Opinion / Columnist
SEOM condemn 2023 elections and should have denied Mnangagwa legitimacy and now can't deny him SADC chairmanship.
15 Aug 2024 at 06:30hrs | Views
Last year SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM), led by Dr Nevers Mumba of Zimbabwe, reported that Zimbabwe's election process was flawed and illegal. The regional body should have denied the Zanu PF political legitimacy, at the very least.
So, thanks to the indecision by SADC leaders, Mnangagwa became president of Zimbabwe for the next five years and, in a few days now, will become chairman of the regional body for a year. He is, per se, illegitimate for Pete's sake. And now we must await the consequences of what tomorrow brings with having him at the helm.
"As Zimbabwe faces criticism for the arrest of political activists, South Africa has stated that it cannot influence the decision to move the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit from Harare," reported Bulawayo 24.
"Despite calls from opposition groups within Zimbabwe and the region to relocate the summit due to concerns over human rights violations, South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has emphasized that hosting the summit is a matter of tradition within SADC."
True, it is normal practice that the incoming chair of SADC would host the summit; that makes perfect sense. However what SA and the rest of the SADC leaders cannot deny is that what is happening in Zimbabwe is anything but normal. Consider the following:
1) 1) Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF regime blatantly rigged last year’s elections. SADC and AU election observers condemned the process as flawed and illegal. SADC accepted the observers' report and, per se, endorsed that Mnangagwa and his regime are illegitimate. For whatever reasons the regional body did not take any punitive action against the region other than that many of the leaders did not attend Mnangagwa's inauguration as it the norm.
2) 2) Mnangagwa and his regime has stubbornly, publicly and repeatedly maintained that the elections was free, fair and credible and those saying otherwise "is their business." The regime's hunting dogs have publicly abused the SADC Election Observers particularly Dr Nevers Mumba from Zambia who was the chair. Mnangagwa himself is on record asking Russia's President Putin for military assistance in the fight against Zambia.
3) 3) Zanu PF regime has turned Zimbabwe into a North Korea Police State with opposition leader and human rights activist be arrested tortured and imprisoned in a knee-jerk reaction because the regime does not want the world reminded that it rigged the 2023 elections and is, per se, illegitimate.
Peaceful public protests are allowed in every healthy and functioning democratic nation foreign visitors or not.
SADC leaders have failed to rein in the Zanu PF regime's repeated violation of the country's own laws and constitution and the regional body's own principles and guidelines by rigging elections and denying its citizens their basic freedoms and rights.
SA's ANC government has propped up the Zanu PF regime for the last 20 years and President Ramaphosa was one of only three heads of state who attended Mnangagwa's inauguration last year. ANC propped up Zanu PF for Ramaphosa & Co.'s own selfish political reasons. By supporting a fellow liberation war party's continued rule they hoped that would help ANC's stay in power. It did not work. ANC lost its absolute majority in the 29 May 2024 elections.
ANC leaders owe the people of Zimbabwe an apology for their role in keeping Zanu PF in power against the democratic wish of the people. And this would be a good time for ANC leaders to correct their past wrongs.
It is normal to cancel or move the SADC summit, especially at such short notice - 3 days before the event. Still it is within the power of each member country to refuse to attend in protest against the madness we are witnessing in Zimbabwe.Doing nothing is NOT an option, it is tantamount to backing the regime's madness. The last thing Zimbabweans want to hear is a feeble excuse from Pretoria for doing nothing, after all ANC has done to drag them deeper and deeper into this hell!
The real question that SADC leaders must answer is: How long is Zanu PF going to be allowed to ride roughshod over the people of Zimbabwe with impunity? And Is lawlessness the new norm in SADC or is it just Zanu PF that is above the law?
So, thanks to the indecision by SADC leaders, Mnangagwa became president of Zimbabwe for the next five years and, in a few days now, will become chairman of the regional body for a year. He is, per se, illegitimate for Pete's sake. And now we must await the consequences of what tomorrow brings with having him at the helm.
"As Zimbabwe faces criticism for the arrest of political activists, South Africa has stated that it cannot influence the decision to move the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit from Harare," reported Bulawayo 24.
"Despite calls from opposition groups within Zimbabwe and the region to relocate the summit due to concerns over human rights violations, South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has emphasized that hosting the summit is a matter of tradition within SADC."
True, it is normal practice that the incoming chair of SADC would host the summit; that makes perfect sense. However what SA and the rest of the SADC leaders cannot deny is that what is happening in Zimbabwe is anything but normal. Consider the following:
1) 1) Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF regime blatantly rigged last year’s elections. SADC and AU election observers condemned the process as flawed and illegal. SADC accepted the observers' report and, per se, endorsed that Mnangagwa and his regime are illegitimate. For whatever reasons the regional body did not take any punitive action against the region other than that many of the leaders did not attend Mnangagwa's inauguration as it the norm.
2) 2) Mnangagwa and his regime has stubbornly, publicly and repeatedly maintained that the elections was free, fair and credible and those saying otherwise "is their business." The regime's hunting dogs have publicly abused the SADC Election Observers particularly Dr Nevers Mumba from Zambia who was the chair. Mnangagwa himself is on record asking Russia's President Putin for military assistance in the fight against Zambia.
3) 3) Zanu PF regime has turned Zimbabwe into a North Korea Police State with opposition leader and human rights activist be arrested tortured and imprisoned in a knee-jerk reaction because the regime does not want the world reminded that it rigged the 2023 elections and is, per se, illegitimate.
Peaceful public protests are allowed in every healthy and functioning democratic nation foreign visitors or not.
SADC leaders have failed to rein in the Zanu PF regime's repeated violation of the country's own laws and constitution and the regional body's own principles and guidelines by rigging elections and denying its citizens their basic freedoms and rights.
SA's ANC government has propped up the Zanu PF regime for the last 20 years and President Ramaphosa was one of only three heads of state who attended Mnangagwa's inauguration last year. ANC propped up Zanu PF for Ramaphosa & Co.'s own selfish political reasons. By supporting a fellow liberation war party's continued rule they hoped that would help ANC's stay in power. It did not work. ANC lost its absolute majority in the 29 May 2024 elections.
ANC leaders owe the people of Zimbabwe an apology for their role in keeping Zanu PF in power against the democratic wish of the people. And this would be a good time for ANC leaders to correct their past wrongs.
It is normal to cancel or move the SADC summit, especially at such short notice - 3 days before the event. Still it is within the power of each member country to refuse to attend in protest against the madness we are witnessing in Zimbabwe.Doing nothing is NOT an option, it is tantamount to backing the regime's madness. The last thing Zimbabweans want to hear is a feeble excuse from Pretoria for doing nothing, after all ANC has done to drag them deeper and deeper into this hell!
The real question that SADC leaders must answer is: How long is Zanu PF going to be allowed to ride roughshod over the people of Zimbabwe with impunity? And Is lawlessness the new norm in SADC or is it just Zanu PF that is above the law?
Source - zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
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