in the country holding the nearest thing to free, fair and credible elections in March 2008. When Mnangagwa realised that the party was heading for a crashing electoral defeat, he and his Zanu PF cronies staged the 2008 electoral coup. 

SADC and AU were outraged by the blatant cheating in counting March 2008 votes and the wanton violence in the run-off that followed they refused to give Zanu PF political legitimacy. Mugabe was outraged and threatened to walk out of SADC. 

It should be noted here that Zimbabwe was booted out of the Commonwealth for failing to hold free and fair elections in 2003. The prospect of being booted out of SADC and possible AU too, was a bridge too far. Mugabe relented and signed the 2008 Global Political Agreement and share political power with Morgan Tsvangirai in the 2008 to 2013 GNU. 

The primary purpose of the GNU was to implement the democratic reforms to end Zanu PF’s carte blanche dictatorial power including powers to rig elections. It is a great pity that not even one token democratic reform was implemented. Not even one!

Mugabe bribed Tsvangirai and company with the trappings of high office; the E-Class Mercedes Benz ministerial limos, the very generous salaries and allowances, a US$ 4 million mansion for Tsvangirai himself, etc., etc. And in return the MDC leaders kicked all the reforms into the devil-thorn Cactus thicket! 

“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidza kudya anyerere!” (MDC leaders have learned to enjoy the gravy train good-life! {They will never rock the boat!}) boasted Zanu PF cronies during the GNU when asked why MDC leaders were not implementing the reforms. 

Even since the GNU debacle, MDC/CCC leaders have participated in flawed elections knowing fully well that participating would give Zanu PF legitimacy for the same reasons they kicked reforms into the Cactus - incompetence and greed. 

Mnangagwa blatantly rigged 2023 elections. As much as SADC and AU election observer missions condemned the election process as flawed and illegal they could not deny Zanu PF political legitimacy because the opposition and millions of their supporters participated in the flawed elections knowing doing so would give Zanu PF legitimacy. 

When ANC lost its majority in the May 2024 elections that set alarm bells ringing in Zanu PF ruling elite’s heads. The trend of ruling parties, especially Zanu PF’s sister liberation movements, losing power was set a dangerous precedence - Zanu PF would be next. This is the reason why Zanu PF has been emboldened to export its vote rigging expertise to help keep ruling parties in power at all cost.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans voted in Mozambique’s 9 October 2024 elections to prop up FRELIMO’s votes. There is overwhelming video evidence to prove this. SADC and the AU cannot turn a blind eye to this. It is bad enough Zanu PF rigging Zimbabwe’s elections but brazenly rigging another nation’s elections is totally unacceptable. Zanu PF has crossed the double red lines and it must be punished!

Batoka Gorge Hydro will never be built as long as Zanu PF is in power, Zambians cannot trust the regime. W Mukori

 The long-awaited Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Project, heralded as a potential solution to Zimbabwe and Zambia's ongoing power shortages, may face insurmountable challenges that could delay or derail its completion. The multi-billion-dollar project, which has been in the works since 1972, aims to harness the power of the Zambezi River to provide a much-needed boost to the energy grids of both countries. However, according to Zesa Holdings Executive Chairperson Sydney Gata, the project is fraught with significant hurdles, and its future remains uncertain.

Speaking at the ongoing Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit in Victoria Falls, Gata pointed out that while the Batoka Gorge project is touted as a solution to the persistent power outages in the two countries, it has not seen substantial progress over the decades. The project's capacity to generate 2,400 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which could help ease power shortages, is now in jeopardy due to unresolved technical and financial challenges.

"One of the reasons for the delay is that there has not been an exhaustive review of markets and hydrology," Gata said. "The project, as it stands today, will not work. There is also the issue of enforcement risk, stemming from the reconstitution of the Central African Power Corporation (Capco) and the formation of the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), a process that was not executed smoothly."

The Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Project, which has been discussed for over four decades, saw renewed interest in the past decade due to the debilitating power cuts affecting citizens and businesses across both Zimbabwe and Zambia. Currently, the countries experience power outages lasting up to 15 hours a day due to a combination of factors, including low water levels at the Kariba Dam, the largest power station in the region.

As of the latest reports, the Kariba power plants, with a total capacity of 1,050 MW, are only generating 124 MW, severely limiting the countries' ability to meet electricity demand. Gata highlighted that decisions on energy projects, such as Batoka, have often been made at a political level without due consultation with experts and technocrats.

"We've been advocating for more extensive studies and a more honest assessment of the project's feasibility," Gata said. "There are models and investment options that could help mitigate risks, but they need further evaluation. Batoka is a victim of load factor risk and load profile risk, which can be addressed with more detailed feasibility studies."

The Batoka Gorge project resurfaced on the agenda in 2014 after being hindered by political instability and financial difficulties. In 2021, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), which oversees the Zambezi River and is jointly controlled by Zimbabwe and Zambia, revealed that the consortium awarded the contract for construction was struggling to secure sufficient funding, further delaying the project.

Wicknell Chivhayo, tender-entrepreneur per excellence, will have his winning bid to design, build, commission and even operate Batoka Gorge Hydro by the end of the month if only he did not have to worry about the Zambian officials! Comrade Gata and company awarded Chivhayo the Gwanda Solar Power Generation project. ZESA paid him hundreds of millions of dollars and all the nation ever got is a security guard soapbox to mark the site! 

Mugabe chose to build his US$3-4 billion Blue Roof mansion, now just another white elephant since Grace is hardly ever in Zimbabwe; enough to have paid for the Batoka Gorge project! As long as Zanu PF remains in power it is bloody unlikely we will ever see Batoka Gorge Hydro completed! The regime is failing to maintain the infrastructure we inherit from the white in 1980 much less build new stuff! 

Paid an arm and leg for Hwange unit 7 & 8 and yet they not generating - Chinese are demanding other arm and leg too! W Mukori

 ZESA’s explanation of reduced generation from Hwange Thermal Power Station especially due to repeated Units 7 and 8 did not make any sense at all. The two units costing US$ 1.4 billion were commission last year, for Pete’s sake. How can they be giving endless operational problems already? 

The Chinese who supplied, built and commissioned the two units answered the question.

“ZETDC (a ZESA subsidiary) owes Hesco around US$430 million. Hesco has no money to pay for operations and maintenance,” the Chinese Company Hesco employee explained. 

“It (Hesco) also has no money to pay for coal supplies and shareholders. Maybe it will be shut down in the future due to lack of money to fund operations. 

“So far, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars but the return is zero!”

Five key points spring to mind immediately:

1. 1) We all know that there is no transparency in most projects in Zimbabwe, especially those involving our friends from the East. And so there will be no competitive bidding, there will be corruption, the country is known for not paying its debts, poor project management, etc., etc.; the bottom line is the nation will paying an arm and leg! It is entirely possible 40% of the US$1.4 billion was the “punishment” and so the Chinese are switching off the two generators to pressure the country to cough up!

2. 2) The Chinese have been making fat profits in the murky diamond and gold mining and, no doubt, in many more other areas. It is quite possible the Chinese are making US$500 million a month from the wholesale looting of diamonds and gold alone. Much more than Hesco is asking for. “What of it?” they would say if asked.

3. 3) There have been many “mega deals projects” signed with the Chinese ever since Mugabe’s day that have fizzled out and we now know why. Zimbabwe’s reputation of failing to pay her debts is well documented. In 1999 IMF, World Bank and many other western financial institution stopped advancing any financial assistance to Zimbabwe. Zanu PF leaders and their apologists will never admit financial assistance was cut off for failure to pay debts; they blame sanctions. The Chinese loans will once again be cut off and they have not imposed any sanctions.

4. 4) How many millions of dollars is the nation losing everyday in lost production and other indirect costs as a result of all these extended ZESA power cuts? A video has been circulating on social media of Chitungwiza Hospital switch off - the consequences are a lot more than “the inconveniences caused”! 

5. 5) Zimbabweans will complain about the power cuts and even joke about it and move on. At least, they think they are moving on not knowing that they are sinking deeper and deeper into the economic and political hell-on-earth 44 years of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption by Zanu PF thugs and their political MDC/CCC side kick have landed the nation. Nations get the government their deserve and we, in Zimbabwe, do and are paying dearly for our folly!