via The key to ending Zanu PF dictatorship Nehanda Radio Jun 04, 2014 by Wilbert Mukori
By the late 1990s “democracy” and “democratic change” were the buzz words everybody was talking about in Zimbabwe. After nearly two decades of a corrupt and oppressive de facto one-party dictatorship, the nation had finally realised that the only way to end the chronic cancers of gross mismanagement and corruption was by replacing the tyrannical autocracy with a healthy democratic rule.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai was launched in 1999 on the crest of the democratic change wave. Even in the face of the usual beating, rape and even murders by Mugabe and his thugs, the people voted for Tsvangirai and MDC in their droves on the back of the promise that he would deliver democratic change.
To be perfectly honest, ever since Tsvangirai took centre stage in our politics, his blundering incompetence was impossible to miss. But it was the failure to get even one democratic reform implemented throughout the five years in the GNU that has come to define just how breathtakingly incompetent he and his MDC co-leaders really are.
They did not have a clue what the raft of democratic reforms agreed in the GPA were about, how they were supposed to be implemented and, much less, the consequences of going ahead with the 2013 elections with no reforms implemented.
No clue
And only did Tsvangirai and company have no clue about the reforms – neither did the electorate. The people had risked life and limb for democratic change without knowing what changes they wanted.
It is not as if the concepts of democratic change are complex – they are in fact common sense. Take the need to reform the police, for example. Even the rural people were aware of how Zanu (PF) thugs had beaten, raped and murdered innocent people – yet none of the culprits was ever arrested or punished. Even my Aunt in the rural backwaters, who does not understand the niceties of democracy, understands that a non-partisan Police Force is important for a just society.
One would have expected that political leaders like Tsvangirai, Biti and Mangoma, especially the last two since they are lawyers and were MDC’s negotiators in the GPA, would understand that to have a non-partisan Police Force it was necessary to end the President’s powers to appoint and dismiss the Police Commissioner without reference to Parliament.
Parliament or a parliamentary committee should have the powers to call the Police Commissioner and hold him/her to account and replaced if founding wanting.
Impossible
SADC got Mugabe to sign the GPA and accept that a whole raft of democratic reforms, including police reform, would be implemented if the next elections were to be free and fair. It is not rocket science to see why without such reforms it would be impossible to stop Zanu (PF) rigging the elections.
MDC failed to get even one democratic reform implemented, although the party had the majority in the GNU parliament, the majority in the cabinet, the full backing of SADC had five years to do it.
There are two reasons why Tsvangirai and his MDC failed to get even one reform implemented; one, they were all side-tracked by the trappings of power. Mugabe welcomed them on the gravy train and denied them nothing; Tsvangirai got his $3 million mansion, was glob-trotting, etc. SADC leaders disappointed that none of the reforms had been implemented accused MDC leaders of “enjoying themselves and forgetting why they were in the GNU”.
Incompetent
The second reason is they are breathtakingly incompetent and naïve. With not even one reform implemented Mugabe was able to use the police, ZEC, the Judiciary, etc. to blatantly rig the elections.
The consequences of the rigged elections is that the Zanu (PF) dictatorship got back into power and the cancers of mismanagement and corruption that had crippled the economy took off after the GNU pause with a vengeance.
What has been really disheartening is that the electorate still at a loss as to what went wrong. Even with the benefit of hindsight and all the evidence of Tsvangirai and MDC blunders, they still fail to see why the failure to implement the democratic reforms was central to this nightmare. All that talk of democracy and democratic change was just empty slogans repeated without ever understanding what they meant.
While the nation still recognises the need to end the dictatorship as a necessary step in bring about change in Zimbabwe, few people realise that nothing can ever be accomplished with implementing democratic reforms.
None of these reforms will ever be implemented properly until both the politicians and the people, especially the people, really take the trouble to understand what they are. How can the people hold the leaders to account when their understanding of the subject matter is superficial, at best!
COMMENTS
“How can the people hold the leaders to account when their understanding of the subject matter is superficial, at best!” Another calls the people stupid. Those people you speak about understand the problem better than you ever will. YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND A THING. THIS IS A DICTATORSHIP BEING RUN BY A 90 YEAR OLD DICTATOR BROTHER.
I understand that Mugabe is a corrupt and ruthless dictator but I also understand that dictator or not he is still a mortal like you and me and not a god! What a mere mortal has built another mortal can take asunder! That is my point; Zimbabweans had many chances to end the Mugabe dictatorship throughout the GNU but failed to do so because of the breath-taking incompetence of Tsvangirai.
It was the “superficial, at best” understanding of what the democratic reforms were about by both Tsvangirai and the people that made them fail to get the reforms implemented and costed the nation the chance to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship.
There will be other chances in the future to end the Mugabe dictatorship but these chances too will go begging if the nation still has someone incompetent like Tsvangirai leading them! Once again your continued support of a failed leader like Tsvangirai only proves your superficial understanding of what the nation has to do to end the dictatorship and bring about meaningful democratic change.
I agree. At the beginning, I though Tsangarai was the answer. I thought he was going to follow the Christian way and turn Zimbabwe into a country proud of doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. We cannot steal other’s land and property and animals, torture and kill and expect God’s blessing. We need restoration of the rule of law, honour and dignity. Stop hate and discrimination. Tsangarai has failed us all and I don’t see a political future for him.
As long as people continue to support a failed leader like Tsvangirai and Biti the message we are sending to the rest of the world is that we are not ready for serious democratic change and so the world will just ignore us until we are ready.
Too true!
Forget the political process – it will not work. The ordinary people have to rise up and get rid of a government system that is so broken it cannot be fixed
The political process would have worked if Tsvangirai had implemented the reforms!
VaMukori, you are so very correct. But the biggest looser is the very slow-learning people who understand the politics of the stomach that Gono and Mugabe are very good at it. They get crumbs of bread thrown at them and already they sing for their meal. Also, those so-called fundis who “know” take some very far off back seats and only rise up to criticize and point fingers. Sad. Morgan Tsvangirai had such learned men behind him during all this. He was being advised by the likes of Magaisa and lot. The problem is when you are working with people who accept bribes and are filthy corrupt. I have asked this question many a time and I am yet to get meaningful answers. Since when did Biti and Mangoma start working against Morgan Tsvangirai? If these people are grilled to explain when they started conniving with Zanu PF, we would know why we never were able to mount a successful fight against evil.
Mangoma and Biti did not implement the reforms because they were busy enjoying the trappings of power that Mugabe had laid out for them the same as Tsvangirai and the rest. I think they all realised they should have implemented the reform late in 2012 or there about but it was too late.
All these stories of one faction accusing the other of being in Mugabe’s pocket is nonsense; they all had their snouts in the trough after Mugabe got what he wanted he has discarded them all like used toilet paper. Where is Ncube or Mutambara?
The most important lesson here for the nation to learn is to seat up and pay attention and really get to understand what is required to end the Zanu PF dictatorship. Only when the electorate understand this will they be able to elect leaders capable of delivering those changes.
The only reason many Zimbabweans still think Tsvangirai or Biti are good leaders is because they still do not have the foggiest idea what happened throughout the GNU years! It is broad day but they refuse to open their eyes content to live in darkness. Tingere zvedu murima sezvibvoro zviri munyena!
People get the government and oppositions they deserve we certain deserve the Zanu PF dictatorship and the breathtakingly incompetent MDC – “the party of excellence,” Chamisa would say. Over the weekend MDC was cheated again in the Chegutu council bye-election; what is so excellent in allowing someone to blatant cheat you again and again!
From the onset,the MDC was never meant to bring democracy to Zimbabwe. It was formed as a platform to reverse the land reform by the British hence its mantra ‘Mugabe must go’. Now that the Brits have realised the failure of the project, yhey have dumbed employees of the failed project. Tsvangirai a.d company are already swimming in the political dust bin.
@Maipisi. RUBBISH!
So what after rubbish? The fact remains that the fact remains that the MDC is a foreign project. You may have joined it on account of ignorance but that does not alter the fact. Perhaps wisdom might visit you, who calls the shorts in the MDC? who ordered Tsvangirai to go to Botswana in 2009.Who ordered Tsvangirai to participate in the July 2013 election . Wakeup .
“Land reforms” were Mugabes revenge for losing the referendum, he was party to a very expensive war in the Congo and a food subsidisation program which we are now paying for! Land Reform was his gimmick, and it is a dirty gimmick in the sense that land was handed to cronies.
Mugabe akadyiwa muna 2008 and only to be arm twisted by Chiwenga to stay put. Change is definitely coming. Mukai aMaipisa.
I thought you are schooled to be able to differentiate between day and night,shame on you. Conditions for the 2008 presidential elections were that for one to be declared winner, one must have secured 50 %+of the presidential vote. Tsvangirai got 47% of the vote which was below the threshold needed hence a runoff was undertaken.
akambokutengera Computer ndiani ko iyeye. Ende wakarara wenawe. nharo dzako hadziina njere. unotokundwa ne chembere dziri pandari kumusha. Hauna brains. unofungirwa na Mudede, Rita na va Mugabe. Vam Mugabe nhasi vakati Tony Blair ari right neweweo wotodaro nokuti haugone kufunga wega.
The run off was ZanuPF,s “WAY OUT” of conceding, after a fair election ZanuPf reverted to its former violent ways, making it impossible to hold a fair runoff. In a slip of the mind (yes mind) it was not a slip of the tongue, but part of the inevitable dementia of someone in their 90’s Mugabe said Tsvangirai got 73%. The exact results of the election had never been made public by ZanuPF and remained secret till RGM inadvertently blurted it out.
hauzive zvauri kutaura MAIPISI. Chii chakatanga MDC kana land reform. How can you say MDC was formed to reverse gains of land reform when in fact MDC was formed before land reform. Land reform was done to counter MDC and not MDC to counter land reform. SIMPLE. Hazvide Professors kuziva izvi. Its simple
Zimbabweans have been craving for a meaningful say in the governance of the country. The only mistake the nation made was to pick someone as corrupt and in-competent as Tsvangirai to champion the reforms; Mugabe bamboozled the idiot with easy!
It is all Mugabe rhetorical nonsense that by rigging last year’s elections he was pun-ishing the British. “The British did not know what hit them!” the tyrant claimed!
The need to end the Zanu PF dictatorship is as pressing today as ever! This time Mugabe will not have another corrupt and incompetent idiot to deal with, that is one thing the tyrant can be sure of!
@Maipisi
Zimbabweans have been craving for freedom, justice and basic human rights including a meaningful say in the governance of the country and a fair share of its wealth and riches. They definitely saw MDC as the party that would bring about those democratic changes. The only mistake the nation made was to pick someone as corrupt and incompetent as Tsvangirai to champion the reforms; Mugabe bamboozled the idiot repeatedly with the greatest of easy!
MDC was not a Western “project” but a people of Zimbabwe project. You should not believe any of Mugabe rhetorical nonsense, after rigging last year’s elections the tyrant was wittering about punishing the British. “The British did not know what hit them!” the tyrant claimed! He had just denied millions of ordinary Zimbabweans the right to a meaningful vote; how does that translate to punishing the British?
The need to end the Zanu PF dictatorship is as pressing today as ever! This time Mugabe will not have another corrupt and incompetent idiot to deal with; that is one thing the tyrant can be sure of!
Wilbert, you say “Even with the benefit of hindsight and all the evidence of Tsvangirai and MDC blunders, they still fail to see why the failure to implement the democratic reforms was central to this nightmare. “
I do think they do see it but will not admit it for overriding fear that they may be held accountable. If they were accountable and had integrity, they would have resigned by now or been shoved aside.
Tsvangirai now thinks he is more important than the party. He is now farming the party for a living and it is time people realised this.
He is no longer fit to lead the democratic struggle and the responsibility for his failure is ours because collectively we stuck with his brand and allowed him to to drive the people’s struggle into the ditch.
I now have to wonder what kind of a hold ZanuPF has over Tsvangirai. I believe they have snared him into compliance and for that alone he should be set adrift by the people and left alone to wallow in the mansion which seems to have been bequeathed to him by zanupf.
As for Biti and Mangoma, whilst it is certainly a question of too little, too late, I have to commend them for having the courage to put their bodies on the line and finally come out and tell Tsvangirai truth and that it is time to go.
The violent events orchestrated against Mangoma illustrates how zanufied MDC-T has become. It proves what other people (and civic groups) have said.
The call for a new people driven narrative with full accountability by a new leadership cannot come soon enough.
It is also time for the diaspora to step up and join in, in a more robust and forthright manner. I say this in the knowledge that Tsvangirai’s MDC cast the diaspora adrift some time ago and never at any stage during the GNU stood up for their interests. On this basis alone, the diaspora must reject those who do not support their interests and support those who do.
Nzou, I agree with you 100% on everything except three things:
1) the bit about any of the MDC leaders be it Tsvangirai or renewal faction being in Zanu PF’s pocket. Why would Mugabe waste money paying them now that the tyrant got what he wanted. MDC is now is self-distracting mode as one blames the other for being corrupt although they all had their snouts in the trough!
2) Biti and Mangoma are just as corrupt and incompetent as Tsvangirai and the rest; they have only come out now becomes after the July 2013 elections Mugabe throw them off the gravy train. They are talking of returning to the MDC founding values because they smart enough to know that is their ticket back on the gravy train.
3) The renewal team is making a mountain out of mole hill of Mangoma’s beating. Mugabe has murdered over 30 000 innocent – forgot the millions the tyrant had beaten and raped – and yet Biti overlooked all that in singing the tyrant’s praise as “unflappable father of the nation”! Tsvangirai has Mangoma roughed up and Biti call him a “fascist!” If Biti thought anyone would be fooled and not see the glaring disparity in this comparison then he is the one who is really naive!
Even if the MDC leaderships had pushed hard, it is most unlikely that ZANU PF would have conceded any meaningful reforms. But at least this might have forced an impasse and crisis for, or collapse of the GNU – this would have been a good thing because the key error was signing onto the GNU prematurely, before they had wrestled for control of the key ministries, as well as leadership of government (how does the winner become PM and the loser President??).
The economy was in free fall. All they had to do was to wait a few more months, probably 6 at the most. Mbeki probably realized this, hence his pressure on the MDC. They also had nothing to lose by waiting to see what a Zuma administration (of which many were hopeful for a better balance) would bring. As in everything else in life, timing can be everything. They were herded into a poor decision in 2008 (and then again in 2013).
They may have won temporary economic relief for the nation in 2008 but in the longer term, all they achieved was to prolong the struggle for democracy. What we are seeing now are the (predictable) consequences of poor decision making in 2008.
They were warned in 2008. They ignored. They were warned in 2013. They ignored. They have been warned on the need for new leadership in 2014. Again they are ignoring. At least they are consistent in their incompetence.
But many people including most analysts here had of the opinion that Tsvangirayi must sign, he refused but was pressured by us the same people who are now saying he should have refused. people of Zimbabwe have been described as educated idiots and I think it is a very correct term, educated idiots, good at criticising and bad at action. Just like Zanupf 100 economic blueprints and zero practice.
Exactly…the fault was with the GPA itself…the MDC should never have signed a document which gave them absolutely no power to implement the reforms it piously mentioned but which never had a chance.
That true, Tsvangirai and his MDC friends have been very “consistent in their incompetence” what worries me is so are the electorate; they have been consistent in election incompetent leaders!
Right on Rwendo!
MDC and Morgan Tsvangirayi tried their best to have reforms done but in a military setup like Zimbabwe you will never achieve that even Wilbert himself has no clue how Tsvangirayi culd have forced the reforms to take place. We all silently thought the rigging machine of Zanupf had reached its limit so hoped the people will this time win but alas we did not know that a cornered tiger is very dangerous. Nobody in this country has a clue on how to dismantle this pseudo democractic country which is heavily militarised to the extend that mobs rule and the law is trashed and you seem to think Tsvangirayi alone without us could have changed that.
@ Maita
I do know how the reforms would have been implemented and so too do you, if you paid attention and applied yourself!
Only Mugabe has the power to appoint and dismiss the Police Commissioner, for example; that is wrong and unacceptable in a healthy democracy because the Police beholden to him. MDC controlled parliament should have passed a reform giving parliament the power to assess the suitability of proposed Police Commissioner and to reject the candidate if he or she is found wanting and power to have them removed in future if parliament so decide. This is what happens in all democracies; it is not rocket science!
@Wibert Mukori
While most of what you are saying is true, you have just left out one main issue that was central to implementing those reforms; this is “UNITY OF PURPOSE” in the opposition ranks.
The main problem with the MDC-T – it has always been its arrogance of numbers. I can tell you now, under the current political environment where gukurahundi ZANU PF dominates in all spheres of Zim life – it does not matter how popular a leader or a party or both are; they will simply not win elections, if they operate as some lone ranger, PERIOD!
The opposition parties in the GNU spent a lot of time and energy trying to outdo each other, instead of focusing on the main objectives of why they were in the GNU government in the first place.
As long as you are divided gukurahundi Mugabe will always use divide and rule tactics to keep you at each other’s throats, so that you lose focus – and the gukurahundi is quite adapt at this.
Why do you think the revival of ZISCO failed under Welshman Ncube? It is simple; Tswangirayi and his party did nothing to back him to ensure its success. This was an effort at sabotaging Welshman so as to ensure he does not grow in stature and become popular.
IT was the same case with the funds that were meant to revive industries in Bulawayo – nothing came of it and yet the Finance Ministry was under the MDC-T, headed by Tendayi Biti.
And coming to the SADC resolution to recognise Ncube as a Principal and not Mutambara, what happened?
Instead of Tswangirayi as the main principal in opposition taking the SADC resolution seriously, given that it would be suicidal to defy them, he simply stood aside and pretended this had nothing to do with him; thus continued with the regular meetings with Mugabe and Mutambara as if nothing had happened.
Tsvangirayi could have impressed SADC by adopting the same stance that Joshua Nkomo adopted regarding his opponent Mugabe during the struggle, when he told Ian Smith; “I am not coming back without Robert Mugabe” – after Ian Smith tried the divide and rule tactic on him during their secret meetings/negotiations.
Similarly, Tsvangirayi could have told Mugabe, “No meetings without Ncube and no meetings with Mutambara. As a party, the MDC-T respects SADC and its resolutions” – the whole GNU could have collapsed and maybe something positive would have come out of this, unlike what we have now – a total disaster!
This is why SADC was left with no option but to recognise ZANU PF’s victory last year.
You cant, after ignoring a SADC resolution; run back to them once again, now that you are in trouble. They will simply tell you to go to hell.
The opposition in the GNU needed to speak with one voice and take adopt similar oppositions on all matters in dealing with the gukurahundi. There was no collaboration and no coordination in opposition ranks and Mugabe took advantage of this to ensure the stayed divided and never worked with each other.
In the process, they spent all the time fighting instead of demanding the implementation of reforms.
Many MDC-T supporters adopted the same stance; urging Tsvangirayi on in his efforts to isolate Welshman at the expense of progress in achieving the necessary reforms and today they are crying; just like they are now crying about Mugabe after doing his dirty work in the 1980s in helping him destroy Joshua Nkomo – when will people ever learn?
It was a wasted five years of no progress and wasted state resources. Typical Zimbabwe – too much tribalism; too much “US” and “THEM” attitudes!!!!
@ Straight shooter
There are only two reasons why MDC leaders did not get even one reform implemented:
1) they all had their snouts in the trough to think of anything else. You say they were not united, my friend they had “UNITY OF PURPOSE” right there when it came to enjoying the trappings of power. Mugabe saw to it that they were well looked after especially Tsvangirai; he got the mansion and that he was glob-trotting, hobnobbing with world leaders, frolicking in Cruise Ship pools with women of ill repute; anything to make them forgot about the democratic reforms! It worked; not even one reform was implemented after five years in the GNU! NOT ONE!
2) MDC leaders were breathtakingly incompetent because only real stupid men and women would have failed to see that reforms were the key to bringing lasting change in Zimbabwe and that their only days on the gravy train were totally dependent of these reforms. To crown it all, SADC and others warned them of the dangers of going into the elections without the reforms. But Tsvangirai, Biti, Mangoma, Ncube, etc. being first class nincompoops that they are; they ignored the warnings!
Wilbert
I am talking about UNITY OF PURPOSE in achieving the very outcomes the GPA was meant to achieve in the first place, that is democratic reforms leading to democratic elections – not the eating or the gravy train!
You can not spend time fighting each other and expect to out-Mugabe Mugabe – never. They were supposed to have shelved their differences for the greater good.
Look what is happening now – the same disease of “I command the crowds” is still affecting Tswangirayi. Instead of learning from the mistakes of the past – we all know he is the most popular among the opposition.
Why then doesnt he become man enough to seek unity with the smaller parties in private rather than calling for this unity at rallies without even approaching any one of them.
Its like a take it or live type of approach; obviously he is not being serious here – it will never work!
@ Straight shooter
And what I am telling is that MDC failed to get even one reform implemented not because they were fighting amongst each other but because they got distracted by the trappings of office and that they are incompetent.
All this talk of a grand coalition of the opposition parties is a red herring. If you have in-dividuals like Biti, Makoni, Ncube, Dabengwa, etc. who have already proven to be corrupt and incompetent getting them to unit will achieve nothing! This is just another example of how Zimbabweans end up a dead end because of their failure to grasp the big issues. Unity has become more important than quality.
Unity with no quality is nothing more than having a gallon of milk contaminated with sewage instead of a glass of the same contaminated milk. I would rather have half a glass of wholesome milk than a tanker of contaminated milk!
Did you see the hundreds of thousands of MDC supporters at the MDC rallies just before the elections. Come election day nearly one million of them failed to vote because Mugabe had Nikuv deliberately move their names to another polling station they least expected. If the MDC leaders had insisted on the voters roll being produce on time, which they should have done, then their supporters would have voted. What good is having the numbers unless you can make them count?
“If the MDC leaders had insisted on the voters roll being produce on time, which they should have done, then their supporters would have voted. What good is having the numbers unless you can make them count?”
How would they insist on the voters roll when they were divided?
For instance, MDC-T was over-confident of winning whatever the circumstances, given the numbers at their rallies, to the extent that they felt insisting on such things was not necessary.
On the other hand, the MDC was not so confident given the unfinished business, hence it kept insisting on delayed elections, as opposed to the july date.
Now,because the more powerful MDC-T was not that bothered; the smaller MDC’s insistence was rendered irrelevant.
This is why I am saying, the lack of unity was one of the reasons (mark my words, one of the reasons, as opposed to the only reason) the whole GPA thing failed.
As for the trappings of power; the gravy train etc, I do agree with you on that one; but I insist, the lack of unity was one of the reasons – we can agree to differ!!
Before the 2005 split MDC was as united as they had ever been; what did they achieve? Nothing!
If people cannot even agree what is in their own common interest, you do not attribute that failure to lack of unity but to being incompetent!
Wilbert
But are you now saying they were also on the gravy train before the 2005 split; which caused them to fail?
In my view they indeed achieved a lot then. Global attention on the Zim problem would not have been achieved without the fforts of the united MDC. The imposition of targeted sanctions was also the result of the efforts of the MDC.
SADC’s direct involvement was a result of the efforts of the united MDC. You must remember gukurahundi Mugabe had sworn that he would never sit and negotiate with puppets and sell outs.
Obasanjo had tried several times to get him around the table with the MDC and this too had failed. He would not even counternance the idea of a new constitution. All this changed because of the united MDC.
If you dont see this as achievements; then I dont know what you regard as achievements in your book.
Its just that these guys dropped the ball after the split; especially on getting into government. This is where everything went wrong!!
There has always been too much deadwood in MDC united or not. I think Zimbabweans pay too much attention to quantity and too little attention to quality which is even more important.
TYPO CORRECTIONS:
“……..The opposition in the GNU needed to speak with one voice and take adopt similar oppositions (POSITIONS) on all matters in dealing with the gukurahundi. There was no collaboration and no coordination in opposition ranks and Mugabe took advantage of this to ensure the stayed divided and never worked with each other….”
Ma analysts manyanya….if Mugabe was to be removed by analysis he would have gone long back. I remember 2002 post elections “Tsvangirai should have done this and that …..he is useless, he is daft….” Surprisingly it is the same analysts who jump on the band wagon of victory in 2008 and when there is no victory they blame.
The simple truth is Mugabe is old fox who will never relinquish power through democratic means…Ask Josh, Tekere Dumbutshena They will never allow free democratic space that some of us now enjoy out here. They came to power through a UN supervised election but they will not accept the same yardstick.
In the meantime Mukori form a party and implement your brilliant ideas.
For the average Zimbabwean forget things will improve soon as long as that generation is in power… move on with your life and relocate elsewhere if possible.
@ Tsuro
“The simple truth is Mugabe is old fox who will never relinquish power through democratic means…” you say.
The nation has just gone through five years of the GNU in which the MDC was given a raft of democratic reforms to implement and they did not. If Tsvangirai, Biti and the rest believed these would achieve nothing then why did they not say so instead of waste the nation, SADC and everyone’s time and money?
As for you have not even understood what the reforms were about but are quick to judge that they would have failed to end the Zanu PF dictatorship!
I can form my own party and be one out of the 28 parties that contested 2013 elections. How would the electorate distinguish the good from the bad and the bad from the ugly when, as I have already said, they have only a superficial understanding of the issues at best? Think Tsuro, THINK!
Tsuro, I do not think its wise for us to fold our hands and pretend all is ok. These debates are crucial in mapping out the type of leadership and the Zimbabwe we want.
I am glad you are reading these postings.
I still believe we have a lot of Zimbos capable of leading us out of this Zanu death trap. There are people out there with more recognisable brands internationally than Tsvangirai. We just need to be more organised . The grand coalition is a grand idea if all left their egos at home. It would be brilliant if we day an interim government for 5 years and then fully fledged elections on a levelled playing field.
The economy is Zanu’s number one enemy ,unless The Mdc bails them out again.
@ Roving Ambassador
Forget the grand coalition and these MDC factions; all the individuals in these outfit are aspiring for is to get back on the gravy train by hook or by crook. They have all accepted that Zanu PF will rule and all they are after is the few seats on the gravy train Zanu PF will allow them to hold. I think we should and must aim higher than this, much, much higher.
We must settle for nothing short of a Zimbabwe were every Zimbabwean has all their democratic rights and freedoms restore and guaranteed. We must have all the democratic reforms implemented and then hold Zimbabwe’s long denied truly free, fair and credible elections. Only a democratic government will have a real chance of starting the difficult task of rebuilding the nation’s ruined economy and restore the people’s confidence and self-respect!
I agree w yo analysis in Straight Shooters but I think as a way forward there is need to engage Tsvangirai to become a patron or ceremonial president of a grand coalition because of his appeal to e povo. For all his weakness, and they’re many, he remains e pple’s “hope” yet its false. He still has a big role to play in dismantling e status quo which he is fully to blame for prolonging due to his miscalculated moves to sign e flawed GPA, joining GNU when his MPs, CSO leaders and his supporters were hunted and harassed by e state security. Why he continued when Mugabe appointed more ministers that he was allowed, when Bennett was arrested on trumped up charges, Mugabe had renewed Gono and Tomana’s tenure without consulting him, when Mugabe vetoed his decision to appoint Bennett as deputy Agric minister all defies logic. Mugabe was actually warning him what to expect. Why dd he ditch his former allies like ZCTU, NCA etc?
The truth is nomatter what we may say bt 4 now he is still popular and must find a way to work w him. We myt have sound ideas bt without ppl behind us w can’t implement them so whether we lyk it or not we must develop a new system to work w him
@ Abbu
Tsvangirai’s popularity is no different from Mugabe’s popularity in that they are both founded on myth and ignorance. Tsvangirai never deliver any democratic change no more than Mugabe deliver freedom and liberty but both have relied on keeping the people ignorant of the truth whilst keeping up the myth that they did just that!
Before independence everyone had a clear idea what blacks were fighting for: to end the exploitation by whites which gave the whites the lion’s share of the country’s riches and to end the discrimination of blacks which left them third class citizens in the land of their forefathers. We wanted justice, freedom and human rights and a life with dignity.
Long before the nation attained her independence even the simple people in the rural area were painfully aware that whilst the nation was engaged in a fight to the death to end white colonial domination it was only to have the whites replaced by new masters. Professor Jonathan Moyo has said a lot of hogwash nonsense as Mugabe’s chief of prop-aganda but one of the few home-truths he said was that the 1980 elections were not about electing a new government and, for the blacks, casting a free vote for the first time as one would expect. It was instead about ending the civil war. The people were under no illusion that if Zanu PF and PF Zapu did not “win” the civil war would continue; there was no free vote in that!
As soon as Mugabe got into power he worked tireless to undermine the country’s democratic institutions and the people’s basic freedoms and rights to consolidate his strangle hold on power. If anyone doubted Mugabe and Zanu PF’s willingness to ride roughshod of the people’s freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful vote and even the right to life for the sake of power then the Gukurahundi murders wiped out all the doubt.
For decades Mugabe and his propaganda gurus have fed the nation on a steady diet of gruel designed to make them forget about a just share of the nation’s wealth – they are poorer now than before independence- and forget about freedom and justice – they never enjoyed any of these. They have been brainwashed to believe independence was about getting the white man out of power and they are to celebrate that and nothing else matters.
What tyrants like Mugabe forget is that even the simple people in the ru-ral backwaters know deep inside that they have been short changed. They may not be able to articulate in a coherent narrative but still they know!
There were two areas in which Tsvangirai and his MDC friends on the one hand and Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs on the other agreed and cooperated 100%; in allocating themselves generous salaries and allowances and in keeping the ordinary people ignorant of what they, the ruling elite were up to.
When Mugabe rigged the elections last year, many Zimbabweans were left scratching their heads; they knew something went wrong although they could not say what. Scratching their heads is a good sign, it should there are think and therefore receptive to hear what went wrong.
Explain to them that Tsvangirai had lied to them that the Copac constitu-tion they are voted for in March 2013 would deliver free, fair and credible elections. That is easy for them to follow because they all remember MDC leaders assuring them of that before the referendum.
Explain to the people also how Tsvangirai had got distracted by the trap-ping of power and ended up betraying them just as Mugabe has done by failing to implement even one reform; they will understand that too, they are not stupid. They have all heard of Tsvangirai’s $4 million mansion, his glob-trotting and frolicking with women of ill repute. Do you really think they would still want him even as “honorary president”? No chance!
Tsvangirai’s popularity is based on ignorance and myth; shine the light of knowledge and truth, enlighten the people; and you perceived popularity will disappear like the July morning mist under the African sun.
But the people never won the guerilla war. Nobody won the war. There were negotiations, and that is not winning a war.
You cannot take ten years with ten parliamentary seats guaranteed for a white minority if you have won a war. That doesnt happen anywhere in the world, even in hell!!
Wilbert
Gives the “HOW”? now that you have told us the “WHAT”!!
How of what?
Wilbert
The “HOW”, regarding your response to Roving Ambassador above; as repeated below:
Wilbert says, to Roving:
“We must settle for nothing short of a Zimbabwe were every Zimbabwean has all their democratic rights and freedoms restore and guaranteed. We must have all the democratic reforms implemented and then hold Zimbabwe’s long denied truly free, fair and credible elections. Only a democratic government will have a real chance of starting the difficult task of rebuilding the nation’s ruined economy and restore the people’s confidence and self-respect”
Since the July 2013 rigged elections Mugabe has since realised that he cannot rig economic recovery too. There is our chance to force him to step down so an interim Administration can be appointed to implement the reforms.
It is not in the DNA of tyrants to give up power but we stand firm and refuse to accept any of the wishy-washy nonsensical solutions coming from the incompetent MDC leaders Mugabe will have no choice but step down.
Wilbert Mukori I might not agree with all you say but I have to admire your ability to debate without losing your cool. That is a sign of maturity. Hats off for that.
Wilbert, I also agree with you. But you have to develop the courage to communicate and articulate your brilliant plan/ideas to the very people you agree are not that stupid. The best place to doing that is to attend Tsvangirai’s rallies and present your case to these people. I do not think that if you start by respecting the contributions made by those who have been fighting evil, you would end up being man-handled like what happened to Mangoma. I am sure people, the very ones you will have explained to, will protect you from marrounding ignorant but militant youths who have been on the receiving end of Zanu PF evil for so long. I think you need a method to get to the people. For starters, you would need to appreciate the very little that those in opposition have tried doing. I also think that Tsvangirayi is looking for genuine fighters who would not fall victim of Mugabe’s crumbs and tricks. I do not think he does not know that he must go. I do think that there are far too many corrupt people like him that surround him. Enter the untainted Wilbert Mukori!
@ Isu zvedu
The fact that people would acknowledge that Tsvangirai has failed but still hang on to him like a child hanging on to its mother’s apron really worries me! It shows that we lack the confidence in chart out a clear road map for the future and conviction to carry it out. We are like the Children of Israel pleased to see the end of decades of slavery but scarred stiff of what lies ahead, so scarred that for the last 34 years we have been camping outside the gates of Egypt!
Kudos to Mukori for a cool head and a mind that often cuts to the heart of things. Even if you do not agree with his pieces, they are always thought provoking.
But to end where his title began, how to release the grip on power by post-liberation war movements, be it ZANU, MPLA in Angola or FRELIMO in Mozambique.
This is the crux of the matter. How, really? Possibly it will take one of three scenarios: violent force; or a major split within the ruling parties themselves; or political evolution (as liberation war leaders all die out) over a very long time.
@ Rwendo
“How to release the grip on power by post-liberation war movements, be it ZANU, MPLA in Angola or FRELIMO in Mozambique?” I agree that is an important question, which I will try to answer.
I think the post-liberation war movements’ grip on power is actually a myth no more real than the owl’s claim that the tufts of feathers on its head are horns! What has been lamentably lacking is the smart blackbird, nengure, in the child’s book, to expose the lie. What has been lacking is the narrative to counter tyrants like Mugabe’s propaganda claims that he and his thugs are heroes and expose them as the ruthless and greed mercenaries that they are.
Of course it nonsense that Mugabe liberated Zimbabwe when all he and Zanu PF did is remove the white regime only to replace it with a corrupt and even more oppressive regime of their own. Mugabe and Zanu PF has systematically denied the people the fair share in the nation’s wealth, the freedoms and human rights and dignities; the very things the people had risked their own life and limb during the civil war for! How can anyone then claim to be their liberator and use that to justify their being the oppressor!
Zimbabwe had its best chances yet to end Mugabe’s iron grip on power if MDC had implemented the democratic reforms. The reforms were designed to dis-mantle the Zanu PF dictatorship brick by brick and use the bricks to build democratic institutions. MDC leaders and the people themselves failed to see the chances and they went begging because, as I said above, they all had a “superficial understanding of the reforms, at best”.
There are countries like Malawi and Zambia that did not have a torturous liberation war before attaining their independence and yet they too have had tyrants and de facto one-party dictatorships and chaos has reigned supreme. We need an electorate that is smart enough to at least appreciate some of the key issues of the day and not to be so shallow they are easily blown hither and thither by empty rhetoric and meaningless slogans. An electorate that cannot distinguish the good from the bad, the bad from the ugly is prone to elect the worse of the lot!
There are going to be many chances to end this Zanu PF dictatorship. As a matter of fact, the regime has dug its own grave and cannot get out as regards the economy; after decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruptions the Zimbabwe economy is the economy is in melt-down and the regime is at sixes and sevens as what to do. We can force the regime to change but again only if we have competent people who can force Mugabe to do so.
No we had many, many chance in the past and will, no doubt many more chances in the future to establish good government; what has stopped us doing so is us, the people’s, failure to understand what is in our own best interests. How can being led by an incompetent individual like Tsvangirai be in our own best interests, and yet some people still want him as leader even after all his blundering failures.
The whole world is keen to see Zimbabwe free and with a stable and competent government and will help us attain that goal but first we must show the world that we are serious about change. Electing failed leader like Tsvangirai is sending a clear message to the world that we are not yet serious about wanting change!
I can agree with you on a whole lot but to adjudge Tsvangirai’s failures as if he ever had power-real power is a mistake. You can blame him on being naive,on trusting Mugabe and on his hope that it was time for real change when in fact it was still time for more evil to be churned at the desperate and tired population. Tsvangirai would have been judged as headstrong, and the media converged on him as always to pressure him to agree on many negotiated issues. Yet that media, including you Mukori, would disappear when things backfired. I remember how much MT was pressured for this GNU, after he proposed a gvt in exile after his beatings. I remember how much he was revered as a statesman for accepting the premiership responsibility at a time people competed with animals to eat hacha. I remember how much he agreed to put the past evil of Zanu PF murderous crimes offering some new beginning and promising hope. Indeed the 5 years of GNU life saw a turnaround of fortunes. What MT failed to realise was that it was so shortlived and yes they all got drunk with Mugabe’s offerings and they all thought living in mansions and driving mercs was the way the government was run. For that reason I would say yes,their time is up. They read wrongly how Mugabe would charge back.
You offer solutions but I say they are idealistic. The economy which is said to have gone to the dogs is quite alive and thriving-if not booming. So,to think that Zanu PF will go because of economic meltdown, is like wishing Palestine was Israel. Zimbabwe is rich. Its economy is simply mismanaged by a terrible few who presently can afford million dollar gifts to a wedding while the dear leader travels to and from Singapore as if he is commuting from Mbare to Chitungwiza. In fact its even harder for a poor man like me to kombi my way from Mbare to Makoni while it is a mere command for the dear leader to fly airzim wherever he wants including trips to Rome.
Mukori, you must develop courage to confront evil. Your problem is wishing there was a party strong enough to fight evil. You do not need a party. In fact, revolutionaries are not party affiliated. The moment you develop one, you arm Zanu PF to know their target and before long we would read about you in some accident. MT you rubbish now as idiotic used to be a very happily married man whose wife was killed is an accident we all know was the works of evil. But guess who cried “father”?
All I am saying is that you can easily go home at face these people and tell them in their faces how stupid and corrupt they are. You can organize press conferences and say your mind. You can arrange for that and even invite CNN for publicity. Meanwhile you will be assured that I will be behind you all the time, offering as much protection as I can, because I know you speak the truth.
For the record Tsvangirai was advised not to accept the GPA because it was one sided. I remember US Ambassador James Mcghee comparing the agreement to Swizz cheese “with holes big enough to drive a truck”; but as usual Tsvangirai did not listen. I never supported the GPA for the same reason, you can see my blog entries dating back on zimbabwelight.blogspot.co.uk.
But even with all the limitation of the GPA, Tsvangirai could have achieved a lot. There was enough space for MDC to have implemented the democratic reforms. The only reasons they failed were 1) corrupt and 2) breathtakingly incompetent.
The Zimbabwe economy is in meltdown; there is no running water, wages are not being paid, etc. This cannot go on for much longer. Mugabe is ruthless enough to drag the nation into the abyss; we must not let him!
Mukori: the fact that unlike in Malawi, the then Zaire or Zambia etc., the post liberation war governments of Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have hung on, suggests to me that there is no myth here. In addition, it is not merely because of their narrative of “the liberators” that they have managed this. I would suggest at least three factors that make them different.
1. The one-party-state cultures that they imposed (or for us, tried to impose) in their hey-days of Marxist-Socialism meant that they did away with the notion of a non-partisan civil services for variable periods of time, in each country. Under their brands of Socialism, government structures were meant to be ideological and were politicized in a manner different to say Malawi under Banda or Zambia under Kaunda, before their multiparty democracies took root (but a little similar in Tanzania – which has incidentally also hung on).
2. The absorption of the guerrilla armies and particularly their leadership into government forces allowed for this dissolution of boundaries between state and party to be cemented in the police, armed services, and both armed and civil intelligence services, again in a unique manner. This (as we have seen in Zimbabwe is key). 2b. The armies that carried out coups in West Africa when corrupt leaders refused to go, were not tied to political parties at the umbilical cord.
3. Because of the bonds, sacrifices and experiences of war, these movements evolved a DNA which is more hardy and intransigent to challenges or change than that of the nationalistic movements of other African countries. As Chihuri warned us, they will not be removed by a simple “X” (as has happened in other countries). That is why I also doubt that Tsvangirai could have managed to carry through reforms without precipitating a major confrontation or crisis.
So if/when we remove ZANU PF, it would be a first of sorts on the continent. The only other similar country that has managed to remove the government of the day was Guinea Bissau which proceeded via a civil war, following an army uprising.
@ Rwendo
All the points you have mentions are part of the Zanu PF myth. What you are failing to accept here is that if MDC had implemented the reforms Mugabe and Zanu PF would be history. Of course the very fact that you do not believe that the Mugabe and Zanu PF dictatorship could have been dismantled explains why you fail to see the seriousness of MDC’s failure in this. How can you blame MDC for something which deep down you never believed it could be done!
Your understanding of democratic change was and still is to this day so superficial it is just another empty slogan! We can talk and debate this issue until the cows come home but as long as the electorate’s understanding of issues of the day remain superficial, at best, this nation is never going to get out of this hell-hole it now finds itself stuck in! Never ever!
I meant: So if/when we remove ZANU PF peacefully, it would be a first of sorts on the continent.
Rwendo, I wish I also had a blog – I’d be pointing you to it and say, see, I said this a long time ago! At least I feel good we agree on the reality that these muppets can only be removed violently. And contrary to soliciting for arms from the west or to fight this regime, simple uprisings can render this regime into defeat. This is why in another thread against Biti, I said that party politics has failed and will never win against an armed military government. Lets rid ourselves of these parties and confront this evil regime with tangible things it is failing on. Here are examples which even a staunch zanoid would agree to demand from this corrupt government:
1. Water – clean water from running tapes and proper refuse collection.
2. Electricity – guaranteed electricity in urban and rural hospitals and clinics
3. Efficient transport system and road networks free from potholes and free from a bribing police force.
4. An “extra-lesson” free education system that pays teachers well.
5. A professional police force that does not kill or maim the very people it claims to protect.
6. An environment where people are free, government is held accountable, corrupt individuals jailed and the judiciary that is free from party affiliation.
There are lots of simple but common day-to-day issues that affect everyone whether black or white, zanoid or not. These are the things we should demand. Leave Tsvangirai and Biti idiots to fight their political battles while we the people must rise up and demand a government that does not kills us slowly and sometimes quickly as is happening.
Isu Zvedu: Violence in one form or the other would be the most likely to succeed but I did suggest two other possible future scenarios for ZANU PF’s demise; a precipitous, factional disintegration, and ‘death-by-dilution’ – from a very slow (as in 1-2 decades) dilution of influence in vital state structures, as key individuals and their lieutenants succumb to old age and death.
Your suggestion remains viable. One of the consequences of the MDCs being outwitted and incapacitated are that this has begun to put people’s grievances face to face with the regime, without the MDC buffer of ‘hoping to vote ZANU out’ in between (conducive for the violent confrontation scenario).
However, another consequence is that it has also allowed ZANU PF to partially ignore a threat they now see as neutralized and refocus on in-fighting in full (conducive for the disintegration scenario above).
@ Rwendo and Isu Zvedu
I agree that a violent end is a real possibility particularly since the people themselves have a great knack for shooting themselves in the leg first whenever a chance to end the crisis in a peaceful way present itself and Mugabe is not one to give up power without being pressured to do so!
The GNU did present the nation with a chance to end the Mugabe dictatorship but few saw it as such and many still fail to see it. The economic meltdown is presenting the nation with yet another chance but, once again, very few people see this. MDC is too busy fighting over a soiled name and the people are cheering one side or the other as if the two are ever going to make any difference.
Meanwhile Mugabe is dragging the nation over the edge of the abyss where there wailing and gnashing of teeth – those with no teeth, a half set will be provided! This will finally spur Zimbabweans to do something to end their suffering and anguish; desperate people do desperate things and so they are more likely to do something that will make their situation even worse, not better!