Why Zanu-PF want to remain in power

ZANU-PF will fight tooth and nail to retain power at all possible costs just because of their well established fear they will face if they lose the forthcoming 2018 elections.

The ruling party has been engaged in very dirty tactics since 1980 up to date and for them accepting defeat is  unthinkable. After all only the ruling elite and their cronies are enjoying the fruits of independence while various forms of oppression are upon the lives of many ordinary Zimbabweans.

The end rule of Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF regime will call upon a number of accountabilities which took place during their term of office and this to me is their biggest fear why they cling to power under whatever cost.

The following incidents are just a few which I think are some of the major fears the ruling party are really afraid and cannot even answer in any acceptable manner why they did it.

More than 200 000 civilians were dastardly killed for being Ndebele, thrown into disused mine shafts alive, locked into thatched huts doused with petrol or diesel and set alight. Innocent civilians were half buried into shallow graves and were short by AK47 rifles while pregnant women were ripped their stomach, made to smash heads of their infants, roast and forced to eat the flesh. Married women were ordered to kill their husbands chopping their heads with axes and all these atrocities were carried out by a North Korean trained Zimbabwean National Army - 5 Brigade coded Gukurahundi.

Loss of power by ZANU-PF will follow the full revelation of Gukurahundi. However Mugabe and his military commanders know the depth of anger still simmering just beneath the surface in the communities that suffered under this genocide.

After the 29 March and 27 June 2008 presidential election ZANU-PF security services and milia unleashed a campaign of intimidation, torture and murder against opposition activists. Journalists, polling agents, public servants, civic leaders and ordinary citizens suspected of voting for the opposition party  were prone to victimisation. There was widespread state sponsored violence and terror as human rights violations were order of the day including torture, beatings, mutilation and rape perpetrated against leaders and supporters of the opposition. Routine and arbitrary arrest and detentions including enforced disappearances continued as ZANU-PF used these dirty tactics to back up its dubious claim to power.

The West turned a blind eye over grave human rights abuses and crimes by Mugabe regime and this created a sense of impunity in the minds of ZANU-PF leadership.

ZANU-PF took advantage by adopting a constitution agreed to at Lancaster House which was comprised primarily to end bloody civil war and it had many oppressive aspects of white minority rule and this included tight state control over the media. This constitution created the template for authoritarian rule and allowed Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF to consolidate and later to monopolize power which they are doing now even after adopting the new constitution.

In 2001 government turned to the judiciary and chief justice Anthony Gubbay was threatened by Joseph Chinotimba with physical violence and he resigned and was replaced by a top Zimbabwean Judge sympathetic to the ruling party, Godfrey Chidyausiku.

Senior Army officers were brought in to manage electoral process and they even clearly stated that they would not serve under the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

In February 2002, the MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai,  was arrested on treason charges a few weeks before elections and was acquitted in November 2004. MDC MPs suffered some human rights violation, murder attempts and  torture. It is reported that State Agents murdered 3 MDC MPs and by the end of 2004 more than 600 MDC supporters had been murdered.

Corruption has continued to the present day and has led to the funnelling of government funds away from providing public goods and services hence preventing economic growth. Mugabe's tyranny and corruption scandals have not been addressed up to date and these involve mainly senior government  officials and the army. In Zimbabwe corruption is common in many departments namely the Judicial system, Public services, Land & Tax administration, Custom, Public procurement, Natural resources, Legislation, Civil society and many others including the Police which is highly politicized and hence suffers from a culture of impunity. However government enforces the law on corruption selectively targeting mostly political opponents.

There are also many accounts such as land grabbing, destruction of houses, rigging of elections, payments of unplanned huge sums of pension to war veterans, deploying of thousands of Zimbabwean troops to DRC and so on which needs accountability.

The Zimbabwean government under the leadership of President Robert Mugabe has proven to be one of the worst as bad governance create and perpetuate poverty. Despite their unending desire to remain in power, ZANU-PF must be clearly informed that for Zimbabwe to move on towards human and economic development, it needs totally different policies which may come only with new leadership - not a ZANU-PF culture anymore.