Opinion / Columnist
45 years of Zanu PF misrule have been 'season of darkness' and even darker years ahead if 2028 elections are postpone
3 hrs ago | Views
Zimbabwe is one of the world's suppliers of cheap labour and our contribution is not always appreciated.
I was talking to a Zimbabwean Doctor who has worked in SA. His pay and working conditions were poorer than those of other staff, local and foreign. Even trainee nurses treated him disparagingly when they learned he was from Zimbabwe. He was glad to be in SA, he would have never got the same opportunity of training and exposure in Zimbabwe's all but collapsed health service.
Lest people forget, in 1980 Zimbabwe had a robust economy and was poised to become the South Korea of Africa. Alas! That was not to be. The incoming government of Robert Mugabe turned out to be corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs and 45 years of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption was left the country in economic ruins.
The country's once thriving industries have closed sending unemployment soaring to the dizzying heights of 80% plus. Millions have left the country as economic and/or political refugees; a source of cheap labour in the region and beyond!
For those living in hell-on-earth, it never rains but pours hailstones the size of tennis balls. In 2017 when the late dictator, Robert Mugabe, was finally booted out after 37 years in power the nation celebrated convinced that after 37 years of "the worst of times, age of foolishness and season of darkness" was finally "the best of times, age of wisdom and the spring of hope" in the Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, spirit.
The celebrations did not last long as it soon became clear that the military coup had change nothing; Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who continued to rig elections to maintain their iron grip on power. The coup had replaced Mugabe and a handful of cronies around him with a new tyrant, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
The nation's collective hope for some political change was raised with the realisation that Mnangagwa will be forced to go in 2028 when he will have served the maximum two terms as President. This hope too is set to be dashed, Mnangagwa has been campaigning to extend his stay in office beyond the maximum two terms. It is already clear he is going to have his way.
The campaign to extend his stay in power started soon after the 2023 elections. Many in his own party, Zanu PF, openly opposed the move. However by the time the party held its party conference in December last year, conference endorsed the position that Mnangagwa must stay till 2030! Mnangagwa will use all the dirty tricks, there are many, to fore the nation to rubber stamp his wish to stay in office beyond 2028!
In the 2023 elections, Mnangagwa openly bribed all the key players from povo bribed with chicken and chip; motorcycles and cars for village heads, chiefs and church leaders; MPs and senators got US$40 000 housing loans (euphemism); judges and other senior public officials got upward of US$ 400 000 housing loans and deputy minister and ministers got US$230 000 and 500 000 respectively.
There is no doubt that Mnangagwa will once again, openly bribe the key players to help him win the referendum to postpone the 2028 elections and allowing him to stay in offie beyond the two term limit. He has scaled up the corruption and looting of the nation's resources to finance his rigging activities. If the big carrot alone fail to delivery victory he has the even bigger stick!
Mnangagwa was Mugabe's henchman behind the 2008 Operation Mavhotera Papi, a military style operation to punish the voters for daring to reject Zanu PF in the March 2008 vote. He can scale up the violence even further to the Gukurahundi level if push comes to shove, such is Mnangagwa's cast-iron resolve to stay in power beyond 2028.
The official line is that Mnangagwa must stay in power till 2030 to deliver on the many development projects he is working on. It is all nonsense of course.
Here are some of the reasons why Mnangagwa is pulling all the stops, including the blatant bribes and coercions he will even kill (if he has not started already), tasty in power beyond 2028:
Power is sweet and after 45 years of enjoying absolute power, Mnangagwa is addicted and giving it up is simply unthinkable. Mnangagwa, just like Mugabe before him wants to be president for life.
Mnangagwa has amassed a lot of wealth and skeletons and the only person he can trust to stop the lot being taken away and the murderous past secret is himself and no one else.
If Mnangagwa succeed in amending the constitution postponing elections from 2028 to 2030. It will be a day's work to get parliament to postpone 2030 to 2033! (Now that the gene is out of the bottle there will be no putting it back, it will not be long before elections are postponed indefinitely and Zimbabwe is like China!)
Mnangagwa has already started promoting his family and cronies into positions of power and authority, the makings of the Mnangagwa Dynasty, the longer he is able to stay in power the more time he will have to build and consolidate the dynastic project.
The right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country through regular free, fair and credible elections is a fundamental human right. The very fact that Zanu PF has systematically denied the people this basic right by rigging elections these last 45 years is an outrage. Now Mnangagwa is hell bent on stripping the people of this right altogether by postpone the 2028 elections, initially, who knows where this would end.
The very idea of stripping the people their fundamental right is an insult and outrage. Of course, Mnangagwa intends to rigged the referendum because he knows that no Zimbabwean in his/her right sense would ever vote to be denied not only his/her right and human dignity but that of future generations too.
If Zimbabwe is a failed state, millions of Zimbabweans have been forced to leave the country because the country's economy is in ruins following four decades of Zanu PF misrule. The very fact that the party was forced to rig elections to stay in power has provided some political restrain. Think how much worse the mismanagement, corruption and tyrannical oppression is these political thugs are free to do as they please.
I was talking to a Zimbabwean Doctor who has worked in SA. His pay and working conditions were poorer than those of other staff, local and foreign. Even trainee nurses treated him disparagingly when they learned he was from Zimbabwe. He was glad to be in SA, he would have never got the same opportunity of training and exposure in Zimbabwe's all but collapsed health service.
Lest people forget, in 1980 Zimbabwe had a robust economy and was poised to become the South Korea of Africa. Alas! That was not to be. The incoming government of Robert Mugabe turned out to be corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs and 45 years of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption was left the country in economic ruins.
The country's once thriving industries have closed sending unemployment soaring to the dizzying heights of 80% plus. Millions have left the country as economic and/or political refugees; a source of cheap labour in the region and beyond!
For those living in hell-on-earth, it never rains but pours hailstones the size of tennis balls. In 2017 when the late dictator, Robert Mugabe, was finally booted out after 37 years in power the nation celebrated convinced that after 37 years of "the worst of times, age of foolishness and season of darkness" was finally "the best of times, age of wisdom and the spring of hope" in the Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, spirit.
The celebrations did not last long as it soon became clear that the military coup had change nothing; Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who continued to rig elections to maintain their iron grip on power. The coup had replaced Mugabe and a handful of cronies around him with a new tyrant, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
The nation's collective hope for some political change was raised with the realisation that Mnangagwa will be forced to go in 2028 when he will have served the maximum two terms as President. This hope too is set to be dashed, Mnangagwa has been campaigning to extend his stay in office beyond the maximum two terms. It is already clear he is going to have his way.
The campaign to extend his stay in power started soon after the 2023 elections. Many in his own party, Zanu PF, openly opposed the move. However by the time the party held its party conference in December last year, conference endorsed the position that Mnangagwa must stay till 2030! Mnangagwa will use all the dirty tricks, there are many, to fore the nation to rubber stamp his wish to stay in office beyond 2028!
In the 2023 elections, Mnangagwa openly bribed all the key players from povo bribed with chicken and chip; motorcycles and cars for village heads, chiefs and church leaders; MPs and senators got US$40 000 housing loans (euphemism); judges and other senior public officials got upward of US$ 400 000 housing loans and deputy minister and ministers got US$230 000 and 500 000 respectively.
There is no doubt that Mnangagwa will once again, openly bribe the key players to help him win the referendum to postpone the 2028 elections and allowing him to stay in offie beyond the two term limit. He has scaled up the corruption and looting of the nation's resources to finance his rigging activities. If the big carrot alone fail to delivery victory he has the even bigger stick!
Mnangagwa was Mugabe's henchman behind the 2008 Operation Mavhotera Papi, a military style operation to punish the voters for daring to reject Zanu PF in the March 2008 vote. He can scale up the violence even further to the Gukurahundi level if push comes to shove, such is Mnangagwa's cast-iron resolve to stay in power beyond 2028.
The official line is that Mnangagwa must stay in power till 2030 to deliver on the many development projects he is working on. It is all nonsense of course.
Here are some of the reasons why Mnangagwa is pulling all the stops, including the blatant bribes and coercions he will even kill (if he has not started already), tasty in power beyond 2028:
Power is sweet and after 45 years of enjoying absolute power, Mnangagwa is addicted and giving it up is simply unthinkable. Mnangagwa, just like Mugabe before him wants to be president for life.
Mnangagwa has amassed a lot of wealth and skeletons and the only person he can trust to stop the lot being taken away and the murderous past secret is himself and no one else.
If Mnangagwa succeed in amending the constitution postponing elections from 2028 to 2030. It will be a day's work to get parliament to postpone 2030 to 2033! (Now that the gene is out of the bottle there will be no putting it back, it will not be long before elections are postponed indefinitely and Zimbabwe is like China!)
Mnangagwa has already started promoting his family and cronies into positions of power and authority, the makings of the Mnangagwa Dynasty, the longer he is able to stay in power the more time he will have to build and consolidate the dynastic project.
The right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country through regular free, fair and credible elections is a fundamental human right. The very fact that Zanu PF has systematically denied the people this basic right by rigging elections these last 45 years is an outrage. Now Mnangagwa is hell bent on stripping the people of this right altogether by postpone the 2028 elections, initially, who knows where this would end.
The very idea of stripping the people their fundamental right is an insult and outrage. Of course, Mnangagwa intends to rigged the referendum because he knows that no Zimbabwean in his/her right sense would ever vote to be denied not only his/her right and human dignity but that of future generations too.
If Zimbabwe is a failed state, millions of Zimbabweans have been forced to leave the country because the country's economy is in ruins following four decades of Zanu PF misrule. The very fact that the party was forced to rig elections to stay in power has provided some political restrain. Think how much worse the mismanagement, corruption and tyrannical oppression is these political thugs are free to do as they please.
Source - zimbabelight.blogspot.com
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