Opinion / Columnist
If we have 'thinking Zimbabweans' then why are we in this hell-hole in the first place
19 Mar 2016 at 22:37hrs | Views
"There is no thinking Zimbabwean out there who would dispute that the country is in serious political and economic trouble," said Wilbert Mukori (Byo24 Opinion).
I would like to believe that there are thinking Zimbabweans out there if that was true then how is it possible that a "THINKING" people would allow themselves to sink this deep into the hell-hole? Unemployment does not soar to the nauseating heights of 90% overnight, it took years to get there and, worse still, it has been 80% plus for the last 15 years, at least! Corrupt has been rampant in Zimbabwe but the admission by President Mugabe that $15 billion – nearly 5 times what the regime collects in revenue a year - of the diamond bounty was looted is a slap in the face to the "thinking" but long suffering nation! And throughout all this, our great thinkers have done absolutely nothing; it has all been water off the duck's back!
If Zimbabweans were a thinking people you say they are then they would not have already wasted two and half years out the five years allocated to implement the reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections; arguing about which reforms they should implement. Thinking people do not waste time arguing about something that is self-evident!
We have a Police force that has turned a blind eye to politically motived violence by Zanu PF thugs, war vets and other clandestine officious elements in various State institutions, for example. The Zimbabwe Republic Police has been coopted into defending Zanu PF's no-regime-change mantra as Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has public admitted in his doctorate thesis. Of course the Zanu PF vote rigging and violence are serious crimes but since they are being committed to accomplish the no-regime-change agenda the Police have done nothing to stop the criminals.
If we are serious about getting the Police to carry out their democratic duties of keeping law and order, investigate and arrest all those who engage in unlawful activities including politically motivated ones without fear or favour then we need implement the far reaching reforms designed to break President Mugabe's undemocratic strangle hold of the Police. These are the reforms proposed and agreed in the 2008 GPA.
Zanu PF's undemocratic control is not limited to the Police but extends to ZEC, Public Media, Judiciary, etc. If we want free, fair and credible elections all these institutions too must be reformed.
Aligning the existing laws with the 2013 new constitution, which is what the electoral law reforms are calling for, will not break the Zanu PF's totalitarian strangle hold on the Police, ZEC, etc. Veritas is spot on in describing the electoral law reforms as "inadequate". No one in MDC-T, ZimPF or the other opposition parties who are pushing for electoral reforms have explained how these reforms will stop politically motivated violence, for example.
No thinking anybody out there can ever dispute the fact that the electoral law reforms will NEVER deliver free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe. Those advocating the implementing electoral law reforms as a solution are just wasting the nation's time.
It is very generous of you, Wilbert, to suggest there "thinking Zimbabweans out there"; the tragic reality tells a different story – there are NO thinking Zimbabweans in the country or outside the country in the diaspora. If there were then we would not be in this political and economic hell-hole with all its contrasting contradictions; we would not be starving in the Garden of Eden; we got a $15 billion diamond bounty and yet we worse off now than before the bounty; etc.
We have sleep-walked into this political and economic hell-hole; even with the situation now absolutely desperate many people still not aware of the situation, they have yet to wake-up. The real tragedy is we cannot sleep-walk out of the hole. If we are ever to get out of this hole, we have to implement the right democratic reforms and that demands thinking; something Zimbabweans have yet to learn to do and be exercised!
I would like to believe that there are thinking Zimbabweans out there if that was true then how is it possible that a "THINKING" people would allow themselves to sink this deep into the hell-hole? Unemployment does not soar to the nauseating heights of 90% overnight, it took years to get there and, worse still, it has been 80% plus for the last 15 years, at least! Corrupt has been rampant in Zimbabwe but the admission by President Mugabe that $15 billion – nearly 5 times what the regime collects in revenue a year - of the diamond bounty was looted is a slap in the face to the "thinking" but long suffering nation! And throughout all this, our great thinkers have done absolutely nothing; it has all been water off the duck's back!
If Zimbabweans were a thinking people you say they are then they would not have already wasted two and half years out the five years allocated to implement the reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections; arguing about which reforms they should implement. Thinking people do not waste time arguing about something that is self-evident!
We have a Police force that has turned a blind eye to politically motived violence by Zanu PF thugs, war vets and other clandestine officious elements in various State institutions, for example. The Zimbabwe Republic Police has been coopted into defending Zanu PF's no-regime-change mantra as Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has public admitted in his doctorate thesis. Of course the Zanu PF vote rigging and violence are serious crimes but since they are being committed to accomplish the no-regime-change agenda the Police have done nothing to stop the criminals.
If we are serious about getting the Police to carry out their democratic duties of keeping law and order, investigate and arrest all those who engage in unlawful activities including politically motivated ones without fear or favour then we need implement the far reaching reforms designed to break President Mugabe's undemocratic strangle hold of the Police. These are the reforms proposed and agreed in the 2008 GPA.
Aligning the existing laws with the 2013 new constitution, which is what the electoral law reforms are calling for, will not break the Zanu PF's totalitarian strangle hold on the Police, ZEC, etc. Veritas is spot on in describing the electoral law reforms as "inadequate". No one in MDC-T, ZimPF or the other opposition parties who are pushing for electoral reforms have explained how these reforms will stop politically motivated violence, for example.
No thinking anybody out there can ever dispute the fact that the electoral law reforms will NEVER deliver free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe. Those advocating the implementing electoral law reforms as a solution are just wasting the nation's time.
It is very generous of you, Wilbert, to suggest there "thinking Zimbabweans out there"; the tragic reality tells a different story – there are NO thinking Zimbabweans in the country or outside the country in the diaspora. If there were then we would not be in this political and economic hell-hole with all its contrasting contradictions; we would not be starving in the Garden of Eden; we got a $15 billion diamond bounty and yet we worse off now than before the bounty; etc.
We have sleep-walked into this political and economic hell-hole; even with the situation now absolutely desperate many people still not aware of the situation, they have yet to wake-up. The real tragedy is we cannot sleep-walk out of the hole. If we are ever to get out of this hole, we have to implement the right democratic reforms and that demands thinking; something Zimbabweans have yet to learn to do and be exercised!
Source - Nomusa Garikai
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