'I will make Zimbabwe a middle-income by 2030,' ED promises - just deliver first free elections or shipping out

"Muromo hauzarurwi nerwizi!" (Nothing can stop those who talk too much, not even a flooded river!) so goes the Shona adage. When you are dictator who is not democratically accountable to anyone, there is no flooded river you cannot cross.

The people of Zimbabwe will always remember Robert Mugabe for his exuberance passion and confidence in making every Zimbabwean prosperous, "Gutsva ruzhinji!" (Mass prosperity!) The very fact that he brought mass poverty instead only makes it even more memorable. "Big mouth!" many have often cursed the tyrant!

After nearly 50 years as Mugabe's right-hand man, 37 years of which as cabinet minister in successive Mugabe governments; if there is one lesson President Emerson Mnangagwa has learned from Mugabe it is the art of being big mouth! President Mnangagwa has set himself the task of reviving Zimbabwe's economy and he is beaming with confidence nothing is going to stop him achieving that goal. Nothing!

The immediate question he has conveniently brushed aside and will never want to answer is: why has he done nothing, these last 37 years when he was in cabinet, to stop the country going to the dogs? Worse still, he must have been cocksure Mugabe's "gutsva ruzhinji" dogma was working because is the one person who has ruthlessly imposed Mugabe and Zanu-PF on the nation. But let us put this aside for a while.

"I would want to commend the Buy Zimbabwe team which has continued to work closely with both private and public sectors to drive the buy local message and encourage the purchase of local products and services so that local businesses can thrive, thereby, stimulating economic growth and creating decent jobs for us to be a middle-income country by 2030," President Mnangagwa told his audience recently.

Mnangagwa said he had a vision to turn the economy into a cashless economy and urged Zimbabweans to embrace plastic money since this was the global trend.

When President Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe following last November's military coup his carrion call was "Zimbabwe is open for business!" He was cocksure he was opening the flood gates for would-be foreign investors whose money would help kick start the economy. There flood of investors has failed to materialize because investors are shrewd lot, they can see that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state which was why they had shied away all these years in the first place.

If President Mnangagwa did not have these mister-know-it-all dictatorial tendencies, then he would have listen to the voices of those who said it was pointless trying to attract investors when the country has not resolved its pariah state status. How can Zanu-PF claim to be a democratic party when it was refusing to implement democratic reforms, the pre-requisite for holding free, fair and credible elections, for example?

He has promised to end corruption and host other teething economic problems but has singly failed to make any significant progress. It is no secret that Zanu-PF ruling elite are some of the richest individuals in the country including VP Chiwenga and President Mnangagwa himself. It has all been talk but no concrete action.

There is no doubt that President Mnangagwa's vision to make Zimbabwe a middle-income nation by 2030 is just another "Gutsva ruzhinji!" that is doomed to fail.

President Mnangagwa appealed to listeners and the people of Zimbabwe "to vote for him so that he could achieve his vision for the country."

Well, Mr President there is the real crux of the matter! The people of Zimbabwe have never had free, fair and credible elections and therefore a meaningful say in who governed the country. Zanu-PF has systematically rig the vote to stay in power and is set to rig this year's elections too.

"ZEC run by Govt to run elections is not set up in terms of the Constitution. Most of its full-time staff are former or current Army, CIO & ZRP. ALL of TECHNICAL staff is 100% from security organs & ALL polling officers are civil servants!" wrote Professor Moyo in his opinion article in Zimeye, a few days ago.

"On the back of the Nov coup, and the fact that Zimbabwe is under military rule, it's unreasonable to expect a Govt run ZEC to run free, fair & credible elections. With securocrats managing its TECHNICAL operations, ZEC is a rigging tool!

"Govt has seconded to ZEC a team of Chinese BVR & cyber experts from the People's Liberation Army linked to a top Chinese university. Their remit is to manipulate the voters roll through shadowy & virtual polling stations & fake voters!"

Zimbabwe is in this economic mess today because for 37 years President Mugabe wittered on and on about "Gutsva ruzhinji!" whilst dragging the nation deeper and deeper into this economic hell-on-earth. The people could see Mugabe was corrupt and incompetent but they helpless to stop him and his Zanu-PF thugs destroying the economy because they did not have a meaningful vote.

These elections are not about stopping you, President Mnangagwa wittering about your vision of "Zimbabwe becoming a middle-income nation by 2030." These elections are about making sure the people of Zimbabwe gave you the mandate in a free, fair and credible elections to pursue your vision and not you rigging the elections again and impose your rule on the nation!

President Mnangagwa, if you fail to deliver on your promise to hold free, fair and credible elections this year, then you will be asked to step aside to allow a new interim administration to be appointed who will implement the democratic reforms agreed in 2008 and hold free and fair elections. Our top priority is to ensure all future governments are democratically accountable to the people, that is the only way to stop "big mouth" dictators with their pie-in-the-sky visions imposing themselves on the nation.