'MDC Alliance will win 2018 elections guaranteed,' argue Bulawayo Lawyer - Fools are stubbornly foolish

Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess and one of the reasons why we are in this mess is the failure to think through our problems logically and thoroughly. Here is one typical example.

"The news of the progressive opposition coming together in their numbers under the banner of MDC Alliance is, perhaps, the biggest news that 2017 has ever seen," said Bulawayo prominent lawyer Matshobana Ncube.

"The scenario that happened in Matabeleland South in the 31 July 2013 where the opposition MDCs (led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Prof Welshman Ncube) went neck to neck in terms of numbers and thus allowed Zanu-PF to snatch victory on a silver platter should easily be avoided in 2018 under an Alliance.

"Secondly, there are lots of people who are despondent about politics in Zimbabwe and have given up its ability to deliver change owing to the fragmented opposition. Added to these are those who see opposition politicians and politics as being informed by greed and selfishness, where politicians only care about their own careers (and right to ‘eat') to the detriment of the national good. Allied closely to this group are the fence sitters, those who are undecided whether to vote at all or not, in light of the fragmentation within the political ranks. These people will without a doubt begin to believe again in the ability of the electoral process to deliver on a life outside of Zanu-PF."

True enough looking at the results of the July 2013 elections for Matabeleland South and a number of other constituencies up and down the country, there is no disputing that a straight forward addition of the split opposition votes would have given a united opposition candidate victory. But this is totally misleading because next year's elections are not about one or two provinces plus a few select constituencies; these are national elections. We must consider what happen in every village, growth point, town and city in the whole of Zimbabwe not in Matabeleland South alone.

President Mugabe won 62% of the national vote and so a united opposition candidate would have won 38% of the votes and thus lose the presidential race. If all the 62% who voted for the Zanu PF presidential candidate voted for a Zanu PF parliamentary and senatorial candidate then Zanu PF would still have won the majority in both houses.

We all know many people failed to register to vote because there were few voter registration centres opposition strongholds than in Zanu PF strongholds. Nearly one million people were denied the vote because their details were not in the constituencies voters' roll they expected. We all saw with our own eyes hooded Zanu PF youths who were bussed from one polling station to the next casting multiple votes. The regime increase the number of polling stations from 2 000 to a staggering 9 000 just two days before voting day.

The regime refused to release a verified voters roll although this is a constitutional requirement. Such errors, assuming there were errors, as personal data being posted in a wrong constituency would have been discovered and corrected. There is no doubt that the voters roll was the smoking gun that would have revealed how Zanu PF rigged the July 2013 elections.

That is right Lawyer Ncube, Zanu PF rigged the July 2013 elections. President Mugabe owes his 62% landslide victory to systematically denying opposition supporters the right to vote whilst fraudulently increasing his vote by allowing his supporters to cast multiple vote, frogmarching village to vote for him, etc.  

By noon of voting day, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends across the country were openly admitting that Zanu PF had rigged the elections. Of course, SADC and other outsiders ignored the complains because MDC leaders had been warned this would happen.

In 2014 MDC passed a party congress resolution not to contest future elections until democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections are implemented. "No reform, no elections!" they said.

For your own information, Advocate Matshobana Ncube, not even one reform has been implemented since July 2013. Not one! With no reforms in place there is nothing to stop Zanu PF rigging the vote again.

The formation of the MDC Alliance will stop the opposition splitting the vote but will do nothing to stop Zanu PF rigging the vote. Tsvangirai and company are using the Alliance as a feeble excuse for contesting next year's elections with no reforms in place in total disregard of SADC leaders' advice again and their own "No reform, no elections!" resolution.

Whilst one would expect the ordinary Zimbabweans in the rural back waters to be easily fooled by Tsvangirai into believing the Alliance will stop vote rigging, it is disappointing that even our learned friend, Lawyer Matshobana Ncube, was easily fooled too. But then, he is not the only lawyer, engineer, degree or even PhD holder to be fooled by these corrupt and incompetent MDC and Zanu PF politicians. In a country where PhD can be awarded to someone with a few "O" passes after three months part-time university work; we have so many university graduates but only a few have learnt anything of value or even have common sense!

"A guaranteed electoral win will be possible under the Alliance. It does not matter how hoarse one argues against the Alliance, statistics are stubborn and these do not lie," continue Ncube.

"Nhamo inenhero!" (Fools are stubbornly foolish!) as one would say in Shona. Contesting next year's elections with no reform is foolish because Zanu PF will rig the vote just as they have done in the past. After 37 years of rigged elections, it is madness contesting the elections knowing fully well Zanu PF will rig the vote but hoping against hope that the result will be different, Zanu will rig the vote but lose the election!