'Solve socio-economic crisis' prescribe UN - rubbish, treat disease, bad governance, not the symptom

Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs. The ruling party, Zanu-PF, has captured all state institutions so that the Police, Army, Judiciary, etc. are party departments in all but name. Instead of serving the nation and the common good, state institutions serve the Zanu-PF mantra of "No regime change, at all cost!"

So, in our fight for the restoration of our freedoms and human rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life itself; Zimbabweans have looked to outsiders for support. Key international organisations like the UN's support have been of critical importance; it is therefore very disappointing that the UN has not always been forthright and forceful in its support of the downtrodden majority in Zimbabwe.

"With opposition demonstrations still likely to take place in Zimbabwe in the near future, we urge the Government to find ways to continuously engage with the population about their legitimate grievances on the economic situation, and to stop cracking down on peaceful protestors," said a UN Geneva statement.

"We are deeply concerned by the socio-economic crisis that continues to unfold in Zimbabwe. While acknowledging efforts made by the Government, the international community and the UN in Zimbabwe to mitigate the effects of the crisis and reform process, the dire economic situation is now impacting negatively on the realization of the economic and social rights of millions of Zimbabweans."

Thank you but if the truth be told, the socio-economic crisis is but a symptom of the political problem of institutionalized bad governance. Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs. Ever since the country gained her independence back in 1980 the country has yet to hold free, fair and credible elections. 39 years of criminal waste of the country's human and material resources have taken a heavy toll and reduced the country's once robust economy into ruins.

Still, we cannot solve the socio-economic crisis whilst ignoring the bad governance problem that is causing it. It is therefore disheartening that the UN is dwelling on the worsening economic meltdown but failed to condemn the blatant vote rigging by Zanu-PF of last year's elections.

Zanu-PF rigged last year's elections, the regime has no mandate to govern and should step down. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery because no one would want to do business with thugs.

"In January, we expressed concerns about reports of excessive use of force, including live ammunition, by Zimbabwean security forces during protests following the announcement of an increase in petrol prices," continued the UN statement.

"We are not aware of the indictment or prosecution of a single alleged perpetrator of human rights violations committed during or after of those protests."

This is all very well, but the situation is Zimbabwe has now reached a critical stage, the country is standing on the edge of the abyss. It is time for everyone to call a spade a bloody shovel; it is time to demand that the illegitimate Zanu-PF regime steps down. Zimbabwe's problem is one of rigged elections and bad governance, we must deal with it and not the symptom of the economic meltdown it has cause.