Kenya elections 'must be free', says MDC and yet accept rigged ones in Zimbabwe

Everything MDC says and does smacks of political naivety, hypocrisy and even criminal duplicity.

Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends may like to compare themselves with Raila Odinga his National Super Alliance but that is comparing chalk and cheese. Odinga was Prime Minister in a GNU following violent 2007 elections in Kenya, likewise Tsvangirai was PM in Zimbabwe following the 2008 elections but that is where the comparison ends. Whilst Odinga carried out meaningful democratic reforms giving back key State Institutions such as the Police, Courts and Elections Commission their independence; Tsvangirai failed to get even one such reform implemented.

"An election should be an occasion that affords voters the right to freely and fairly choose their representatives. As long as an election is marred by gross irregularities, it undermines the will of the people and in the process, it becomes a direct attack on the concept of democracy," wrote Obert Gutu, MDC-T spokesman. He was commenting on the news of the Kenya Supreme Court ruling declaring the recent presidential election result in that country result null and void.

Gutu was just paying lip service to the call for free and fair elections because if MDC really cared then they should have implemented the democratic reforms to guarantee such elections during the GNU when they had the golden opportunity to do so. When SADC leaders warned MDC leaders not to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms the later disregarded the warning and contested.

Even when Zanu PF stubbornly refuse to release a verifiable voters' roll MDC still went ahead and contest the July 2013 elections. Gutu is talking about elections being "marred by gross irregularities" what other irregularity can be worse than failing to release the voters' roll especially when it was the smoking gun that would have proven many other vote rigging irregularities.

As we know Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig the July 2013 dragging the country into the political paralysis – because we are still stuck with a corrupt and tyrannical regime that has the licence to rig the vote and stay in power – and economic chaos – because of the worsening economic meltdown which can only be address if there is meaningfully democratic and political change.

After the rigged July 2013 elections, MDC politicians promised to get meaningful democratic reforms implemented and vowed "No reform, no election!" Sadly, these politicians have since change their minds, they are going to contest next year's elections regardless of the fact not even one reform, has been implemented.

"We have come up with our own new strategies which are smarter that we are going to use in wiring and wining the elections," Gutu told New Zimbabwe last week.

"I think you are now hearing us talking about the WIRE (short for Winning In Rigged Elections) trajectory, which is our new strategy, because obviously we are budgeting for the worst case scenario where the regime is not going to budge because very little in terms of reforms has been done and we will be fools to think that Zanu PF is going to give in."

The immediate response is to question why the party did not use the strategy in all these years Zanu PF has been rigging elections?

The truth is MDC failed to get even one reform implemented and they needed an excuse for disregarding SADC's warning against contesting flawed elections and their own party congress resolution not to contest; this mystical, wire strategy is that excuse.

We know that Robert Mugabe has been very careful to let the opposition win a few seats, to entice them to participate in the elections to give the rigged elections some modicum of credibility. Mugabe needs to cultivate this façade of democracy to avoid the elections being declared null and void and being forced into yet another GNU or worse. The opposition are contesting the flawed elections in pursuit of these few bribe-seats, as David Coltart, a former MDC Senator and Minister in the GNU has admitted in his book.

"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 elections," explained Senator Coltart.

"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."

It is insane to keep contesting elections one knows will be rigged and hope again hope that this once Zanu PF will rig the vote and lose the elections. It is high treason to deny, or connive with the tyrant to do so, the most vulnerable and innocent people of their freedoms and human rights and humanity for selfish gain.

 "A rigged election can easily trigger political instability and socio-economic turbulence," concluded Gutu. If MDC's wire strategy does not work and Zanu PF rigs the elections and win then MDC will have a lot to answer for because it MDC leaders who failed to implement the reforms and are now insisting on contesting the flawed elections!