Tobaiwa Mudede played his part in rigging elections to help create and impose the Zanu PF dictatorship, little did he know he too will be its victim! W Mukori

 Yes! Tobaiwa Mudede was Zimbabwe's Registrar General and he was heavily involved in Zanu PF's various vote rigging schemes. I asked him to explain where the huge number of postal votes that helped Simon Muzenda of Zanu PF beat Patrick Kombayi of ZUM in 1990 Gweru Urban elections. 

Tobaiya Mudede wanted to explain to me how the postal votes system operated, who was entitled to the postal vote, etc., etc. I was not interested in the fluff he was telling me but I did let him go on for a while. 

"What was so special about Gweru Urban that it should have over 10 000 postal votes, 1/3 of the registered voters?" I asked. I had had interviewed Mr Patrick Kombayi and so had the exact figures of the announced result.   

Registrar General Mudede was visibly shaken by the questions and promptly terminated the interview accusing he of having a hidden agenda and that he did not want to be misquoted!

Yes the former Registrar Generals does not look well, "matemba ari mudovi!" as you put it. 

If the truth be said, millions of Zimbabweans out there are too living in abject poverty. Zimbabwe is a failed state and the consequence of that is millions living in abject poverty. Yes even those who played their part in creating and imposing the Zanu PF dictatorship - the root cause why Zimbabwe is a failed state - have not been spared the consequences of the failed state. 

Zimbabwe had the potential to be the South Korea of Africa if the Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies had not imposed the corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous Zanu PF dictatorship. Zimbabwe became the North Korea of Africa and it shows! In a failed state even the ruling elite are not spared the vexations of the failed state.

The moral of the story of sorry looking former Registrar General, Tobaiwa Mudede, is that no one has benefited from the creation and imposition of the Zanu PF dictatorship. Even those who at the time, thought they are part of the ruling elite and did the regime's dirty bidding have been discarded like used toilet tissue.  

"Mr Ziyambi, postponing elections does not preserve stabilit, " argue Mbofana. Zanu PF is desperate to hang on to power at all costs. W Mukori

 @ Mbofana

“Mr Ziyambi, postponing elections does not preserve stability - it promotes instability and attacks the Constitution.

Cloaked in soothing language about "stability," "continuity," and being "tired of elections," Ziyambi's argument collapses the moment it is subjected to constitutional logic, historical evidence, and the lived reality of Zimbabweans under prolonged ZANU-PF rule.

To begin with, the claim that Zimbabwe is in "perpetual election mode" is deliberately misleading.” 

Zanu PF learned two important lessons from the 2008 electoral coup: 

1. that the party could not get away with the old-fashioned de facto one party state. The party would not get away with blatantly rigging elections to win with landslide victories, much less the daylight robbery of the March vote recount and wanton violence of the run-off. The party was forced to swallow its pride and accept the sin-bin of a SADC supervised GNU. 

2. 2) Mugabe bribed Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends with the trapping of high office. He had used the same dirty trick on his own Zanu PF thugs turning them into yes-men who never ever questioned him. Margaret Dongo called the Zanu PF party leaders, MPs, Ministers, the lot “vakadzi vaMugabe!” (Mugabe’s concubines) in sheer disgust at the way they all grovelled to please the dictator. Mugabe must have been pleasely surprised at how easily he had mollified the MDC leaders, they completely forgot about implementing the democratic reforms. Not even the nagging by SADC forced Tsvangirai and company to implement even one token reform. 

3. 3) So Zanu PF merged out of the GNU with all its dictatorial powers untouched or be it clothed in a new constitution Mugabe himself had “dictated” Paul Mangwana, the Zanu PF co-chair of the parliament committee that drafted it, boasted. The new constitution has failed to deliver free, fair and credible elections - proof it is a dictator’s decree. 

4. 4) Mugabe, Mnangagwa and all Zanu PF thugs know that as long as they allow the opposition to win a few gravy train seats the leaders will con they followers to participate in flawed elections and the multiparty state façade. In 2018 Mnangagwa created POLAD to reward losing opposition leaders and thus encourage them to keep participating no matter how flawed and illegal the process got! He has introduced other schemes to bribe key political players in Zanu PF, in the opposition and society at large.

The fact that both SADC and AU issued damning reports of Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections regardless of Chamisa & co. having done their bit by conning millions of their followers to participate in the flawed 2023 elections had left Mnangagwa worried. It is clear both SADC and AU were sick and tired of Zimbabwe’s multi-party democracy façade. The world’s damning condemnation of the rigged Tanzania elections has Zanu PF thugs real worried that its own days of rigging elections and getting away with it are numbered. 

Zanu PF thugs know they can rig the 2028 elections and know that Chamisa & co. will participate in the flawed elections as usual. What Mnangagwa not certain of is whether Chamisa & co. will con Zimbabweans in their millions to participate in the flawed elections as before. Many Zimbabweans are now see Chamisa for who he is a corrupt, incompetent, a liar and a conman. If Chamisa & co. fail to attract significant public support at his rallies, on social media, etc. Zimbabwe’s multi-party democracy mask will fall off. Zanu PF will rig 2028 elections but will not get away with it this time. 

If you cannot get away with rigging the elections, then you should explore other ways to postpone and avoid holding elections.  

Zanu PF thugs are desperate to stay in power by hook or by crook. And so we should not be surprise the regime is going for broke; the regime will try amend the constitution and even break it just to stay in power. Desperate people do desperate things, Zanu PF thugs are desperate.

Mnangagwa squander US$2.75m on new cars whilst povo have no medicine - a consequence of polo's demigod mentality W Mukori

 Yet, as we celebrate this small victory, the larger picture remains grim. Parirenyatwa, the country's largest referral hospital, still lacks essential cancer treatment equipment. The same is true for United Bulawayo Hospitals and Mpilo Central Hospital. Across the country, public hospitals are missing even the most basic supplies: bandages, gloves, functioning beds, medicines, and diagnostic tools. Families wait hours at private pharmacies for drugs that should be readily available in hospital dispensaries. Doctors and nurses perform daily miracles under conditions that would shock anyone outside the healthcare trenches.

And this is where the moral bankruptcy becomes starkly clear. While the Health Ministry struggles to fill decades-old gaps, the nation's political leadership is busy flaunting priorities in full display. Just yesterday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa handed out a fleet of brand-new vehicles to top Zanu-PF women's league executives, MPs, and members of Young Women for ED. The convoy included six Toyota Land Cruiser LC300s at roughly US$180 000 each, 21 Toyota Hilux double cabs at US$70 000 apiece, and five single-cab Hiluxes at US$40 000 each - a total of approximately US$2,75 million spent on cars for political actors.

The gap between what Zimbabweans need and what leaders choose to prioritise is not merely a matter of budgeting - it is a moral indictment. The country's top officials rarely step foot in public hospitals, instead flying abroad for check-ups, scans, and surgeries. They do not wait in Parirenyatwa queues, nor are their relatives turned away when radiotherapy machines break down. Insulated from the collapse of the system they oversee, urgency is absent. Cars come first. Patients, if they come at all, are secondary.”

You have hit the nail on the head right there: Mnangagwa and his ruling elite are squandering billions of dollars of the nation’s wealth (paid as tax or screamed off from the wholesale looting of the nation’s resources that gone into overdrive) on cars and other luxuries whilst our health care has all but collapsed because they “rarely step foot in public hospitals”.

So the pertinent question one should ask is: Why are the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans whose have as much right to a share of the nation’s wealth as the ruling elite and the ones who are suffering the consequences of the collapsed health care services saying nothing about this madness of misplaced priorities? 

The simple and short answer to that is, the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans are second class citizens whose needs and rights come a poor second after those of the the first class ruling elite citizens. What is more the masses have accept this political reality, whether they admit it or not is irrelevant. 

Indeed, the ruling elite have devised ways to make the masses believe the illusion that they too are first class citizens with the same freedoms and rights  including the meaningful say in the governance of the country and sharing of its wealth and resources. Every five years since independence the nation has gone through the ritual of elections where the people have a say on who will govern the nation and manage the distribution of resources. The elections have never ever been free, fair and credible. Never ever!

The ruling elite have got away with rigged elections because the people have never bothered to understand what constitute free and fair elections. It took nearly 20 years before the penny finally dropped that Zanu PF was rigging the elections and the nation called for democratic changes to stop Zanu PF rigging elections. 

Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends step forward promising to deliver the democratic changes the nation was dying for if they were elected into office. They named the party the Movement for Democratic Change, to underline the primary purpose of the party was to deliver change.

MDC leaders had their best chance ever to believe the democratic changes during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They failed to implement even one reform. Not one!

Mugabe bribed the MDC leaders with the trapping of high office and they forgot about implementing reforms. 

Ever since the GNU debacle, MDC/CCC leaders have participated in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy for a share of the trappings of high office. MDC/CCC leaders have conned the people to participate in the flawed elections with idiotic lies like “I have plugged all vote rigging loop holes.” 

Why millions of Zimbabweans have failed to understand what constitute free and fair elections or to be so easily conned with idiotic lies is at the heart of why they have readily accept being a second class citizen. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to realise that Chamisa was lying about plugging vote rigging loop holes. Even now with Chamisa acknowledging Zanu PF rigged the elections, the very thing he said would not happen, there are many who still refuse that he lied to them. They believe Chamisa is a demigod who can do no wrong and accepting that he is a liar is simply a bridge too far. 

When you are that ignorant, naive and gullible to think a mere mortal a demigod accepting the demigods’ need for new cars and other luxuries is more important than you need for medicine and clean drinking water!

There are many lessons we can all learn from the Selous Scouts and we should! W Mukori

 Survival Like a Selous Scout: Lessons From One of the Toughest Units on Earth

During the Rhodesian Bush War, the Selous Scouts became known for operating deeper into hostile territory—and with less support—than nearly any other unit of their era. Their survival training was designed for a single purpose: to produce soldiers who could stay alive anywhere, under any conditions, while remaining fully combat-capable.

More than simply learning to survive, Scouts were trained to merge with the African bush—using it as their shelter, larder, compass, and shield.

1.⁠ ⁠Raw Bush Survival: The Antelope Drill and the Carcass Lesson

One of the most striking scenes from Selous Scout training ,involves two Scouts kneeling beside what appears to be an antelope, calmly removing the innards with practiced precision. This wasn’t an unusual task—it was a foundational one.

Gutting and Quartering as a Core Skill

Learning to gut and quarter game, was an essential skill taught to every Selous Scout during their time at the Tracking and Bushcraft course. This course was the heart of the unit’s survival training, where recruits were introduced to the hard realities of long-range operations: no resupply, no guarantees, and no waste.

They had to know how to process an animal quickly and efficiently, protect the usable cuts, and understand how the bush climate accelerates decay.

The antelope drill wasn’t just about food—it taught anatomy, hygiene awareness under primitive conditions, and above all, the mindset that a Scout must use whatever the land provides.

The Rotten-Carcass Exercise

As training progressed, instructors introduced an even harsher lesson. In controlled conditions, Scouts were shown how to deal with carcasses that were already in advanced decay. In the tropical heat of the African interior, edible food could spoil in hours. Scouts had to be prepared for situations where the only available protein source might be less than ideal.

Under supervision, they were sometimes required to salvage what they could by boiling the meat. The point was not to teach reckless consumption, but to mentally harden the trainee and demonstrate how narrow the margin of survival could be far behind enemy lines.

A key warning was drilled into them repeatedly:

You can boil such meat once. A second reheating can make it toxic due to chemical changes in the decomposing flesh.

This brutal lesson reinforced the idea that bush survival wasn’t about comfort—it was about adapting to whatever reality the land imposed.

2.⁠ ⁠The Water Vine: Botany as Lifesaving Knowledge

If food was the struggle, water was the battlefield. Dehydration could cripple a soldier long before hunger ever would. This is why Selous Scout instructors dedicated enormous effort to teaching recruits the botanical signs of usable water.

A well-known training scene shows an instructor demonstrating how to select and tap a vine capable of yielding drinkable sap. This was not a simple “cut and drink” routine—mistaking a toxic vine for a safe one could incapacitate a soldier within hours.

Recruits were taught to observe:

The texture and firmness of the vine

The shape and alignment of its leaves

Sap characteristics and coloration

Environmental context—what other plants grew near it

These details could mean the difference between hydration and disaster. The Scouts learned that the bush was full of both solutions and traps, knowing the difference was a survival art in itself.

A man who knew the vines could walk farther, move quieter, and live longer.

3.⁠ ⁠The Selous Scout Mindset: Observe, Adapt, Endure

Beyond any technique, the Selous Scouts were defined by their mentality.

Resourcefulness

Everything in the bush had potential use—plants, spoor, even carcasses. A Scout’s first instinct was to interpret the environment, not resist it.

Calm in Extremity

Whether facing heat, hunger, or hostile forces, Scouts were conditioned to think clearly when others would panic.

Adaptability

No terrain, weather pattern, or enemy tactic was ever assumed static. Scouts learned to adjust constantly, making adaptation itself their strongest skill.

This mindset allowed them to conduct long-duration, deep-penetration operations with minimal support—a feat few units of the era could replicate.

4.⁠ ⁠A Survival Doctrine Forged in War

The Selous Scouts’ survival training was uncompromising because their missions demanded it. Their bushcraft skills, botany knowledge, and psychological resilience were tools tailored for a specific, unforgiving environment.

Their legacy reveals a truth known to all elite bush soldiers:

The land is not your enemy or your friend—it is your judge. Only knowledge earns you its mercy.

There are many lessons we can all learn from the Selous Scouts and we should!

Biti labels Zanu PF "murders and fascists!" That's double dutch! Who has kept the murderers in power? W Mukori

 @ Biti

Biti Labels ZANU PF 'Murderers and Fascists'

HARARE – Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti has launched a scathing attack on the ruling ZANU PF, describing the party as “murderers and fascists” in a post on his X account.

Biti referenced the 2018 Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry into the 1 August 2018 shootings of civilians, claiming witnesses pointed to ZANU PF’s culpability. He further alleged that the party was responsible for the death of Herbert Chitepo, the former ZANU chairman, in 1975.

“ZANU are murderers and fascists. At the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry into the 1 August 2018 shooting of civilians, I testified that Chairman Chitepo was killed by ZANU and not Rhodesians. Vernon Mwanga, Zambia’s foreign minister at the time, confirmed this to me in conversations at Tswalu in the Northern Cape,” Biti said.

He claimed Chitepo was accused of collusion with Thomas Nhari and Dakarai Badze, leaders of the Nhari rebellion of November 1974, and that the Zambian Government arrested Josiah Tongogara and other ZANU leaders over Chitepo’s death.”

No one with hand on his/her heart can deny that ZANU PF is a party of 'murderers and fascists’. Indeed, Zanu PF leaders themselves have often boasted that “Zanu PF ndeye rope!” (Zanu PF is a party of blood!). 

The people of Zimbabwe and history will never ever forgive Tendai Biti and his MDC/CCC fiends for their treasonous betrayal of the nation by failing to end the Zanu PF dictatorship these last 25 years including the 5 GNU years when they had the best chance ever to implement the democratic changes to end the Zanu PF dictatorship.

Robert Mugabe bribed Biti and company during the GNU with the trappings of high office; the E-Class Mercedes Benz limo for all the deputy ministers, ministers, the two deputy PMs and PM Tsvangirai, generosity salaries, allowances and cars for all the other MDC leaders, a US$4m mansion for Save himself, etc., etc. In return the MDC leaders forgot about implementing the required democratic changes to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship. Not ever one token reforms was implemented. Not one! 

Worse still, ever since the GNBU debacle MDC/CCC leaders have participated in the flawed elections knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging elections and participating would only give the regime legitimacy. The soldiered on regardless out of greed. They knew Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate no matter what. Biti and his MDC/CCC fiends know all these things!

“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 (2023) elections. 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,” confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.

And so the denouncing of Zanu PF as a party of murderers and fascists is all part and parcel of the MDC/CCC leaders’ double act on publicly denouncing the Zanu PF regime to ingratiate themselves to the masses by making them believe MDC/CCC are still committed to ending the Zanu PF dictatorship. The people have failed to read the writing on the wall; that MDC/CCC leaders have failed to implement any reforms in 25 years because they are Zanu PF team B in all but name. 

The double act is to con the people to participate in the flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy to get the few gravy train seats reward. 

Why the people have failed to realise that Biti & co. are running with the povo hare and hunting with the Zanu PF hounds beggars belief. 

Chamisa lied about plugging all vote rigging loop holes to con millions to participate in 2023 elections. They accept that Zanu PF blatantly rigged the 2023 elections - the very thing he said would not happen. And yet they refuse to accept that Chamisa is a liar and conman! 

The possibility that Biti, Chamisa and the other MDC/CCC leaders will con millions of Zimbabweans to participate in flawed 2028 elections to give the Zanu PF dictatorship legitimacy, cannot be ruled out. They have conned these people many times in the past, they can do so again.

"US$16b Mutapa Fund is game changer" said Prof Mugano. Nonsense, not as long as Zimbabwe remain a pariah state. W Mukori

@ Professor Mugano

The US$16 billion Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) is a game changer 

Today I had the privilege of having a 2 hour long learning meeting with the CEO of the MIF @DrJPMangudya at his offices.

As a curious “student”, I had a set of questions which were centered on governance issues, why an investment fund instead of resource based fund and role or relevance of the MIF in the Zimbabwe economy.

As part of his responses to my questions, @DrJPMangudya shared with me MIF’s 5 - year strategic plan with an acronym of FIRE:

Fix, Invigorate, Reinforce & Extract.

In this strategy, it classified the 30 entities under the MIF into four categories:

1. Cash cows

2. Stars

3. Dogs

4. Question marks 

Of each of these respective categories, the strategy has tailor-made strategies aimed at achieving 5 outcomes:

1. Financial performance of the entities under the Fund

2. Improvement in corporate governance of the entities under the Fund

3. Improve the contribution of SOEs to GDP - restore the 1996 glory where SOEs contributed 25% of GDP

4. Improve service delivery 

5. Build a stabilization fund

As a person who had initially dismissed the MIF, I went into the meeting as a doubting Thomas but I came out of the meeting as a convinced & converted person.

From today, I can speak and argue with facts on why the MIF is a game changer.

MIF you have earned an ambassador.

Watch the space!”

Interesting. However I will still maintain the position that there will be no meaningful economic, political or social change in Zimbabwe until we cure ourselves of the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. 

Professor Mugano talked of the need for  “improved corporate governance”. In Zimbabwe all CEOs and line managers are appointed on the basis of patronage and political connections and not merit. And this weakness can be traced back to parent ministry and right up to State House. 

Any one who say Zimbabwe can ever be a prosperous nation and still remain a pariah state is a day-dreamer!And I for one has no time for time wasting day-dreamers! 

Remember Mugabe and his scientific socialism “Gutsa ruzhinji!” (Mass property!). It was all hot-air! Zimbabwe’s economy was in decline from the word go and in the period 2000 and 2008 it declined by a world record 50% on the tail of the collapse of the agricultural sector and the money printing madness that saw the hyperinflation soar to nauseating height of 500 billion per cent.

When Mnangagwa took over in 2017, he too was cocksure he would revive Zimbabwe’s comatose economy over night. “Zimbabwe is open for business!” he announced at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the world’s premier annual economic gathering of world economic and political leaders. 

The expected flood of investors never materialised because investors are a shrewd lot they could see that the military coup was just a musical chairs removing one dictator and replacing him with another. Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who rigged elections to stay in power.

Mnangagwa has since revised his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra. He is now promising to transform Zimbabwe from a poor nation with GDP per capita of US$2 000 to US$6 000 by 2030, Vision 2030. This is just a mirage! He has been in power for 8 years already and instead of signs of economic recovery there are signs the nation is sinking even deeper into the abyss. Corruption was bad under Mugabe it has gone into over drive under Mnangagwa. 

Mnangagwa promised there will be no electricity power cut in the country only for him to deliver his State Of Nation Address in the dark. No amount of rhetoric and propaganda can trump reality! “Rinemanyanga hariputirwi!” so goes the Shona adage.

The truth is Zimbabweans are an ignorant, naive and gullible people, they are easily conned. They believed Mugabe’s scientific socialism just as readily as they believe Mnangagwa’s vision 2030. 

Even the opposition upstarts like Nelson Chamisa have taken advantage of the people’s naivety. He has conned millions to participate in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy in return for a few gravy train seats. He knew that participating would give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuate the dictatorship and the nation’s suffering.   

“US$16 billion Mutapa Investment Fund is a game changer!” Yeah right!  MIF is just another opportunity for the ruling elite to loot, precisely because they are not democratically accountable to the nation!!