'Did you rig the election?' is my Passover question to uncle ED - only if that was permitted

"Uncle, why do we eat matzah (unleavened bread) and maror (bitter herbs)?" This is the question Moses' nephew asked him on the night of the very first Passover. The story underlines a time honoured Jewish tradition, not just that people including children have the right to ask questions but that they should be encouraged to do so.

Zimbabwe's hierarchical and patriarchal society any man, much less a woman or child, asking any question is frowned upon. Those in positions of power and authority view the questioning as a challenge to their authority especially when they are not sure or worse, are lying. So they silence everyone under the pretext of demanding respect and/or unity.

Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess because time and time again the nation has blundered from pillar to post because the nation has pursued ill-conceived policies which could have been easily avoided if we did not stifle meaningful debate. If Zimbabwe opened up and allowed children to question adults as freely Moses was question by his nephew then here are samples of what a fly on the wall would have heard in the Chamisa and Mnangagwa household.

Mnangagwa Household.

Nephew: Uncle ED, did you rig the elections?

ED: No, the elections were peaceful, free, fair and credible. The most peaceful elections ever; since Zimbabwe's independence.

Nephew: Why did Zanu PF deny the 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote?

ED: We could not arrange the logistics for them to vote but will do so next time.

Nephew: My friends are saying government denied those in the diaspora the vote because Zanu PF feared that many of them would not vote for the party. Tell me it is not true!

ED: Zanu PF did not have many supporters in the diaspora before last November's coup but that changed since the coup.

Nephew: ZEC failed to release a verified voters' roll although this is a legal requirement. Was it because of logistic problems too?

ED: I will see to it that it does not happen again.

Nephew: Election results show some usual voting patterns of two or more polling stations have exactly the same total number of ballots cast and exactly the same number of votes cast for the individual candidate suggesting these were bussed voters. Do you agree that close inspection of the voters' roll would have exposed such vote rigging shenanigans as multiple voting? The voters' roll was the smoking gun.

ED: Not at all!

Nephew: Why have the British said the electoral playing field was not level?

ED: I am not sure why.

Nephew: You want the people of Zimbabwe to trust you to deliver economic recovery and yet you cannot deliver the very first thing the nation need a legitimate and accountable government!

Chamisa Household.

Nephew: Everyone agrees with you that the elections were rigged. Is this the first time Zanu PF has rigged elections?

Chamisa: No, Zanu PF has rigged elections ever since the party got into power in 1980.

Nephew: If you knew that Zanu PF was going to rig these elections then why did you participate?

Chamisa: We thought MDC Alliance has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections.

Nephew: You gambled and lost since none of your measured worked. Is it true that you participated in these elections even though ZEC had failed to release a verified voters' roll?

Chamisa: We made a mistake.

Nephew: MDC took part in the 2013 elections although ZEC had again failed to release a verified voters' roll.

Chamisa: That was a mistake too!

Nephew: MDC have five years during the GNU to implement the reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections and you failed to get even one reform implement.

Chamisa: We sold-out big time!

Nephew: What Zimbabwe has been dying for is someone to implement the democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections. The nation will be very foolish to entrust you and your MDC Alliance friends to carry out this task.

CONCLUSION
As much as both Zanu PF leaders and MDC leaders would want to cast themselves as the Moses figure who led the nation out of white colonial oppression / Zanu PF tyrannical rule, respectively, into the Promised Land of freedom, justice and economic prosperity. Neither of them can ever be Moses.

Moses's Passover marked the start of the long journey out of Egypt to the Promised Land. "You eat matzah (unleavened bread) because it is the bread of haste, and maror (bitter herbs) because it is the bread of haste and the bitter herbs are to remind you of the bitterness of slavery." Moses told his Nephew and the children of Israel.
 
We removed the white colonial oppressors but only to have then replaced by corrupt black tyrants; our Passover was from the frying pan into the fire! Whilst the nation has had many golden opportunities to end the Zanu PF dictatorship it was none other than the opposition leaders who have sold-out and wasted them all; we are still stuck in the fire!

Whilst our journey from slavery to the freedom, liberty and economic prosperity is not a physical and mental one as that by the Jews; ours is a mental one. The one mental quality we can borrow from the Jews is the willingness to accept that none of us have all the answers and hence why we must be open to field questions from all leaders, followers, women, children, everyone!

Zimbabwe is stuck in this political and economic hell-on-earth because we have never allowed an open and honest debate on what constitutes free, fair and credible elections. This has allowed Zanu PF thugs to rig elections and get away with it. After 38 years stuck in this hell-hole, we owe it to ourselves and posterity to put an end to this madness!