Opinion / Columnist
Zanu-PF's democracy on a platter
23 Aug 2013 at 04:56hrs | Views
What you are shouts so loudly I can hardly hear what you are saying.
Let us make no mistake; Zanu-PF "won" the recent elections because they were unfair. They used state resources, the military, the police the media as if they belong to them. They excluded those who would vote against them from voting and the whole process lacked transparency and accountability of the ZEC. They intimidated the ignorant and abused the office of the Registrar General, a willing accomplice in the whole charade The process was not fair and credible; period.
No amount of gloating or insults can change that fact.
For goodness sake, as Mark Twain once advised; "Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
By continually distorting the facts and literally bullying everyone, Zanu-PF has claimed victory over the "enemy".
Now that Zanu-PF has delivered democracy on a platter to us, I am anxious to see what they have in store for us.
What should I expect on this platter? Hmmm let me look;
This means that shortly, as soon as parliament sits, all laws that limit my freedom and liberty shall be repealed. Those laws that limit my freedom of association and freedom of speech shall be history. The media laws that limit my access to any information or broadcast that I choose shall also go. We shall now see a plethora of new radio stations, television stations and newspapers that reflect a vibrant democracy and multiple views. No more long hours of Zanu-PF propaganda on TV anymore and I can now listen to or watch the news that I want. What a pleasure!
Any democracy thrives on free access to information right? So I can even force the government to give me an electronic copy of the voters roll. Hmmm I wonder where it is. I can now expect the government to give me details of all information I need even information on diamond mining and revenue; how much are we earning and where is it going? After all, transparency is key.
I can't wait because I can say what I want without getting threats from the notorious CIO. I can point out what's wrong with government or its leadership and it won't be taken personally or treated as a crime. All this is in the spirit of promoting a vibrant participative democracy. Zimbabwe will never be the same again!
With democracy, we all can now participate in every decision that affects us. No government minister can impose on us something we don't want. I can even challenge them because they are public servants and are accountable to me! All public servants must now account for their assets and can no longer run their business during office hours. What a pleasure, corruption will be history!
The implication of our new found freedom is that; not only those who participated in the liberation struggle can claim entitlement to power - right? Every Zimbabwean citizen can now aspire to be President and can establish their political party without any problems. The military can even salute them, no questions asked. That's democracy talking!
NGOs can now operate as they wish and no minister can ban them. In fact, no minister has the right to even interfere with local government and give numerous directives to fire democratically elected councilors and impose his cronies. Our communities are now responsible for their own fate under our democracy.
We will all soon have unfettered access to basic rights such as housing, running water and electricity and access to health services in a clean environment.
The wealth of this country can now be all ours as long as you were born here or are a citizen. The term 'alien' is now gone.
No more issues of not getting business opportunities because you don't support Zanu-PF, or national assets being dished out on a partisan basis. Equality of opportunity is sacrosanct under our democracy. Our mineral wealth is all ours and we will shortly see the government accountings for every penny that the country earns. Transparency, accountability, ethical governments are all here to stay.
You see, since we now have democracy on a platter, thanks to Zanu-PF, the people are now in charge and our government is now accountable to them and them alone.
With our new democracy, the sky is the limit and "the people shall govern"; so who wants to leave this country or commit suicide?
We should get investors piling up at the airport soon and our unemployment levels will be a thing of the past. Private property rights which underpin any democracy have finally arrived.
Finally my country Zimbabwe can live up to its full potential to the benefit of all regardless of race, color, sexual orientation, religious belief, political opinion and all.
My sincere thanks must go to Zanu-PF who have delivered this democracy on a platter in the recent elections. Who needs the West, SADC or even AU to tell us what democracy is?
Hmmm, democracy on a platter my foot.
Vince Musewe is an economist analyst based in Harare. You can contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com
Source - Vince Musewe
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.
