Seretse Khama Ian Khama is Right

The Sunday mail 26 Jan - 1 Feb 2014 edition seemed hurt by the breaking ranks of Botswana with SADC. Khama is speaking on behalf of the Botswana people so the views of the Botswana people should be respected. While Mugabe has rigged the elections, his right to speak on Zimbabweans' people behalf should be limited. Mugabe and the Sunday mail now only share the views of the rogue ZANU PF Party.

I have said it before that SADCs credibility on elections monitoring is skewed. Sadc is composed mainly of leaders who oppress their own people the same way Zanu Pf is oppressing the Zimbabwean. So now to me, SADC is just a syndicate of governments who ensure that they stay in power no matter how much their own people remain in extreme poverty or continue to suffer. They rubber stamp each other's election victory even if there are serious irregularities. That's what Sir Khama is standing against and it takes a lot of courage to stand an old Mugabe whose favourite phrase to critics is "go hang". Khama's conscience has not allowed him to sleep better at night in the face of this unimaginable injustice. He is not afraid and should not fear Mugabe. Indeed it is the ZANU PF propaganda machine and Mugabe, who should go hang.

ZANU PF and Mugabe have systematically refused the Zimbabweans their freedom of expression, assembly and speech. On July 31 the Zimbabweans were denied their inert right to chose those who should represent them and those to manage the affairs of their own government. No voter's roll was produced to check and verify names... Lights out first strategy, then it was ZANU PF's best time for doing business. The con court remained quiet.

Of course the opposition in Zimbabwe was outmanoeuvred by ZANU PF. First they should not have helped ZANU PF's agenda of forcing down the people's throat a constitution tailor made only to satisfy ZANU PF's interests. Second, they should not have agreed to an election without necessary reforms o ensure free, credible and fair elections. Or at least not without the voters roll.  An independent electoral commission should have been formed in Zimbabwe that would have managed the whole electoral process. Mugabe over the years went on to erect an electoral body staffed with officers who are either sympathetic with ZANU PF or are afraid of making honesty just decisions.

Many young people have fled the Zimbabwe economic and political meltdown and have gone to Botswana and several other countries in the region and beyond. Young women subsequently resort to prostitution whilst the younger men find menial jobs which the proud Zanu Pf government can't and will never be able to provide given Zanu pf destructive economic politics and corruption that is virtually out of control. Corruption is almost legal in Zimbabwe. The ageing leader has failed to curb corruption…he just looks on or in the least, utter some false empty threats. Unemployment in Zimbabwe is about 85%.

This migration weighs heavily on the Botswana government in terms of health care and general welfare. Sunday mail expects the Botswana government to bear this quietly. There are diamonds in Botswana just like there is in Zimbabwe. It's only that the cruel dictator has found it not bad for just a few people to enjoy the revenue. Botswana has made sure that the diamond revenue boosts their fiscus and consequently raise employment and therefore the standard of living of its people. Mugabe and his evil cronies think only of themselves and their families should pocket the diamond revenues. There is no love for their people in their hearts so they ignore their sufferings. Sir Khama will not sleep comfortably at his home if his people are suffering. If Mugabe dies he may comfortably sleep in his grave having denied millions of Zimbabweans a fair short at opportunities in their lives. His family is enjoying prosperity whilst the rest are either scavenging or wallowing in abject poverty.

Well, the economic powerhouse of Southern Africa has decided to sweep under the carpet the Zimbabwean economic and political crisis mainly because SA is experiencing an economic boom at the expense of the Zimbabwean failure to progress. Whilst the crisis in Zimbabwe continues The South African industry will continue to expand because the Zimbabwean market will continue to demand every product which it is able make for their selves if it the political crisis obstacle was not there. SA will maintain the silent diplomacy that highly favours the growth of their economy. But SA must then come and build our infrastructure and provide Zimbabweans with employment. Just where SA thinks Zimbabweans will continue to get money to continue to ride buses week in week out to purchase simple products which we should produce for our consumption. It's not a sustainable situation.

Sir Khama has refused to be selfish even though his country may stand to benefit from Zimbabwean mayhem. Khama proves therefore to be the real pan Africanist. He loves the Zimbabwean people and those in the region. He does not want to see their votes stolen by some cold hearted crooks that are busy plundering African recourses and selling them cheaply to the Chinese and some Middle eastern countries. Zimbabweans should applaud Khama for his courage and support.

As expected,  the traitor, the Sunday Mail reacted and the writer of the comment heaped a lot of insults at the noble Sir Khama and his noble gesture. The hatred depicted in the article is unethical and shows how misguided and pathetic the Sunday mail can be. We read these comments and scoff the Sunday mail. Who are they fooling? Many people in Zimbabwe know that the elections were rigged so that Sir Khama's support in talking on the behalf of the downtrodden Zimbabweans' is very welcome. The Sunday mail is an enemy of the people of Zimbabwe because it is supporting those who oppress the Zimbabwean people. The response in the Sunday mail comment just clearly shows how opposing views are dealt with in Zimbabwe by the "elected" government. The Sunday mail is a leading newspaper in Zimbabwe and most of the times issues official statements from the government. The Sunday mail or the Zanu Pf leadership may hate Sir Khama forever, but what he said remains the truth. They don't only hate Khama, they also hate the truth.

Khama was only echoing sentiments we have heard a lot of times from the Zimbabwean people themselves. He is only being reasonable. Why go to monitor elections if in the end SADC guidelines would be breached with impunity. Why waste money on a futile endeavour. ZANU PF has adamantly refused to have international election observers and chose SADC and AU despite calls by other opposition parties to have a range of monitors.

Africa has a number of dictators in several countries. They want to legitimise atrocities and human rights abuses by way of lobbying the ICC not to indict sitting heads. On the issue of ICC not to indict heads of state while still in office, it is possible that Mugabe may die in office, which means he would have evaded the ICC indictment if he had to be indicted. This would also give leaders an opportunity to commit crimes and atrocities but still evade the ICC. This is one selfish way of reasoning on the part of the African Union. We soon are going to be asking whether the AU stands on behalf of the African people or just on behalf of the African leaders. Sir Khama chose not to be on the wrong side of history in order to fit into the villains club. He asked important questions which the Sunday Mail reacted to only by scolding the man.  That's the desperate Sunday mail for you.

ZANU PF cannot, not in a million years, ever be able to develop Zimbabwe infrastructure or change the lives of the ordinary Zimbabweans' for the better given the destructive policies the party harbours. This is because the only objective of ZANU PF has been to only gain legitimacy and loot, loot loot. Zanu Pf steals everything that comes its way, be it resources, foreign aid, or elections.  It is the plain truth that Mugabe does not have any legitimacy than only that he gave himself through the both ZANU PF staffed ZEC and Constitutional Court.

Let ZANU PF continue to rule, this will see every service delivery in ruins by the time we reach 2018. This is disaster unfolding right before our eyes. Mugabe's children go to private schools and to universities overseas for a college degree. Same goes for the ZANU PF elite progeny. When Mugabe gets ill he goes to still functioning and good hospitals in Singapore, and when he holidays, he goes to Malasia. But do they ever try to imagine how the 70% who live below the PDL cope.

Zimbabweans should realise their freedom from ZANU PF oppression and demand new elections that will be credible, free and fair. The constitution that heaps power on the executive, thereby creating dictators, needs to be modified.  Let not Zimbabweans fool themselves any longer thinking that they can continue in this poorly managed and dilapidating service delivery situation. We don't have to.