Zimbabwe political Cinderella sequels up until 2013 (Part 3)

via ZIMBABWE POLITICAL CINDERELLA SEQUELS UP UNTIL 2013 (Part three) January 16, 2014 at 5:10pm By Andrew M Manyevere

The end to the Zimbabwe Political Cinderella Sequels will be inconclusive if I do not mention the fact that the Liberation Struggle of Zimbabwe was a process that made a revelation that success in the armed struggle is not for those who survive and often times abused the gains of the struggle. Success is for those who selflessly hold the baton stick and pass it on for the benefit of all and not for their personal glory and veneration. Mr. Mugabe or Mr. dos Santos, Zimbabwe and Angola respectively, cannot fit as deserving of respect as selfless people who look to others to do something and further the goals for all.  That Zimbabwe and/or Angola go through hard economic periods despite numerous minerals in these countries prove the insufficiency of an overstayed regime in administering democracy. The price of an overstayed regime is to survive through corruption practices that employ use of force of arms and violence.

Understanding what motivated Zanu leadership, and in particular, the man who remains running Zanu as his personal property, Mr. Robert Mugabe and cohorts. We owe it to the country, which is people wisdom in elections given that elections are free and fair in exercising choice in leadership of high integrity. This is not the case with either Zanu or the Angolan liberation party led from after Neto passing away, to this day, by Jose’ Eduardo dos Santos. Zanu, like any overstayed political organization, has unique features we need understand to fully appreciate dynamics that lead to strengthening corruption practices until a country is financially burst. Worse still to understand why an army that supposedly fought a liberation struggle run its strength based on the name of one individual in the Zanu political party, and not in Zapu or any other political organization born or gone.

No doubt that in the minds of Zanu surrogates, because of corruption benefits they have received-money, cars, farms, houses, mines, acquisition of various properties-Mugabe is the best leader so far irrespective of all the failure the country has achieved to its name under his watch.

Mr. Robert Mugabe and his party battles for independence appeared obvious even though deeper reading tend to show a revelation that suggests the battles were for power control and personal aggrandizement of wealth to eliminate any political opposition including from the media. After independence the battle intensified to eradicate Ian Smith and friends and was regarded as synonymous with the Bishop Abel Muzorewa (1980-83). Once they had justification Zanu sought to eradicate Zapu (1983) hence the Gukurahumndi massacre executed. To bury the concept of Zapu the 1987 Zanu-Pf union was founded. Zanu-Pf was a one sided road that still bears the name even though she is worn out and in fact forgotten. The battle with the ordinary workers begun with the legislation on minimum wages instead of allowing national employment councils to negotiate wages on an industry by industry. It led to quarrels and blame of the unions. The foundation of the common man movement for change (1999) was greeted with a lot of skepticism from Zanu-Pf. These sequels clearly demonstrate that Zanu cannot engage except for unleashing her dogs of soldiers and militia to beat and intimidate people. The system is covert.  It is the way of life and the reason why the Border Gezi militia system was introduced.

Few things people have to now appreciate of Zanu political party and its leaders: She operates as a Mafia without clear records on voters role, no specific details on militia deployment time and again to intimidate rural folks during election time and how she can swell numbers on opposition to give a semblance of strong support and disenchant the faithful members of opposition. This is not only a game of intelligence but also a game of fraudulent trickster’s behaviour. Zanu, like many nationalists parties cannot live beyond Mugabe, no. For a start she does respect human rights or regard opposition as a democratic processes Zanu did not fight the liberation struggle alone, so Zimbabwe attainment of independence was a joint effort of everybody more so the unarmed without whom the struggle would not have succeeded at all. It is unfair for those who went into training and holding the gun or not to keep claiming compensation as though to say everyone else does not deserve special mention or even thank you. This is where individualism which the struggle sought to fight away comes in and ruins a good thing for everybody.

Zanu leadership has no records to show that they built harmony in the country. The 1987 national unity is a continuous struggle of amalgamating political parties in order to swallow the other and have one party, a life time dream of Robert Mugabe even as he offers Dumiso Dabengwa of Zapu resuscitated a vice president position. It has failed repeatedly. Where has Zanu given strong concession to show that Zimbabwe is for all people who have a share equally with everyone?   People in politics can split and form parties, the success of democracy is not in killing opposition through violence, but through reason and convincing of voters to vote positively and transparently. If voters are not free to think and take a free opinion in Zimbabwe, what needs to be removed is the system that handicaps free and fair voting.  The issue has nothing to do with Zanu or Zapu thirty years ago, it has to do with the rights of people to win or lose in a open way everybody is witness.  We have to come up with a relatively strong and transparent election system approved by ALL PEOPLE no animal farm approach to it. A convincing way of supervised internationally elections, where all people are equal is and should remain a goal for freedom.

Is it fair to say that Shonas and Ndebeles do not work together? Anyone who says this is short sighted and has not read his bible well. Cain killed his brother not because they were nationally or tribally different, but because of jealous among them. We have to manage areas that breed jealous carefully by appreciating each other’s roles and input which is what Julius Nyerere spent much time doing with every Tanzanian in the initial take off stages of Tanzania into independence. Our political management suffered from a wrong emphasis, violence and force that choice and tolerance of differences. For as long as rule of law exists and is upheld and respected, differences in opinion should not destroy the fundamental which is the constitutional right to belong, associate and express an opinion without being subjected to punishment. That is what political management is all about when done properly, which Zanu has not done except for pretending all is well in the country when actually nothing is right if corruption is the center stage of all our problems but it is not attended to except through lip service. Power needs managing and the best way, experience has shown, is through the separation of power political process that provides checks and balances so that no one body of political governance can over perform the other without causing political upsets. Zanu has failed to take these steps seriously because leadership thought the processes were colonial and western. They have embarked on an experiment which is communist when everyone else is revising political systems to adopt democracy.

Alliance between Enos Nkala, Robert Mugabe, Morton Malianga and others in the 1960s to form Zanu away from Zapu had not worked for the good of politics of liberation but as politics of tribes and self-centeredness among some personalities who felt they could not play their mischief under Joshua Nkomo leadership.  They failed their first test of leadership, negotiation, and sought instead to split the national party. The claim for radicalism has haunted the politics of the nation to this day. As Robert Mugabe now claims, he is the answer to anything happening on Zimbabwe except for its bankruptcy, which I am sure he cannot understand or has ever understood anyway. Quantitatively there was nothing Zanu did which was not done by Zapu, In fact Zapu tried hard to follow a qualitative approach to an armed struggle based on armed struggle principles than on tribal base. Its executive was more nationally balanced than Zanu. Umkonto Wesizve the ANC military struggle wing is commonly known to have protested publicly why tribal divisions in Zimbabwe politics appeared to override liberation aims and goals. Truth be told, more energy was spend on plotting how, among the liberation armies they could overthrow one another and execute the war without being overshadowed by the other. It is the outside world than the inside efforts that spoke strong of a united approach than fragmentation on tribal lines.

The plan to eliminate Zapu immediately after independence was hutched swiftly as a follow up to Zanu‘s long term ill-conceived vision, now clearly revealing, thirty four years later. Zanu does not believe in opposition and will fight opposition with all it has, which unfortunately has never provided solution except as we continue to fail to brace ourselves for change based on appreciating the failures of our history in executing the struggle and to attempt personalizing the struggle on names of one person at the expense of failure to heal rifts and divisions that underline true cause to our failures: Corruption based on selfish values that have no bearing on building national good. Revelations on who influenced what with what outcome has nothing to do with encouraging the tribe outrange corruption has continued to build based insecurity of individuals who are vying for power take over for the sake of power take over.

The story in the Bible on the Wisdom of Solomon may appear too naïve to those who do not believe and have as yet read the Bible to understand its logic as a test of loyalty and love to saving human life than sacrificing life for jealous, pride and revenge aimed at loss for all or gain for me principle. To get to the level where we can appreciate stepping down for the common good of all, is something which I cannot see going well even with the MDC or any opposition political party existing or has existed. The failure to context any struggle for the benefit of all than center it on a handful of so-called leadership-individualism-has overplayed its role and robbed nations of the significance of ‘the all men are created equal’ reality enunciated very well in American politics by Abraham Lincoln.  Why, till to this date, African nations cannot lament at manpower wastage through unnecessary refugees that flee from intra political conflicts that could be solved; is because we have failed to mould a conflict resolving method based on a reconciliatory framework of all side approach to political power management game. We may have the theoretical know how but have seriously lacked in good will and moral courage to sustain it.

The immediate post-independence struggles, for example, between former contesting liberation armies, was in line with Zanu’s long term aim to eliminate Zapu or any opposition and remain the sole party in the country. It had nothing to do with evidence of Zapu guerrilla army planning on an overthrow of Zanu guerrilla army with the Rhodesia factor in-between at independence.  Zanu crafted the story as explained in Joshua Nkomo’s book (1985-86) to make credible the strategy to eliminate opposition completely. This assumption, that opposition must either be swallowed or eliminated totally, is alien in itself as it is alien to African tradition that teaches accommodation and tolerance as a weapon to dealing with strangers. From the principles of democracy, and looked at, from the separation of power concept; it does not matter who holds what position in organization process for as long as all people know the rule of equality, that we all  are subject to election and being contested, and can be removed by a simple majority vote. The ideal is not on subjecting one another to cruel control, but on outperforming the rest on useful and good values for community development in order to win people’s love and then vote.

Zanu’s lack of leadership broadly and narrow approach to issues, has been cause to many conflicts that have come and gone by under harsh force of violence in the past and shall haunt generations of Zimbabweans for a considerable future. To show good will and lack of ill will, Zapu ex-liberation men and women had invested their live savings into forming companies and buying land to get on with their lives if military career options were to fail. At least Zapu had a plan to settle for the future. Zanu did not have any settlement plan indicating they were very selfishly inclined and believed that independence was brought about due mainly to their singular push on the Smith Regime in the 1970s. History has always objectively shown that the struggle was waged from two fronts-Mashonaland and Matebeland.  That, the Smith Regime was feeling the pitch and the people inside the country were getting ready to work systematically with forces of freedom for equal opportunity and rights. Thanks to the Rhodesia Commerce and Industry who, together with the world, prevailed over a plan for a proposed negotiated settlement that finally came through for the good of all. It is unsavory and selfish for anyone like Zanu to claim singular victory over the liberation process. It is due to distortions and misrepresentations that claims by one political party should ever have sold to community as gospel truth had we maintained our resolve to think, analyse and draw objective results based on what is good for the people and country.

Granted that Zanu had done more recruitment by virtue of destabilizing a big portion in Zimbabwe and had therefore more people leave their rural areas for the camps in Maputo than Zapu recruits who were split into Botswana, South Africa and Zambia mainly. If the struggle objective had been to fight each other among liberations movements then, hope of Zapu living on by virtue of sheer numbers would have been very unlikely. However, when considering that Zapu’s military style was more qualitative than quantitative, strategically than sheer military personnel numbers, Zapu would have defeated Zanu short term. Given quality of logistics and intelligence gathering than sheer personnel numbers, time would have determined the painful battle and “victory” among ourselves (ie Zanlar and Zipra fight). One can only be glad and thank God that this contemplation never hutched to maturity. Incidentally the Soviet military training was superior to that of China and the AK 47 weapon was a Russian manufactured weapon. So from a savage elimination of people viewpoint, Zapu could have been lethal to its counterparts in the struggle. If any inner struggles existed between two liberation armies, it was clandestine because the diplomatic world rejected funding armed struggle based on principles of in fights within the liberation struggle.

It is a principle of integrity to acknowledge that events post-independence have continued to take their tune from Mr. Mugabe’s aggression approach on opponents, to the world that Zanu wrongly classified as enemies. Thereafter Mr. Mugabe has received names that have pointed to his shrewdness on selfish centered glory (individualism) than on group and collaborative initiatives (team work). I want to submit that unconsciously many Zimbabweans grew and are growing to admire the legacy of poor leadership style because it unfortunately is mixed in with a very noble self-projecting cause for the liberation struggle. I need note this though as one of many examples in which Zanu failed to understand the differences between political party and government. It has to be admitted that Zanu is centered on Mugabe personality of argumentation and inflexible approach generally on many issues where partnership and collaboration would have served the country’s economy, industry and jobs.

Mr. Mugabe has a nickname Karingamombe, commonly known in Zanu, and meaning one so strong always to surmount difficulties. He would handle an oxen by himself is an inference to the name. By having the 1987 Unity Accord agreement (between Zapu and Zanu), for Zanu Mr. Nkomo had been broken down and coerced into defeat, hence the name Karingamombe given to Mugabe. This was a name in bad taste and did not indicate maturity nor regards to the immediate past bloody struggle in the civil war. It was a selfish stand taken by a people home sick and drawn on victory without a purpose but to celebrate their opponent’s fall. Truth be told, Nkomo used very mature approach to saving the nation during the 1987 Unity Accord agreement.. We have counted lives lost when Angola went into bloody civil war, when Congo did and Uganda and Rwanda did. Yet still it did not give lessons on humility and purpose to many Zimbabweans aimed at power for power sake. It took men like the late Nelson Mandela, after twenty-seven years behind bars, to openly and, without fear or favour, name the Rwanda war, a genocide.

Genocide could have taken place in Zimbabwe easily if Nkomo had decided on waging a war against Mugabe, direct or indirect, when he left Zimbabwe or had he refused to accept Unity accord. People have underestimated the level of cruelty in Robert Mugabe even when they laugh at Morgan Tsvangirai’s public beating (2007) by Mugabe soldiers, for doing nothing but official asking for accountability by the army, police and secret intelligence as an opposition political leader. Those in Zanu, are quick to forget the atrocities Zanu caused the country on numerous occasions, which incidences were not necessary and would have seen Zanu constitutionally removed from power were democracy something Zanu truthfully believed in.

It is clear that with self-ego prompted image, protected and defended by his hedge men and cohorts, Mugabe fought to destroy Joshua Nkomo, his Zapu party; despite that they had both fought for political independence in Diaspora leading armies of liberation. Robert Mugabe embarked on a silent war against Joshua Nkomo stronghold, from people to properties and finally making an attempt at eliminating him personally. This can hardly be considered a sign that Mr. Mugabe love those who fought for the liberation of the country. By the same token, Robert Mugabe fights everyone who wants to contest him or who blames him. He fights the ordinary rural folks who customarily would make jokes on leaders and cruelly put them through prosecution killing any sense of Mugabe knowing our tradition at all, raising a question whether or not he is Zimbabwean. Mugabe has shown total enjoyment at citizens going on trial for laughing at his picture or tearing it. That kind of mentality does not show me the magnanimity of a leader, if not a portrait of a self-pitying bully who specialises on kicking none armed poor masses than protecting them from enemies. He has cunningly used the political opposition as pretext for attacking the poor without showing any mercy. He has food denial to villagers except they denounce supporting opposition political parties and give him undivided support. This is inhuman and can only be expected to take place at lower levels of the party ranks to then be appealed on the president of the party.

The sequels on arrests, detention, beatings of innocent people and traps set to kill, are all a Cinderella story of truth that begun with Robert Mugabe leadership abroad and introduced in Zimbabwe once he believed the world had faith in him. The tracing of Mr. Mugabe emotional outbursts and anger should help give an indication of who he is in real life: A cruel, unforgiving man who will pursue you till you are gone either to the grave or in exile. Some of the well-remembered emotional statements of Mr Mugabe on his enemies are: “I have a masters in violence”, “I will beat Morgan with my fist” (he waves it at Rallies), and “Zimbabwe is mine”, among many unstable sentiments of anger from a self-opinionated and bigoted persons. Incidentally the nationalists who experienced arrests during colonial phases seem to unconsciously enjoy seeing people go to jail and/or die in circumstances they alone know how. This appears as though a ploy they use to keep masses in a stupor of fear, thereby keeping them under political control for power management purposes. Leaders who run governments after having been in exile have also shown tributes of callousness to kill any political opposition and ordinary persons who criticize them. Consider the ruler ship of Museveni against his background as a democrat, who spoke forgiveness and electoral transparency. Look at Paul Kagame of Rwanda and the way he is lengthening his stay in power by detaining even none armed women for speaking against him. Arresting, detaining and killing are indisputably a sign of the measure force of violence has been made to bear on people by many African leaders in order to keep their grip on power. Carefully consider the thirty five years rule of Robert Mugabe and his Zanu political party in the context of above observation and analysis account.

Disappointed in Mugabe’s government in the late eighties, I strongly talked against the culture of killing others instead of bringing them to courts for trial. I decided to forget about politics in Zimbabwe due to corruption in party organization manifested through endless sloganeering in order to subdue reason among the intellect. Zanu became a political party of emotionalism and romanticism on elimination of so-called enemies of the party. Zanu has become its own enemy.  Corruption in the country has become synonymous with the name Zanu. As a party meant to take the struggle to the next phase and build economic structures to cater for the majority, Zanu failed dismally to provide REASONING leadership except for BREEDING POOLS OF CORRUPT people who treat the common man like cheap labourers detracting from the concept and practice of all men are created equal.

The Global Political Agreement (GPA)(2008) sequel gave birth to Government of National Union

(GNU) which led to the 31 July 2013 over whelming ‘victory’ of Mr. Mugabe and his Zanu by 61% in the rigged elections. Mr. Mugabe government has been refusing to recognize the Diaspora from when she engaged in political activities abroad.  Because Zanu’s thinking is limited today circumstances has forced them to reluctantly swallow pride and accept reality that Zimbabweans in Diaspora make a huge economic contribution through remittances to relatives back in the country. What is sad though is the fact that Zanu does not want to accept the Diaspora’s disfranchised right as voters who are entitled to voting to resolving and deciding the country’s future.

Police service in Zimbabwe has become another gold mine in terms of getting richer quickly. Zimbabwe police have become an example of African disaster to law and order and preventing of crime. Crime is perpetrated from the bench of police officers starting from their inordinate appetite for road block work which brings them money overnight by carrying kangaroo courts on the roads where they prosecute judge and sentence all at once without reference to any court. If an international commission of inquiry was made to find the degree of corruption in Zimbabwe almost all the police force will need cleaning, as will be ministers and local MPs and some civil servants. This situation is a crisis beyond accountability except disbanding the government.

So never be excited with the word indigenization, it is a dishonesty way of slowing genuine transformation through clear systems of accountability and responsibility accompanied with strict reporting. Whether these destroyers of the country economy labelled foreigners or locals, the differences does not matter. It is their action of mercenary behaviour and bleeding the economy which is bad and needs uprooting urgently.  Removing these people obviously constitute a political threat to Zanu hierarchy.  Zanu survives on the immoral support this network has given them to rig the elections and supervise the collapse of business.

When we share same goals, passion and values for freedom, we shall not be bought with a piece of land as gift from a ruling party or anyone. To separate birthright ownership from mercenary robbery behaviour will replace corruption a sense of accountability and responsibility.  Incidentally we have to trace all problems to Robert Mugabe being the all-powerful “king” of the country officially. He therefore is alien to accountability and responsibility as president so will be the behaviour of his right hand cohorts. They neither stand court trial nor go to jail even if found guilty.  To begin with they are never arrested or investigated. Similarly the president does no longer reshuffle his cabinet. His love for the country is evidence in how he is never treated at our local hospitals but always abroad in Malaysia. He is an expensive highest public officer always abroad on vacation than at any local holiday resort or working in the fields he claims must be used by local farmer.

There are many Zimbabweans watching corrupt practices with horror both inside and outside the country. The strength of Zimbabweans like the strength of Egyptians when Abdul Nasser (1954-70) took over power should be to make a monumental difference between oppressor’s government and a change for a people’s centred -driven government.  The answer, unlike what others suggest, for the solution on Zimbabwe impasse, is not in having young generation for the sake of young to come in and begin making the same blunders like those made before. The answer, in my opinion, is letting democracy have its way. Identify men and women who may run a transition government take evaluation of stock and punish no one for the mistakes already done, except to recover what was stolen where proven that wealthy was acquired on fraudulent methods. Prepare elections on the basis of transparent  voter’s list open to all for inspection, clear candidates nomination system excluding those engaged on activities which may be related to corruption practices, encourage a new beginning based on formulas of rule of law and honesty based on respect for all. From one election to another in this confusion where 2008 is similar to 2013, is no solution to Zimbabwe.

Because of Zanu government’s connivance with international canisters on rigging of elections, any election in Zimbabwe was first known among international corridors of corruption influence and sometimes even financed from conman politicians of the world lobbying groups. Israel organizations have strong involvement in Zimbabwe elections in 2013. Assurance is required for new rules played by different people to pave way for FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS supervised by the international community. There is therefore a need for removing revenge tendencies as always is the case in every election run in Zimbabwe.  Working on a clean judiciary system that relies on well prosecutable cases which look at law and applying it against a crime than at status of the individual and apply the law to meet tastes of corrupt leadership. It is imperative that there is a ‘new’ respect for the bench and new etiquettes for the force –police, army prison services and intelligence in the national interest.

As soon as this stage is done change will transition in fast so long as we guard against resurrection of corrupt characters. Our watch words are to be on Values on integrity, on responsibility and on accountability backed by rule of law.

We have to believe in a strong police force who can prosecute and judges who fearlessly can advise government and legislators who take marching orders from their constituencies than from the president or corruption syndicate. People have to learn how to handle and use power at local, provincial and national level. Programs that teach empowerment based again on VALUES of Integrity, Responsibility and Accountability on the rule of law need clear outline so the country is accountable to the constitution and constitution to the people through Referendum. We must disinvest ourselves from worshiping corrupt survival methods and systems Zanu has created to rig elections, kill innocent citizens, appear as if they uphold rule of law when they disregard the constitution and look forward to changing it.

Change is neither a barrel of the gun child, nor is it a desire for selfish purported goals covered in vanity self-promoting based schemes. Such evil founded ambition and vengeful goals do not often last. What lives on for ever is a legacy that can be passed from generation to generation founded on social justice and transparency in governance.  Freedom to contest, win or fail without being harassed, sustain or be dropped from office, will establish trust in people authority and in the system to bring stability and clear meaning to National Interest values.  We can together, as thinkers and honest citizens who love each other and the country, transform the economy to build trusted systems on hope and reliability of citizens.  We do not need parrots, for this new initiative for Zimbabwe.  We need thinkers who are not afraid of thinking and strong national engineers who support and rely on others. We need team workers to run our government according to separation of powers principles.   Responsibly and a need for accountability are pivoted on administration with integrity. It can never be easy hence its being a work of determined men and women of vision.  Thinking based on experience, maturity and high academic should be the basis of growing a confident young generation of good governance managers. Victory is to work with people on people driven goals that invite imagination and initiatives to be the best.  Nothing can defeat a persistent group of honesty and experienced thinkers. These qualities are worked at to attain best achievement.