Reports of human rights abuses before Zanu PF rally pouring in - what will it take to stop the madness

"In another incident it was reported that on the 14th of June, Mutasa villagers were forced to contribute towards the rally. Unidentified Zanu PF youths were demanding $2 from each vendor at Watsomba Business Centre in ward 21 of Mutasa Central," reported Zimbabwe Peace Project.

"Section 67(1)b stipulates that every Zimbabwean has the right to make political choices freely. This means that citizens may not be coerced into attending political rallies or making monetary contributions to parties that they do not support."

"Most students from colleges around Mutare missed their lectures after they were frog marched to clean the central business district ahead of President Robert Mugabe's rally to be held at Sakubva Stadium in the eastern border city Friday," reported the New Zimbabwe.

"President Robert Mugabe is travelling around the country meeting party youths ahead of the 2018 harmonized elections.

"Students from Mutare Polytechnic, Marymount and Mutare teachers college were Wednesday bussed to Meikles Park where they joined Zanu PF youths in what was dubbed "Mother of all cleaning campaigns"."

The elections are a year away and we know that the report of human rights abuse will come thick and fast as the election temperature soars.

To stop our culture of political vote rigging and violence, SADC leaders instructed Tsvangirai and his MDC friends to implement a raft of democratic reforms during the GNU. Sadly, not even one reform was ever implemented in the five years of the GNU. Not one. SADC leaders literally begged MDC leaders not to contest the 2013 with no reforms in place; we know this from those who heard the begging with their own ears.

"In 2013 the Maputo Summit, in June 2013, before the elections, the Maputo Summit was all about having the elections postponed - the SADC summit. I went there," Ibbo Mandaza told Violet Gonda.

"I was there at the Summit and Mugabe pretended to agree to a postponement of the elections. If you recall, the postponement was based on the need to reform at least electoral laws, and after that Summit, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, all of them were called to a separate meeting by the Heads of State of SADC in the absence of Mugabe, that same evening. And they were told; I was sitting there outside the room with Mac Maharaj; they were told 'if you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done'."

Tsvangirai & co. paid no heed to SADC leaders' warning and contested the 2013 elections with not even one reform in place. Zanu PF thugs frog march the electorate to attend its rallies, frog marched them to polling stations to vote for party candidates, etc. and the opposition lost the election, as SADC leaders had warned.

Everyone agrees that not even one reform was implemented since the rigged July 2013 elections. So, contesting next year's election is sheer madness since it will be yet another mockery of what a free, fair and credible election should be.

The real question is how many more reports of vote rigging and human rights abuses will it take before we finally come to our sense and implement the blood democratic reform so our people can finally have their first ever free, fair and credible elections?

Zimbabwe is stuck in a political and economic hell-hole of our own making and until we implement the democratic reforms and finally have free and fair elections, the country is not getting out of the hole - that is a fact!