Opinion / Columnist
'Zanu PF is burning Zimbabwe down to stop anyone else ruling' - we are insane to let them
13 Jun 2019 at 18:21hrs | Views
Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess. The country's economy is in total meltdown unemployment has soared to nauseating heights of 90% plus; ¾ of the population is living on US$30 or less per month; basic services like health care have all but collapsed and/or a luxury with local hospital fees now US$100 per night; etc.
Decades of Zanu PF dictatorship has stifled all meaningful public debate and democratic competition there is no one offering the nation a viable way out of the mess. Zanu PF has made politics such a dangerous game anyone with anything to offer has been forced out of politics, only the corrupt and incompetent thugs rule the roost.
It is fair to say many Zimbabweans have always mistrusted Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs' commitment to building a free, just and fair Zimbabwe for all. The ordinary people have allowed the Zanu PF thugs to do as they pleased because they, the people, felt helpless. Robert Mugabe and his thugs turned the AK 47 refiles, used to defeat the white colonialists, to subdue the civilians.
Still very, very few people, ever imagined that Zanu PF would ever drag the nation into such an economic and political mess as Zimbabwe finds itself today. Many of us never understood that there were simple NO limits to what Mugabe and his thugs would do to secure absolute power.
"The 'new' regime can be viewed from different angles, but the nub of it is this: there's a recognition that the economic fiasco of the last 20 years was suboptimal, but Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers will burn the house down if they feel it necessary. Make no mistake, their will to power is every bit as intense as Mugabe's - as is their belief that they own the country's choicest fruits by right of conquest," wrote Stuart Duran in the Aspi Strategist.
"There's no comprehending Zimbabwe without an appreciation of that mentality. Yet many fail to get it because they don't read the country's history. In 1979, at the height of the struggle against white rule, a diplomat who mixed frequently with Mugabe and other leaders of his party observed that 'ZANU does not seem to attach much importance to the destruction caused by prolonged war'. They said they were content to see Zimbabwe 'totally' demolished if that was the price to be paid for preventing others from ruling it. That attitude has not changed an iota, notwithstanding the passage of 40 years and Mugabe's departure. After all, the men who now rule wielded his hatchets for most of that period."
Mugabe and Mnangagwa and their Zanu PF thugs have all but totally demolished Zimbabwe; they have frog matched the nation right up to the edge of the precipice and hundreds if not thousands are falling over the edge already and the numbers are set to increase; and still they hang on to power. Mnangagwa blatantly rigged last year's elections because the prospect of Zanu PF losing power was unthinkable.
Mnangagwa did not hesitate to issue the order "shoot to kill" those who dared protest the rigged elections on 1 st August 2018 and again those who protested the price increase in fuel in January 2019. He was reminding the nation at large that he still wielded the hatchet and would not hesitate for even one second to use it to ensure Zanu PF's iron grip on power is as strong as ever.
In the 2008 elections the people of Zimbabwe risked life and limb to make their boldest move to finally end Zanu PF's dictatorial rule. Zanu PF ordered the recount of the 5 million or so votes and after six weeks of cooking up the figures Tsvangirai's 73%, by Mugabe's own Freudian slip, was whittled down to 47%, just enough to force a run-off.
During the run-off Zanu PF turned lose the party thugs, war veterans and state security operatives to harass, beat, rape and even kill the populous into submission and force them to vote for Mugabe.
"What was won by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!" Mugabe barked, encouraging the thuggery.
The violence was so intense over 500 were murdered and millions were beaten and/or raped. Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from the race and Mugabe was declared the winner with 84%, up from 27% three months earlier, of the vote in the one-horse race.
No one could ignore Zanu PF's blatant cheating and use of wanton violence, not even SADC and the AU known for endorsing dodgy elections in the past, and endorse Zanu PF's claim as the winner. As a way out of the political impasse of the rigged elections, SADC called for the formation of a GNU comprising the two MDC factions and Zanu PF which was tasked to implement a raft of democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and ensure the fiasco of the 2008 elections are never repeated.
SADC should have demanded that Zanu PF stepped down to allow the appointment of an interim administration to implement the reforms particularly as the MDC leaders everyone expected to implement the reforms turned out to be corrupt and incompetent. Not even one reform was implemented in the five years of the GNU. Not one!
Zanu PF rigged last year's elections, the regime is illegitimate and so the country is back in the political impasse the nation was in after the 2008 elections. The country has yet another golden chance to make sure the raft of democratic reforms necessary to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship are implemented without failure. This time, we must insist on Zanu PF stepping down and the appointment of the interim administration to implement the reforms before next elections.
If Zanu PF is allowed to remain in power till 2023, either on its own or in some wishy-washy GNU, then we can be 100% certain no meaningful reforms will be implemented and the party will go on to rig that year's elections!
Stuart Doran is 100% right, "Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers ARE burning Zimbabwe down then allow anyone else to rule the country!" We ARE insane to let them do this!
Zanu PF rigged last year's elections, the regime is illegitimate and must step down to allow the implementation of the reforms to ensure next elections must be free, fair and credible. This is not negotiable!
Decades of Zanu PF dictatorship has stifled all meaningful public debate and democratic competition there is no one offering the nation a viable way out of the mess. Zanu PF has made politics such a dangerous game anyone with anything to offer has been forced out of politics, only the corrupt and incompetent thugs rule the roost.
It is fair to say many Zimbabweans have always mistrusted Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs' commitment to building a free, just and fair Zimbabwe for all. The ordinary people have allowed the Zanu PF thugs to do as they pleased because they, the people, felt helpless. Robert Mugabe and his thugs turned the AK 47 refiles, used to defeat the white colonialists, to subdue the civilians.
Still very, very few people, ever imagined that Zanu PF would ever drag the nation into such an economic and political mess as Zimbabwe finds itself today. Many of us never understood that there were simple NO limits to what Mugabe and his thugs would do to secure absolute power.
"The 'new' regime can be viewed from different angles, but the nub of it is this: there's a recognition that the economic fiasco of the last 20 years was suboptimal, but Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers will burn the house down if they feel it necessary. Make no mistake, their will to power is every bit as intense as Mugabe's - as is their belief that they own the country's choicest fruits by right of conquest," wrote Stuart Duran in the Aspi Strategist.
"There's no comprehending Zimbabwe without an appreciation of that mentality. Yet many fail to get it because they don't read the country's history. In 1979, at the height of the struggle against white rule, a diplomat who mixed frequently with Mugabe and other leaders of his party observed that 'ZANU does not seem to attach much importance to the destruction caused by prolonged war'. They said they were content to see Zimbabwe 'totally' demolished if that was the price to be paid for preventing others from ruling it. That attitude has not changed an iota, notwithstanding the passage of 40 years and Mugabe's departure. After all, the men who now rule wielded his hatchets for most of that period."
Mugabe and Mnangagwa and their Zanu PF thugs have all but totally demolished Zimbabwe; they have frog matched the nation right up to the edge of the precipice and hundreds if not thousands are falling over the edge already and the numbers are set to increase; and still they hang on to power. Mnangagwa blatantly rigged last year's elections because the prospect of Zanu PF losing power was unthinkable.
Mnangagwa did not hesitate to issue the order "shoot to kill" those who dared protest the rigged elections on 1 st August 2018 and again those who protested the price increase in fuel in January 2019. He was reminding the nation at large that he still wielded the hatchet and would not hesitate for even one second to use it to ensure Zanu PF's iron grip on power is as strong as ever.
In the 2008 elections the people of Zimbabwe risked life and limb to make their boldest move to finally end Zanu PF's dictatorial rule. Zanu PF ordered the recount of the 5 million or so votes and after six weeks of cooking up the figures Tsvangirai's 73%, by Mugabe's own Freudian slip, was whittled down to 47%, just enough to force a run-off.
During the run-off Zanu PF turned lose the party thugs, war veterans and state security operatives to harass, beat, rape and even kill the populous into submission and force them to vote for Mugabe.
"What was won by the bullet cannot be undone by the ballot!" Mugabe barked, encouraging the thuggery.
The violence was so intense over 500 were murdered and millions were beaten and/or raped. Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from the race and Mugabe was declared the winner with 84%, up from 27% three months earlier, of the vote in the one-horse race.
No one could ignore Zanu PF's blatant cheating and use of wanton violence, not even SADC and the AU known for endorsing dodgy elections in the past, and endorse Zanu PF's claim as the winner. As a way out of the political impasse of the rigged elections, SADC called for the formation of a GNU comprising the two MDC factions and Zanu PF which was tasked to implement a raft of democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship and ensure the fiasco of the 2008 elections are never repeated.
SADC should have demanded that Zanu PF stepped down to allow the appointment of an interim administration to implement the reforms particularly as the MDC leaders everyone expected to implement the reforms turned out to be corrupt and incompetent. Not even one reform was implemented in the five years of the GNU. Not one!
Zanu PF rigged last year's elections, the regime is illegitimate and so the country is back in the political impasse the nation was in after the 2008 elections. The country has yet another golden chance to make sure the raft of democratic reforms necessary to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship are implemented without failure. This time, we must insist on Zanu PF stepping down and the appointment of the interim administration to implement the reforms before next elections.
If Zanu PF is allowed to remain in power till 2023, either on its own or in some wishy-washy GNU, then we can be 100% certain no meaningful reforms will be implemented and the party will go on to rig that year's elections!
Stuart Doran is 100% right, "Emmerson Mnangagwa and his fellow travellers ARE burning Zimbabwe down then allow anyone else to rule the country!" We ARE insane to let them do this!
Zanu PF rigged last year's elections, the regime is illegitimate and must step down to allow the implementation of the reforms to ensure next elections must be free, fair and credible. This is not negotiable!
Source - zsdemocrats.blogspot.com
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
