'Zimbabwe is NOT ready for elections,' says observers tell ZEC - we know, 'You ain't seen nothing yet!'

It is pleasing to see that the international elections observers are now in Zimbabwe and some are already "cutting their teeth"!

"International Observers Claim Zimbabwe Is Not Ready For Elections!" screamed the headlines in Zimeye.

No one who has been following the drama of Zimbabwe elections will be surprised by the headline. If anyone is serious about these elections being free, fair and credible; then yes, Zimbabwe is NOT ready for free and fair elections.

"Representatives of two international observer groups yesterday presented their pre-election assessment report to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), where they highlighted the need to urgently implement outstanding electoral reforms demanded by the opposition to guarantee credibility of next month's general elections," reported Zimeye.

"The delegation comprising of officials from the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) consists of former US congressman David Drier and former chairperson of the South African election commission, Brigalia Bam.

"In its key recommendations submitted to Zec chairperson Priscilla Chigumba, the two observer groups demanded that the military should publicly commit to recognise a winning presidential candidate, despite their political affiliation," we read.

What good would such the public commitment do? What is the good of closing the stable door when the horse has bolted? The observers have clearly not realised that the regime has already deployed 5 000 soldier who have been out campaigning for Zanu-PF for the last six months. Their campaign message has been very simple: there will tears and gnashing of teeth if Zanu-PF lose the elections!

There other very serious electoral problems too that cannot be fixed, not now. Zec has only managed to register 5.3 million voters out of a targeted 7 million and so nearly 25% of the would-be voters have been denied the vote. Zec has also failed to produce a verified voters' roll for these elections although this is a constitutional requirement. These and many other voters' roll problem emanate from the very late start of the voter registration exercise. This was deliberate!

There elections observers will soon discover that the whole election process is chaotic; everyone has 1001 tasks, many do not have a clue what it is they are doing but do it anyway, there is a lot happening but little of value is ever done. And yet, believe it or not, there is a method in all this madness; this is chaos with one purpose – to confuse everyone and rig the vote.

A crocodile fishing in broad day light in clear water will not catch any fish. The crocodile will thrash around to make the fish panic but, more importantly, to stir up the silt and muddy the water. It will then drift lazily with its jaws wide open. Neither the fish nor the crocodile can see the other in muddy water; the latter is counting on the fish blunder into its open jaws. The jaws will snap shut so fast the fish will never know what hit it.

The international observers must not pay too much attention to what the opposition politicians say; they are a confused and corrupt lot. The opposition have been warned not to take part in these elections without first implementing the democratic reforms designed to ensure the process is free, fair and credible. They have refused to listen because they do not care that the elections are rigged as long as they win the few seats Zanu-PF gives away as bait.

The reason why Zanu-PF has ignored all calls to implement the reforms is because the party has always known the opposition participate in the elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process got. The MDC Alliance spoke of the "red line" demands during their demonstration last week and yet made it clear they would take part in these elections even if none of the demands are met! What is the point of drawing the red line if it can be crossed with no consequences!

The bottom line is these elections should not have taken place without first implementing the wide ranging democratic reforms agreed at the onset of the 2008 to 2013 GNU. The MDC Alliance, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, sold-out during the GNU; they failed to get even one reform implemented and have since lost all political credibility. The MDC leaders do not care that the elections are not free, fair and credible as long as they win a few of the gravy train seats Zanu-PF gives away.

The international election observers must therefore disregard the attention seeking complains and platitudes from the opposition parties, no credible opposition politician would contest these flawed elections. The ordinary people of Zimbabwe want free and fair elections and it is their voices the world must listen to.

Can an election with no free public media, no verified voters' roll, where the ruling elite rob the nation blind to bankroll their vote rigging schemes, etc., etc. be a free, fair and credible election? This is the question the ordinary people want the international election observers to answer.

It is great that the international election observers are on the ground and they can see the well organised chaos of Zimbabwe's rigged elections. All one can say "You ain't seen nothing yet!" as Bachman Turner Overdrive would say! For before their tour of duty is done they will know President Mnangagwa is not nicknamed "Ngwena" (Crocodile) for his good looks alone! They can ask Mr Big Shot and his shrew wife now holed up in their $4 billion Blue Roof mansion, they know exactly what I am talking about!