By Wilbert Mukori| “A prominent Zimbabwean activist voiced doubt on Tuesday that upcoming elections – the first since Robert Mugabe’s ouster – will be credible, as the new president’s commitment to basic rights was still unclear,” reported New Zimbabwe.
“The message that has been top of his agenda is that Zimbabwe is open for business,” Mawarire said, noting Mnangagwa’s speech to global financial elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.
“But, he added, there are “a lot of questions about structural changes when it comes to the law, the rule of law, when it comes to democracy, human rights. They have said a lot about business but little about the freedom of people”.”
It is not just that President Mnangagwa and his coup regime have “said little about the freedom of the people” but more significantly they have done NOTHING to restore the individual freedoms and rights. President Mnangagwa was former President Mugabe’s enforcers and pointer man, he would have been involved in all the negotiations leading to the formation of the 2008 to 2013 GNU. He knew and understood the significance of the raft of democratic reforms the GNU were asked to implement. Second to Mugabe himself, Mnangagwa was one of the Zanu PF leaders who were beside themselves with joy when, at the end of the GNU, not even one reform had been implemented.
If he cared about restoring the individual freedoms and rights then why has he not hit the ground running in implementing the democratic reforms. He has instead resisted all calls for reforms. Indeed, he has dismissed all those calling for reforms as barking dogs. Mnangagwa he since bought the Chiefs new trucks, Mugabe had promised them; a bribe for them to play their regular role of intimidating rural voters to attend Zanu PF rallies and then to vote for party candidates in the election.
To anyone remotely familiar with Zanu PF leaders, there was never any doubt that they were paying lip-service to holding free, fair and credible elections. Thugs like Mnangagwa, P Shiri, S Moyo and C Chiwenga would never ever risk their political careers on the outcome of free and fair elections after spending the last 37 years rigging elections for others. It was very naïve of people like Pastor Mawarire to have even thought it possible that President Mnangagwa and his coup regime would hold free and fair elections. It is pleasing to see that the penny has dropped!
The Pastors said he will help people organise and register to vote.
Spoke too soon about the penny dropping! Zanu PF’s capacity to rig elections is such that it is IMPOSSIBLE to defeat the party. In the March 2008 vote, for example, Tsvangirai had 73% of the votes and ZEC was ordered to recount the votes. After six weeks of cooking up the figures Tsvangirai’s vote was whittled down to 47%! In the July 2013 elections, nearly one million voters, Mugabe’s winning margin was just over a million, were denied the vote because their details were not in the constituency voters’ roll they expected. This could have been easily avoided if the
voters’ roll was released at least a month before voting day, as is required by law. The regime failed to release the roll and never did.
There will be no verifiable voters’ roll again this year throwing the door wide open to all manner of vote rigging shenanigans.
It is insane to contest in flawed and illegitimate elections and SADC leaders have already advised that Zimbabweans must not take part in such elections. So, what Pastor Mawarire is hoping to achieve in playing any role in these flawed elections, other than give the process some modicum of credibility, beggars belief!
The road to hell is paved with good intentions – good intentions of naïve people like Pastor Mawarire! He has a big heart but not much wit, a dangerous cocktail in a country with more than its fair share of naïve and gullible voters! – zsdemocrats.blogspot.co.uk