Opinion / Columnist
My take on Zanu-PF's Manifesto by Tendai Biti
16 Jul 2013 at 13:48hrs | Views
I trust you are holding out in these difficult times. As the great one wrote, it is a long walk to freedom.
They are still executing their sick and ill thought plan of stealing this election through a corrupted voters roll, a manipulated special vote and actual stuffing of ballot papers in at least two hundred thirty six carefully selected polling stations largely located in hostage areas such as some A1 farm holdings.
Further as was reasonably foreseeable ,after Marondera induced fear, they are slowly resorting to their natural default setting of violence. In the past few days cases of violations are on the increase. Assaults ,destruction of our campaign materials, are all crimes on the increase.
A JOMIC car being driven by Costa Machingauta ,the deputy chair of Youth Assembly had a rear tyre shot in Budiriro yesterday . A docket has been prepared against our national youth Assembly Chair ,the enigmatic Solomon Madzore.
We will not accept the abuse of our people, the abuse of the voters roll, the abuse of the special vote. We will not accept the joke that nearly 70 000 ZRP personnel have applied for the special vote and yet the Police established is nearly half less than this number.
To you the Wananchi in the Police, the law is on your side.Y our vote is absolutely secret. The claims around serial numbers or EC numbers is absolute hogwash.
The cast ballot papers will be secured ,mixed randomly in a sealed package signed off by all political parties and taken to a command centre before despatch to the relevant ward on 31 July where there will be mixed with other Election Day ballots.
Those that want to force you to vote twice must know that it is an offence to try and vote again after casting the postal vote and equally an offence too ,to try and induce anyone to cast a special vote.
The question I have for the Shameless Party is whether it thinks Zimbabweans are fools, that will allow them to get away with this?
I mentioned the other day the folly of not thinking strategically and organically .Or rather the folly of human beings with less than hundred veins in their brains ,who then behave as if someone levies a rent on them each time they try to use their brain.
The people of Zimbabwe ,are fed up, are angry and will not be cheated on again. Wananchi ,the Revolutionary Party never ceases to amaze one.
I had the pleasure of reading the people s manifesto by the people s party. What a piece of people s dross. This document is from another planet. I read it ,got depressed, read it and got so energized .
This lot long ago died. They are history ,they should not be allowed near the reins of state power.
They are a menace and threat to the national good. They are menace to there very own existence .
I love western movies. Sergio Leone s The Good ,The Bad and The Ugly is a masterpiece. I think that if Sergio Leone were to name this document he would probably call it ,The Bad,The Ridiculous and The Insane.
I will start with THE BAD.
The document has what it calls twenty three goals of the people. Some of them are pretty decent on paper. They include, equity, education for all, peace a, freedom and democracy, housing for all.
The lack of seriousness or commitment on things that we know they are not theirs is evident. Thus whilst there are right ups to goals such unity, economic prosperity ,the document unashamedly makes a cursory reference to goals such as non violence ,gender equality ,tolerance ,freedom and democracy.
The goals celebrated in that patronizing ,we-know-what -is -good - for you tone ,are independence, sovereignty ,unity ,security ,respect for the values of the liberation movement and patriotism.
The people of Zimbabwe value and respect the nationalist values of independence unity and patriotism. The problem is simply that for thirty three years The People s Party has debased these values and has used these as pillars of delegitimisation ,impunity and entitlement.
These terms while innocent have basically become idioms of alienation ,discrimination and exclusion. We do not like them. They have become extractive.
THE RIDICULOUS
They are plenty of things that are ridiculous but I will highlight the outrageous ones. In chapter 5 of the document ,the same deals with what it calls ,threats to winning the goals of the people.
Most people I know would say that the Shameless Party itself is the biggest threat to attaining the people s goals. You however would not expect to find this people s confession in the people s manifesto, would you.
The threats include uncontestable issues such as poverty, unemployment ,homelessness ,HIV and Aids, lack of safe water and sanitation, corruption. So far so good.
Then there is a threat I have never heard of. It is called treachery. It is described as follows,
". A particularly insidious threat to the people s aspirations that has reared its ugly head over the last decade or so is the rise of treachery in politics. It has been common for political parties and NGOs to be formed on the alter of treachery and for politicians to seek public office on the same platform and for religious groups to organise prayers to appease latter day imperialists and colonialists in the hope of either derailing or reversing the gains of Zimbabwe s hard won independence ...
Whilst it is indeed true and quite important that Zimbabweans cherish their goal for the tolerance of diverse points of views,it is also true that they despise treachery which they do not mistake for an opinion or a right"
Wananchi ,really ,really?
After this follows the threats of sanctions whose cost has been quantified without any science or rational to be $42 billion.
Then comes the threat of the debt burden of US$10 billion which they ridiculously intent to pay using our own resources.
Really ? Then comes the threat called NGOs. This what they say
"An obvious and unacceptable threat to the goals of the people is posed by NGOs that roam the country to peddle influence and whose number of more than 3000 is scandalously disproportionate to the country s population "
Wananchi ,we live in different worlds.
Then comes the threat creatively called "the donorfication of the education and health sectors "
Once again ,forgive me for reproducing the people's document. I honestly do not want to be accused of twisting the people s truth
" Over the last four years of the GPA government ,a cluster of regime - change donors have taken sinister advantage of the fact that the Ministry of Education ,Sport ,Arts and Culture and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare fell under the opposition formations and they have been pouring funds into the two ministries through parallel structures.
One such parallel structure is called the Education Transiton Fund (ETF) illegally controlled by David Coltart... ......
This donorfication is driven by sinister motives inspired by the desire to uproot the
Architecture of of education and health delivery built by Zanu PF since 1980 and widely acknowledged around the world as hall marks of unparalleled success
This threat needs to be nipped in the bud to restore the people s confidence in education and health delivery systems to ensure their sustainability and relevance to the indigenous imperatives"
Wow!!!!
So the people s party want us to go back to 2007 where schools were closed. This is a joke except that they mean it. The joke is on us.
THE INSANE
It gets worse Wananchi. The epicentre of the whole document is on indigenisation ,such that you could call it the indigenisation manifesto. Fair enough.
We have made our position on this point very clear. The Indigenisation Model being used is unsustainable ,wrong and open to abuse. It does not create any value ,is elitist and only serves to empower the rich.
Besides at this present moment in time it is important to expand and grow the cake ,through domestic savings, foreign direct investment ,overseas development assistance and off course industrializing our country .
That in any event job creation is the most democratic means of uplifting our people .
That lets us focus on SMEs and the creation of a sovereign wealth fund as a starting point in democratizing the economy.
That lets us pursue an alternative accumulation model and most importantly lets us create inclusive institutions .All these things are in JUICE and ART.
Of course our critic of the Zanu model has been justified in the last few months as details of various deals the government had signed came into light.
You would have thought that they should have been great introspection and reflection following this.
Alas the people s manifesto wants to take us back to the stone ages and totally destroy this economy.
Whilst in terms of the present law, it is the endeavour of the State to acquire through value or consideration 51% of shares in all foreign companies ,the people s manifesto proposes differently.
It proposes the following
1) that all sectors of the economy are now subject to indigenisation .No exceptions.
2) that every foreign owned company must now surrender 51% of its shares
3) that such surrender is no longer for value but for free. In short ,total nationalization of the 51% shareholding
Once again, I do not want to be accused of misrepresentation .I quote from the key paragraph in Chapter four of the document
"While the law is clear that at least 51% of the shares or ownership of every public company and any other business across the economy shall be owned by indigenous Zimbabweans ,there has been some confusion and misunderstanding over the modalities for achieving this threshold.
Consequently and going forward ,there is need to review, tighten and strengthen the law to among other things clarify the fact that indigenous Zimbabweans can not be expected or required to buy back their God -given natural or economic raises"
Wananchi, the Revolutionary Party never ceases to amaze.
It gets worse, they hope that after such nationalisation they will raise US$7.3 from 1,138 companies to be indigenised. A total and absolute myth. Indigenisation as presently formulated did not create value. In fact when done lawfully it simply destroyed value.
A foreigner who sold his 51% shareholding would simply repatriate that capital. So value was in fact lost.
Under the proposed nationalisation ,once it becomes law values would just collapse, there will be mayhem, so how do you raise value when you destroying same.
Over and above this they intend to raise a further US$7 681 078 582 from what they describe as idle assets in parastatals. Surely what dead assets ,from what dead parastatal. Perhaps the NRZ,CSC or Air Zim.
Anywhere armed with these amounts in excess of US18'billion they will finance the following among other things
1)US$19 572 000 Presidential Scholarship
2) US $27 200 000 Presidential support programme for chiefs
3)US$ 5 900 498 National Presidential Youth Initiative
4)US $300 000 000 Presidential Agriculture Input Scheme.
Wananchi I could go on.
It is frightening to imagine. Here is proof beyond reasonable doubt that this lot is a menace to this country. They are lost but they do not know it.
Lets rest this lot .Wananchi. For Christ Sake, lets Save Zimbabwe .
They are still executing their sick and ill thought plan of stealing this election through a corrupted voters roll, a manipulated special vote and actual stuffing of ballot papers in at least two hundred thirty six carefully selected polling stations largely located in hostage areas such as some A1 farm holdings.
Further as was reasonably foreseeable ,after Marondera induced fear, they are slowly resorting to their natural default setting of violence. In the past few days cases of violations are on the increase. Assaults ,destruction of our campaign materials, are all crimes on the increase.
A JOMIC car being driven by Costa Machingauta ,the deputy chair of Youth Assembly had a rear tyre shot in Budiriro yesterday . A docket has been prepared against our national youth Assembly Chair ,the enigmatic Solomon Madzore.
We will not accept the abuse of our people, the abuse of the voters roll, the abuse of the special vote. We will not accept the joke that nearly 70 000 ZRP personnel have applied for the special vote and yet the Police established is nearly half less than this number.
To you the Wananchi in the Police, the law is on your side.Y our vote is absolutely secret. The claims around serial numbers or EC numbers is absolute hogwash.
The cast ballot papers will be secured ,mixed randomly in a sealed package signed off by all political parties and taken to a command centre before despatch to the relevant ward on 31 July where there will be mixed with other Election Day ballots.
Those that want to force you to vote twice must know that it is an offence to try and vote again after casting the postal vote and equally an offence too ,to try and induce anyone to cast a special vote.
The question I have for the Shameless Party is whether it thinks Zimbabweans are fools, that will allow them to get away with this?
I mentioned the other day the folly of not thinking strategically and organically .Or rather the folly of human beings with less than hundred veins in their brains ,who then behave as if someone levies a rent on them each time they try to use their brain.
The people of Zimbabwe ,are fed up, are angry and will not be cheated on again. Wananchi ,the Revolutionary Party never ceases to amaze one.
I had the pleasure of reading the people s manifesto by the people s party. What a piece of people s dross. This document is from another planet. I read it ,got depressed, read it and got so energized .
This lot long ago died. They are history ,they should not be allowed near the reins of state power.
They are a menace and threat to the national good. They are menace to there very own existence .
I love western movies. Sergio Leone s The Good ,The Bad and The Ugly is a masterpiece. I think that if Sergio Leone were to name this document he would probably call it ,The Bad,The Ridiculous and The Insane.
I will start with THE BAD.
The document has what it calls twenty three goals of the people. Some of them are pretty decent on paper. They include, equity, education for all, peace a, freedom and democracy, housing for all.
The lack of seriousness or commitment on things that we know they are not theirs is evident. Thus whilst there are right ups to goals such unity, economic prosperity ,the document unashamedly makes a cursory reference to goals such as non violence ,gender equality ,tolerance ,freedom and democracy.
The goals celebrated in that patronizing ,we-know-what -is -good - for you tone ,are independence, sovereignty ,unity ,security ,respect for the values of the liberation movement and patriotism.
The people of Zimbabwe value and respect the nationalist values of independence unity and patriotism. The problem is simply that for thirty three years The People s Party has debased these values and has used these as pillars of delegitimisation ,impunity and entitlement.
These terms while innocent have basically become idioms of alienation ,discrimination and exclusion. We do not like them. They have become extractive.
THE RIDICULOUS
They are plenty of things that are ridiculous but I will highlight the outrageous ones. In chapter 5 of the document ,the same deals with what it calls ,threats to winning the goals of the people.
Most people I know would say that the Shameless Party itself is the biggest threat to attaining the people s goals. You however would not expect to find this people s confession in the people s manifesto, would you.
The threats include uncontestable issues such as poverty, unemployment ,homelessness ,HIV and Aids, lack of safe water and sanitation, corruption. So far so good.
Then there is a threat I have never heard of. It is called treachery. It is described as follows,
". A particularly insidious threat to the people s aspirations that has reared its ugly head over the last decade or so is the rise of treachery in politics. It has been common for political parties and NGOs to be formed on the alter of treachery and for politicians to seek public office on the same platform and for religious groups to organise prayers to appease latter day imperialists and colonialists in the hope of either derailing or reversing the gains of Zimbabwe s hard won independence ...
Whilst it is indeed true and quite important that Zimbabweans cherish their goal for the tolerance of diverse points of views,it is also true that they despise treachery which they do not mistake for an opinion or a right"
Wananchi ,really ,really?
After this follows the threats of sanctions whose cost has been quantified without any science or rational to be $42 billion.
Then comes the threat of the debt burden of US$10 billion which they ridiculously intent to pay using our own resources.
Really ? Then comes the threat called NGOs. This what they say
"An obvious and unacceptable threat to the goals of the people is posed by NGOs that roam the country to peddle influence and whose number of more than 3000 is scandalously disproportionate to the country s population "
Wananchi ,we live in different worlds.
Then comes the threat creatively called "the donorfication of the education and health sectors "
Once again ,forgive me for reproducing the people's document. I honestly do not want to be accused of twisting the people s truth
" Over the last four years of the GPA government ,a cluster of regime - change donors have taken sinister advantage of the fact that the Ministry of Education ,Sport ,Arts and Culture and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare fell under the opposition formations and they have been pouring funds into the two ministries through parallel structures.
One such parallel structure is called the Education Transiton Fund (ETF) illegally controlled by David Coltart... ......
This donorfication is driven by sinister motives inspired by the desire to uproot the
Architecture of of education and health delivery built by Zanu PF since 1980 and widely acknowledged around the world as hall marks of unparalleled success
This threat needs to be nipped in the bud to restore the people s confidence in education and health delivery systems to ensure their sustainability and relevance to the indigenous imperatives"
Wow!!!!
So the people s party want us to go back to 2007 where schools were closed. This is a joke except that they mean it. The joke is on us.
THE INSANE
It gets worse Wananchi. The epicentre of the whole document is on indigenisation ,such that you could call it the indigenisation manifesto. Fair enough.
We have made our position on this point very clear. The Indigenisation Model being used is unsustainable ,wrong and open to abuse. It does not create any value ,is elitist and only serves to empower the rich.
Besides at this present moment in time it is important to expand and grow the cake ,through domestic savings, foreign direct investment ,overseas development assistance and off course industrializing our country .
That in any event job creation is the most democratic means of uplifting our people .
That lets us focus on SMEs and the creation of a sovereign wealth fund as a starting point in democratizing the economy.
That lets us pursue an alternative accumulation model and most importantly lets us create inclusive institutions .All these things are in JUICE and ART.
Of course our critic of the Zanu model has been justified in the last few months as details of various deals the government had signed came into light.
You would have thought that they should have been great introspection and reflection following this.
Alas the people s manifesto wants to take us back to the stone ages and totally destroy this economy.
Whilst in terms of the present law, it is the endeavour of the State to acquire through value or consideration 51% of shares in all foreign companies ,the people s manifesto proposes differently.
It proposes the following
1) that all sectors of the economy are now subject to indigenisation .No exceptions.
2) that every foreign owned company must now surrender 51% of its shares
3) that such surrender is no longer for value but for free. In short ,total nationalization of the 51% shareholding
Once again, I do not want to be accused of misrepresentation .I quote from the key paragraph in Chapter four of the document
"While the law is clear that at least 51% of the shares or ownership of every public company and any other business across the economy shall be owned by indigenous Zimbabweans ,there has been some confusion and misunderstanding over the modalities for achieving this threshold.
Consequently and going forward ,there is need to review, tighten and strengthen the law to among other things clarify the fact that indigenous Zimbabweans can not be expected or required to buy back their God -given natural or economic raises"
Wananchi, the Revolutionary Party never ceases to amaze.
It gets worse, they hope that after such nationalisation they will raise US$7.3 from 1,138 companies to be indigenised. A total and absolute myth. Indigenisation as presently formulated did not create value. In fact when done lawfully it simply destroyed value.
A foreigner who sold his 51% shareholding would simply repatriate that capital. So value was in fact lost.
Under the proposed nationalisation ,once it becomes law values would just collapse, there will be mayhem, so how do you raise value when you destroying same.
Over and above this they intend to raise a further US$7 681 078 582 from what they describe as idle assets in parastatals. Surely what dead assets ,from what dead parastatal. Perhaps the NRZ,CSC or Air Zim.
Anywhere armed with these amounts in excess of US18'billion they will finance the following among other things
1)US$19 572 000 Presidential Scholarship
2) US $27 200 000 Presidential support programme for chiefs
3)US$ 5 900 498 National Presidential Youth Initiative
4)US $300 000 000 Presidential Agriculture Input Scheme.
Wananchi I could go on.
It is frightening to imagine. Here is proof beyond reasonable doubt that this lot is a menace to this country. They are lost but they do not know it.
Lets rest this lot .Wananchi. For Christ Sake, lets Save Zimbabwe .
Source - Tendai biti
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