Opinion / Columnist
'Do we have the vision to reset our dysfunctional politics?' - not until have thinking caps back on
11 Nov 2018 at 09:47hrs | Views
"After 38 years of blundering from pillar to post, we have a chance of resetting our dysfunctional political system. The question is Do we have the vision to see the opportunity and the resolve to seize it?" asked Nomsa Garikai in a Bulawayo24 News opinion article.
Tragically, the answer to that has to be: No, we do not have the vision to see the dysfunctional political system. How can we then fix something we do not see as broken and so we are destined to continue to blunder from pillar to post.
Whilst the country's worsening economic situation has touched everyone in the land; the filthy rich ruling elite have suffered the inconvenience of the pot-holes on the public roads and having to shoe off so many people begging for help. The 75% of the population now living in abject poverty, they are at the coal face, they may not know how and why the country is in a mess but they have sure suffered the consequences of the economic chaos and political tyranny.
The people can see things are not right but have no clue why much less what to do about it. They are no wiser than an animal caught up in a drought, it is starving to death because there is no grass to eat and water to drink. The tragedy here is that human beings should consider themselves to be as helpless as a dumb animal especially when their problem is a man-made problem and thus within their power to solve if only they applied themselves!
If Zimbabweans have any knowledge of why the country is in such a political and economic mess then it is very superficial, potato skin deep. And it is this lack on understanding of what is going on that has allowed politicians from both sides of the divide to exploit the people for their selfish political gain. Soon after independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF thugs set out to establish the de facto one-party dictatorship we have suffer under these last 38 years. He rode roughshod over the people denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life.
The easy with which Zanu-PF contemptuously impose its dictatorial will on the nation called into question how much the people had understood what the war of liberation was about and their role in it. Yes povo played a key role, but was that because they had no choice as contrast to fighting for something they believed in - freedom, liberty, one-man one-vote, a fair share of the nation's wealth, justice, etc. If it had been the latter then why did they allow Mugabe to brush them aside like bugs and deny them all these things?
The ease with which Mnangagwa and the war veterans mobilised the people to demonstrate against Mugabe to pressure Mugabe to resign showed just how little the people understood. Whilst the people had been fighting to end the Zanu-PF dictatorship for decades they fall for the crumbs Mnangagwa offered them. He offered to remove Mugabe and a few around him but otherwise left the dictatorship untouched. Some people had argued to "give Mnangagwa a chance!"
When Mnangagwa blatantly rigged the recent elections, that should have forced everyone to open their eyes and see Zanu-PF for what it is - the party of corrupt, vote rigging and ruthless thugs. Sadly, the blatant vote rigging has not even registered in many people's minds!
Even the corrupt and incompetent MDC politicians have been quick to exploit the people's ignorance. The people risked life and limb to elect Tsvangirai et al into power on the understanding they would bring about the democratic changes the nation was dying for. MDC has just celebrated its 19 year anniversary and yet the party has failed to implement even one democratic change. Not even one!
Indeed, it is true that Zanu-PF dragged the nation into this political and economic hell-hole but it is MDC that has helped Zanu-PF keep us in the hole for the last two decades. MDC leaders have had many, the best falling during the 2008 GNU, opportunities to implement the democratic changes to end Zanu-PF dictatorship but wasted them all.
It is MDC leaders who have kept us stuck in the hell-hole by participating in these flawed elections ignoring all warning not to until reforms are implemented.
Still it is the people themselves who are ultimately to blame here because they failed to elect competent opposition leaders to implement the reforms, etc.
The very fact that both MDC and ZanuPF still continues to enjoy very significant public support regardless of the mountain of evidence of the leaders are corrupt, incompetent and even mass murderers speaks volume of just how naive and gullible Zimbabweans are. As much as one would want to see Zimbabweans happy, prosperous and masters of their own destiny the tragic reality is says the nation will continue to blunder from pillar to post until they finally put on their thinking cap on!
Tragically, the answer to that has to be: No, we do not have the vision to see the dysfunctional political system. How can we then fix something we do not see as broken and so we are destined to continue to blunder from pillar to post.
Whilst the country's worsening economic situation has touched everyone in the land; the filthy rich ruling elite have suffered the inconvenience of the pot-holes on the public roads and having to shoe off so many people begging for help. The 75% of the population now living in abject poverty, they are at the coal face, they may not know how and why the country is in a mess but they have sure suffered the consequences of the economic chaos and political tyranny.
The people can see things are not right but have no clue why much less what to do about it. They are no wiser than an animal caught up in a drought, it is starving to death because there is no grass to eat and water to drink. The tragedy here is that human beings should consider themselves to be as helpless as a dumb animal especially when their problem is a man-made problem and thus within their power to solve if only they applied themselves!
If Zimbabweans have any knowledge of why the country is in such a political and economic mess then it is very superficial, potato skin deep. And it is this lack on understanding of what is going on that has allowed politicians from both sides of the divide to exploit the people for their selfish political gain. Soon after independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF thugs set out to establish the de facto one-party dictatorship we have suffer under these last 38 years. He rode roughshod over the people denying them their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life.
The easy with which Zanu-PF contemptuously impose its dictatorial will on the nation called into question how much the people had understood what the war of liberation was about and their role in it. Yes povo played a key role, but was that because they had no choice as contrast to fighting for something they believed in - freedom, liberty, one-man one-vote, a fair share of the nation's wealth, justice, etc. If it had been the latter then why did they allow Mugabe to brush them aside like bugs and deny them all these things?
The ease with which Mnangagwa and the war veterans mobilised the people to demonstrate against Mugabe to pressure Mugabe to resign showed just how little the people understood. Whilst the people had been fighting to end the Zanu-PF dictatorship for decades they fall for the crumbs Mnangagwa offered them. He offered to remove Mugabe and a few around him but otherwise left the dictatorship untouched. Some people had argued to "give Mnangagwa a chance!"
When Mnangagwa blatantly rigged the recent elections, that should have forced everyone to open their eyes and see Zanu-PF for what it is - the party of corrupt, vote rigging and ruthless thugs. Sadly, the blatant vote rigging has not even registered in many people's minds!
Even the corrupt and incompetent MDC politicians have been quick to exploit the people's ignorance. The people risked life and limb to elect Tsvangirai et al into power on the understanding they would bring about the democratic changes the nation was dying for. MDC has just celebrated its 19 year anniversary and yet the party has failed to implement even one democratic change. Not even one!
Indeed, it is true that Zanu-PF dragged the nation into this political and economic hell-hole but it is MDC that has helped Zanu-PF keep us in the hole for the last two decades. MDC leaders have had many, the best falling during the 2008 GNU, opportunities to implement the democratic changes to end Zanu-PF dictatorship but wasted them all.
It is MDC leaders who have kept us stuck in the hell-hole by participating in these flawed elections ignoring all warning not to until reforms are implemented.
Still it is the people themselves who are ultimately to blame here because they failed to elect competent opposition leaders to implement the reforms, etc.
The very fact that both MDC and ZanuPF still continues to enjoy very significant public support regardless of the mountain of evidence of the leaders are corrupt, incompetent and even mass murderers speaks volume of just how naive and gullible Zimbabweans are. As much as one would want to see Zimbabweans happy, prosperous and masters of their own destiny the tragic reality is says the nation will continue to blunder from pillar to post until they finally put on their thinking cap on!
Source - zsdemocrats.blogspot.co.uk
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