By Nomusa Garikai- “Over the weekend, members of Zanu PF terrorised some teachers in Mutoko district, forcing them to register as part of the five million voters for Zanu PF. In some cases, Zanu PF had all the details of the teachers, they just visited to confirm. In Kagande, teachers were forced to attend a rally,” reported Zimeye, quoting Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) twit.
“A total of 31 trs reported through our hotline. Our rapid response team is in Mutoko assessing the safety of some trs who refused to attend the Kagande meeting & those who refused to register as ZANU PF voters for 2023.”
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou has also reported of village heads and School Development Committee members evicting teachers from school accommodation who are on strike over the ongoing wage dispute with government.
Zanu PF’s coercive power is well documented especially in the rural areas where the party has reduced to people into nothing but medieval serfs beholden to the overbearing Zanu PF operatives and proxies.
President Mnangagwa has himself launched the mobilisation of the War Veterans and the opening of the Border Gazi camps to train the party’s youth militia, the green bombers. These two were the party’s foot-soldiers in the watershed 2008 elections when the party used wanton violence to overturn Tsvangirai’s 73% in the March vote, according to Mugabe’s own Freudian slip or parapraxis, to a 84% for Mugabe in the run-off.
The war veterans and the green bombers were the infantry whose strength is in numbers but could not do much beyond harassing, beatings, rape and the destruction of property. The foot-soldiers were backed by the well-equipped and ruthless big brothers; the Soldiers, Police, CIO and Prison Service personal deployed by the Joint Operations Command (JOC); they did the heavy-duty work of kidnapping and killing. Over 500 innocent Zimbabweans were murdered in the three months run-off period.
JOC, a Junta comprising the top brass in the security services plus a select few from Zanu PF and headed by Robert Mugabe (before he was booted out in the November 2017 coup) and with Mnangagwa as his deputy. It was JOC that planned the military style 2008 wanton violence, Operation “Mavhotera papi!” (Whom did you vote for!) and deployed the personal to execute the plan.
JOC has been the real power behind Zanu PF’s long stay in power, the power behind the throne. The party and government rewarded the JOC members by granting them generous salaries and perks, they were first to be allocated farms and other privileges notably the licence to loot diamonds in Marange and Chiadzwa. JOC members are the heart and soul of Zimbabwe’s filthy rich oligarchs
The biggest mistake Robert Mugabe, the otherwise artful Dodger of Zimbabwe politics, made to align himself with the Generation 40 (G40) Zanu PF faction. Grace Mugabe, the G40 leader, stated the obvious when she accused the JOC members of being greedy and holding the nation to ransom. It was clear that G40 was going to force many of the JOC members to retire from the security services and thus end their political influence. Robert Mugabe had done the preparatory work by passing a law stipulating the retirement age of all civil servants, civilians and those in the security services! Many of the JOC members were well past their retirement age
Mugabe and his G40 had crossed swords with JOC and the later’s response was the November 2017 the military coup, “Operation Restore Legacy”, as the coup plotters called it. Mugabe was booted out of office and G40 ringleaders were either killed, are in and out of prison or are in exile.
Operation Restore Legacy just like Operation Mavhotera papi before it were clear and unambiguous statements of fact: JOC and JOC alone will decide who rules Zimbabwe. Operation Mavhotera papi was about JOC denying the ordinary Zimbabweans a meaningful say in the governance of the country by denying them free, fair and credible elections. JOC wanted Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF to rule and punished the people for daring to vote for Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC.
Operation Restore Legacy was about reminded those in the Zanu PF government, that it was JOC that put them there!
In the upcoming 2023 elections, JOC is backing President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF and will not brook anything short of a landslide electoral victory for their horse.
JOC has the plans of Operation Mavhotera papi mark 2, ready. How much of blatant cheating and wanton violence will be used depends on the situation on the ground. Soldiers, Police, etc. will be deployed if there are more reports of teachers or anyone defying Zanu PF orders.
“Nothing will be left to chance!” boasted President Mnangagwa, a few weeks ago when he announced the mobilisation of the war veterans and the green bombers.
Zimbabwe will never ever hold free, fair and credible elections as long as Zanu PF and the shadowy Junta, JOC, continues to enjoy dictatorial powers including the carte blanche powers to rig elections.
Zimbabwe had its best ever opportunity to implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Robert Mugabe bribed Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends, entrusted with the task of implementing the reforms, and, with their snouts in the feeding trough, they failed to get even one reform implemented. Not even one!
Ever since the GNU debacle, Zanu PF has allowed the opposition to win a few gravy train seats to entice them to participate in the election regardless how flawed and illegal the process. By participating the opposition have given the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy and thus taking the sting out of the Zanu PF vote rigging shenanigans.
“Our rapid response team is in Mutoko assessing the safety of some trs who refused to attend the Kagande meeting & those who refused to register as ZANU PF voters for 2023!” Anyone who has witnessed the sheer brutality and barbarism of the 2008 Operation Mavhotera papi knows that bravado of these teachers will disappear like morning mist as the Zanu PF vote rigging juggernaut goes through its gears.
Of course, it folly of the teachers or anyone to defy Zanu PF and JOC just as it is folly of the opposition to participate in the flawed elections and give the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. The teachers as is the rest of the ordinary Zimbabweans are paying dearly for the opposition’s blatant betrayal in failing to implement the reforms and for the opposition’s greed in participating in flawed elections giving the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.
As long as the opposition continue to participate in flawed and illegal elections and giving the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy, there is no reason why Zanu PF would ever implement the reforms and risk losing the elections in free and fair vote. If we are serious about ending the curse of rigged elections then we must stop the opposition who are the ones selling out and letting Zanu PF off the hook!