By participating in flawed elections, "so flawed the only logical step is to withdraw", we're fighting with a log in our own eye - blind! W Mukori

 The truth is when we can see the speck in our neighbour’s eye but cannot see the log in our own eye we are, per se, our own worst enemy. We are fighting blind and, naturally, the enemy will take full advantage of our blindness - he will be very foolish not to.

The dust of the 23 August 2023 nationwide harmonised presidential, parliamentary and local council elections has not settled and already a new wave of by-elections has kicked off. The by-elections were triggered by the recall of a number of CCC candidates who had won in the August elections. 

The recalls is just one of the many manifestations of the endless squabbling within the opposition CCC. More recalls have been made so there are more by elections coming. Some of the recalled individuals are CCC candidates in the by-elections and so they may well be recalled, if they win again!

Meanwhile Nelson Chamisa has dismissed the 23 August 2023 elections as a “gigantic fraud”! Yet right up to voting day he was boasting of CCC winning big because he had “plugged all the Zanu PF vote rigging loop-holes!” It was all hot air, of course.

ZEC had stubbornly refused to produce a verified voters’ roll. It is nonsensical to talk of stopping Zanu PF rigging the elections when the country did not even have something as basic as a verified voters’ roll. It turns out that CCC did not even have election agents at many Polling Stations and so Zanu PF was free to do as the party damn well pleased!

Zanu PF has beeb winning these elections for the last 43 years and counting! It is utterly pointless to be complaining about “gigantic election fraud” when you are the one who not only failed to implement the democratic reforms to stop the rigging but has been insisting on participating in the flawed elections.

Elections are like a war, you participate to win. And the Chinese General Sun Tzu, his book, The Art of War, argues that one must know one’s weaknesses and strength and the enemy’s weaknesses and strengths too. 

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

Zanu PF has known MDC/CCC’s weakness and has exploited it again and again and again. MDC/CCC leaders’ greatest weakness is they are greedy and breathtakingly incompetent.

Of course, Robert Mugabe did not want any of the democratic reforms to be implemented and his carte blanche power to rig elections and stay in power, naturally. He bribed Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends with the trappings of high office, to make them forget about implementing the reforms. It worked!

And to seal the deal; Mugabe orchestrated a narrative to convince MDC/CCC leaders and followers into giving up the need for implementing the democratic reforms on the understanding the opposition can come up with winning in rigged elections strategies. Chamisa and his supporters have taken to the oxymoronic deception like ducks to water!

Some of the MDC leaders like Tendai Biti and David Coltart have since realised that all the democratic changes they thought they had accomplished during the GNU are an illusion. They have lamented the sheer sheer futility of participating in these flawed elections.

“Look, you can't keep on participating in flawed electoral processes that serve to give big benefits to dictators such as Robert Mugabe. Mugabe has perfected the art of winning elections. So it will be very foolish for the opposition to continue legitimising these sham elections which don't deliver,” said Tendai Biti in a 2015 interview with Isaac Mugabi.

“So you can't continue subjecting Zimbabweans to processes where their hopes just get crushed.”

There is no doubt that Biti tried to talk his MDC colleagues into stop living the Zanu PF lie of change when there was no change. His arguments, like the SADC leaders during the GNU before him, fell on deaf ears. Greed stopped MDC leaders implementing the reforms during the GNU and the same greed kept them participating in flawed elections, “so flawed and so illegal the rational thing to do was to boycott!” as Coltart aptly put it.

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

“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.”

So even the shallow, thick and slow MDC/CCC leaders have knew they are participating in these flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed. They have kept up the false narrative of the opposition winning rigged elections to hide the real reasons they are hell bent on participating is greed and incompetence.

In post GNU Zimbabwe, Zanu PF and MDC/CCC have conned the ordinary Zimbabweans into believing the 2008 to 2013 GNU had brought about subtle and yet seismic political change allowing the opposition to win rigged elections. And so the people have been participating in these flawed, “so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw,” as Coltart confessed because they are ignorant, naive and gullible.

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near,” said General Sun Tzu, in 544 BC. 

Zanu PF’s greatest deception was to convince the opposition and the public that the GNU had left the party weak and feeble they nation could remove the party from office without bothering with implementing even one token reform! The people have believed the oxymoronic nonsense even after 43 years of the Zanu PF mafiosi rigging the elections!  

"Why do you see the speck in your neighbour's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5). 

Ignorance is curse worse than death; in their ignorance and naivety the people have been fighting blind. By participating in flawed elections, “so flawed, so illegal the only rational step was to withdraw”, to perpetuate the Zanu PF dictatorship; they might as well have been fighting with the log in their own eye! Zanu PF has conned them into believing the GNU has left the party weak and feeble when, with not even one token reform implemented, the regime’s dictatorial powers have not even been touched. 

EU pokes holes into Mnangagwa election victory; EU 2023 election report.

 Bulawayo 24/ Newsday

THE European Union Election Observer Mission (EU EOM) has said Zimbabwe's August 23 and 24 harmonised elections were not credible due to a plethora of anomalies ranging from the curtailment of rights to a lack of a level playing field.

Invited by the government to observe the country's polls, the EU disclosed that the mission faced significant challenges to meet officials at the national level, including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) which they managed to meet only once.

In its final report on Zimbabwe's plebiscite, the EU said citizens faced severe restrictions due to a shrinking space for civic activities.

"The August 23, 2023 harmonised elections in Zimbabwe were marked by a curtailment of rights and freedoms and the lack of a level playing field, which limited voters' ability to make their choices in a genuinely free and pluralistic environment," the report partly reads.

"A palpable fear of violence underlay the electoral process throughout, and a climate of retribution developed after the elections."

The report also concurs with the Sadc EOM final report which described the country's polls falling short of internal, regional and international standards.

"The campaign environment was subdued, but marked by tensions and instances of violence and intimidation, with undue limitations placed on the freedom of assembly, as well as a playing field that was tilted in favour of the incumbent and the ruling party. Most EU EOM observers received reports of Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) actively intimidating voters throughout the campaign, especially in rural areas," the report reads.

FAZ, a Zanu-PF affiliate led by Central Intelligence Organisation co-deputy director-general, Brigadier-General Walter Tapfumaneyi, is accused of making sure President Emerson Mnangagwa and his party won the polls.

EU added that the election results, which saw Mnangagwa declared the victor, could not be independently verified due to the absence of publicly available data, disaggregated by polling stations and the undermining of the sample-based projection of results which were supposed to have been conducted by citizen observer groups.

Armed police stormed Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (Zesn) offices in Harare on election day, arrested 40 election monitors and seized computers and other election-related material being used by the poll watchdog to follow the election.

"Until election day, the technical implementation of the electoral process was largely conducted in line with the electoral calendar. However, a lack of guarantees for independence, transparency and significant delays in the opening of a considerable number of polling stations on election day reduced public trust in Zec and the efficiency of the electoral preparations. Throughout the electoral period, Zec's activities were characterised by a lack of transparency and insufficient communication," the report further reads.

The EU said the post-electoral environment saw a further deterioration in the human rights situation, due to crackdowns on civil society, with certain human rights defenders and opposition figures targeted.

Since the August polls, Zimbabwe has witnessed a surge in cases of politically-motivated abductions, enforced disappearances and murder of opposition members.

"In this context, comprehensive and meaningful reforms, and the political will to engage in them are necessary on the part of the Zimbabwean authorities to lay the ground for genuine and credible elections in the future," the EU said, adding that the bloc proposed 21 recommendations, among them to ensure that Zec and its staff are able to operate without political influence at all levels.

The EU has since suspended the US$5 million funding extended to Zec over the disputed polls.

https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-local-byo-237447.html

ZIMEYE REPORT

BRUSSELS, 17 November 2023 – Today, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Zimbabwe published its final report on the 23 August 2023 harmonised elections. This report offers a set of key recommendations to improve future electoral processes. EU EOM Chief Observer, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, underscored in the final report presentation: “While election day was largely calm, it was assessed as disorderly. The process curtailed fundamental rights, overall, and lacked a level playing field, which was compounded by intimidation. During the post-electoral period, the EU EOM observed a climate of retribution.”

“I would like to emphasise that the EU EOM came to Zimbabwe as a partner and in the spirit of achieving common goals to further advance democratic processes. It is important to also view the EU EOM’s recommendations in this context. It is up to Zimbabweans to take ownership of their implementation. The European Union remains ready to assist such efforts”, said Mr. Castaldo.

Out of 21 recommendations, the EU EOM lists 7 as a priority. In particular, the EU EOM considers that a comprehensive and meaningful electoral reform is needed to bring legislation in line with regional and international standards espoused by Zimbabwe.

The EU EOM also recommends that measures are taken to ensure that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and its staff are able to operate without political influence at all levels, including in their appointment mechanisms and by removing governmental approval of its regulations. Further, the EU EOM recommends that ZEC provides timely and comprehensive information on all aspects of electoral preparations to the public, including its decisions and regulations and that ZEC publishes timely electoral results, disaggregated by polling station.

To safeguard the right of assembly, it is recommended to amend the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MPOA), to limit discretionary application and ensure that its implementation never unduly limits the right to assemble. To safeguard the independence of the judiciary, the EU EOM recommends reviewing the appointment procedures of judges to guarantee the separation of powers.

Further, the EU EOM recommends to establish and implement effective mechanisms to prevent undue restrictions on observation activities, and to prevent pressure and intimidation of both citizen and international observers

The recommendations are the quintessence of the work of the EU EOM, which comprised some 150 observers from all 27 EU member states and its partner countries Canada, Norway and Switzerland”, said Mr Castaldo.

“The EU EOM was invited by the Government of Zimbabwe. In accordance with an Administrative Arrangement between the government and the European Union, the mission conducted an independent and impartial long-term assessment of all aspects of the entire electoral process. The EU EOM did not interfere in the elections at any time and has no interest in the results”, underlined Mr. Castaldo.

https://www.zimeye.net/2023/11/17/eu-eom-zimbabwe-publishes-its-final-report-on-the-2023-harmonised-elections-including-key-recommendations/

The EU report is just a copy and paste of the 2018 report; the 2023 elections were repeat of the 2018 elections because not even one token reform was implemented. It does not help when those should be pushing for reforms are adamant they don’t reforms because they devised winning in rigged elections strategies!

The challenge before this nation is: Are we, Zimbabweans, smart enough to finally get the democratic reforms implemented and put an end to the insanity of rigged elections and bad governance? After 43 years of Zanu PF mafiosi rigging elections and 23 years of believing MDC/CCC oxymoronic nonsense they can win rigged election; has the penny finally dropped!

USA CFR condemn SADC for "burying heads in the sand" over Zanu PF rigged 2023. What of CCC perpetuating it! W Mukori

 “A United States think-tank, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), says the failure by regional leaders to intervene and address the Zimbabwe crisis was perpetuating impunity, especially on human rights violations, by State actors” reported Bulawayo 24.

“CFR said Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders missed an opportunity to intervene after election observer missions flagged the August elections as not credible.

“The think-tank said this has prolonged the crisis in Zimbabwe.”

CFR is spot on in denouncing Zanu PF for denying the people of Zimbabwe their fundamental freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country. This is not just a right but the very essence of good governance. 

Zimbabwe is a failed state precisely because we have failed to hold free, fair and credible elections. And 43 years being stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship has left the country in economic ruins and political paralysis. The stifling political system Zanu PF has imposed on the nation has failed to produce quality leaders on both sides of the political divide to get the nation out of the hell-hole we find ourselves.

The USA think-tank is also right in denouncing SADC leaders for failing to deny Zanu PF political legitimacy after the regional body’s own election observers condemned the 23 August Zimbabwe elections for failing to meet SADC’s own principles and guidelines on democratic elections. 

However I have to express my disappointment and frustration with CFR for the deafening silence over the role Zimbabwe’s opposition parties, notably MDC/CCC, have played in Zimbabwe’s seemingly never ending economic, political and social crisis.

It is very frustrating to see Nelson Chamisa et al coming out now after the August 2023 elections with guns blazing to denounce the election process as a “gigantic fraud” and until voting day they were the ones hell-bent on participating in these flawed and illegal elections. In particular, they dismissed all calls for implementing democratic reforms before elections.

Just a few months before the elections Advocate Fadzai Mahere, then CCC spokesperson, brushed aside Zanu PF’s failure to implement any democratic reforms, political shenanigans and contemptuous violation of human rights. “It is proof, that Zanu PF is panicking because they know CCC will going to win this elections!” she a UN forum.

Back home the CCC party leader and its presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa, was boasting that the party was going to win big because he had “plugged all the Zanu PF vote rigging loop-holes. Shunga! Shunga! Shunga imwe, shunga dazeni!” And crown it all, “God is in it!” he proclaimed!

For anyone with any political common sense, they knew straight away this was Chamisa and company posturing and grandstanding. Chamisa and company were hell bent on participating in these flawed elections out of greed and the hot air was to hide the real reasons for participating - greed and breathtaking incompetence. 

What matters here is that the ignorant and gullible Zimbabwe public believed the lies and participated in the flawed elections. Both Zanu PF and the opposition are taking advantage of the people, it is true.

“Look, you can't keep on participating in flawed electoral processes that serve to give big benefits to dictators such as Robert Mugabe. Mugabe has perfected the art of winning elections. So it will be very foolish for the opposition to continue legitimising these sham elections which don't deliver,” said Tendai Biti in a 2015 interview with Isaac Mugabi.

“So you can't continue subjecting Zimbabweans to processes where their hopes just get crushed.”

David Coltart went one step further to shed light on why MDC/CCC leaders have continued to participate in the flawed elections.

“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 Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.

There it is, in black and white; the MDC/CCC leaders are participating in these flawed and illegal election out of greed. Pure and and simple! It is inconceivable that CFR, a think-tank for that matter, did not know this!

For the record, Tendai Biti and David Coltart were MDC ministers in the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They were senior leaders in the MDC team that failed to implement even one token reform in five year GNU. And credit were credit is due; SADC leaders, notably SA’s Minister Lindiwe Zulu, did their best to get MDC to implement the reforms during the GNU. SADC leaders’ nagging on implementing reforms fell on MDC deaf ears, they could not hear with their snout in the feeding trough! 

Today Biti and Coltart hold the positions of one of the three VP and the Treasurer General respectively in CCC. They were both as keen as mustard to participate in the August 2023 elections, hoping to win one of the few gravy train seats Zanu PF offers as bait to entice the opposition to participate no matter how flawed and illegal the process get. The party’s name has changed from MDC to CCC none of the leaders have changed. They are as corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent as ever! 

"At a time when African citizens are clearly signalling their frustration with manipulated elections and democratic window-dressing serving as cover for corrupt and authoritarian leadership, SADC leaders bury their heads in the sand," said CFR.

Yes but that is only half the picture, half the problem! The Zanu PF dictatorship would have ended in 2013, at the latest, if MDC/CCC leaders had not sold out by failing to implement even one token reform and thereafter by participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuate the dictatorship. 

The Zimbabwe crisis will never be solved by denouncing Zanu PF dictatorship and SADC’s inaptitude, important as these are, if we ignore CCC who are playing a pivotal role in perpetuating the dictatorship!

"Zimbabweans like to be RULED and not LED" - cold comfort and have paid dearly for it. W Mukori

 “Zimbabweans like to be RULED and not LED, ruling requires supporters to support their favourite leader even when he is being undemocratic,” observed Hopewell Chin’ono.

“Leading requires supporters to question their leader’s actions and to call them out when they are being undemocratic.

“That culture doesn’t exist in both ZANUPF and the opposition.”

He was stating a home truth many Zimbabweans do not want to hear but a home truth we must hear, at least if we are serious about digging ourselves out of the hell-on-earth we have landed ourselves in. Zimbabwe is a failed state and it is entirely our own fault!

“Zimbabwean rulers even have intellectuals and purported thought leaders who support their rulership on both sides, it is not just about the Povo’s lack of political sophistication,” continued Chin’ono.

“If you disagree with them, they insult you instead of engaging you, on both ends of our politics.

“Our politics is still very rudimentary, the common denominator is only the equal dislike of either ZANUPF or the opposition and not values or any ideology.”

Chin’ono, you have hit the nail on the head! The root cause why Zimbabwe is  a failed state; and, unless we do something about it, doomed to blundering from pillar to post to the end of time; is because we are an ignorant, gullible and naive people. It is no surprise that everything we do including, “our politics is still very rudimentary,” as you aptly put it.

Most of our people are nothing more than Boxer the horse, in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. It took Boxer as long to learn the first four letters of the alphabet as it took other animals to learn all the 26 letters. It took him just as long again to learn the next four letters and by the time he had forgotten the first four letters. He gave up! 

Boxer could not come up with a single coherent idea of his own and soon found comfort in blindly supporting everything Napoleon said. “Napoleon is always right!” became his motto. 

Man is a creature of intellect and reason and it is most disconcerting when anyone let alone a significant proportion of the nation’s population not only stop thinking for themselves and treat mere mortals as infallible demigods who must not be questions. And, worst of all coerce others to do the same! 

These “Chamisa Chete Chete!” “Chamisa is our only hope!” people are brain-dead; in the 1980s they worship Robert Mugabe with the same blind and irrational devotion. They call Chamisa “Change Champion in Chief” and yet not even the so called intellectuals amongst them name even one democratic change MDC/CCC have brought in 23 years, 5 of which in the GNU. They have failed to implement even one token change. 

One of the reasons why so many Zimbabweans are dumb and slow is their pathological dislike of detail. And, typical of one who knows f**k all, they like to masquerade as Steve Wonder’s “Misstra know it all”. Call their bluff and they take it personally; in a flash, they will turn what should be a civil debate into a no-holds barred brawling match. They would rather muddy the waters than concede a point!

It was Albert Einstein who said insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. In Zimbabwe we have been participating in flawed elections, so flawed even something as basic as a verified voters’ roll was missing, and expect the opposition to win big; even after 43 years of the Zanu PF mafiosi ring the elections. Such is the soaring heights of our people’s ignorance and collective insanity. 

Like it or not, Zimbabwe is a failed state because we have failed to govern ourselves. Even now, 43 years after independence, in this day and age, we are still failing to hold free, fair and credible elections. Many Zimbabweans do not know what constitute free, fair and credible elections much less how to implement the democratic reforms to guarantee free elections. Like Boxer the horse, they have not been paying attentions to learn the A B C D of politics.

Zimbabwe is a failed state; 43 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF misrule have left the country is economic ruins and political paralysis as the autocratic political system has clearly failed to produce quality leaders in Zanu PF and the opposition camp. And unless Zimbabweans pull up their socks and learn what constitute free elections and implement the democratic reforms and thus end this curse of rigged elections and bad governance; Zimbabwe will remain a failed state. Period!