Opinion / Columnist
Zanu PF will rule forever because of MDC's 'detrimental decision' - reverse psychology to save Zanu PF demise!
26 Mar 2015 at 08:51hrs | Views
"The Herald Editor Caesar Zvayi has assured Zanu PF that it will govern until donkeys grow horns as the only opposition political party that claim to have massive support, the MDC-T take detrimental decisions."
This is an expression of wishful thinking than a statement of fact because the exact opposite is if fact true. As long as MDC-T or any like-minded politicians remain the only political challengers to Zanu PF then, yes, Zanu PF dictatorship will never be dismantled and thus the party's continued hold on power is assured.
What Zvayi has failed to appreciate is the fact that Zanu PF has completely lost the popular support of ordinary Zimbabweans because the party has completely failed to deliver on its promise of mass prosperity and delivered instead mass poverty. In a country where unemployment has soared to Mount Everest heights of 90%, 16% of the population are now living in abject poverty, incomes have dropped to their lowest in 60 years, life expectancy has dropped from 68 years in 1980 to 34 years in 2004, etc., etc.; one does not have to be a rocket scientist to realize that they are economically worse of today than they were in the past.
What is worse, the Zimbabwe economy is set to get even worse not better. Zanu PF's own recovery plan, ZimAsset, is dead in the water for lack of donors to bankroll it. For the first time since independence the regime has now accepted the need to make savage cuts in its bloated civil servant and no doubt similar savage cuts will happen in local government, parastatals and all the other quasi - public institutions.
All those axed from their positions are destined for the unemployed-mountain and abject poverty. Not that this sacrifice would result in any meaningful economic recovery; it is too little too late. Yes the bloated public sector has been a burden to the nation but so too has been mismanagement and corruption. It is the gross mismanagement and rampant corruption that are the main causes behind the country's economic meltdown.
Mugabe and Zanu PF have pointedly refused to deal with mismanagement and corruption all these last 35 years because they are at the very heart of the party's political patronage system that has kept Mugabe and the party in power. So for 35 years mismanagement and corruption have been allowed to grow and spread like cancerous cells. Today they are tumours the size of tennis balls and they are everywhere!
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is now so serious the situation is not socially and politically sustainable. Zanu PF is under ever increasing pressure to accept regime change. What MDC has failed to deliver in 15 years will now happen as the result of Zanu PF's failure to rig economic recovery.
Still the need to get rid of the MDC party going forward is important because the country still need to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship regards what forced the regime to accept change.
By the end of Zimbabwe's second five-year Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, 1995 to 1999, it was clear the nation's economy was in serious trouble and Zanu PF regime had ran out of ideas of what to do to fix it. From there on Zanu PF was unelectable the only reason the party has still stayed in power to this day is simple; in Tsvangirai and his MDC outfit Mugabe had the most corruptible – it did not take much to bribe MDC leaders – and breathtakingly incompetent – MDC leaders actually believed they would still win the 2013 elections even with not even one democratic reform implemented.
As long as Zanu PF's main political opponents are corrupt and incompetent leaders like Morgan Tsvangirai and the other MDC leaders then, yes, Zanu PF will misrule the country forever! Our Herald Editor knows that and what he is doing is a bit of reverse psychology, by warning MDC's naïve and gullible supporters that Zanu PF will rule forever if MDC breaks up the editor is scaring the supporters in a panic and thus secure MDC's continued opposition dominance.
"You seem to hate Tsvangirai and his MDC friends more than you hate President Mugabe and Zanu PF," wrote Patrick Guramatunhu, commenting on my demand for MDC leaders to resign. "What you fail to understand is for the majority of ordinary Zimbabweans it is the other way round. Although you have condemned Zanu PF in the strongest language still when you attach MDC and demand that the leaders resigned you might just as well ask the people to hug Zanu PF. The people will not do that and hence the reason most people agree with what you say but they will not follow you and stick to MDC instead."
Of course Patrick is right, Zimbabweans hate Mugabe and Zanu PF with a burning passion so much so they "would vote for a donkey rather than Robert Mugabe", as Professor Jonathan Moyo once said. The trouble with hatred, especially burning hatred, is that it can cloud the mind making it impermeable to reason.
People hate Mugabe because he has failed to deliver economic prosperity; they want an end to the grinding poverty and despair. The only way that will happen is stopping Mugabe rig the elections by implementing the democratic reforms, changes, designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship. Tsvangirai has had many chances to deliver those all-important democratic changes in the last 15 years with the best chances being during the GNU. He has failed to get even one reform implemented in the five years of the GNU because he and his fellow MDC village idiots are corrupt and incompetent.
If we want to end the Zanu PF dictatorship we must get all the democratic reforms implemented, period. If Tsvangirai and his MDC village idiots failed to get even one reform implemented during the GNU when they had all the trump cards it is naïve to think they would do so now when Zanu PF has all the trump cards; that is a fact.
Ever since Tsvangirai and MDC decided to take part in rigged July 2013 elections against repeated advice from SADC leaders, the party's donors and millions of others not to do so without the reforms; MDC have been deserted by all the above as a lost cause. All the MDC factions are broke and they have struggled to remain politically relevant.
MDC-T shot themselves in the foot by recalling the MDC-renewal MPs at a time when both factions have no money to contest the by-elections. Forget the nonsense of not taking part because they want reforms implemented, they have not said what reforms because they have no clue what they are.
The political demise of MDC is now a certainty, it has been painful slow in coming but we are finally getting there. The hope is the demise of MDC will force the electorate to open up their minds and be more receptive to reason. If the nation wants democratic changes the people themselves must do their homework and understand what these changes are because only then can they be sure to elect competent leaders who understand the reforms and will get them implemented and not be so easily bribed by Zanu PF tyrants.
This is an expression of wishful thinking than a statement of fact because the exact opposite is if fact true. As long as MDC-T or any like-minded politicians remain the only political challengers to Zanu PF then, yes, Zanu PF dictatorship will never be dismantled and thus the party's continued hold on power is assured.
What Zvayi has failed to appreciate is the fact that Zanu PF has completely lost the popular support of ordinary Zimbabweans because the party has completely failed to deliver on its promise of mass prosperity and delivered instead mass poverty. In a country where unemployment has soared to Mount Everest heights of 90%, 16% of the population are now living in abject poverty, incomes have dropped to their lowest in 60 years, life expectancy has dropped from 68 years in 1980 to 34 years in 2004, etc., etc.; one does not have to be a rocket scientist to realize that they are economically worse of today than they were in the past.
What is worse, the Zimbabwe economy is set to get even worse not better. Zanu PF's own recovery plan, ZimAsset, is dead in the water for lack of donors to bankroll it. For the first time since independence the regime has now accepted the need to make savage cuts in its bloated civil servant and no doubt similar savage cuts will happen in local government, parastatals and all the other quasi - public institutions.
All those axed from their positions are destined for the unemployed-mountain and abject poverty. Not that this sacrifice would result in any meaningful economic recovery; it is too little too late. Yes the bloated public sector has been a burden to the nation but so too has been mismanagement and corruption. It is the gross mismanagement and rampant corruption that are the main causes behind the country's economic meltdown.
Mugabe and Zanu PF have pointedly refused to deal with mismanagement and corruption all these last 35 years because they are at the very heart of the party's political patronage system that has kept Mugabe and the party in power. So for 35 years mismanagement and corruption have been allowed to grow and spread like cancerous cells. Today they are tumours the size of tennis balls and they are everywhere!
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is now so serious the situation is not socially and politically sustainable. Zanu PF is under ever increasing pressure to accept regime change. What MDC has failed to deliver in 15 years will now happen as the result of Zanu PF's failure to rig economic recovery.
Still the need to get rid of the MDC party going forward is important because the country still need to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship regards what forced the regime to accept change.
As long as Zanu PF's main political opponents are corrupt and incompetent leaders like Morgan Tsvangirai and the other MDC leaders then, yes, Zanu PF will misrule the country forever! Our Herald Editor knows that and what he is doing is a bit of reverse psychology, by warning MDC's naïve and gullible supporters that Zanu PF will rule forever if MDC breaks up the editor is scaring the supporters in a panic and thus secure MDC's continued opposition dominance.
"You seem to hate Tsvangirai and his MDC friends more than you hate President Mugabe and Zanu PF," wrote Patrick Guramatunhu, commenting on my demand for MDC leaders to resign. "What you fail to understand is for the majority of ordinary Zimbabweans it is the other way round. Although you have condemned Zanu PF in the strongest language still when you attach MDC and demand that the leaders resigned you might just as well ask the people to hug Zanu PF. The people will not do that and hence the reason most people agree with what you say but they will not follow you and stick to MDC instead."
Of course Patrick is right, Zimbabweans hate Mugabe and Zanu PF with a burning passion so much so they "would vote for a donkey rather than Robert Mugabe", as Professor Jonathan Moyo once said. The trouble with hatred, especially burning hatred, is that it can cloud the mind making it impermeable to reason.
People hate Mugabe because he has failed to deliver economic prosperity; they want an end to the grinding poverty and despair. The only way that will happen is stopping Mugabe rig the elections by implementing the democratic reforms, changes, designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship. Tsvangirai has had many chances to deliver those all-important democratic changes in the last 15 years with the best chances being during the GNU. He has failed to get even one reform implemented in the five years of the GNU because he and his fellow MDC village idiots are corrupt and incompetent.
If we want to end the Zanu PF dictatorship we must get all the democratic reforms implemented, period. If Tsvangirai and his MDC village idiots failed to get even one reform implemented during the GNU when they had all the trump cards it is naïve to think they would do so now when Zanu PF has all the trump cards; that is a fact.
Ever since Tsvangirai and MDC decided to take part in rigged July 2013 elections against repeated advice from SADC leaders, the party's donors and millions of others not to do so without the reforms; MDC have been deserted by all the above as a lost cause. All the MDC factions are broke and they have struggled to remain politically relevant.
MDC-T shot themselves in the foot by recalling the MDC-renewal MPs at a time when both factions have no money to contest the by-elections. Forget the nonsense of not taking part because they want reforms implemented, they have not said what reforms because they have no clue what they are.
The political demise of MDC is now a certainty, it has been painful slow in coming but we are finally getting there. The hope is the demise of MDC will force the electorate to open up their minds and be more receptive to reason. If the nation wants democratic changes the people themselves must do their homework and understand what these changes are because only then can they be sure to elect competent leaders who understand the reforms and will get them implemented and not be so easily bribed by Zanu PF tyrants.
Source - Wilbert Mukori
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
