Opinion / Columnist
ZCC still want ED and Chamisa to reconcile - morbid clergy holding us back
16 Oct 2018 at 19:18hrs | Views
"PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa have taken hardline stances to political engagement, which has stalled progress towards interparty dialogue seen as critical to pulling the southern African nation out of international isolation and launching economic recovery, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has said," reported News Day.
"The ZCC secretary-general suggested Chamisa was held up by a need to appease his supporters, while Mnangagwa wanted recognition from the opposition leader first before any talks could begin."
We have just had the EU Election Observer Mission final report stating in no uncertain terms that these elections were a sham.
"The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability," said the EU report.
"Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards."
Does ZCC agree with this report or not?
It is impossible to see how anyone, anyone at all, can ever dispute that the elections were a sham. How can they be anything else when ZEC failed to produce a verified voters' roll and there was evidence from the voting results to suggest there was multiple voting?
How can Mnangagwa claim to have the mandate of the people of Zimbabwe when he denied 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote? During his recent visit to USA he has said his government will have the logistics in place to allow these Zimbabweans to vote next time – proof it can be done give the political will. He did not explain why they were denied the vote this time!
If ZCC leaders agree with Zimbabweans, EU and all reasonable people out there that the recent elections were rigged; then our clergy must explain to the nation what ZCC is hoping to accomplish by bringing Zanu PF and MDC Alliance to talk.
Zimbabwe is in this serious economic mess that has seen the country fall from its perch of one of the top five richest African countries, a breadbasket of the region, etc. in 1980. Today we are the poorest nation in Africa that cannot even produce enough food to feed its own people. This is a sad testimonial to human failure; as political leaders, civic society leaders right down to the individual level.
If Zimbabwe is going ever going to recover from the man-made hell-on-earth we have allowed ourselves to sink into then we will need to stop and take a long and searching introspective look at ourselves. We have fcuked up big time – there is no denying that. ZCC leaders are invited to do the same! Continuing what we have been doing the last 38 years, the very things that landed us in this mess, is clearly not an option.
Inviting Mnangagwa and Chamisa to talk so they can kiss and make up and continue in government is not an option. The former rigged the elections and is therefore illegitimate whilst the other was foolish enough to participate in a flawed and illegal process and disregarded the repeated warning not to. We are in this mess because of 38 years of bad governance; bringing these two together will not change that!
The solution here is for the illegitimate Zanu PF regime to step down. The nation must then appoint an interim administration that will implement the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections.
The people of Zimbabwe want and deserve a solution to take them out of the political and economic hell-hole Zanu PF has dragged the nation into. The ZCC proposal to bring Zanu PF and MDC Alliance to form some compromise government is just a feeble excuse to allow the vote rigging and thus illegitimate Zanu PF junta to remain in power. Demanding that Zanu PF step down and allow fresh elections is the only way out of the hell-hole!
"The ZCC secretary-general suggested Chamisa was held up by a need to appease his supporters, while Mnangagwa wanted recognition from the opposition leader first before any talks could begin."
We have just had the EU Election Observer Mission final report stating in no uncertain terms that these elections were a sham.
"The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability," said the EU report.
"Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards."
Does ZCC agree with this report or not?
It is impossible to see how anyone, anyone at all, can ever dispute that the elections were a sham. How can they be anything else when ZEC failed to produce a verified voters' roll and there was evidence from the voting results to suggest there was multiple voting?
How can Mnangagwa claim to have the mandate of the people of Zimbabwe when he denied 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote? During his recent visit to USA he has said his government will have the logistics in place to allow these Zimbabweans to vote next time – proof it can be done give the political will. He did not explain why they were denied the vote this time!
If ZCC leaders agree with Zimbabweans, EU and all reasonable people out there that the recent elections were rigged; then our clergy must explain to the nation what ZCC is hoping to accomplish by bringing Zanu PF and MDC Alliance to talk.
Zimbabwe is in this serious economic mess that has seen the country fall from its perch of one of the top five richest African countries, a breadbasket of the region, etc. in 1980. Today we are the poorest nation in Africa that cannot even produce enough food to feed its own people. This is a sad testimonial to human failure; as political leaders, civic society leaders right down to the individual level.
If Zimbabwe is going ever going to recover from the man-made hell-on-earth we have allowed ourselves to sink into then we will need to stop and take a long and searching introspective look at ourselves. We have fcuked up big time – there is no denying that. ZCC leaders are invited to do the same! Continuing what we have been doing the last 38 years, the very things that landed us in this mess, is clearly not an option.
Inviting Mnangagwa and Chamisa to talk so they can kiss and make up and continue in government is not an option. The former rigged the elections and is therefore illegitimate whilst the other was foolish enough to participate in a flawed and illegal process and disregarded the repeated warning not to. We are in this mess because of 38 years of bad governance; bringing these two together will not change that!
The solution here is for the illegitimate Zanu PF regime to step down. The nation must then appoint an interim administration that will implement the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections.
The people of Zimbabwe want and deserve a solution to take them out of the political and economic hell-hole Zanu PF has dragged the nation into. The ZCC proposal to bring Zanu PF and MDC Alliance to form some compromise government is just a feeble excuse to allow the vote rigging and thus illegitimate Zanu PF junta to remain in power. Demanding that Zanu PF step down and allow fresh elections is the only way out of the hell-hole!
Source - zsdemocrats.blogspot.co.uk
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