In Zimbabwe Elections Will Never Be a Tool to Change Government for As Long As Zanu Is in Power

Introduction: Who Really Is Zanu?

A political organization that timely took an opportunity to talk right language at the right time on the need to fight in order to gain independence. She fought along side other liberation movement organization in the frontline to liberate the country. All Zimbabweans, black and white, one way or other supported the liberation struggle because of the language spoken THEN which resonated with Independence FOR THE MAJORITY. Reality demands that we acknowledge that after thirty-eight years, the same condition exists where black elites, by forced consent, oppress majority using the army and agencies of state security more than the electorate. The sad reality in NATIONALISTS is that founders are made heroes. Since often time they neither engage in battles nor their children, Nationalists often live to distort the narrative of the struggle, so did Robert Mugabe and his cohorts in Zanu.

Today Zanu is an organization politically divorced from the masses she claims she fought to uphold. Zanu is not the few in the hierarchy of the party, the army, intelligence service agency, police and/or prison services. Consider how all these individuals in the hierarchies of all the government and party institutions have amassed wealthy to themselves. Zanu is a corrosive corrupt organization using history of torture and violence to further few individuals interests an advantage. Because she has got away with it without punishment for lack of concerted leadership in opposition politics, a parasitic idea runs in many Zimbabweans that forming a political organization may be an opening to opportunity that Zanu met with at independence to date. Both the narrative and conception including context is wrong and needs urgent changing

Contexting Perceptions on Constitution and Democracy

Many Zimbabweans, in my view, when it comes to elections in the country remain in denial for fear of standing up and confronting Mr. Mugabe's Zanu system as a collective than as a fractured bunch of individuals projecting their ambitions under cover of opposition political parties. We all know that unity commanded from outside the goal of National Interest, but on selfishness and individualism than from a national focus always fails. We further have witnessed, in the last thirty-eight years of Zimbabwe independence, of people driven by a presumed collective ambition to remove oppressive government of Mr. Mugabe Zanu who, however, were used to benefit Zanu instead. That said, an observation has to be made that putting faith in solutions ON CONSTITUTIONAL change of government through election with Zanu entrenched in power control as is and has been, needs as a REALITY CHECK, in order for people to cease have false hope. What is relevant is that Zimbabweans anywhere ought to move and effectively organize for an ANTI OPPRESSION MOVEMENT to which every Zimbabwean has cause and reason to affiliate. In a movement we act together on an issue. In Zimbabwe OPPRESSION, in form and spirit; spearheaded on a Zanu ideology of self enrichment through corruption practices keeps destroying life pattern of citizens seeding instead the spirit of DIVISION, GREEDY AND CORRUPTION. These three evil spirits are a cancer that has paralyzed any government in the world if not attempting to take full control. At least 95% of Zimbabweans of all walk of life agree WE HAVE BEEN OPPRESSED FAR TOO LONG BY ONE MAN UNDER ONE PARTY beyond measure.

An open threat that faces Zimbabweans outside today is that in her desperation to reduce strong MOVEMENT pressure on itself, Zanu may try and get away with a legislation that arbitrarily remove citizenship from Zimbabweans who have stayed away FROM ZIMBABWE FOR OVER FIVE YEARS through NON CONSTITUTIONAL but threats on their lives so they do not come back home. To the extent that many talk of if you want to meet with peace in Zimbabwe do not talk against the government, this is death to democracy and an almost successful BLACKMAIL to a people experiencing political fatigue   I understand and believe in one thing, namely, DISPUTE on BIRTHRIGHT & LAND are two issues that can cause permanent political instability to any country, region and hamper growth, even of the Africa Union (AU). Consider the case of Israel as a geographical entity from inception and see how the world has spin and rotate on it at heavy costs to life and resources. Building economic welfare for people including the development of the country, TODAY 2017, offer better prospects for political solutions in Zimbabwe than to lean on political views and ambitions of individuals. GREEDY sits at the center of one big setback to politics of achievement in Zimbabwe. Too much politics of INGRATIATION leads the way to CORRUPTION marring the already suffering image on perception and contexting of NATIONAL INTEREST in Zimbabweans vocabulary, culture and language.  At worst, National Interest is undefined, therefore, does not guide the culture of doing things.  A culture of wild competitiveness founded on selfishness and avarice, instead, dominates the intelligence of most people.

The urgency of a Movement for Freedom in Zimbabwe (MFFZ) has never been more desirable. Appropriately articulated by both mature and upcoming persons who can support the birth to a mass movement with logistics and intelligence of street smart leadership will inevitably bring masses, workers, intelligentsia and certain levels of the security together. Study of intelligence necessary to convict poor governance practices that went uncontrolled for three decades only needs simple minded, honesty people of integrity who talk the language of PERSUATION to BELIEVE A RIGHT and STAND FOR THAT RIGHT. Automatically this nullifies history of rhetoric and sloganeering as cause for failure to deliver economic development policies conversant with creation of employment.  Need for political, moral, corporate transparency and accountability has, of necessity, to permeate VALUES of a New Leadership intelligence and perception.

There is common understanding of the fear in many people to challenge the regime in view of how the regime has demonstrated ISOLATIONIST BRUTALLITY BORN ON VIOLENCE, PUNISHMENT and, IF NEED BE, MEMING and/or MAKING PEOPLE PHYSICALLY DISAPPEAR; has shaken many of us to disbelief, discontent and disgust shock. Our core values in Christian love have, as a result, suffered distortion and thrown many of us into denial.  The resolve not to MAKE US SURRENDER OUR POWER OF COLLECTIVE WILL and POWER for PROTESTING ACTION and STOP VIOLANCE; and to RESTORE PEACE is inevitably the ONLY SOLUTION given the time it has taken us to be where we are today-mentally, socially, economically, morally, ethically…you name it. We are at the worst moments of the post independence era. Working as individuals, either in opposition political parties or persons THAN AS A MOVEMENT, has RENDERED US VULNERABLE, MANIPULABLE increasing aggression from paid mercenaries in the ranks of the army and civilians. With same determination we need to INTELLGENTLY rise and demand our right.   We must respect the motives of the liberation struggle not the individuals contradictory and selfish, mercenary and small minded styles.

Intelligence in Good Timing

Time is opportune and events, even in Africa, are seeing a change of heart against Dictators from moderate human rights leadership. There are no governments today openly and willingly ready to risk supporting oppressive regimes given the stance taken by ECOWAS regional leadership who facilitated the taking out of the Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh as a response to the Gambian people's cry for freedom. (see among other readings the March 29, 2017 Freedom Newspaper, Gambia Premier Online newspaper) The only other problem that need undoing in Zimbabwe is to overcome Zanu propaganda in the public and its dissemination machinery in the country. Bearing in mind that land telephones are neither reliable nor useful anymore in Zimbabwe today, a plan that makes WhatsApp the best tool to communicate both inside and outside the country. Many people abroad are ready to return with or without the cooperation of Zanu hotheads. Need for working together comes into play as soon as we substitute our enemy number one-OPPRESIVE SYSTEM AND IDEOLOGY and replace it with RESPONSIBILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRNASIPARENCY without affiliating to a political vacuum currently existing.  People know and believe in the future and have will power and sacrifice to change government peacefully. SELFISHNESS is a mark of lacking in maturity among anyone who claims to leadership.

As a result, fear has worked in Zimbabwe as it was in Gambia because there is no political oxygen. No media, no effective opposition political party or parties as a strategy of the sitting government to stifle unveiling of corruption and sustenance of the political checks and balances. Coupled with a broken foreign policy that is toxic to world order and human right activism programs, a well organized MOVEMENT answers to the difficulties that have beset the country and failed to change the regime constitutionally in Zimbabwe through peaceful means.

The Effects of History on the Present Turn of Events in Zimbabwe*

Nationalism in all its forms and awareness was, in part, after the second world war responsible for the exposure of black soldiers to the 'humaneness' of whites therefore changing the whole black people perception on historical notion that whites were some kind of 'gods' in superiority to blacks as false. That whites cried, felt pain and died too as well as having some fears like any other humans. This increased the sentiments for the demand of self government among blacks in the colonies and world over irrespective of whether they understood constitutional supremacy its rules and implications or not. Constitution was perceived, and still may be regarded so by some leaders, as a preserving mechanism to protect the colonial authority over the natives.  African chiefs were viewed as appendages of the colonial masters causing divisions and disgust between African nationalists and African academics then outside the country receiving education. Ironically these contradictions also played into building temporary unite of purpose between people in colonies then.

The idea therefore that elections in Southern Rhodesia, for example, were a product of multi party politics would not strictly hold water. As black nationalism awareness rose so was the recognition growing on the politics of multiparty systems in order to win black votes and/or possibly to form a coalition in order that whites keep control, possibly even after the fall of colonial rule. We witnessed the Bishop Abel Muzorewa coalition with Ian Smith as back up to the formation of multiparty politics to retain control in the late 1970s. But historically in Southern Rhodesia when white liberals begun accommodating blacks into their political parties they became as vulnerable as black nationalists except that they were rarely detained and isolated as the case in South Africa. In the then Southern Rhodesia the detention of Sir Garfield Todd former British governor of Rhodesia by Ian Douglas Smith when he assumed power in a multi party electoral victory, attest to the ruthlessness or lack of multiparty system as a welcome development during colonial periods. However, it may have been done, these strategies were to calm black majority from claiming political independence. The idea was to keep coalition multiparty under white control defeating the concept of radical nationalism. It was a soon false proven strategy when after the Lancaster Conference in London Muzorewa/Smith coalition lost to liberation struggle call for fresh elections under the world supervision.

The point is with people not being political educated but living under terror of victimization if found in disagreement with government, a host of ghost voters, controlled media, a callous secret intelligentsia that follows after those who voice criticism on government, how could anyone call this a democracy? When the spirit of sacrifice is personalized to mean segregation of the poor who bore the brand of sustaining the liberation struggle, the role of heroes become an adulteration of the meaning of sacrifice and liberation. Zimbabwe political condition and terrain in volatile, explosive and therefore very corrupt and easy to recruit corrupt men and women or face the wrath of a failing government with close to one third of the population outside the country who do not exercise their voting right, it is insincere to talk of electoral processes in Zimbabwe that are free and fair in any way or form.

Zimbabwe: a Civil but Militarized State

In 1980 Prime Minister Robert Mugabe then craftily neutralized Rhodesian forces, Zapu* forces and Zanu* forces forming them into one army under control of Zanu ex-combatant soldiers sharing authority with former Rhodesian and Zapu forces. Under this arrangement, the late Rex Nhongo then head of Zanlar forces, took over as commander of Zimbabwe army deputized by the late Lookout Masuku of the Zupu liberation forces.

The prior to 1980 London Lancaster constitutional talks were just a bridge to have peaceful transition, from a bitter armed struggle of close to a decade, by three contenting military forces as already referenced above. Elections, in my opinion, are free and fair when three institutions of government are independent from each other's influence except in the national interest. It is a fact that the army in Africa has continued to have increased direct or indirect influence of government affairs than the electoral process. Its ugly and heart breaking that few countries resists elections by boycotting the voting process. Reality has it that governments put up ghost voters and ferry unregistered voters to fill voting booths giving an impression major turn out took place. The hardest thing is to see so-called opposition political parties increase and going to participate even when its clear voting is rigged.

The Machiavellian manoeuvre of the military and the opposition politics of opportunism controlled by ZANU kept rendering Zimbabwe situation a political fiasco. No doubt the government is run by a group of craft corrupt nationalists backed by a cohesive hierarchy of military, Central Intelligence and Police service chiefs who give unbridled loyalty to President Mugabe. In spite of the President's ageing, his cohorts financially rewarded will stay him in power. It is not complicated to notice Zimbabwe does not need elections under Zanu supervision but extremely strong world supervision of the electoral processes beginning by overhauling the voter's role It is hypocrisy to say there will be elections and a waste of people's income tax to call the process an electoral process.

Zimbabwe is a defacto military regime, hence the refusal of Service Chiefs and commanders to accept a none liberation armed struggle fighter as the army commander in chief. While many other factors worked against MDC then and still worse now to win elections, the refusal to salute a none liberation struggle fighters discounted MDC leadership to being a president of Zimbabwe. These are not constitutional requirements yet they mattered. The Zimbabwe government registry department head is a strong Zanu member. In fact, some permanent secretaries in government ministries are also district Party chairpersons. Zanu government is assuming communist style of governance therefore degenerating into none accountable.

Zanu Political party and government control all media, all state machinery, Legislature and the Judiciary. How actually can we justify a call for and accept the government as capable of running an election at all, let alone a free and fair election? The question perhaps would be what motivates incessant political party formation and if this trend can help transition the country from Mugabe dictatorship to democracy? If not what is the alternative? Could this be an answer to why Zimbabwe has become too corrupt a system, people and country?  It is justified to wonder if citizens think it feasible any longer to restore social justice and meritocracy in matters of governance in the country? Is the condition conducive to debating, open writing or is the country a prison glorified state? The above issues speak volumes for a tyrannical state under a dictator. To deny it simply because civilians are on the front running affairs of government is to deny influence and power of control Zanu has evolved over her thirty-six years of being in power.