"Free election pre-conditions will NOT be fulfilled" - only rigged election death wisher will still contest N Garikai

Death wish is “a desire for self-destruction, often accompanied by feelings of depression, hopelessness, and self-reproach. A suicidal urge that presumably drives certain people to put themselves consistently into dangerous situations.” When it comes to elections some Zimbabweans have death wish; they will take part in the elections no matter how flawed and illegal the process gets; the more evidence they are presented that the elections are being blatantly rigged the more determined they are to participate.

The 2008 Zimbabwe elections were historic in that Zanu PF was forced to expose the sickening depth of depravity the party would sink to retain political power. In the March vote ZEC withheld the election result for some staggering six weeks whilst Tsvangirai’s 73%, according to Mugabe’s own inadvertent admission later, was whittled down to 47% to force the run-off.

During the run-off Zanu PF deployed party thugs, war veterans, Police, Army and CIO to destroy property, harass, beat, rape and even murder innocent civilians; punishment for having rejected Mugabe and Zanu PF in the earlier vote. “What was accomplished by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!” boasted Mugabe, encouraging his thugs.

“Zanu PF has declared war on the people!” complained Morgan Tsvangirai as he announced his withdrawal from the run-off. That did not stop Mugabe claiming an 84% landslide victory. It was a Cadmean victory in that no one else would recognise him as the victor.

The cheating and wanton violence that year were so blatant and barbaric not even SADC or AU, known for turning a blind eye to Zanu PF vote rigging activities in the past, could do so in 2008. Mugabe and Zanu PF were forced to agree to the implementation of a raft of democratic reforms designed to stop the Zanu PF cheating, vote rigging and violence. A GNU, comprising Zanu PF plus the two MDC factions, was tasked to implement the reforms and hold fresh elections.

Sadly, not even one reform was implemented at the end of the five years of GNU. Not one!

SADC leaders wanted the 2013 elections to be postponed until reforms are in place. “If you go into next month’s elections, you will lose; the elections are done!” they warned Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends. The warning fell on deaf ears. They had a death wish to contest no matter what and it was brought on by 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,” explained Senator David Coltart in his book. 

“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.”

Three of the main MDC factions have since come together to form the MDC Alliance but only to contest this year’s elections even thou not even one reform was implemented since the last rigged elections. The promise of winning those few gravy train seats has turned them deaf and blind. Worse still, even ordinary Zimbabweans one would expect to be rational are coming up with all manner of foolishness to justify why the flawed and illegal elections should go ahead, to justify their death wish.

“I am worried about the current tension over unresolved electoral issues, especially around the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that can deem the elections free and fair such as the voters roll, printing of the ballot paper, the impartiality of the media and other preconditions for free and fair elections,” explained Dr Ibbo Mandaza in an interview with Standard reporter, Everson Mushava.

“Opposition political parties and foreign observer missions I have met have been raising those issues.

“Americans have so far sent three delegations including senators, International Republican Institute and Council on Foreign Relations, the European Union delegation is in town interviewing people, we have the African Union, Comesa — all of them are raising the issue of the incomplete manner in which the elections are being prepared by ZEC.

“With three or four weeks to go, we wonder whether these pre-conditions will be fulfilled.”

The follow up question from Mushava was the surprise. “Opposition parties have been accusing Zanu-PF of trying to rig the forthcoming elections. Do you think rigging will be possible this time around?”

What a foolish question! You just been told that there is no clean and verified voters, no free public media, etc. – conditions for free, fair and credible elections – and that with only four weeks left to voting day there is no hope of any of these conditions being fulfilled. So if the conditions for free and fair elections are not met surely it is impossible to see how anyone can stop Zanu PF rigging these elections.

Whilst outsiders like the Americans, AU, etc. are rightly concerned that ZEC has failed to produce a clean and verified voters’ roll, etc. it is shocking that it is Zimbabweans who are either too stupid to notice all these serious vote-rigging irregularities or too stupid to appreciate their importance in ensuring free and fair elections.

Albert Einstein, the great Physicist, once said “Insanity is the doing one thing again and again expecting a different result!”

After 38 years of rigged elections, there are some Zimbabweans out there who know Zanu PF is rigging the elections but they will still want to participate hoping that the party will rig the vote and, this once, lose the elections. MDC leaders like Chamisa’s flawed elections death wish is fuelled by greed the ordinary Zimbabwean’s death wish is fuelled by insanity!

Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because for 38 years now the nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical regime that rigged elections to stay in power. By participating in the rigged elections, we are the ones giving the flawed process the modicum of political credibility, as Coltart rightly acknowledge above.

President Mnangagwa and his junta are the ones who masterminded and ruthlessly implemented the 2008 vote rigging operations. Since last November’s coup, the junta has pointedly refused to implement even one democratic reform before holding these elections. Not one! There is no free public media, no clean and verified voters’ roll, etc. To therefore ask if the junta is going to rig these elections is as foolish as asking whether the crocodile eat meat!

It is one thing for the wildebeest to risk its life crossing a crocodile infested river in their annual migration to better grazing it is disconcerting when human beings start behaving with wildebeest. How many more rigged elections will it take before some people finally accept the futility of contesting flawed elections!

The Americans, AU and the rest of the international election observers will condemn these elections because they whole process is flawed and illegal. However, they will rubber stamp the rigged elections if Zimbabweans continue to show their usual indifference to blatant Zanu PF vote rigging. It is not for the Americans or anyone else to impose such things as a free public media, clean and verified voters’ roll, etc. we must demand for ourselves!

"ED and junta committed 73% of the violence," says Zhuwao - they must be held to account, Mugabe too W Mukori

Patrick Zhuwao, former President Mugabe’s nephew and now in self-imposed exile, has written an open letter to the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, accusing the British of supporting and sanitizing last November’s military coup by President Mnangagwa and his junta cabal.

“This sanitization of the coup by your (UK) government has been done against the background of the institutionalised political violence witnessed since the early 1980s. You should be aware that 71.9% of violence in the past two decades has been against defenceless civilians,” he wrote in Nehanda Radio.

“You should also know that 73.9% of that violence has been perpetrated under the control and direction of the Mnangagwa and Chiwenga cabal that you are now promoting.”

Zhuwao was spot-on in identifying the root cause of Zimbabwe’s culture of political violence.

“Its history of having achieved independence in 1980 after a protracted armed liberation struggle, which generalised and entrenched violence, has resulted in a conflation of the military and politics. It is this conflation of the military, led by commanders of the liberation armies, into politics that has fed into and propelled political violence since 1980.

“The conflation of the military and politics reached an unprecedented height on 15 November 2017 when former guerrilla leaders now commanding the military conspired with Mnangagwa to stage a military coup which your government supported. Since then, your government, with the support of institutions such as the BBC, has sought to sanitize that coup by presenting it as a transition and by pressuring governments in the region and on the continent to similarly condone the coup.”

How interesting that Zhuwao should be denouncing Zimbabwe’s culture of violence and the “conflation of the military and politics” now that he and his uncle have become victims of the system. It was none other than his corrupt and murderous uncle, Robert Mugabe, who set up and nurtured this monstrous system for selfish political gain.

Still, there is no doubt that Zimbabwe’s corrupt and autocratic system of government has been and still remains the worst curse to befall this nation. It is tempting to look at who is complaining about the repressive system and throw away the baby and the bath water. The Bible and the true value of the message therein is not devalued in anyway just because the Devil quoted whole passages from the Holy Book for his devilish purposes.

“Contrary to Mnangagwa’s claim in the BBC interview that Zimbabwe is the most peaceful country in the region, the fact is that the country is the most politically violent state in Southern Africa. Zimbabwe has the dishonourable record of accounting for 40% of all political violence in the region,” said Zhuwao.

Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the country has remained a violent and volatile nation after independence in 1980 and still is to this day, contrary to what President Mnangagwa would have us believe. It would irresponsible for us to deny this political reality just because Zhuwao said it!

What we must do is remind Mnangagwa, Mugabe and all the other Zanu PF minions that they have all played their part in creating this Zanu PF dictatorship and they will all be held to account. Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends have already promised that Mugabe and the Zanu PF thugs will not be held to account, “I will not drive looking in the rear-view mirror,” said Chamisa on BBC HardTalk.

Nonsense! Rear-view mirrors are there for a purpose – to make sure the driver is aware of what is going on all around, there are no blind spots. Considering MDC leaders sold-out during the GNU, it is not just the Zanu PF thugs Chamisa is fearing to see in the rear-view mirrors but his own reflection and that of his fellow MDC friends.

Justice is about holding the wrong doers to account for their past because no one is ever charged of a crime he has not committed! For a lawyer, Chamisa should know that!

Restorative justice is about recovering and/or compensating the victims of the crime. Why should Mugabe and his cronies be allowed to keep the amassed looted wealth and continue to live in unparalleled luxury whilst the poor, from whom the wealth was stole, continue to languish in abject poverty?

It comes as no surprise that Zhuwao, Mugabe and his wife, Professor Jonathan Moyo and many of the G40 supporters have pledged to vote for Chamisa and MDC in these elections. Chamisa has also promised Mnangagwa a “lucrative pension” if MDC won these elections. In short, an MDC government will be looking after the ruling elite’s selfish interests just as Zanu PF has done these last 38 years!

We need to hold the wrong doers of the last four decades to account not just in the interest of common justice, restorative justice but most important of all to correct the dangerous precedence Zanu PF misrule has fostered on this nation. After decades of enjoying absolute power Mugabe, Mnangagwa and the rest of the Zanu PF thugs now believe they are above the law. By holding them all to account the nation will correct this erroneous notion that those in power can bring the wheels of justice to a grinding halt, do as the please and get away with it.

“You should also know that 73.9% of that violence has been perpetrated under the control and direction of the Mnangagwa and Chiwenga cabal that you are now promoting,” said Zhuwao. What you have failed to say Patrick is that 90%, at least, of that violence was committed before the 15 November 2017 coup, when your uncle was president. So, both Mnangagwa, Chiwenga and Mugabe have a lot to account for. “Mhoswa hairovi!” as one would say in Shona.

"It will first positive democratic step, if elections are free," says ForeignAffairs - try if sun rose from the WEST P Guramatunhu

There are many, many reasons one can give to explain why Zimbabwe is stuck in this economic and political mess. One of the reasons will be the country’s failure to have any open, meaningful and progressive debate on any big issues affecting the nation. The need for free, fair and credible elections has been the number one issue for Zimbabwe ever since the nation started demanding for democratic change in the late 1990s. Foreign Affairs’ contribution, writing in The Zimbabwean, is therefore a very welcome effort to kick-start the debate on this Big Issue.

“The presidential election could be a positive step toward true democracy in Zimbabwe, but only if it is free and fair,” wrote ForeignAffairs.com.

“The government must undertake serious reforms and provide assurances to ensure that free, fair, and peaceful elections happen, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely.”

In the interest of “open, meaningful and progressive debate”, there is no way any meaningful democratic reforms can be implemented now, just weeks before the voting day. We are going into these elections with no free public media, no clean and verified voters’ roll, with Zanu PF having billions of dollars looted from the impoverished populous to bankroll it vote rigging schemes, etc., etc. There is no point in mincing our words; there is no “if” the elections are free and fair, we know these elections are not free and fair.

It is simply impossible to have free and fair elections without first implementing the reforms. President Mnangagwa has flatly refused to implement any reforms and now it is too late to do so.

“This is a moment when the international community has enormous leverage and must push for as much reform as possible immediately,” argued ForeignAffair.

Credit where credit is due and criticism where criticism is overdue! The American, SADC, one or two others nations and a host of political analysts have reminded this Zanu PF junta of the need to implement the raft of democratic reforms agreed at the onset of the 2008 GNU. All they ever got from this regime was abuse.

“Zanu PF ichatonga! Igotonga! Imi muchingohukura! Nokuhukura!” (Zanu PF will rule! And rule! Whilst you (calling for reforms) bark! And bark!) President Mnangagwa has contemptuously dismissed the reformers.

The British are the only democratic nation that has turned a blind eye to Zanu PF’s arrogance and blatant moves to rig these elections. The British wants the world to rubber stamp another rigged elections as long as Zanu PF promise to implement reforms in the future.

Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess precisely because the nation has been stuck for 38 years now with this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF autocracy that rigged elections to stay in power. The nation is desperate to get out of the mess and the only sure way is to put an end to this madness of rigged election. How anyone, anyone at all; let alone a nation of supposedly rational and democratic people like the UK; would want the madness to continue even one more day defies logic!

 “It is important to recall that Mnangagwa was Mugabe’s right-hand man for more than 50 years, going back to the time of the country’s war for liberation,” continued FoeignAffair.

“He is therefore directly implicated in all that went wrong during Mugabe’s rule. But Mnangagwa is now saying all the right things. He is pleading for foreign investment and promising to protect civil society and human rights activists. Mnangagwa wrote earlier this year in the New York Times that he wants to build “a country with a thriving and open economy, jobs for its youth, opportunities for investors, and democracy and equal rights for all.”

President Mnangagwa’s high profile “Zimbabwe is open for business!” campaign has failed to attract the flood of foreign investors because they see the country as an unstable pariah state. The failure to hold free and fair elections, last November’s the military coup, the 23^rd June bomb blast in Bulawayo, etc., etc. all point to one thing – Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by thugs.

Those who think there can ever be any meaningful economic recovery without first dismantling the corrupt and oppressive dictatorial political system, the root cause of the economic meltdown, are putting the cart before the horse!

We know President Mnangagwa is not honouring his promise to hold free, fair and elections; he is blatantly rigging these elections, something Zanu PF has done consistently for the last 38 years. We must now make sure that he is left in no doubt that he is not going to get away with another rigged elections;  not this time. These elections are not free, fair and credible and, per se, must and will be declared null and void.