Opinion / Columnist
'Forget elections, go out in the street!' argue Mapfumo. Protesting what? It's CCC who is hell bent in participating in flawed e
20 Mar 2023 at 05:22hrs | Views
"Zimbabweans must understand who they are really dealing with, [President Emmerson] Mnangagwa took over power from (Robert) Mugabe in an unconstitutional manner and he will never let go of that power simply through a ballot box," said Mukanya, Thomas Mapfumo.
"People in Zimbabwe must wake up and smell the coffee, forget about elections, go out in the streets.
"We have seen this happen in other countries such as Egypt and that's the only way you can remove this leadership, which has dragged the country into poverty."
He is only partially right and being partially right in this case is even worse than being totally wrong because it, invariably, sops you searching for the right solution!
Mukanya is right, Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies will never be removed from office through elections that are so flawed and illegal there is no verified voters' roll, Zanu PF cherry-pick the electorate by denying 3 million in the diaspora the vote or 37% of the electorate, it has reduced rural voters into medieval serfs who are frogmarched to vote for Zanu PF, etc., etc. Of course, it is insane to participate in such a flawed and meaningless election process especially when doing so gives the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.
What is really infuriate here is that the people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect the MDC leaders into power for the express purpose of bringing about democratic changes, as the party name implied. Sadly, the MDC leaders have not only failed to implement even one meaningful reform in 23 years, including 5 years in the 2008 to 2013 GNU. But to add salt to injury, MDC leaders are the ones now giving Zanu PF legitimacy by participating in these flawed election. It is not that the MDC leaders do not know all these things; they do!
"Look, you can't keep on participating in flawed electoral processes that serve to give big benefits to dictators such as Robert Mugabe. Mugabe has perfected the art of winning elections. So it will be very foolish for the opposition to continue legitimizing these sham elections which don't deliver. This country will go through a serious economic crisis in 2020 caused by Zanu PF. And yet, this is the only country where a government doesn't perform, it is encouraged by a super majority in parliament," said Tendai Biti in a 2015 interview with Isaac Mugabi.
"So you can't continue subjecting Zimbabweans to processes where their hopes just get crushed."
David Coltart went one step further and explained why the MDC leaders participated in the 2013 elections even though they knew the process was flawed and that doing so would give Zanu PF legitimacy.
"The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections," confessed Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
"The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."
MDC leaders went on to participate in the flawed 2018 elections for the same reasons as in 2013 - incompetence and greed.
Tendai Biti and David Coltart are Vice President and Treasurer General in the Chamisa led CCC party, a rebranded MDC, and the party is hell bent on participating in these flawed elections for the same idiotic reasons - incompetence and greed.
If the truth be told Mukanya, you should be asking the people of Zimbabwe to wake up to the political reality that the MDC/CCC has given up the fight for reforms and free elections. It is shocking that many Zimbabweans still have no clue what the 2008 to 2013 GNU was about implementing the democratic reforms and MDC leaders sold out. Even now with the benefit of hindsight many still have no clue.
The ordinary Zimbabwean has not benefited in any way from participating in these flawed elections. Indeed by giving Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuating the dictatorship, they have given the regime time to drag the nation deeper and deeper into this hell-on-earth. Still many Zimbabweans have participated in these flawed elections because they were again and again conned into believing MDC/CCC has winning in rigged election strategies. How can anyone let alone a whole nation be so naïve, gullible and downright insane!
It is all very well asking the people to wake up, forget the elections and go out on the street to protest. Protest what exactly? That the elections are flawed, so flawed the whole process is a mockery; when it was none other than the MDC/CCC leaders, the individuals povo have risked life and limb to elect into power, who have sold out on reforms and are keeping Zanu PF in power! That Zanu PF is rigging these elections when we, the people are the ones participating to give Zanu PF legitimacy because we do even have the common sense reject MDC/CCC's oxymoronic nonsense of winning rigged elections, especially after 43 years of the Mafiosi Zanu PF rigged elections!
If Zimbabweans participate in these 2023 elections in numbers because they are foolish enough to believe Chamisa's claim CCC will "win big" regardless of all the evidence Zanu PF is blatantly rigging; then the nation must accept the consequences of their folly. People have been warned not to participate countless times. Having given Zanu PF legitimacy by participating in the flawed elections people must know that they cannot remove the regime from office by staging street protest!
The people should be demanding the implementation of the reforms to ensure free and fair elections. Their first port of call in this is to stop the MDC/CCC selling out of implementing the reforms. The second, for the people themselves to stop participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. With the first and second steps done, only then can the people go out on the street to demand democratic reforms. The difference here is subtle but, nonetheless, very important; it is insane to protest against flawed elections when it is CCC and ourselves when it is our greed and stupidity respectively that is keeping Zanu PF in power.
"People in Zimbabwe must wake up and smell the coffee, forget about elections, go out in the streets.
"We have seen this happen in other countries such as Egypt and that's the only way you can remove this leadership, which has dragged the country into poverty."
He is only partially right and being partially right in this case is even worse than being totally wrong because it, invariably, sops you searching for the right solution!
Mukanya is right, Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies will never be removed from office through elections that are so flawed and illegal there is no verified voters' roll, Zanu PF cherry-pick the electorate by denying 3 million in the diaspora the vote or 37% of the electorate, it has reduced rural voters into medieval serfs who are frogmarched to vote for Zanu PF, etc., etc. Of course, it is insane to participate in such a flawed and meaningless election process especially when doing so gives the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.
What is really infuriate here is that the people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect the MDC leaders into power for the express purpose of bringing about democratic changes, as the party name implied. Sadly, the MDC leaders have not only failed to implement even one meaningful reform in 23 years, including 5 years in the 2008 to 2013 GNU. But to add salt to injury, MDC leaders are the ones now giving Zanu PF legitimacy by participating in these flawed election. It is not that the MDC leaders do not know all these things; they do!
"Look, you can't keep on participating in flawed electoral processes that serve to give big benefits to dictators such as Robert Mugabe. Mugabe has perfected the art of winning elections. So it will be very foolish for the opposition to continue legitimizing these sham elections which don't deliver. This country will go through a serious economic crisis in 2020 caused by Zanu PF. And yet, this is the only country where a government doesn't perform, it is encouraged by a super majority in parliament," said Tendai Biti in a 2015 interview with Isaac Mugabi.
"So you can't continue subjecting Zimbabweans to processes where their hopes just get crushed."
David Coltart went one step further and explained why the MDC leaders participated in the 2013 elections even though they knew the process was flawed and that doing so would give Zanu PF legitimacy.
"The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."
MDC leaders went on to participate in the flawed 2018 elections for the same reasons as in 2013 - incompetence and greed.
Tendai Biti and David Coltart are Vice President and Treasurer General in the Chamisa led CCC party, a rebranded MDC, and the party is hell bent on participating in these flawed elections for the same idiotic reasons - incompetence and greed.
If the truth be told Mukanya, you should be asking the people of Zimbabwe to wake up to the political reality that the MDC/CCC has given up the fight for reforms and free elections. It is shocking that many Zimbabweans still have no clue what the 2008 to 2013 GNU was about implementing the democratic reforms and MDC leaders sold out. Even now with the benefit of hindsight many still have no clue.
The ordinary Zimbabwean has not benefited in any way from participating in these flawed elections. Indeed by giving Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuating the dictatorship, they have given the regime time to drag the nation deeper and deeper into this hell-on-earth. Still many Zimbabweans have participated in these flawed elections because they were again and again conned into believing MDC/CCC has winning in rigged election strategies. How can anyone let alone a whole nation be so naïve, gullible and downright insane!
It is all very well asking the people to wake up, forget the elections and go out on the street to protest. Protest what exactly? That the elections are flawed, so flawed the whole process is a mockery; when it was none other than the MDC/CCC leaders, the individuals povo have risked life and limb to elect into power, who have sold out on reforms and are keeping Zanu PF in power! That Zanu PF is rigging these elections when we, the people are the ones participating to give Zanu PF legitimacy because we do even have the common sense reject MDC/CCC's oxymoronic nonsense of winning rigged elections, especially after 43 years of the Mafiosi Zanu PF rigged elections!
If Zimbabweans participate in these 2023 elections in numbers because they are foolish enough to believe Chamisa's claim CCC will "win big" regardless of all the evidence Zanu PF is blatantly rigging; then the nation must accept the consequences of their folly. People have been warned not to participate countless times. Having given Zanu PF legitimacy by participating in the flawed elections people must know that they cannot remove the regime from office by staging street protest!
The people should be demanding the implementation of the reforms to ensure free and fair elections. Their first port of call in this is to stop the MDC/CCC selling out of implementing the reforms. The second, for the people themselves to stop participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. With the first and second steps done, only then can the people go out on the street to demand democratic reforms. The difference here is subtle but, nonetheless, very important; it is insane to protest against flawed elections when it is CCC and ourselves when it is our greed and stupidity respectively that is keeping Zanu PF in power.
Source - zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
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