Opinion / Columnist
'Economy on recovery path' says Chiwenga - nonsense, not whilst vote rigging curse remains
31 Dec 2018 at 20:48hrs | Views
Zimbabwe is in serious, serious economic trouble. Unemployment has soared to dizzying height of 90% and has been 80% plus for the last 15 years already. There millions of Zimbabweans out there who have yet to get a steady well-paid job. I was out of work for 5 months and to say I was miserable and destitute at the end of that period is an understatement. My heart bleeds for all those millions of Zimbabweans who have been out of work for 15 years.
As many as 10 million Zimbabwean have been out of work for the last 15 years. This means 150 million man-years wasted. Is it any wonder Zimbabwe is now the poorest nation on the poorest continent on earth!
My blood boils at the heartless indifference of the men and women whose corrupt and tyrannical rule has landed this nation into this hell-on-earth.
"Our nation is going through a difficult patch. Our children need jobs. Government is doing its best to turnaround the fortunes of our nation. We are confident that our economy is on the path to recovery," said acting President, VP C Chiwenga.
Zimbabwe's descent into this hell-hole started soon after independence when Zanu PF rigged those first elections to impose itself on the nation. The economic decline has got progressively worse and worse as the gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and lawlessness exemplified by the seizure of the white owned farms to give to Zanu PF crones got worse and worse. Although the people were aware of the adverse effect of Zanu PF misrule they have been helpless to stop it because the party rigged elections.
38 years of criminal waste of the nation's material and human resources! And here is one of the Zanu PF ruling elite dismissing it as a "difficult patch"!
Worse still, VP Chiwenga maintains "government is doing its best to turnaround the fortunes of our nations." This is utter nonsense.
In 2016 the then President Robert Mugabe admitted the nation was "swindled of $15 billion of diamond revenue". No nation on earth can afford this kind of haemorrhage much less a country like Zimbabwe whose GDP is a mere $10 billion! Mugabe failed to arrest even one of the swindlers up to the time he was booted out of office in the November 2017 military coup.
President Mnangagwa and VP Chiwenga, who took over power from Mugabe, promised to stamp out corruption. After over a year in power, they too have yet to arrest even one of the diamond swindlers and recover even one dollar.
The wholesale looting of diamonds and other resources is still going full steam ahead as government revenue has not improved and yet the mining has continued. How does government expect the economic to recover with all this criminal waste of resources still taking place?
"You die even for that which is yours. Our nation still continues to be punished for recovering that which rightfully belongs to it," continued Chiwenga.
Zanu PF has blamed the targeted economic sanctions imposed by the west on some party leaders for the nation's economic decline. The VP was no doubt referring to the USA's refusal to lift the sanctions following the party's failure to hold free, fair and credible 30 July 2018 elections. The regime is adding insult to injury.
The Americans went the extra mile to explain what Zanu PF needed to do this year to get the sanctions lifted. Make sure Zimbabweans in the diaspora were allowed to vote, the public media was accessible to all political contestants and not just Zanu PF, make sure the process was verifiable, transparent and traceable, etc., etc. Zanu PF blatantly ignored all these things and blatantly rigged the elections.
Many people had hoped the country had finally turned over a new leaf with the removal of Mugabe in last November's coup. When this so called "new dispensation" promised to hold free, fair and credible elections; the people had dared to believe only to be let down, yet again.
Zanu PF feared the people would protest against yet another rigged elections and so gave the 1 st August order of "shoot to kill" order resulting in the death of six civilians. In the 38 years of Zanu PF tyrannical rule the regime has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish and retain its de facto one party dictatorship.
"You die even for that which is yours" Yes, over 30 000 Zimbabweans have been murdered for the sole purpose of denying them their freedoms and basic human rights including the right to free and fair elections and the right to life itself!
VP Chiwenga gave his insulting comments at the 2018/19 "National Thanksgiving and Dedication Service" organised by Faith of the Nation Campaign in Bulawayo. The theme of service was "It's Time to Pray and Work for Unity, Peace and Prosperity."
What a mockery; how can there ever be peace and prosperity in country in which those in power have licence to ride roughshod over the ordinary people, denying them their freedoms, rights, hopes and dreams; and with contemptuous disregard for the law, common justice, suffering and even deaths of others! There will never be peace and economic prosperity in Zimbabwe as long as the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs!
After 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule and with millions of ordinary Zimbabweans living in grinding poverty and hopelessness we must stand up as a nation and say "Enough is enough! Zanu PF rigged the recent elections and the party must step down!" It would be unforgivable if we should allow ourselves to be bamboozled by those who landed us in the mess and have a selfish in retaining the corrupt and tyrannical system into believe Zimbabwe has changed when we can see it has not changed one bit!
We can choose to step up to the challenge of doing something positive - demand that illegitimate Zanu PF steps down – and finally end the curse of rigged elections. Or continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend the last elections were free, fair and credible and suffer the consequences of decades more of Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical rule.
As many as 10 million Zimbabwean have been out of work for the last 15 years. This means 150 million man-years wasted. Is it any wonder Zimbabwe is now the poorest nation on the poorest continent on earth!
My blood boils at the heartless indifference of the men and women whose corrupt and tyrannical rule has landed this nation into this hell-on-earth.
"Our nation is going through a difficult patch. Our children need jobs. Government is doing its best to turnaround the fortunes of our nation. We are confident that our economy is on the path to recovery," said acting President, VP C Chiwenga.
Zimbabwe's descent into this hell-hole started soon after independence when Zanu PF rigged those first elections to impose itself on the nation. The economic decline has got progressively worse and worse as the gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and lawlessness exemplified by the seizure of the white owned farms to give to Zanu PF crones got worse and worse. Although the people were aware of the adverse effect of Zanu PF misrule they have been helpless to stop it because the party rigged elections.
38 years of criminal waste of the nation's material and human resources! And here is one of the Zanu PF ruling elite dismissing it as a "difficult patch"!
Worse still, VP Chiwenga maintains "government is doing its best to turnaround the fortunes of our nations." This is utter nonsense.
In 2016 the then President Robert Mugabe admitted the nation was "swindled of $15 billion of diamond revenue". No nation on earth can afford this kind of haemorrhage much less a country like Zimbabwe whose GDP is a mere $10 billion! Mugabe failed to arrest even one of the swindlers up to the time he was booted out of office in the November 2017 military coup.
President Mnangagwa and VP Chiwenga, who took over power from Mugabe, promised to stamp out corruption. After over a year in power, they too have yet to arrest even one of the diamond swindlers and recover even one dollar.
The wholesale looting of diamonds and other resources is still going full steam ahead as government revenue has not improved and yet the mining has continued. How does government expect the economic to recover with all this criminal waste of resources still taking place?
Zanu PF has blamed the targeted economic sanctions imposed by the west on some party leaders for the nation's economic decline. The VP was no doubt referring to the USA's refusal to lift the sanctions following the party's failure to hold free, fair and credible 30 July 2018 elections. The regime is adding insult to injury.
The Americans went the extra mile to explain what Zanu PF needed to do this year to get the sanctions lifted. Make sure Zimbabweans in the diaspora were allowed to vote, the public media was accessible to all political contestants and not just Zanu PF, make sure the process was verifiable, transparent and traceable, etc., etc. Zanu PF blatantly ignored all these things and blatantly rigged the elections.
Many people had hoped the country had finally turned over a new leaf with the removal of Mugabe in last November's coup. When this so called "new dispensation" promised to hold free, fair and credible elections; the people had dared to believe only to be let down, yet again.
Zanu PF feared the people would protest against yet another rigged elections and so gave the 1 st August order of "shoot to kill" order resulting in the death of six civilians. In the 38 years of Zanu PF tyrannical rule the regime has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish and retain its de facto one party dictatorship.
"You die even for that which is yours" Yes, over 30 000 Zimbabweans have been murdered for the sole purpose of denying them their freedoms and basic human rights including the right to free and fair elections and the right to life itself!
VP Chiwenga gave his insulting comments at the 2018/19 "National Thanksgiving and Dedication Service" organised by Faith of the Nation Campaign in Bulawayo. The theme of service was "It's Time to Pray and Work for Unity, Peace and Prosperity."
What a mockery; how can there ever be peace and prosperity in country in which those in power have licence to ride roughshod over the ordinary people, denying them their freedoms, rights, hopes and dreams; and with contemptuous disregard for the law, common justice, suffering and even deaths of others! There will never be peace and economic prosperity in Zimbabwe as long as the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs!
After 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule and with millions of ordinary Zimbabweans living in grinding poverty and hopelessness we must stand up as a nation and say "Enough is enough! Zanu PF rigged the recent elections and the party must step down!" It would be unforgivable if we should allow ourselves to be bamboozled by those who landed us in the mess and have a selfish in retaining the corrupt and tyrannical system into believe Zimbabwe has changed when we can see it has not changed one bit!
We can choose to step up to the challenge of doing something positive - demand that illegitimate Zanu PF steps down – and finally end the curse of rigged elections. Or continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend the last elections were free, fair and credible and suffer the consequences of decades more of Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical rule.
Source - zsdemocrats.blogspot.com
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