By Nomusa Garikai- Many Zimbabweans have been comparing Zimbabwe to Lebanon in that the two countries are in serious economic, political and social trouble because of decades of corruption and criminal waste of human and material resources. The root cause of the two countries problems is political paralysis.
Whilst the ordinary Zimbabweans and Lebanese people have seen the need for democratic change and fought for it; the more the countries’ ruling elite have dung in so that nothing changed.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), appropriately named to answer to the nation’s cry for democratic change, was formed in 1999. The people have risked life and limb to elect MDC into power on the understanding that they would bring about the democratic changes the nation has been dying for, metaphorically and literally.
MDC has been on the political stage for 20 years, 5 of which they were in power in the 2008 to 2013 GNU; they have failed to bring about even one meaningful democratic change. Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship during the GNU but failed to implement even one reform because they turned out to be breathtakingly corrupt and incompetent.
Zimbabwe used to be ruled by a ruthless and in your face de facto one party dictatorship, Zanu PF but thanks to MDC’s betrayal, Zanu PF has been able to keep its dictatorial powers and still claim Zimbabwe is a healthy multi-party democracy. Mnangagwa blatantly rigged the 2018 elections and, by participating, MDC and the whole Zimbabwe opposition camp, gave the flawed and illegal election process credibility and the result legitimacy.
Chamisa and his MDC Alliance friends have kept up the chorus that Mnangagwa lacks legitimacy but no one is listen to their howling monkey noise. “MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections!” Chamisa claimed before the July 2018. Of course, Mnangagwa rigged the elections, with no reforms in place that was certain to happen, what people cannot accept is the howling monkeys’ refusal to take the consequences of their folly.
MDC leaders have failed to implement the democratic reforms but have instead learned many, many dirty stuff from Zanu PF; two of which are never to admit to failure regardless of the overwhelming evidence. Second, to always claim to have the solutions to all the nation’s problems even if you have no clue what is the problem.
“The key to resolving the Zimbabwean crisis lies in us embarking on a set of comprehensive social, political and economic reforms. Key among these are electoral reforms which will forestall the problem of contested legitimacy in Zimbabwe,” wrote Douglas Mwonzora, MDC co-chairperson on the GNU parliamentary committee that drafted the 2013 Constitution..
“These electoral reforms will see the enfranchisement of millions of Zimbabweans living in the diaspora. But this first requires the establishment of a legitimate forum for dialogue over the reforms.
“It then will call for the establishment of a governance structure to initiate and implement these reforms.”
What Mwonzora and his fellow MDC leaders have never admitted to is that the 2008 to 2013 GNU was one such constituted forum tasked to implement the comprehensive reforms but failed to get even one reform implemented because MDC leaders sold-out.
“Our Constitution provides a great starting point for reform. This means the government must stop forthwith its attempts to tamper with the Constitution, which was adopted by the Zimbabwean people in the historic referendum of 2013,” continued Mwonzora.
“The fundamental rights and freedoms of the Zimbabwean people must be observed and respected.”
What Mwonzora would not admit to is that the new constitution failed to deliver free, fair and credible elections in the July 2013 elections, before Zanu PF had amended it then.
Paul Mangwana, who was Zanu PF’s co-chairperson on the constitution drafting committee, boasted so after the March 2013 referendum approving the constitution by a staggering 94% that Mugabe “dictated” the constitution.
The new constitution is not a democratic constitution, it is dictator’s decree granting all the freedoms and rights in section after section, page after page but only to take them all away in one or two felt subsection swoop, under the pretext of keeping law and order.
Zimbabwe is in this man-made economic and political hell-hole because for 40 years now the country has been stuck with a corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its complement of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties, all 130 of them at the last count.
It is not enough to call for the implementation of comprehensive democratic reforms it is important to realise that Zanu PF and MDC cannot be trusted to implement the reforms. The both are part of the problem and so cannot be a part of the solution too!