“I’ll follow Chamisa no matter what!” Only one devoid of common sense would especially given his track record.

By Wilbert Mukori | Zimbabwe is a failed state and this has been a 43 year growling descend into this hell-on-earth of our own making. The ruling party, Zanu PF, the numerous opposition parties and the ordinary Zimbabweans have all played their part in landing us in this mess.

Zanu PF and the country’s main opposition MDC/CCC have reached a political understanding in which the later has actively cooperated with Zanu PF’s vote rigging activities for a share of the spoils of power. And so the task of pushing for meaningful political change to end the failed state has fallen on the ordinary Zimbabweans. The main reason why there has been no meaningful change these last 43 years is because the ordinary Zimbabweans have remained ignorant, naive and gullible to initiate and effect any meaningful change.

Even now, with the country up to her eye balls in this hell-on-earth mess of our own making, it is shocking just how ignorant and naive many Zimbabweans are out there.

“Why are you not worried about Zanu PF which has failed to deliver change for the past 44 years? You attack the opposition which has no access to your hard earned money (tax) yet those who steal it in broad daylight you choose to close your eyes on them.” came one accusation (the name has been withheld to protect the ignorant.)

The spirit is willing but the intellect is weak; it is so feeble there is nothing there!

By the late 1990s the people of Zimbabwe realised not only that Zanu PF thugs are corrupt and incompetent but more significantly that as long as the thugs retained their carte blanche dictatorial powers to rig elections the nation is stuck with regime. And it will drag the nation deeper and deeper into the abyss. The solution was self-evident; to end the Zanu PF dictatorship and economic and political ruin, the nation must implementing the democratic reforms designed to take away the party’s vote rigging dictatorial powers.

The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb, at the hands of the Zanu PF thugs, to elect MDC/CCC leaders on the understanding that once in power they would implement the necessary democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging elections. Zanu PF blatantly rigged the 2023 elections, just as it has done since 1980, because MDC/CCC leaders not only sold out by failing to implement even one reform but, worse still, they have given up implementing reforms.

Chamisa and company have participated in these flawed elections knowing fully well the process was flawed and that doing so would give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and thus perpetuating the suffering of the masses. They have soldiered on regardless because they also knew that Zanu PF was giving away a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate.

“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.

Even after AU, SADC and Zimbabwe’s own ZHRC condemned the 2023 Zimbabwe elections as a farce; this did not stop CCC leaders taking up their share of the gravy train seats and thus undermining SADC and AU’s attempts to pressure Zanu PF to stop rigging elections.

What is obvious here is:

a) Zanu PF continues to rig elections because the party has retained all its dictatorial powers to rig elections

b) MDC/CCC leaders have clearly failed to implement even one token democratic reform; after 23 years including 5 in the GNU and nothing to show for it is clear CCC leaders are corrupt and incompetent and utterly useless.

c) after 23 years of hoping against hope that MDC/CCC leaders will implement the reforms, the nation must stop dithering and elect competent opposition leaders who will implement the democratic reforms and end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance.

What is shocking here is that there are many Zimbabweans out there who are still dithering and want to retain CCC leaders under the pretext that Zanu PF is to blame for the failure to implement even one token reform these last 23 years. They even want Zanu PF to be given the task to implement the reforms. Of course, this is nonsensical!

As stated above the people of Zimbabwe have risked all to elect the MDC/CCC leaders these last 23 years on the understanding they would implement the democratic reforms, precisely because the people KNEW they could never trust Zanu PF to implement any of the reforms. The reason for this was obvious – Zanu PF instituted the carte blanche dictatorial powers to rig elections and stay in power. The party benefited from the rigged elections and was not going to reform itself out of power.

It is idiotic, to say the least, to suggest Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies would implement any meaningful democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2028 and in the future.

However, the prospect of replacing the corrupt and incompetent CCC leaders is unthinkable to many out there and hence the political paralysis.

“As long as Chamisa is living and Zanu PF still existing, people will never follow any other opposing political party without Chamisa as its leader.” argued another individual.

The truth is there are many Zimbabweans who have no clue what the democratic reforms, we have been talking about these last 23 years are about, much less how they are implemented and that the failed state is the dire consequences of failing to implement the reforms. It is therefore not surprising that these people do not blame MDC/CCC for selling out on reforms and thus perpetuating the Zanu PF dictatorship and their own suffering. In their ignorance and naivety Chamisa and company had done nothing wrong!

After 23 years, including 5 in the GNU, and yet not even one token democratic reform in place one had hoped that some information will have started to filter through forcing these die-hard opposition supporters to question MDC/CCC leaders’ performance, especially on the critical task of stopping Zanu PF rigging elections. Sadly, the penny has not dropped and, probably, never will!

Democracy – government of the people, for the people and by the people – will only work if the said people are educated to at least understanding the big issues of the day and are diligent in holding those in positions of power and authority to account. Zimbabwe is a failed state and far from ever becoming a healthy and functioning democracy because most of our electorate are ignorant, naive and gullible.

So ignorant, naive and gullible some Zimbabwe consider Chamisa to be an infallible demigod and hence the reason they will never hold him to account for anything and are hostile to all who have dared to question his performance. It is tragic that anyone, even a half-shilling, should regard a mere mortal to be infallible especially one with a well documented track record of being corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent!

Zanu PF will never ever reform themselves out of office, it is naive to even suggest it. Chamisa and his CCC cronies will never push Zanu PF to implement any meaningful reforms; they had the golden opportunity to implement the reforms themselves during the GNU and they wasted it.

This leaves the ordinary Zimbabweans to instigate and drive for the implementation of democratic reforms. But how can they instigate something they do not even know! And so the hope that Zimbabwe will ever pulling itself out of this hell-on-earth we find ourselves in are slim. We are a failed state and a failed state we shall remain until we have an electorate with some common sense, at least! –