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http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
WITH only five days to go before Zimbabwe’s watershed general
elections,
public opinion surveys and party campaigns show that President
Robert Mugabe
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are going head-to-head as
they enter
the homestretch in a race which is a dead heat.
Faith
Zaba
Crowds thronging Zanu PF and MDC-T rallies against a backdrop of
recent
surveys by Freedom House and Afrobarometer show that next week’s
elections
would be a close call between the two parties.
Judging by
rallies held so far, Zanu PF still maintains a stranglehold on
the three
Mashonaland provinces, while MDC-T controls most towns and cities
like
Harare and Bulawayo, and provinces like Manicaland and
Matabeleland.
According to an analysis of the voting trends in the March
2008 polls by
Zimbabwe Independent, indications are that the voting patterns
are not going
to dramatically shift.
For the first time since
Independence in 1980, Zanu PF lost presidential
elections and its parliament
majority to the MDC-T in March 2008.
Tsvangirai won the presidential poll
with 1 195 562 votes against Mugabe’s 1
079 730 votes — a huge gap of 115
832 votes.
Mugabe won in Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland
Central,
Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland South, while Tsvangirai got
Harare,
Bulawayo, Manicaland and Matabeleland North provinces.
Mugabe
went on to win the discredited June presidential run-off poll — one
of the
most violent poll in Zimbabwe’s history — in which he contested alone
after
Tsvangirai pulled out citing political violence and intimidation
against his
supporters.
Although Zanu PF lost its parliamentary majority, it won the
popular vote in
parliamentary elections with 1 111 625 voting for the party
compared to 1
038 617 for MDC-T in an election which Mugabe faced bhora
musango (internal
electoral sabotage) from disgruntled party
members.
MDC-T won 100 seats, Zanu PF won 99, MDC 10 and one went to an
independent.
The former liberation movement now faces the fight of its
life against MDC-T
on July 31.
Based on the election results gaps of
1 500 votes or less, the Independent
found that this could be one of the
most tightly contested elections in
Zimbabwe’s history.
Although
Mugabe’s star rallies have attracted huge crowds, he is unlikely to
dislodge
Tsvangirai’s dominance in Harare, Manicaland and most of the
Matabeleland
provinces.
In Harare, MDC-T won 25 of the 26 parliamentary seats while
Zanu PF secured
only one seat. Tsvangirai received 49 657 votes and Mugabe
11 118 in the
presidential polls.
Using the 1 500 vote difference
between the winning and losing candidate in
the 2008 elections, Epworth and
Mbare can go either way.
Zanu PF lost by 1 462 votes in Epworth and 1 399 in
Mbare.
This trend is likely to continue in this election but both parties
face
problems of double candidates in at least 34 parliamentary
constituencies.
There are 28 MDC-T candidates who rejected the party’s
directive to withdraw
and will contest as independents in Bulawayo (5),
Matabelelend North (4),
Manicaland (4), Matabeleland South (3), Midland (3),
Mashonaland West (3),
Harare (2) and Masvingo and Mashonaland East with one
each.
Zanu PF has four disgruntled candidates, Jonathan Samkange (Mudzi
South),
Daniel Garwe (Murehwa North) and Marian Chombo (Zvimba North)
running as
independents while Munyaradzi Kereke (Bikita West) filed on a
Zanu PF ticket
together with the party’s endorsed candidate Elias
Musakwa.
In Bulawayo, MDC-T has three safe seats, while it can lose the
other 10 to
Professor Welshman Ncube’s MDC.
In Manicaland, MDC-T
seems to be safe in 10 constituencies From L1
with Zanu PF guaranteed of just
two while 14 out of the 26 seats likely to
be tightly
contested.
Mashonaland Central is likely to remain in Zanu PF’s control,
as it looks
safe in 15 of the 18 seats, while the other three are up for
grabs between
MDC-T and Zanu PF.
The battle in Mashonaland East will
be fiercely fought between Zanu PF and
MDC-T in at least 10 constituencies.
Zanu PF looks safe in 13 and MDC-T in
one.
Zanu PF’s dominance should
continue in Mashonaland West where eight
constituencies would be up for
grabs. Zanu PF is safe in 12 of the 21, while
MDC-T can bag Chinhoyi, which
flamboyant businessman Philip Chiyangwa is
fighting to close the gap of
about 3 400 votes. Zanu PF lost the seat by in
2008.
Masvingo will
provide a fierce battleground given that Zanu PF looks only
safe in nine
constituencies and MDC-T six. The two parties should be
battling it out in
12 constituencies.
Mugabe still has a grip on the Midlands province, in
which Zanu PF is
guaranteed of grabbing about 14 seats, while MDC-T has five
safe seats. The
two parties will be fighting for dominance in eight
constituencies.
Zanu PF is likely to win in six constituencies in
Matabeleland North and
Matabeleland South provinces, while MDC-T is safe in
four and MDC in four.
Twelve of the 26 in the two provinces can go to either
of the three parties.
According to Afrobarometer, 32% of 2 400
Zimbabweans sampled said if an
election had been called last year, they were
going to vote for Mugabe while
31% would support Tsvangirai.
Ncube
had 1% of the vote, although his party won most seats in Matabeleland
South
and its presidential candidate Simba Makoni got about 8% beating
Mugabe and
Tsvangirai in the province.
Ncube has gained some traction and could
emerge as the kingmaker.
“Any future election in Zimbabwe remains too
close a call,” Afrobarometer
said. “No political party in Zimbabwe can
afford to be complacent about an
easy electoral
victory.”
Afrobarometer also said Mugabe and Tsvangirai may not win the
presidential
election outright in the first round, suggesting a run-off
again although
all of them would want an outright win to avoid another
possible coalition
government.
The Freedom House survey titled Change
and New Politics in Zimbabwe
concluded “that in terms of the declared
survey-based support, it appears
the MDC-T has been suffering a decline in
support, falling from 38% to 20%
in the parliamentary vote from 2010 to
2012, in a period of approximately 18
months between the 2010 and 2012
surveys”.
In 2008, the MDC-T won all the seats in Bulawayo, 96,55% of the
seats in
Harare and 76,92% in Manicaland.
In Masvingo, it managed to
win 53,85% of the seats and in Matabeleland North
38,46.
However,
MDC-T fared poorly in Mashonaland Central (11,11%), Matabeleland
South
(16,67%), Mashonaland East (17,39%), Midlands (25,93%) and Mashonaland
West
(27,27%).
Zanu PF won 88,89% of the seats in Mashonaland Central, 82,61%
in
Mashonaland East, 74,07% in Midlands and 72,73% in Mashonaland
West.
In Masvingo, it won 46,15% of the seats and 30,77% in Matabeleland
North.
The party made a poor showing in Bulawayo where it did not win a
single
seat, 3,45% in Harare, 23,08% in Manicaland and 25% in Matabeleland
South.
MDC only won seats in Matabeleland South (58,33%) and Matabeleland
North
(23,08%).
The tables on the right show the some of the swing
constituencies and the
parties’ battle to take control of them.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the forthcoming election
will not be
credible regardless of the peaceful environment in the build up
to the
crucial polls.
Elias Mambo
Speaking to journalists on
Friday morning Tsvangirai said the election is
not going to be credible
because of the reports of intimidation and attempts
to rig the
polls.
“What we have seen on the ground so far is clear evidence that the
credibility of this election is at serious risk. There is clear evidence of
manipulation and a desperate attempt to subvert the people’s will,”
Tsvangirai said.
Tsvangirai also said “We have received reports that
ballots are being
printed at Police Headquarters which would be flouting the
laws regarding
tender procedures. Zec itself has refused or ignored our
requests to give us
this information which we say is a direct violation of
the Constitution.”
He also said that his party is going into this
election “with a heavy heart
because the reforms we have agreed under the
auspices of Sadc have not been
implemented while the regional body’s
resolutions meant to create an
environment for a credible election has been
completely ignored.”
The MDC-T leader also dismissed reports made by the
African Union
Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma that in her meeting with
opposition
parties they never mentioned issues of violence and allegations
of rigging.
Dlamini Zuma told journalist at the AU observer mission
pre-election
statement press briefing that all the candidates were happy
with the build
up to the elections and that no one raised the issues of
violence and
rigging.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Entertainment, News,
Politics
THE African Union Election Observer Mission (AU LTO) to the
harmonised
elections in Zimbabwe said the country is ready for peaceful
elections amid
claims of irregularities involving voter registration,
special voting chaos
and media polarisation.
Elias Mambo
In a
press briefing on the pre-election observation report in Harare, AU
Commissioner of Political affairs Aisha Abdullahi said Zimbabwe is currently
experiencing a peaceful environment ahead of crucial polls next
week.
“In general, the AU LTOs observed a largely peaceful and calm
political
environment,” she said.
However the team has also noted the
chaos surrounding the voter
registration, special voting and media
polarisation ahead of the polls.
“From the Mission’s observation of the
special vote, it has been generally
noted that the process was characterised
by logistical and management
challenges, which denied several thousands
applicants the opportunity to
cast their ballots on the allotted days,”
reads the statement.
The mission also said the voter registration denied
thousands to register to
vote.
“While acknowledging the increased
number of registered voters from 5.2
million to 6.4 million, the mission
noted that thousands more were unable to
register due to the limited
timeframe.”
Addressing the same media briefing the AU chairperson
Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
said all candidates are happy as the nation prepares
for elections.
“We held meetings with all the candidates who said they
are happy with the
environment towards elections,” she said.
“We also
had meetings with Zec who gave us a blow by blow account of what
transpired
during the special voting,” she said.
AU also said it is confident that
Zec will be able to run a credible
election and urged the nation to remain
peaceful.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
AFTER last Saturday’s Sadc troika on politics, defence and
security meeting
in Pretoria, South Africa, to deliberate on Zimbabwe’s
elections, the bloc’s
communiqué merely acknowledged “problems” during
special voting by the
uniformed forces but remained mum on the coalition
government partners’
failure to fully implement Sadc-brokered elections
roadmap before next week’s
polls.
Herbert Moyo
Sadc said it
was pleased all political parties were committed to a peaceful
environment
during the elections and even the bungling Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
(Zec) was commended for “taking these (problems) as challenges to
be
overcome on July 31”, while political parties were urged “to co-operate
as
fully as possible with Zec in order to ensure that it is able to meet
these
challenges.”
“The summit encouraged the government, all political parties
and leaders to
continue with these commendable efforts which will help
realise credible
elections,” the communiqué said.
Analysts say there
is an anti-climax in the regional body’s latest
pronouncements, given that
in all its summits starting with Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of Congo in
2009 to Maputo, Mozambique in June 2013,
Sadc has been steadfast in
insisting on the elections roadmap and reforms
before credible elections can
be held.
A cursory examination of Sadc summits and troika resolutions
from 2009 to
last month in Maputo is enough to show the regional body has
consistently
demanded the full implementation of reforms before
elections.
However, analysts say the country is nowhere near fulfilling
those reforms
which begs the question: How will Sadc pronounce on the
outcome of next week’s
elections?
At the first summit in Kinshasa in
2009, Zimbabwe leaders were urged to
fully implement the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) and this push was
repeated at the Maputo summit in January
2010.
An exasperated Sadc upped the ante in Livingstone in March 2011
where it
resolved to appoint additional officials to work on the Joint
Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (Jomic) to monitor, evaluate and
implement the GPA.
The regional bloc also resolved to assist Zimbabwe to
formulate guidelines
that would assist in holding a peaceful, free and fair
election in
accordance with the Sadc Principles and Guidelines Governing
Democratic
Elections.
At the Sandton summit in South Africa in June
2011, Sadc resolved to assist
Jomic and urged the troika to “remain seized
with the implementation of the
GPA” while in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in
December 2012, the bloc expressed
disappointment and “impatience in the
delay of the implementation of the
GPA”.
It also urged the coalition
government to deal with the resurgence of
violence, arrests, hate speech and
intimidation.
Just last month in Maputo, Sadc “endorsed recommendations
which include,
among others, media reform, upholding the rule of law, the
role of Jomic,
general elections date, validity of electoral regulations and
deployment of
Sadc observers”.
There is no doubt Sadc has been
consistent in demanding full reforms and,
therefore, this apparent
about-turn in Pretoria suggests the regional body
may have buckled under
President Robert Mugabe’s pressure to endorse the
processes leading up to
the elections.
Mugabe has said that by establishing a peaceful
environment, the country had
fulfilled the only pre-condition for
elections.
South African newspaper BusinessDay took the view Sadc’s hand
has been
forced by Mugabe, saying “Sadc has folded time and again whenever
confrontation has loomed, which for Mugabe is whenever he does not get his
way”.
But Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director Pedzisai Ruhanya
defended Sadc
saying it had done all that is possible by insisting on a
peaceful
environment although it cannot force the implementation of all
reforms as
“there has never been any transitional regime which fully
implements
reforms”.
“Sadc was forced to step in after shocking
levels of political violence and
economic catastrophe during the 2008
elections,” said Ruhanya.
Given this scenario, Ruhanya said barring a
spectacular upsurge of violence
or something as blatant as Zec failing to
announce election results on time,
Sadc and the African Union (AU) will
endorse the elections because the
prevailing climate is generally
peaceful.
Political commentator Blessing Vava said Sadc and other
international
organisations should not have any problem endorsing the polls
as the
prevailing conditions are just the same as those that characterised
the
March constitutional referendum.
“There shouldn’t be a problem
now when Sadc, EU (European Union) and
Zimbabwe’s own political parties
endorsed the referendum. The conditions are
the same as those under which
the referendum was held,” said Vava.
There is general peace in the
country, except for a few cases of violence.
Even Mugabe’s nemesis, the EU,
seems to be readying itself to endorse the
polls, after EU Council president
Herman van Rompuy confirmed during a visit
to South Africa last week that it
would accept Sadc recommendations.
This is not surprising as the EU began
efforts to normalise relations with
Zimbabwe through the “Friends of
Zimbabwe” initiative in March.
The EU even lifted targeted measures
imposed on some Zanu PF officials and
allowed a delegation of ministers led
by Zanu PF’s Patrick Chinamasa to
visit Europe for re-engagement
talks.
The United States has also been making rapprochement moves towards
Harare.
As it is, it seems Sadc, the AU and others may well endorse the
polls
although it is up to Zimbabweans to legitimise whoever wins the
election.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
More-of-the-same President Robert Mugabe seems to have lost
touch with his
audience during this campaign.
Opinion by Chenjerai
Hove
It’s a Thursday afternoon, in a country far from home. My friend,
the
Gambian, has a serious matter to discuss with me. It’s a never-ending
discussion about who is the most insulting president on the African
continent. I produce evidence in support of my own president,
Mugabe.
My friend also has evidence in support of his president, Yaya
Jammeh.
It is election time in Zimbabwe, I tell my friend. My president
is not short
of insults as he campaigns for votes.
Although
Zimbabweans are thirsty for new ideas from Mugabe, he seems totally
unaware
of the needs of his audiences. The recent launch of his party
manifesto was
a typical example of a man who has totally lost touch with
what
communication is all about. His audience just wanted to hear what he
was
going to do differently this time around.
Thirty-three years along the
road of power, Mugabe’s election campaign
language has remained mired in
vile words: war, battle, conquer, crushing
the enemies and other
unmentionables. He seems to know no other language.
Having run out of new
ideas, the thrust of Mugabe’s political campaigns has
nothing to do with new
national programmes.
Although Zimbabwean law forbids citizens from
insulting the president, the
law does not stop him from insulting others.
And the line between
criticising and insulting is extremely narrow, judging
by the
over-enthusiasm of those employed to get angry on his behalf: police
and
secret agents.
So, dozens of civilians have been arrested and
dragged before the courts for
the mildest rebukes of the president’s
behaviour? The insults range from
joking about His Excellency who is not so
excellent to serious critical
remarks about the president’s responsibility
in ruining the country’s
economy and its socio-cultural
fabric.
Mugabe can easily be rated as one of the most foul-mouthed
presidents in the
world. My Gambian friend thinks no one can be more vulgar
than Jamer. The
military man is reputed to give hour-long broadcasts of pure
venom and
vulgarity on national days. Regardless of my friend’s arguments, I
believe
Mugabe still tops the list.
Dirty corner
As an elderly
man, one would expect from him a certain restraint that
signifies the wisdom
that comes with age and experience.
When Mugabe is cornered politically, he
does not argue his case rationally.
He verbally abuses those he suspects of
having put him in that dirty corner.
Sadly, he is completely oblivious to
the fact that many times he is the one
who puts himself in such unenviable
positions.
His reserves of vile vocabulary never seem to run
dry.
In recent weeks, he called South African diplomat Lindiwe Zulu an
ordinary,
stupid and idiotic street woman for insisting that Mugabe should
respect and
honour what was agreed upon with the opposition.
As the
supreme leader of the nation, he believes he is above even his own
word.
It angered him to be on the receiving end of instructions on
how to behave
from a woman, and a young one at that. So, he insulted her
while the issues
she addressed remain unattended.
Child-producing
machine
He is like a man who wastes all his arrows shooting crows while
guinea fowls
are just behind the hill, as the Shona say.
A “street woman”
in Shona actually means a prostitute. Mugabe definitely
knows this
insinuation.
He is thoroughly averse to engaging with women on an equal
basis. As the
eternal patriarch, he seems to think a woman’s task is simply
to be a wife
and a child-producing machine. He has threatened lesbians with
jail if they
don’t impregnate each other.
All Mugabe knows about love
relationships is that they should be aimed at
producing children with
urgency. By this logic, it would seem couples who
are past child-bearing or
who are not gifted with children should just
divorce.
Without
addressing the issue of homosexuality as an African socio-historical
reality, he goes off at a tangent to call it a European import. Show me a
society without homosexuality. Every society sometimes chooses to hide
behind masks with the illusion of being invisible.
Such warped
attitudes towards women are clearly observable in Mugabe’s party
structures
and activities. The women’s wing has the sole purpose of
entertaining the
main wing, which is dominated by powerful men. Women are
for the leisure of
men. They dress up in fabrics decorated with Mugabe’s
image at the front and
back.
Senior men wear imported European suits to party congresses without any
sense of guilt for dressing some women so shamefully.
Historical
responsibility
There is a pattern to Mugabe’s aversion to women diplomats.
Only a few years
ago he called United States assistant secretary of state
Jendayi Fraser a
prostitute. Fraser had expressed deep displeasure and
sadness at Mugabe’s
human rights record.
Diplomacy has never been one
of Mugabe’s attributes. Condoleezza Rice, the
former US secretary of state,
the country’s highest-ranking diplomat, also
received her share of Mugabe’s
vulgarity. He boldly called her “that slave
girl”, meaning she sheepishly
and obediently serves her white master without
thinking.
It is the
most painfully vulgar insult one can inflict on a black American.
It evokes
floods of the sadness of historical pain inflicted on the former
slaves by
both black African rulers and white slave traders.
I have met African
Americans who actually hate the Africans who remained on
the continent,
including me. We sold them, they curse, and rightly so
because we have a
historical responsibility for the crimes of our ancestors.
Mugabe’s
statements show a total lack of awareness of the wrongs of history
as well
as the present responsibilities on African leaders. His statement
denigrates
all blacks who have suffered the history of slavery. His
insensitivity will
astound even an infant of the history of black people.
It is worse when
“first shopper” Grace Mugabe joins the fray, as she did
last week with
crudities such as calling Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
“ugly”, as if the
elections were a beauty contest.
While the boulders of poverty crush the
people, the president is busy
inventing new insults. In this crucial
election we want new ideas and
proposals to take the country
forward.
Hove is a Zimbabwean writer in the diaspora.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013,
News, Politics
AS Zimbabweans brace for crucial general elections next
Wednesday, they will
be joined by more than three million of their
compatriots living abroad in
the hope of a free and fair vote given that
their futures are intrinsically
tied to the outcome of the
polls.
CARLOS VIEIRA
The last 13 years have seen a mass exodus of
Zimbabweans to countries such
as South Africa, the United Kingdom (UK),
Australia and United States as
economic and political refugees after the
country’s political and economic
crisis deteriorated at an alarming
rate.
However, the hope is that a credible, free and fair elections may
see a
reversal of this migration. Ezra Sibanda, a former popular disc jockey
on
Radio 2 and an aspiring MDC-T MP for Vungu in the Midlands who was
resident
in the UK for more than a decade, said the desire among the
diaspora to
return is strong. “Everyone wants to come home,” said
Sibanda.
“It’s not going to be about feeling pressure or being forced to
return. The
desire is there. Some are doctors, lawyers and politicians who
want nothing
more than to bring the experience they got overseas home,” he
said.
Sibanda said this is different from a few years ago, especially
2009 when
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai embarked on a world tour pleading
with
Zimbabweans to return home and help rebuild the country but was met
with
open hostility in the UK.
“That was then” Sibanda said. “The
attitude among Zimbabweans abroad has
changed. In 2009 there was no new
constitution and things were looking
bleak. The way things are now;
Zimbabweans are free to return.” However,
some remain unconvinced. Ephraim
Tapa, the founder and president of
Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe
(ROHR), a UK-based rights
organisation, said from what he has seen and
experienced is that Zimbabweans
do not want to come home, at least under
current circumstances.
“The general feeling here is that elections so far
have never been free and
fair,” said Tapa.
“We have almost resigned
ourselves to that fact (that elections will not be
free and fair). Without
the promised reforms, how can they be?”
Tapa said the decision to return
is not about desire and a longing for home,
but about
opportunities.
“What are the programmes put in place to attract people in
the diaspora?
These are the things a new government would have to implement
to rebuild
Zimbabwe. For now, the situation as it stands is not conducive to
that kind
of confidence,” said Tapa.
With unemployment at around 85%
and the economy still limping from the
decade-long meltdown, both Sibanda
and Tapa are agreed that the return of
Zimbabwe’s exiles hinges on peaceful,
free and fair elections.
“If the elections aren’t free and fair no one
would risk coming back. It all
depends on that,” Sibanda
said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Entertainment, News,
Politics
POLITICIANS from across the political divide have been jostling
to outdo
each other in vote-buying by doling out food, sanitary ware,
medical
assistance, potable water, blankets, clothing and even cash to small
community projects as the race to next Wednesday’s general elections hots
up.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo
shocked even his Zanu PF
colleagues when he directed all local authorities
to cancel all individual
ratepayers’ debts accrued between February 2009 and
June 30, 2013 to
“cushion individual ratepayers from the severe effects of
the economic
challenges experienced during the period in
question”.
The MDC-T dismissed Chombo’s directive as electioneering,
saying it would
cripple the day-to-day running of councils if
implemented.
The wives of the leading presidential poll candidates
President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Grace and
Elizabeth
respectively, have also entered the fray to play Santa Claus in
support of
their husbands.
First Lady Grace made a grand entry into
the political arena a fortnight ago
when she addressed her first major
political rally alongside her husband and
thereafter donated foodstuffs to
Chiweshe villagers in Mashonaland Central.
She made similar donations at
Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera and at rallies in
Lupane, Matabeleland North
and Gwanda in Matabeleland South.
Not to be outdone by the First Lady,
Elizabeth handed out sanitary ware to
women in Matabeleland North province
when Tsvangirai was campaigning in
Binga.
Other prominent candidates
dishing out election-related goodies are Mines
minister Obert Mpofu, Ray
Kaukonde, Godwills Masimirembwa, Paul Chimedza,
Dexter Nduna and Munyaradzi
Kereke of Zanu PF.
Mpofu has been donating food and money across the
Matabeleland provinces,
while Nduna dishes out money in Chegutu and also
reportedly pays for people
to watch Chegutu Pirates Football Club for
free.
Masimirembwa has been sending water bowsers to provide clean
drinking water
to Mabvuku and Tafara residents, while Kereke has donated an
ambulance to
Bikita West in addition to other election related donations and
projects he
has been sponsoring in the constituency.
Chimedza and his
doctor friends introduced free medical treatment for
villagers in the Gutu
South constituency he is eyeing.
MDC-T Women’s Assembly chief Theresa
Makone has also been busy and recently
donated a classroom block, 90 desks
and 90 chairs to Hatcliffe High School.
She has also been distributing
blankets to the elderly in the Harare North
constituency.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s political advisor Alex
Magaisa says the
MDC-T’s participation in next Wednesday’s crucial general
elections was
foisted on the party by its supporters against the
leadership’s better
judgment.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
Magaisa last
week told a Sapes Trust public meeting discussing the
possibility of
Zimbabwe holding credible polls in the absence of critical
reforms that the
MDC-T is contesting with a heavy heart and reserves its
right to seek
redress from the courts if results are disputed.
“We listened to our
supporters against our better judgment,” said Magaisa.
“However, we reserve
our right to petition the courts for redress if the
poll is held in an
irregular manner.”
The MDC-T has unsuccessfully petitioned the courts
three times in the last
month trying to force the postponement of elections
citing allegations of
voter registration irregularities and more recently
the legitimacy of the 63
268 people comprising Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(Zec) officials, police
officers, soldiers and prison wardens who were
granted special voting
privileges on July 14 and 15.
The July 31
elections would be the first polls under the new constitution
gazetted on
May 22 after four years of haggling by the coalition government
partners.
The constitution introduces an enlarged parliament and also
creates eight
provincial councils and two metropolitan councils.
It
states that some MPs should be elected through proportional
representation
but the process may be unfair, according to analysts,
considering that there
was no new constituency delimitation exercise.
Research Advocacy Unit
(Rau) senior researcher Anthony Reeler said his
organisation’s audit of the
voters’ roll showed that there was a great need
for a delimitation exercise
in relation to the new uneven voter populations
across the
country.
“There are 41 constituencies that violate the constitutional
provision on
delimitation,” said Reeler.
“According to the
constitution, a constituency should on average have 27 000
voters but
accepts a 20% variation which means a constituency cannot have
more than 33
000 voters and not less than 22 000,” Reeler said.
However, some
constituencies, such as Mbare in Harare and Uzumba in
Mashonaland East, now
have more than 40 000 registered voters.
All political parties have
scaled up their campaigns as they enter the home-
stretch with Zanu PF and
MDC-T scheduled to hold their final rallies in
Harare on Sunday and Monday
respectively.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
IN five days’ time, Zimbabwe will go for crucial elections to
end the
Sadc-brokered Global Political Agreement (GPA) which gave birth to
the
coalition government after the disputed 2008 elections.
Elias
Mambo
Senior research mentor at the University of the Western Cape, Brian
Raftopoulos, wrote that the outcome of the GPA has been fiercely contested
and marked by severe ebbs and flows in his book The Hard Road to
Reform.
When the MDC-T signed the GPA, they hoped to weaken Zanu PF from
within and
elbow it out of power eventually, but they soon realised that
Mugabe had
other ideas.
He wanted a respite to reorganise and fight
again. But Mugabe and Zanu PF
have benefitted more from the GPA compared to
the MDC formations.
MDC-T president and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
has admitted that he
signed the GPA to work with Mugabe to allow him to
address the mistakes of
the past and help him “rebuild his legacy”.
“I
was prepared to work with Mugabe to allow him to address the mistakes of
the
past, and to help him to rebuild his legacy,” Tsvangirai said.
“This is
why, despite the challenges that I have faced in working with him,
I have
repeatedly said that while our relationship was not perfect, it was
workable. This was meant to encourage Mugabe to right the wrongs of the
past.”
As the GPA nears its end, Mugabe has emerged as the major
beneficiary as he
cunningly used the coalition government tenure to
reorganise and revive his
waning support base.
Far from genuinely
committing to reforms to usher in a democratic
dispensation in Zimbabwe,
Zanu PF has used the GPA to regroup and recover
from an all-time low which
saw Mugabe losing the presidential poll first
round to Tsvangirai in March
2008. Raftopoulos said Zanu PF had benefitted
immensely from the coalition
government, disunity between the MDC formations
as well as allegations of
corruption levelled against MDC officials.
“Their biggest challenge was
that they failed to work together from the
beginning and even allowed
themselves to be divided by Zanu PF, especially
on the (Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur) Mutambara issue,” said Raftopoulos.
“Their lack of
co-ordination weakened them. On the whole, Zanu PF has
benefitted the most
because, having lost the 2008 elections, they got a
second chance to
regroup, rebuild and start trying to deal with issues of
their
legitimacy.”
Prior to the formation of the coalition government, Mugabe’s
rule was on the
brink of collapse as the economy was at an all time low with
hyper-inflation
shattering world records. Soldiers had started rioting in
Harare in 2008
after failing to withdraw money from banks which ran out of
cash.
Zimbabwe’s official annual rate of inflation skyrocketed to 231
million
percent, although independent economists put it in the
billions.
The joining of the coalition government by the MDCs helped halt
the runaway
inflation rate. They also played a critical role in the
introduction of the
multicurrency system which replaced the valueless
Zimbabwe dollar. Jabusile
Shumba, a political analyst, said although
Tsvangirai can be seen as the
ultimate loser in the GPA, it was necessary to
be part of it after failing
to take over power in 2008.
“The GPA came
as a product of a terrible political fraud in which Tsvangirai
trounced
Mugabe in 2008 but was not allowed by those who had a monopoly of
the means
of violence to ascend to power,” said Shumba.
“But Mugabe lacked
legitimacy. And something had to be done to return
Zimbabwe to some level of
normalcy.”
Shumba also said while the MDCs sleep-walked into the GPA,
they were always
sceptical about Mugabe and Zanu PF but something had to be
done to break the
political stalemate.
“Zanu PF entered (the GPA) in
order to buy time and rescue itself from
political death,” said Shumba. “The
MDCs have tried to level the political
field but Zanu PF has remained
adamant that conceding to the MDCs’ demands
was tantamount to losing
power.”
Mugabe and Zanu PF are now riding on the gains they made during
the
inclusive government by even claiming ownership of policies introduced
by
the MDCs.
Tsvangirai has conceded more and left his erstwhile
opponent stealing the
narrative ahead of the high-stakes elections.As
elections near, Tsvangirai
and his MDC-T party have failed to claim credit
for pushing for the
introduction of the current multiple currency system
which helped curb
inflation and saw food returning to shops which had been
echoing with
emptiness.
Instead, Mugabe now claims that Zanu PF’s
indigenisation has helped
resuscitate the economy which had been battered by
decades of targeted
sanctions imposed on him and his Zanu PF cronies at the
instigation of the
MDCs.
Tsvangirai did not protest when Mugabe
picked Zanu PF loyalists to serve in
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec)
and even defended appointments of
other crucial commissions such as the
Zimbabwe Human Rights and Zimbabwe
Media Commission.
It was only
after the pronouncement of an elections date that Tsvangirai
started crying
foul saying a raft of reforms meant to pave way for free and
fair elections
had not been implemented.
Political analyst Alexander Rusero said
although they could have tried
harder to have reforms implemented, the MDCs
were forced into the agreement
in the first place.
“The MDCs were
under pressure both at home and abroad, and this drove them
into the GPA,”
said Rusero. “However, credit must be given to them for
internationalising
the Zimbabwe crisis which came about as a result of Zanu
PF’s poor
policies.” Rusero said.
Raftopoulos said Zanu PF only agreed to form a
coalition government with the
intention of regrouping and consolidating
after plunging to the nadir of
legitimacy following its 2008 electoral
defeat.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is likely to hold onto power if he wins
the
presidential election contrary to belief that he would retire, while for
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the polls would be a do-or-die affair as
he is likely to be nudged off the helm of MDC-T if he loses again, analysts
say.
Owen Gagare
There has been speculation that Mugabe (89)
wants to secure victory for Zanu
PF and retire, leaving his party in power
while others believe he may take a
back seat and assume a ceremonial role
with his preferred successor
exercising the main executive
functions.
Effie Ncube, a political analyst and chairperson of the
National Association
of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango), said Mugabe
was most probably
eyeing the life presidency.
“The most likely
scenario is that Mugabe would prefer to die in office,”
said Ncube. “He is
unlikely to leave power in the hands of any of his
subordinates such as
(Vice-President Joice) Mujuru or (Defence minister
Emmerson) Mnangagwa
because he does not trust anyone.
“As long as he is physically able to
function, we won’t see him
relinquishing power unless he becomes
incapacitated. He would probably want
to use his term to salvage some of his
legacy by introducing some democratic
reforms and so on.”
Professor
Eldred Masunungure, a political science lecturer at the University
of
Zimbabwe, also believes Mugabe would exercise his full executive
functions
for his whole term, barring incapacitation or death.
“He may be compelled
by his fragile health and age to retreat from State
House to his private
residence, but he would not pass on the baton to
anyone,” said
Masunungure.
“His health may force him to shed some of his executive
functions but, even
then, he would retain the position of executive
president and pull strings
on strategic policy matters. He would want to
complete his term unless some
dramatic circumstances occur to stop him from
achieving that goal.”
Masunungure said dating back to the days of the
liberation struggle, Mugabe
has learnt to be wary of those around
him.
“Right now because of internal power politics in Zanu PF, he cannot
trust
the political gladiators around him. For that reason he will not
resign,” he
said.
He said in the event of losing the election, it was
likely that Mugabe would
not be persecuted but would be given a good package
and be honoured for the
role he played in liberating the
country.
Both Masunungure and Ncube said the election was crucial for
Tsvangirai as a
loss would result in questions being asked about his ability
to dislodge
Zanu PF from power.
“After being at the helm of the party
since September 1999, surely if he
loses, he must consider dropping the hat
for someone else. This will also
define his legacy as a democrat because if
he attempts to hold onto power,
he may be seen as a selfish and power-hungry
person.
This will be a do-or-die election for him,” said
Masunungure.
Ncube said if Tsvangirai loses the polls and Sadc and African
Union (AU)
observers declare them free and fair, he would face an uphill
task to retain
the MDC-T presidency.
“If Tsvangirai doesn’t win this
‘peacefully rigged election’ and if it is
declared free and fair by Sadc and
AU, it will be difficult for him to hold
onto power. He will be challenged
from within and would most likely lose
international sympathy after failing
to dislodge Mugabe for so long,” said
Ncube.
“He will only be able to
survive if the election is violently rigged and the
international community
says the elections were not free and fair.”
Analysts say there may be a
run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai but MDC
leader Welshman Ncube may be a
deciding factor.
Effie Ncube said Welshman Ncube needs just 10
parliamentary seats for his
party to remain relevant while Masunungure said
if he backs Tsvangirai in
the run-off, which he believes is likely, he would
remain relevant in the
next government.
Masunungure also believes
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara may be
given a role to play either as
an advisor or in diplomatic missions by both
Mugabe and Tsvangirai,
depending on who wins.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
AHEAD of crucial general elections next week, Alpha Media
Holdings Group
Planning Editor Brian Mangwende (BM) interviewed former Air
Force of
Zimbabwe Vice-Air Marshal Henry Muchena (HM), who is now principal
director
in the Zanu PF commissariat, on President Robert Mugabe and his
party’s
chances of winning the polls.
Find below the
excerpts:
BM: When you retired from the Air Force in June 2010, you later
joined Zanu
PF’s commissariat department. What is your role and title
there?
HM: My title is principal director for the commissariat. I form part
of the
commissariat department that is responsible for organising the party
structures. I joined Zanu PF in January 2011.
BM: Are you involved in
the on-going election campaigns?
HM: Of course, I am. That is part of my role
in the party.
BM: How have the campaigns been going on so far, vis-a-vis
those of 2008
which Mugabe says he does not want a repeat of?
HM: In our
view, the present campaign has gone on very well. It has not been
marred by
violence and we believe whoever had an interest in campaigning,
has had a
fair chance to do so.
BM: Do you think Mugabe and Zanu PF will win these
elections and why?
HM: I don’t think President Mugabe and Zanu PF will win, I
know President
Mugabe and Zanu PF will win!
BM: There has been a lot
of controversy and mixed takings over the role of
both active and retired
army commanders and security personnel in politics
and electoral processes.
Do you think your role is justified?
HM: It is definitely justified. When
people join the military, they serve
the country and the state, but when
they retire, they are free to join any
political party of their persuasion.
And this is not only within Zanu PF, it
is also quite prevalent in the MDC
parties and most political parties in
Zimbabwe.
For example, retired
Major Giles Mutsekwa joined MDC-T and retired Colonel
Ray Ncube is with his
newly-formed Zapu party; so, I don’t believe they
should be exceptions when
it comes to Zanu PF. As for serving members, they
are guided by professional
ethics which dictate that they remain apolitical
in their activities, but it
doesn’t make them stooges who cannot have
political persuasions of their own
and it is their constitutional right as
citizens of the country to do
that.
BM: There have been heightened reports that the military has been
deployed
in various parts of the country to vigorously campaign for Mugabe
and Zanu
PF. What do you know about that?
HM: Those reports are
fabrications and imaginations of people who are scared
of losing elections.
Why are we not complaining about those former service
personnel campaigning
for other political parties? As far as I know, serving
personnel are not
involved in campaigns for Zanu PF, but retired personnel
and war veterans
who are in the structures of the party. They have every
right to campaign
for the party and even stand in constituencies as
candidates for the
party.
BM: If that’s the case, what do you make of public statements by
senior army
commanders who say they support Mugabe and Zanu PF while
rejecting any
possible victory for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai?
HM:
Let me put their statements into context. When those statements were
made,
the service chiefs said they will not salute a commander-in-chief who
does
not respect the values of the liberation struggle, therefore, they did
not
say Tsvangiari or anybody else. It is important to note that the ballot
we
talk about today came as substitution to the bullet that was used during
the
liberation struggle and so any Zimbabwean worth his or her salt has to
respect the values of the liberation struggle and the principles for which
thousands of Zimbabweans died for.
BM: Zanu PF primaries were
characterised by chaos. Were you involved and why
is it several security
people participated in the process?
HM: There were no security people in the
process of the Zanu PF primaries,
but as I mentioned earlier, former
security personnel who were interested in
contesting primaries for Zanu PF
were free to do so.
BM: On a scale of one to 10, how do you rate the way
the primaries were
conducted?
HM: I would give Zanu PF primaries a
seven.
BM: If Tsvangirai were to win elections next week, what would be
your
response and what do you think will be the reaction of senior army
commanders?
HM: First, he is not going to win, but if the unthinkable
happens and the
people of Zimbabwe decide to use the ballot to be
recolonised, it would be
the people’s decision.
BM: After Mugabe lost
the first round of the 2008 presidential poll, the
army is said to have
intervened to save the situation. Where you in any way
involved?
HM:
First of all, President Mugabe did not lose the election, but there was
no
clear winner and hence a run-off. As security personnel, we did our best
to
maintain peace in the country, while political parties intensified their
campaigns for the final election.
BM: As part of commissariat, what
was your role in the dissolution of Zanu
PF’s district co-ordinating
committees (DCCs)?
HM: I had no role in the dissolution of DCCs. It was a
recommendation from
the politburo to the central committee and that
dissolution was endorsed by
the central committee.
BM: There have
been numerous reports of factionalism within Zanu PF and you
have been
linked to a faction reportedly led by Vice-President Joice Mujuru
against
one allegedly led by Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. What’s
your
comment?
HM: I know of no factions in Zanu PF and therefore I have no reason
to
belong to what I believe does not exist. In my view, the factions spoken
about are perceptions of people outside Zanu PF like yourselves who are
trying to ferment divisions within the party.
BM: Lastly, can you
please tell us who Henry Muchena is?
HM: First of all, I am an ex-combatant.
After Independence, I joined the
Zimbabwe National Army and later
transferred to the Air Force of Zimbabwe
and served until my retirement.
That’s all I have to say about myself.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News, Politics
HOME Affairs
co-Minister Theresa Makone has raised fears that some people
who registered
under the mobile and the 30-day voter registration exercise
may not find
themselves on the voters’ roll, especially in the MDC
strongholds.
Staff Writer
Makone said there appears to be a
deliberate attempt by the Registrar
General’s office to disenfranchise
people, hence the calculated ploy not to
release the final voters’ roll on
time.
“By now the final voters’ roll should be out and people should have
been
accorded an opportunity to check if their names appear. I am therefore
urging those who registered to keep your slips because you may need them
when you find your names not on the voters roll on Wednesday,” she
said.
Makone, who is the MDC-T candidate for Harare North, also said
there was
evidence to suggest the country had more than one voters’ roll as
evidenced
by two registers she got for her constituency on April 15 and 17.
The first
voters roll had 13 000 people but the number had shot up to 27 000
two days
later.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News, Politics
PRESIDENT Robert
Mugabe accused the country’s independent media of
supporting what he
described as the MDC formations’ misguided attempts to
block the holding of
general elections next week.
Staff Writer
Mugabe said the media
was supporting the MDCs, who despite their pretentions
to democracy, opposed
elections because they want to continue enjoying the
trappings of power in
an inclusive government even though some of them were
never elected into
office.
The journalists support these errors. What is the conscience of
the
journalists,” Mugabe asked. “The journalists must have a conscience; a
sense
of truth and sense of honesty.”
Meanwhile, the First Lady Grace
Mugabe revealed that Mugabe was behind the
controversial decision by Local
government minister Ignatius Chombo to
write-off ratepayers’ debts
accumulated from 2009.
She denied that it was an election gimmick but
insisted it was testimony of
Mugabe’s caring and fatherly
disposition.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News,
Politics
MAVAMBO/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) leader Simba Makoni, with five days to
go to
polls, remains confident of winning the Makoni Central seat with
claims of
support from MDC-T structures despite top provincial members
openly
protesting against his candidacy.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
Some
MDC-T provincial executive members have vowed to block Makoni as they
argue
that his candidacy was imposed from the top despite the party having
democratically elected Patrick Sagandira as its candidate.
This
development forced MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai to hold a rally in
Rusape
at Vhengere Stadium endorsing Makoni as the party candidate in
accordance
with a coalition agreement he signed with the MKD leader and
Reketayi
Semwayo of Zanu Ndonga.
The coalition agreement saw MKD and Zanu Ndonga
backing Tsvangirai as their
presidential candidate.
Despite the
consequent ructions in MDC-T, Makoni remains optimistic that he
will win the
seat and the coalition partners will keep their end of the
bargain.
“The MDC-T national and constituency leadership is working
with me and
advising their followers that they should vote for me,” Makoni
said. “At the
moment, my campaigns are progressing well.”
MDC-T
Makoni Central chairperson Albert Muzhingi confirmed that the
constituency
leadership was working with Makoni as instructed by the
national
leadership.
“We are campaigning for Makoni on the ground and everyone is
clear about
that after Tsvangirai came here and clarified the issue in the
context of
the coalition arrangement reached with the other parties last
month,”
Muzhingi said.
However, Manicaland provincial executive
remains adamant that the national
executive should not impose candidates. As
a result, the provincial
executive is supporting Sagandira in Makoni Central
and Arnold Tsunga in
Dangamvura/Chikanga against the national leadership
directive.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News, Politics
THE MDC
led by outgoing Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube has
vowed to
shock Zanu PF and the MDC-T in next week’s polls saying have taken
the party
for granted over the years.
Brian Chitemba
The MDC was part of an
uneasy four-year coalition government with MDC-T and
Zanu PF, but the two
main parties played big brother role underestimating
the influence of Ncube
and his followers.
Campaigning under the theme “Devolution is the new
revolution”, the MDC says
it is the game-changer in next week’s elections
because it will garner more
votes than in 2008 where the party won 10 House
of Assembly seats, and six
senatorial seats.
Party spokesperson
Nhlanhla Dube told the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday
that the campaign
trail was going on smoothly with the presidential team led
by Ncube covering
two rallies per district per day, while aspiring MPs were
on an aggressive
door-to-door campaign.
Prospective councillors are concentrating on their
wards. The MDC, he said,
was not moved by the huge crowds thronging Zanu PF
and MDC-T rallies, saying
from their party’s assessment the majority of
Zimbabweans were likely to
rally behind his party because of the importance
of devolution which they
fought to be provided for in the new
constitution.
“We started campaigning in January 2011 after our congress
and we have only
intensified the campaigns in the run-up to the July 31
elections,” he said.
“People have taken us for granted, but our party is
the game-changer. We
took advantage of the uncontested space and planted our
strong support base.
Those who were writing us off were just sounding their
own death knell.”
If elected to form a new government, Dube said, the MDC
would concentrate on
creating a stable economy which will create more
jobs.
The party would focus on devolution as a way of exploiting local
resources
for the benefit of grassroots to develop provinces and
districts.
Dube added that devolution would help decongest Harare, which
has millions
of unemployed youths while others are roaming the
streets.
“Come July 31, the people will choose between the good and the
bad; and we
know that devolution is good for the development of
Zimbabwe.
That makes our party the first choice,” he said.
On the
grand coalition with the MDC-T, Dube dismissed claims by the MDC-T
they were
offered a document suggesting a pact to help unseat President
Robert Mugabe,
who has been clinging onto power for the past 33 years.
He said MDC-T
leader Morgan Tsvangirai was misleading Zimbabweans by
portraying Ncube as a
bad leader who blocked an electoral pact against
Mugabe.
“The MDC-T
never suggested a coalition; they are speaking at us through the
newspapers.
Tsvangirai is grandstanding and lying that Ncube refused a
coalition so that
he decampaigns our leader. We can only afford to work with
those we share
the same ideas with,” said Dube.
The MDC formed a pact with Zapu leader
Dumiso Dabengwa although political
pundits argue that the coalition could
have been stronger if Ncube had
joined hands with Tsvangirai.
Dube
was also adamant that should there be a presidential run-off, it would
be
any other candidate against Ncube whom he claimed was assured of securing
enough votes to upset both Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
But observers say
the presidential race would be between Mugabe and
Tsvangirai while Ncube
could get about 8% which voted for
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader Simba Makoni
in 2008. Ncube and Dabengwa
supported Makoni’s candidature in 2008 and that
8% of the vote could swing
in Ncube’s favour.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News, Politics
PRESIDENT Robert
Mugabe launched a fierce attack on former Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
senior official and businessman Munyaradzi Kereke for
imposing himself as
the Zanu PF candidate in Bikita West in next week’s
general
elections.
Hebert Moyo
In a fit of rage at a rally in Masvingo
yesterday, Mugabe lashed out at
Kereke for refusing to withdraw his
candidature after being ordered by the
politburo to step aside for his
former colleague Elias Musakwa.
“We heard that there are three or so
people who think they are greater than
the party. Even the president is not
greater than the party,” Mugabe said,
in a thinly veiled attack on Kereke,
Marian Chombo and Jonathan Samkange who
defied the politburo directive to
withdraw.
Last week Mugabe also lambasted Marian Chombo at a rally over
the same
issue. Mugabe accused Kereke of flouting party regulations and
vowed that no
amount of money or popular following would ever convince the
party
leadership to accept him and others back.
In an apparent
reference to Kereke, Mugabe described him as “irresponsible,
disobedient,
non-compliant and disrespectful.”
“If we don’t approve of you; you can’t
impose yourself on the people.
We will never accept you even if you have
money. We want people who follow
party rules and those of the country. I
have spoken in parables so those who
have ears let them hear,” said
Mugabe.
The Kereke issue has divided Masvingo province as Defence
minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s faction is reportedly rooting for RBZ governor
Gideon Gono’s
former advisor, while the one aligned to Vice-President Joice
Mujuru backs
Musakwa.
Mugabe’s remarks follow similar attacks on
Kereke he reportedly made in a
politburo meeting. The Kereke issue dominated
the politburo debate earlier
this month amid factional clashes on whether he
should be allowed to contest
as a “parallel candidate” or be expelled from
the party.
As first reported in the Zimbabwe Independent recently, Mugabe
reportedly
told the politburo he is prepared to lose Bikita West or votes
from there
over the Kereke issue.
Politburo members aligned to Mujuru
demanded that Kereke withdraw or be
expelled but he was fiercely defended by
members of the Mnangagwa faction.
The Mujuru camp argued Kereke must be
dismissed because he was
insubordinate, while the Mnangagwa faction pushed
that he be allowed to run
as a parallel candidate since he was popular on
the ground.
The politburo resolved to expel him from the party. Mugabe
yesterday vowed
Kereke, Marian Chombo and Samkange would not be re-admitted
into the party.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News, Politics
MDC-T
leader, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says he is ready for the
battle
royale and insists he will beat President Robert Mugabe in next
Wednesday’s
presidential election despite his strong protests about chaotic
poll
preparations.
In an exclusive interview with the Zimbabwe Independent on
Wednesday,
Tsvangirai said he plans to knock out Mugabe in the first round
of polling.
“I have no doubt that Mugabe will be beaten in the first round.
You can
judge by the mood and popular demands for change,” he said. “We
don’t need a
second round.
With the momentum on the ground, to budget
for the second round is not an
option.” Independent reporter Elias Mambo
(EM) interviewed Tsvangirai (MT)
on Wednesday in Harare ahead of the
do-or-die elections. Find below excerpts
of the interview:
EM: You
have been on the campaign trail and with a week to go before
elections are
you happy?
MT: I am very happy with the way our campaigns rolled out. I have
been
involved and we have been so effective on the ground. We are happy with
the
momentum that has been built and we are now ready for
elections.
EM: From trends you have observed, what do you foresee as the
outcome of the
polls ?
MT: There is an overwhelming feeling on the ground
for change. People want
change of governance; people want change of ideas.
There has been despair,
poverty and fear, now people are ready for something
new.
EM: Will the MDC beat Zanu PF like it did in 2008?
MT: Anything
short of MDC victory will not only be a subversion of the
people’s will and
mandate. It will set this country backward. I defeated
Mugabe in 2008 in the
first round. The second round was manipulated so the
results did not reflect
the will of the people.
EM: And will this election be decided in the
first round?
MT: I have no doubt Mugabe will be beaten in the first round.
You can judge
by the mood and demand for change. We don’t need a second
round. With the
momentum on the ground, to budget for the second round is
unnecessary. It is
not an option.
EM: You have been complaining about
poor electoral preparations. Do you
think the elections will be free and
fair?
MT: It was our hope Zec would behave differently election unfortunately
as
it has come out we now believe there is a third hand trying to manipulate
Zec’s integrity to subvert the will and mandate of the people. Look at the
chaos around the special vote fiasco. Zec failed to handle only 70 000
people; what about the day when six million people will come to vote?
Harare’s
polling stations have been reduced yet the voters have increased.
There is a
problem with accreditation of international observers and the
media. We are
also worried about the printing of more ballot papers than the
number of
voters. All these issues raise suspicions.
EM: If elections
are disputed where to for Zimbabwe?
MT: Zimbabwe will be worse off. That is
why we want to restore legitimacy
and allow our country to fully recover. We
don’t want another flawed and
disputed election.
EM: If you win, how
will you treat Mugabe and his loyalists?
MT: We have no intention of
retribution. We know what we have gone through,
but the old man needs a
dignified exit. This applies across the board, even
to those who defended
Zanu PF will be forgiven, but those who must account
for plunder of national
resources would be brought to book.
EM: If you win, what will you do to
change the state of the nation?
MT: We have a clear plan on the turnaround of
the economy. We have a
manifesto which outlines how we are going to turn
around the economy. But
firstly, governance issues will be a very important
focus. We will change
the political culture. People should not be ruled by
fear. We will attract
new investments to grow the economy. There is need to
create new wealth. We
also need to transform our relations with the
international community. The
world has become a global village and we want
to be part of that.
EM: Given that the political field is uneven and
Mugabe has ignored issues
agreed on in the Global Political Agreement,
election roadmap and Sadc
resolutions, are you going to accept the results
if Mugabe wins?
MT: This election is already disputed even before the results
are announced.
It does not matter who wins but we want a credible, free and
fair elections.
Anything short of the MDC victory will be the subversion of
the will and
mandate of the people.
EM: Efforts to form a grand
coalition failed in the run-up to elections.
Will that affect the outcome of
the polls?
MT: It will not affect the outcome. It was not wrong to have a
grand
coalition and that was our wish but others thought
otherwise.
EM: With hindsight do you think you should have been involved
in the
inclusive government since it appears to have revived Mugabe?
MT:
The GNU (government of national unity) did not revive Mugabe. People
know
how the MDCs have brought changes in this country, mainly on the
economy.
The best judges are the people.
EM: Have you ever thought about the fact
that you may end up failing to be
president of Zimbabwe even if millions
support you?
MT: Failing to be president because people have not supported
you is
different from failing because the people’s will has been subverted.
If the
elections are free and fair, no one with the support of the people
can fail
to be president.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News, Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
will next Wednesday make his last stand as he seeks
re-election in what is
almost certainly going to be the last electoral
battle of his long political
career spanning over 50 years, signifying a
possible end to an
era.
Faith Zaba/Owen Gagare
In a bid to ensure political survival,
Mugabe, who is 89 and frail, has gone
for broke and thrown everything into
the campaign –– including his wife
Grace –– to avoid a humiliating defeat in
the sunset of his political
career.
However, if next week’s elections
were really free and fair, Mugabe would
most likely be packed off to his
luxurious Borrowdale retirement mansion in
Harare, but he seems determined
to stay put by fair means or foul. After 33
years in power, Mugabe is
labouring on the campaign trail with effects of
old age and frailty now
subtly starting to show.
But Mugabe –– who has promised an election
“fight for our lives” –– is still
fighting dirty as if he a character in a
Kung Fu movie even though he has
renounced violence, intimidation and
para-military tactics as campaign
tools.
Further evidence he is
pulling out all the stops to win mounted this week as
it emerged his
loyalists are now using the police to serialise ballots,
adding to several
already exposed election preparation scandals, in a move
that is likely to
spark outrage just a few days before polling day.
Police were also
reportedly printing ballots. Senior government officials
told the Zimbabwe
Independent this week police’s controversial involvement
in ballot printing
and inserting of serial numbers may well be
unconstitutional and
unlawful.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) is legally in charge of
the whole
electoral process even if the Registrar General’s office registers
voters
under its supervision. The involvement of the police and Israeli
intelligence firm, Nikuv International Projects in election preparations has
raised eyebrows.
Alarmed by the chaos engulfing electoral
preparations, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai will this morning hold a
press conference to brief journalists
and tackle the situation. Although
Tsvangirai told the Independent in an
exclusive interview this week he is
confident of winning, he also expressed
concern about the chaotic
arrangements.
Senior police officers told the Independent this week that
after companies
contracted to print ballot papers, Fidelity Printers and
Printflow, failed
to deliver during the chaotic special voting process, Zec
hired the Zimbabwe
Republic Police’s printing unit to assist.
This
followed a letter of complaint from Police Commissioner-General
Augustine
Chihuri after thousands of police officers failed to vote on July
14 and 15
due to the unavailability of ballot papers.
Members of the uniformed
forces and election officials who failed to cast
their votes during special
vote may cast their ballots on Wednesday if the
Constitutional Court rules
in favour of Zec today.
According to Zec, only 37 108 managed to while 26
160 others failed.
Although some sources said police were involved in the
printing of ballots,
Zec chairperson Rita Makarau yesterday said they were
only subcontracted by
Printflow to put serial numbers on the ballot
papers.
Makarau said Printflow printed ballot papers for the
presidential, National
Assembly and local government elections before hiring
police to insert
serial numbers. “After printing, Printflow subcontracted
the numbering
(putting of serial numbers) of the ballot papers to the police
and that’s
what they did,” said Makarau. “We have to bear in mind that it
was a
cumbersome task as we are talking about 1 958 wards in 210
constituencies.
All the ballot papers were returned to Printflow after
numbering.”
There are 6,4 million registered voters in Zimbabwe although
Zec says it
will print eight million ballots. Tsvangirai and other
candidates say this
is “suspicious”.
Makarau, however, refused to
deal with the controversial Nikuv issue,
referring all questions Registrar
General Tobaiwa Mudede and the Home
Affairs ministry as Zec had not played a
role in the hiring of the shadowy
company.
“I would want to believe
that Nikuv was hired before the commission came in
place. We have therefore
referred the queries to the Registrar-General (RG)’s
office and the Ministry
of Home Affairs because they are the ones who
engaged them,” Makarau
said.
Mugabe’s arsenal for the election includes deployment of the
military, rigid
control of the RG’s office and Zec –– the cogs in the
electoral machinery ––
as well as a grip on the judiciary and state media.
Judges are key in
determining the outcome as their interventions are
decisive.
Funding for the Mugabe campaign has been linked to cash
injections from
China, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of
Congo, which Harare
claims owes it US$1 billion accrued during its war a
decade ago, and local
diamond mining sources.
Security forces, whose
commanders are fiercely loyal to Mugabe and have
vowed to back him to the
hilt, are playing a critical.
However, the campaign is not all the smooth
for Mugabe. Age is clearly
catching up with him as shown by memory lapses
and growing amnesia. He
sometimes draws a total blank while speaking. His
trademark walkabout has
been dropped in favour of a wave to supporters from
the back of van and as
he addresses rallies, haranguing and lampooning his
opponents, his elbows
will be firmly leaning heavily on a podium for
support.
This stands in contrast to a man who a few years ago used to
climbed several
steps rushing onto a flight with confidence and ease.
Although Mugabe on the
surface appears vibrant and puffed up on his campaign
posters –– sometimes
his party now uses his pictures when he was relatively
young to counter
Tsvangirai’s persistent punch line that Mugabe is too old
and wants to
retire ––his slow step and sluggishness in speech tell a
different story.
This all combine to fuel speculation that his shuttles
to Singapore were
indeed driven by health problems. Reports say he is
suffering from prostate
cancer which has metastasised even though he claims
the problem is eye
cataracts.
After running down the country and
fuelling a groundswell of discontent,
Mugabe has been surviving election
defeats since 2000 when Zanu PF narrowly
survived by winning 62 seats to
MDC-T’s 57. Zanu Ndonga won the remaining
seat.
In 2002, Mugabe faced
what looked like sure defeat when Tsvangirai rode on a
wave of popular
support amid economic collapse and runaway inflation but he
again survived
despite that the result was hotly contested.
His victory accelerated
economic decline and by 2008 Zimbabwe was on the
brink as the political and
economic meltdown –– characterised by
immeasurable hyperinflation –– ravaged
the country. As a result, Mugabe for
the first time ever lost the first
round of the March 2008 presidential
election before resorting to a campaign
of brutality to storm back to power.
Tsvangirai had defeated Mugabe by a
huge margin of 115 832 votes after the
MDC-T leader got 1 195 562 votes and
the Zanu PF supremo secured 1 079 730.
This was despite Mugabe winning in
six of the 10 provinces. Tsvangirai had
won by wide margins in his
strongholds.
However, Mugabe’s June 2008 presidential election runoff win
was a pyrrhic
victory as he was later forced into negotiations with the MDC
parties,
leading to the formation of the coalition government which
effectively ends
next week paving way for a decisive battle in which Mugabe
has state and
electoral institutions –– including the security forces,
mainly the army ––
behind him. Tsvangirai seems to have the people.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in News, Politics
The elections
fever that has gripped the whole country seems absent in the
Eastern
Highlands giving an impression of the ordinary with five days to go
before
Zimbabweans vote in crucial general elections on Wednesday.
Faith
Zaba
People in Manicaland, which has the second highest number of
registered
voters with 807 300 after Harare’s 1,2 million, seems to be going
about
their normal business and campaign posters bearing House of Assembly
and
presidential party candidates are few and far between.
It is easy
to count political party posters in Mutare Central and they get
even fewer
in high-density suburbs like Sakubva, Chikanga, Dangamvura and
Yeoville.
In Makoni, Mutasa, Buhera, Headlands and Rusape, Mugabe’s
posters seem to
dominate public space, but are relatively few compared to
the three
Mashonaland provinces, Midlands and Harare.
During the two
days the Zimbabwe Independent visited the province last
Sunday and Monday,
very few people could be seen donning party regalia —
with the green and
yellow wraps and matching T-shirts with Mugabe’s portrait
dominating other
provinces — hardly visible.
There was no indication that Mugabe would be
addressing a star rally in
Mutare on Tuesday, except for the green haulage
truck bearing Mugabe’s huge
portrait and the bhora mugedhi (vote for Mugabe)
message inscribed across
it, which drove around the city, as well as the
presence of soldiers from
the presidential guard.
But this serene and
calm atmosphere should not be mistaken for complacency,
as the Independent
crew discovered. Beneath the veneer of tranquillity lies
deep-seated anger
and disappointment over how this region has been governed.
The discontent
which has been simmering over the years is likely to come to
the boil next
Wednesday when Zimbabweans vote for a new government.
Certainly, Zanu PF
has lost some sleep over Manicaland. Out of the 26
constituencies in that
province, the MDC-T grabbed 20 in the 2008 general
elections.
The
province also rejected Mugabe by overwhelmingly voting for Tsvangirai,
who
got 212 029 votes compared to the Zanu PF leader’s 141 592.
The Manyikas,
who constitute 15% of the Shona population, have always stood
up to Mugabe
and Zanu PF, leading to the rise of opposition leaders like
Morgan
Tsvangirai, Simba Makoni, Arthur Mutambara, the late Ndabaningi
Sithole,
Abel Muzorewa and Edgar Tekere.
Tensions between the Zezurus, to which
Mugabe and Vice-President Joice
Mujuru belong, and the Karangas and Manyikas
can be traced back to the
liberation war when the Karangas and Manyikas
provided the bulk of fighters,
military commanders and top leadership of the
Zanu movement.
Since power fell into the hands of Mugabe — a ruthless
Zezuru intellectual
who led the Zanu movement, but did no fight himself —
many Karangas and
Manyikas feel he has ignored their contribution, sidelined
their leaders and
promoted people from his own clan.
Indeed, since
Zanu PF’s last electoral congress in 2009, none of the
presidium posts have
been occupied by Manyikas or Karangas, but are
dominated by the Zezurus and
Ndebeles.
Mugabe has failed to appease the Manyika people over the
mysterious 1975
assassination in exile of former Zanu leader and national
hero Herbert
Chitepo. The death of Chitepo, which drove Mugabe to leave the
country to
Mozambique, continues to incite conflict and controversy in
Zimbabwe’s
national politics.
Zanu PF’s headaches ahead of elections
next week are mounting as it tries to
wrest back seats lost in the last
elections.
In addition to Mugabe sidelining the Manyikas, people
interviewed by the
Independent are bitter about the continued
marginalisation of the region,
despite it being a diamond-rich
province.
Mutare is Zimbabwe’s fourth largest city sitting at the heart
of rich
diamond fields, gold and timber. The people of Manicaland are crying
for
change and do not see what more Zanu PF and Mugabe can offer them which
they
have failed to do in 33 years.
Maria Saungweme of Sakubva said:
“People here are very bitter about the
level of poverty in the area and the
fact that there are no jobs for
university graduates.
“Mugabe and
Zanu PF have failed us big time. We have diamonds in Marange,
which are just
plundered by people from outside the province. Mutare has not
changed a
single bit; we have the same buildings, no expansion or
development of the
city. It’s Mugabe’s people benefiting.”
John Makoni from Mutasa South
said he is tired of the false promises given
election after election from
Mugabe and Zanu PF.
“We will attend Zanu PF rallies and fill the stadiums
and we also attend
MDC-T rallies in huge numbers, but we know who we are
going to vote for,”
said Makoni.
“The violence of 2008 is still
lingering in our minds, so we keep our vote
close to our chests. We have
better things to do like fending for our
families, instead of running up and
down campaigning, singing party songs or
toy-toying, but come July 31, you
will see us coming out in huge numbers to
vote for change. Zanu PF had its
chance and it’s now time to try others.”
Andrew Chingawawa from Nyazura
said Zanu PF has been in power since 1980,
but service delivery is very poor
and unemployment levels are among the
highest in the world.
“We now
believe that MDC-T is our way out,” said Chingawawa. “If Zanu PF
gets more
than three seats, it will be very lucky. The problem is that we
might end up
losing Makoni Central because our leader wants to impose Simba
Makoni
(Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader). This has created a lot of confusion
which
might work to (Zanu PF candidate) Patrick Chinamasa’s
advantage.Tsvangirai
is shooting himself in the foot.”
Tsvangirai endorsed Makoni as the House
of Assembly candidate for Makoni
Central ahead of his party’s Patrick
Sagandira on the basis of a coalition
for change agreement he signed with
Makoni and Reketayi Semwayo of Zanu
Ndonga.
The Dangamvura-Chikanga
constituency is another seat under threat after
Tsvangirai also imposed
Housing Development minister Giles Mutsekwa over the
favoured candidate,
prominent lawyer Arnold Tsunga.
Even top Zanu PF sources in Manicaland
conceded that Tsunga would win over
Mutsekwa, but were hoping that the vote
would be split to give its candidate
Duru Reketai Milcah a
chance.
Mathias Muvirimi of Makoni South credited MDC-T for the improved
economic
situation in the country after the formation of the coalition
government in
2009.
“There are now groceries on the shop shelves and
there has been a remarkable
improvement in terms of the economy — thanks to
MDC-T,” said Muvirimi. “We
no longer want lies preached to us. Just watch —
Manicaland is going to
decide the election for Zimbabwe.
The
liberation war started here and it will be this province that is going
to
bring change to Zimbabwe. We are saying no to being sidelined and
marginalised.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 25, 2013 in News,
Politics
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti has said US$96 million out of the
US$132,5
million needed for elections has so far been disbursed while the
remaining
US$36 million would be released by this weekend.
Fidelity
Mhlanga
“The actual money to hold elections is now there,” said Biti. “We
want to
say to the people of Zimbabwe we are ready for elections. The
remaining
US$36 million is largely for allowances and per diems. We have
done
according to our constitution to mobilise funds,” he said.
Biti
said it was frustrating that his ministry was left alone to mobilise
funds
internally after efforts to get assistance from the international
community
hit a snag after disagreements with the ministry of justice.
He said
there was no external funding from Sadc, the United Nations (UN) or
other
donor organisations after Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa blocked a
UN
assessment team from jetting into the country for negotiations.
Biti also
said although no money came from diamond mining firms, Treasury
had to
comply with the constitution to mobilise funds without crippling the
economy.
“We have not caused corrosive taxes though we had been given
approval by
cabinet to do so. There is life after August 1. People have to
eat and
hospitals have to function,” Biti said.
Biti said he had
taken steps to cushion the economy from further limping
adding that the
occurrence of a run-off would be precarious to the economy
by squeezing the
country of another US$132 million.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 25, 2013 in News,
Politics
AS general elections fast approach, Zanu PF is now employing
various
intimidation tactics in Manicaland province, where known
perpetrators of the
2008 poll violence are threatening to beat up or even
kill those who will
not vote for President Robert Mugabe in Wednesday
general polls.
Faith Zaba
In an interview with Zimbabwe
Independent today, MDC-T Manicaland provincial
chairman Julius Magarangoma
said Zanu PF supporters were threatening their
members with a repeat of the
2008 election violence, which occurred during
the presidential run-off
period, if Mugabe loses or if there is no outright
presidential
winner.
He said as the elections draw close, there are increasing levels
of
intimidation, particularly in rural areas, whose memories are of the
violence that rocked Zimbabwe in 2008 when hundreds of people were killed as
the military embarked on a violent election campaign to rescue Mugabe after
he lost the first round of polling, are still fresh.
“Intimidation
has intensified in the last three days. Zanu PF supporters are
going around
threatening people with violence. So far they are using people
who were
involved in the 2008 election violence,” Magarangoma said.
“They have
deployed the 2008 perpetrators of violence in Buhera and other
parts of
Manicaland. These people are known by the locals. All they do is
just walk
or drive around the constituencies or just hang around the
shopping centres.
Now people are scared that they are there to mete out
violence on the
locals.”
He added that: “People were being told that they will beat up
people during
the run-off, like they did in 2008, if they don’t vote
correctly and ensure
that Mugabe wins in the first round.”
In
addition, Magarangoma said MDC-T supporters were being arrested for
engaging
in door-to-door campaigns and toy-toying.
“We are not allowed to campaign
door-to-door and police are arresting our
members saying it is illegal. This
is just part of the intimidation tactics
being employed.”
This is
happening as Mugabe, who is desperate for legitimacy if he wins July
31
elections, has been preaching peace at all his rallies.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 25, 2013 in Elections 2013,
News
FORMER Anglican Archbishop of Manicaland, Elson Jakazi, who is now
leading
another faction, has angered his church members after he openly
campaigned
for Zanu PF.
Clayton Masekesa
Jakazi, who was
involved in a protracted legal battle for the control of the
Anglican
Diocese of Manicaland with the Anglican Church of the Province of
Central
Africa (CPCA), established the Evangelical Anglican Church
International in
April this year.
The Supreme Court settled the matter early this year by
ruling in favour of
the CPCA leaving Jakazi and his followers with no option
but to establish
their own splinter church.
Addressing about 20 000
people who attended the Zanu PF star rally at Mutare
Aerodrome on Tuesday,
Jakazi said he was blessing Mugabe’s victory when he
squares off with MDC-T
leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC’s Welshman Ncube
and Zapu leader Dumiso
Dabengwa on July 31.
Jakazi said: “I want to encourage you to vote for
Zanu PF. I am blessing the
victory of Mugabe. I call upon people to choose
life and consider the future
when they vote in the forthcoming
elections.”
He said God should help Zanu PF to lead the people, adding
that Zimbabwe was
endowed with mineral resources, which the people of
Manicaland should
benefit from.
“I pray to God to help us benefit
from our resources. We are like the
Israelites and we are all yearning to go
to Canaan. I want all people to
remember this when they
vote.”
However, some of his church members said they could not be
influenced on
their individual choice of candidates.
“We are not
guided by one’s belief,” said one church member. “While he might
say he is
going to vote for Zanu PF, that statement does not necessarily
reflect our
views. I will vote for a party of my choice when the time comes.
My vote is
my secret.”
“We are very angry about his statements at the rally. The
public has to know
that those were his opinions and they were not from the
church,” said
another church member.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Business
All that
could go wrong for the economy will go wrong should President
Robert Mugabe
win the coming elections, economic experts have warned.
Chris
Muronzi
Many see a gloomy outlook for the economy in the event that
Mugabe, 89, wins
the presidential poll slated for July 31.
His
critics say Mugabe, who has been in power since Independence from
Britain in
1980, is devoid of fresh economic policies and initiatives to
propel the
country into a sustainable economic growth trajectory.
More worryingly,
analysts feel that Mugabe’s plans to re-introduce the
Zimbabwe dollar could
spell a death knell for the economy.
While the state media later attempted to
sanitise Mugabe’s plans to
re-introduce the Zimbabwe dollar once elected
into office, many feel that
his intention have been clearly spelt
out.
The Zimbabwe dollar was replaced after runaway inflation reduced the
local
currency to a worthless piece of paper. By the time, Zimbabwe adopted
multi-currencies in 2009, Zimbabweans would not accept the currency as a
legal tender in many, if not all transactions, a sign economist say is a
show of total lack of confidence in the monetary unit. On the investment
front, economists do not see Mugabe relenting on his indigenisation policy,
which compels foreign investors from owning a controlling stake in
businesses with a net asset value of US$1, pushing investors to countries
with friendlier investor policies.
Judging by Mugabe’s tone at his
rallies so far, they say he is likely going
to intensify the dreaded
indigenisation policies to the detriment of the
economy. This, they say,
will keep the economy at bay. Others say there is
little Mugabe can do to
grow the economy if elected into office that he has
not done in the last 33
years in power.
Commenting on Zanu PF plans to seize 51% of shareholding in 1
139 companies
and realise US$7 billion cash for injection into the economy,
former
journalist Basildon Peta said : “It’s all very fine and high-
sounding to
say every company of a certain value be owned by black
Zimbabweans. The only
problem is that the idea is as delusional as it is
stupid for it neither
spurs economic growth nor facilitates that
indispensable component of
economic prosperity and foreign direct
investment.”
As spelt out by Mugabe in his party’s elections Manifesto,
the aged leader
is bereft of new ideas to stimulate growth of the economy,
critics say.
“In fact, we have all heard this typical Zanu PF nonsense
before:
nationalise and seize everything possible and everybody will live
happily
ever after. It’s all a dog’s breakfast. The manifesto further
promises to
monetise idle assets and make them productive, among many other
kaput
proposals. How forced seizures of equities in companies and their
transference to black Zimbabweans, who will mostly be inept Zanu PF cronies,
will generate substantial revenues is not explained,” Peta added in an
opinion published by the NewsDay last week.
“Equally staggering is
the belief that a Zanu PF government can raise enough
capital to invest in
idle assets and make them viable when Mugabe is doing
all he can to alienate
everyone who can help his regime.”
Analysts say Mugabe has reached his
sell-by date as a champion for economic
growth and development. In the
decade to the formation of the unity
government that has presided over the
relatively sober economic growth to
date, GDP tumbled by as much as 60% due
to poor economic policies and
general economic mismanagement.
Just
last year, Finance minister Tendai Biti was forced to down grade last
year’s
economic growth forecast to 5,6% from 9,4% in the prior year.
Economists
argue that the growth Zimbabwe has experienced in the past few
years, is
relatively higher because the economy was coming off a low
base.
Bulawayo-based economist Erich Bloch said whoever is elected into
office
come end of July, will have to ensure that there is investment
security in
the country.
“The key to a substantive economic upturn is
not who wins the presidential
election, but what will be the composition of
the next government, and will
that government initiate the right actions to
achieve, and maintain, that
economic upturn,” Bloch
said.
“Essentially, whosoever comprises that government, and who is
president,
will have to restore a sense of investment security in the minds
of
potential investors and financiers by substantively modifying the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment policies and laws to be constructive
and devoid of alienation of investor security, compliance with Bilateral
Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements, realignment of taxation
legislation to accord substantially with that prevailing elsewhere in the
region, reconciliation with the presently alienated entities within the
international community.”
Bloch added the new president would also
have to constrain governmental
expenditure, constructively address
settlement of government’s and Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe’s considerable
international and national debt ,
effectively restructure parastatals to
ensure substantive service delivery
and incentivise exports and eliminate
inequitable import competition.
Should Mugabe and Zanu-PF be elected into
office, the aged leader and his
party may effect radical policy changes to
stay in power, he said.
“The bottom line is that whoever wins the
elections, the Zimbabwean populace
in general, business community in
particular as well as Foreign Direct
Investors and the international
community will adopt a ‘hurry slowly’
approach in assessing the performance
and the intentions of the next
government,” Bloch added.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Elections
2013, News, Politics
Having attended and observed the presidential
election campaigns between the
main political protagonists, President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and taking into account the
political environment and
other electoral administrative factors, my
interpretation of the July 31
poll is pointing towards a Tsvangirai
victory.
OPINION BY PEDZISAI RUHANYA
There are critical
observations of the electoral process that have assisted
my conclusion of a
victory for Tsvangirai in this decisive election.
Firstly, the political
environment attendant to the holding of the July 31
election is similar if
not much better than the March 29 2008 poll in which
the MDC parties won the
presidential and parliamentary elections
respectively.
Sadc and the
African Union (AU)’s role in ensuring an environment in which
citizens
freely express their civil and political liberties, especially the
absence
of major cases of politically-motivated violence in the country, has
helped
Tsvangirai and the opposition in general to traverse the breath and
width of
the country. In this regard, political rallies by the MDC parties
have
largely taken place without interference by the police and vigilante
militia
groups, except here and there.
Meetings by Tsvangirai in places such as
Rushinga in Mashonaland Central
province and Kotwa in Mashonaland East, two
of previously declared no-go
areas for the MDC-T, have broadened his
outreach to the electorate. The same
goes for places such as Gokwe and
Mataga in the Midlands province where
Tsvangirai attracted huge crowds at
his rallies.
This improvement and widening of the democratic space where
Tsvangirai was
able to meet ordinary people and explain his party’s policies
centred on job
creation, rural transformation, compulsory and free primary
education and
addressing maternity mortality in the hinterland, will benefit
him hugely at
the polls next week.
Secondly, the impact of the
MDC-T’s economic policies and management under
Finance minister Tendai Biti
would benefit Tsvangirai and his party hugely,
especially the dollarisation
of the economy and macro-economic policies that
addressed spiralling
inflation. This could be debatable, but generally,
Zimbabweans credit Biti
and his party for the economic order prevailing in
the
country.
Throughout the political rallies that I attended in Mutare,
Masvingo,
Bulawayo, Marondera and Kwekwe, it was clear that people do not
want a
return to the old order of economic chaos, food shortages, diseases
and the
collapse of social delivery systems such as education and health.
When
Tsvangirai pulled out a huge bundle of worthless Zimbabwe dollars, the
crowds at the rallies would shout that they would never want to return to
that order again.
They associate hyperinflation with Mugabe and Zanu
PF’s bad economic
policies. Thirdly, Tsvangirai has managed to have more
rallies in the
countryside than Mugabe who is scheduled to have less than 15
rallies
nationally due to old age and failing health. The important thing to
note
about Tsvangirai’s rallies is that people attended them freely without
any
form of coercion. More so, before Tsvangirai holds a provincial rally,
he
would have held several rallies in the districts, growth points and
critical
service centres.
It is important to note that in the March
2008 election, Tsvangirai won in
most places that he visited including in
places where Zanu PF won
parliamentary seats, but lost the presidential
vote. He also won
convincingly in most peri-urban settlements.
I have
also noticed Tsvangirai has visited all these places and even more
during
his impromptu visits. In contradistinction to Mugabe, my observation
of
Tsvangirai rallies are that people are not bused to them. The huge
rallies
by Mugabe are rather misleading.
They are provincial rallies where most
of the districts bus their supporters
because the president is only
addressing a single rally in the province.
This mainly explains the huge
numbers at his rallies. In some cases, like
one situation I witnessed in
Chitungwiza, people were forced to close their
businesses, especially
informal traders, to attend Mugabe’s rallies.
Businesses and traders are
threatened with closure if they refuse to comply.
Most of the people who
attended the rallies to protect their businesses not
for the love of the
party. Others also attended the rallies to get free
regalia that the party
has purchased in millions.
The fourth reason why Tsvangirai could win
this election, bar technical
electoral manipulation, is the Matabeleland
factor. It has been argued and
postulated that the failure by Tsvangirai and
Professor Welshman Ncube to
form an electoral coalition ahead of the poll
could hurt Tsvangirai’s
chances of victory. While this could still be a
possibility, indications at
least from the rally Tsvangirai addressed in
White City Stadium on July 20
where thousands of people attended, especially
workers in the industrial
areas, indicate that people could have learnt from
the divisions that cost
the opposition the presidency in 2008.
So,
whereas the political leaders and the elites could make their
permutations
on the basis of their alleged strengths in the region, the
Bulawayo rally
indicated people have made a choice to give Tsvangirai a
chance. This is
important because about 400 metres from the stadium, Dumiso
Dabengwa was
addressing a very poorly attended rally.
The majority of people went to
listen to Tsvangirai. If this rally can be
used to measure people’s
commitment, then it is possible to suggest that
people want to vote for a
person who has a realistic chance of defeating
Mugabe My postulation is that
the people in this region have critical agency
and could be more rational
than the elites and academics who postulate on
possible divisions without
empirical data to guide them on how people are
likely to vote.
If
what happened in Bulawayo is replicated in the other two Matabeleland
provinces, then Tsvangirai is likely to improve from how he performed in
2008. This means a possible majority vote for him in the region. If that
happens, Tsvangirai stands to win with a better margin than he did in 2008.
The fifth factor that aides a possible Tsvangirai victory is the nature of
the media landscape in the country during this election.
Unlike in
2008 where there were only two government-controlled daily
newspapers, in
this election there are two private daily newspapers —
NewsDay and Daily
News — providing coverage to all political players and in
some cases
exposing and rebutting government propaganda. Thus, the
opposition has
platforms to share their ideas and the electorate has an
opportunity to make
a choice on the basis of what the parties are offering
them as enunciated in
their manifestos.
Since the 2008 election, social media has grown
phenomenally and is playing
a critical role as a public sphere that is
beyond the realm of state
control. Many people now have cellphones on which
they can access the
internet. In this election, it is becoming difficult to
censor news and
debates as information is posted on social media without the
control of the
state. Citizens use this information to inform their
decisions.
This is why the Baba Jukwa phenomenon has rocked the country.
The faceless
Facebook character has become so popular because of exposés
that ordinarily
the official and old media can’t write or show because of
fear of losing
licenses and journalists fear possible harassment and
arrests.
The administration of an opaque and authoritarian political
system is
associated with Mugabe and his candidature is at the receiving end
of such
platforms. While it is difficult to predict the impact of Mugabe’s
health
and old age in this election, what is clear is that he is approaching
90
years and voters would ordinarily be uninterested in re-electing an old
man — Tsvangirai could largely benefit from his frailty and some glaring
memory lapses.
Tsvangirai is young and energetic as seen by his
several rallies across the
country that Mugabe could hardly do. Over and
above these factors, Mugabe’s
message is not clear, it has no hope, it is
negative and at times irrelevant
to the plight of the people. That explains
why many people leave his rallies
half-way through his speeches. There is
deep-seated discontent.
The mood in the country is that of change and
moving forward. People are not
interested in political and economic
regression. Mugabe seems to represent
the past anchored on repression and
authoritarianism. The liberal social
democratic ethos of the Tsvangirai
campaign resonates with the majority of
young people and the general public.
Ruhanya is the director of Zimbabwe
Democracy Institute.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Opinion, Politics
NEXT
Wednesday Zimbabweans will have an historic opportunity, a last chance
really, to vote out President Robert Mugabe and stop sweltering in the
unbearable heat of repression and poverty.
There is no sugarcoating
here. Mugabe’s radical authoritarian nationalism,
with its fascist leanings,
has been corrosive; for he will leave Zimbabwe in
a worse-off situation than
he took it in 1980 as poverty and suffering go
viral.
Mugabe took
over a relatively thriving economy, but today Zimbabwe is a
basket case,
courtesy of his leadership and policy failures.
However, next week’s
elections will not be about Mugabe per se, but the
future of the nation and
people’s destiny.
It will also be about future generations. So far,
Mugabe has shown he
belongs to the past. He has dismally failed in 33 years
to take the country
forward.
His campaigns and messages offer no
hope. They are about history, polemics
and other
negativities.
Besides, he is evidently reeling from old age and frailty,
hence memory
lapses, incoherent rhetoric and valedictory-style
speeches.
In short, he is manifestly a hopeless case. So, Zimbabweans
must next week
rise to the occasion, face the beast and not fear the face.
The power is
within your hands to do so. This is not the time to feel
powerless,
frightened or to wallow in self-pity. There is no room for fear
or
defeatism. It is time to act, and do so fearlessly and
decisively.
We are acutely aware elections under dictators are rigidly
controlled
plebiscites to get public endorsement of their regimes.
Dictators, who exist
primarily because of unequal internal power relations,
are not in the
business of allowing elections that could remove them from
power.
Most of the time, polls are just a charade to give the dictator a
veneer of
legitimacy, but people must next week seize the opportunity to
push the
frontiers and horizons of change.
Although most Zimbabweans
have tenaciously fought Mugabe’s ruthless regime,
sustaining serious
physical and emotional scars, and even losing their lives
in the process,
especially at the height of fierce political repression and
economic
meltdown, the battle is still on.
Yes, people have voted in their numbers
against Mugabe and Zanu PF in past
elections and results were crudely
rigged, while a militarised reaction to
defeat was mounted, but they have
not used their critical mass to make
change inescapable.
Mugabe still
holds the cards as he controls electoral institutions and the
army, but the
ballot can be more powerful than all that — just like an idea
whose time has
come. As Victor Hugo said, no army is stronger than an idea
whose time has
come.
A day will come when Zimbabwe will be free of Mugabe’s rule. A day
will come
when Zimbabwe will be more democratic and free, but that day will
only come
if Zimbabweans decide, once and for all, to break the chains of
injustice
and tyranny.
Next Wednesday offers such an historic
opportunity. It is time to stand up
and be counted. All that is needed for
forces of evil to prevail is for good
people to do nothing.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Opinion
Last week the
chairman of the board of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(Zimra) issued a
report on the revenue collections achieved in the first
half-year of
2013.
Column by Eric Bloch
Of significant merit in that report was
a realistic assessment given on the
stressed circumstances of the Zimbabwean
economy.
In contrast to most arms of government, which recurrently fail
to recognise
economic realities, the Zimra report comprehensively recognised
actualities
of the key constraints which have hindered attaining economic
substance.
At the outset of the report, Zimra chairman Sternford Moyo
states: “The
first half of 2013 has seen the Zimbabwean economy being
characterised by
liquidity constraints, power shortages, retrenchments,
scaling down of
operations and company closures, among many other
challenges.”
These factors precluded Zimra attaining its revenue
collection targets, and
thus contributed to the impecunious state of the
national fiscus (although
irrefutably the greater causes of governmental
near bankruptcy have been
excessive expenditures, oft unproductively
incurred, and the ongoing
magnitude of corruption within
ministries).
Nevertheless, Zimra nearly attained its overall collections
target, raising
US$1,66 billion against a target of US$1,67 billion,
resulting in a marginal
negative variance of 1%. The greatest source of the
revenues raised was
Value Added Tax (Vat), which yielded US$517,2 million
for the fiscus.
Second greatest was Pay As You Earn (Paye) revenues of
US$347,3 million,
followed by Excise duties of US$235,5 million. Other
revenues included
company tax, amounting to US$185,1 million, customs duty
of US$172,7
million, mining royalties of US$81,1 million, including
withholding taxes on
dividends and interest, capital gains tax, tobacco
levy, and carbon tax
whose revenues aggregated to US$118,2
million.
Among meaningful explanations enunciated in the report for
collections not
reaching targets, the Zimra chairman stated that Vat
collections in the
half-year amounted to US$517,2 million, against a target
of US$535,7
million, and that the subdued performance was due to low
capacity
utilisation and the general liquidity constraints in the
economy.
The report suggests that, in particular, “cost of living
adjustments awarded
by employers were not sufficient to spur the anticipated
revenues through
Vat”, and that “liquidity constraints also hampered the
performance of Vat
on imports, as companies lacked adequate financial
resources to import
goods”.
In like manner, customs duty collections
amounted to US$172,7 million, as
against a target of US$180,3 million,
representing a negative variance of
4%. Zimra correctly states that the
target was not achieved “because
importations were subdued due to liquidity
challenges in the economy”.
However, one must authoritatively surmise
that a further major contributant
to the collection under-performance was
the magnitude of imported goods that
evaded customs duty (and Vat) by virtue
of smuggling (much enabled by
bribery of some customs officials), and
supplemented by the extent of entry
into Zimbabwe of imported goods through
borders not manned.
In addition, it is not credibly refutable that many
products manufactured in
the Far East enter Zimbabwe disguised as allegedly
manufactured in Sadc, and
therefore exempt from customs duty.
Mining
royalties also fell far short of target, amounting to US$81,1
million, as
against a target of US$107,8 million, and this “was mainly due
to the
softening of international mineral prices, especially gold and
diamonds”.
But this was unstated in the report undoubtedly as a
consequence of ongoing
extensive smuggling out of the country by numerous
small-scale gold panners,
and of diamonds.
To a significant extent,
the shortage of the revenue collections is, as
correctly stated by Zimra’s
chairperson, due to the fragile state of the
economy, with gross
unemployment, low consumption levels, heavily diminished
production in most
economic sectors.
However, another contributory factor is that Zimbabwe’s
direct and indirect
taxation policies are non-conducive and
counter-productive to stimulating
substantial economic growth, and greater
revenue inflows to the fiscus.
Among the prime examples of such
counterproductive policies is that
government persists in imposing Income
Tax on incomes which are below the
Poverty Datum Line.
Over and above
the magnitude of the consequential demoralisation of
income-stressed workers
occasioned by such taxation, compounding their
inability to fund essential
needs, were the taxes applicable only on incomes
above the PDL, the
recipients of those incomes would have somewhat greater
spending
power.
That would yield increased revenue flows to the fiscus by way of
Vat on the
increased volumes of sales made possible by the enhanced levels
of net
employment income. Concurrently, such additional sales would yield
greater
profits to commercial enterprises, thereby generating further tax
revenues.
Moreover, the enhancement of worker-morale would facilitate
increased
productivity, which would have downstream revenue flow benefits to
the
fiscus.
Many of the economic ills so correctly identified in the
Zimra report would
also be progressively eliminated if government were to
address
constructively the motivation and generation of foreign investment,
instead
of discouraging such investment by constantly intensifying
diminution of
investment security.
Practical modification (not
repeal!) of Zimbabwe’s Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment legislation,
and the implementation thereof, belated
compliance with Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreements,
and realignment of taxation policies
with those prevailing elsewhere in the
region would be highly conducive to
attracting substantial investment, which
would be a stimulant for increased
employment, trade volumes (including
exports), and hence for greater
taxation inflows (direct and indirect) to
the fiscus.
Government’s
rapacious needs for tax revenues would be markedly reduced if
corruption
within the corridors of power was vigorously contained, and if
there would
be vigorous curtailment of unproductive expenditures by the
state.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Opinion
President
Robert Mugabe’s detachment from the reality on the ground was laid
bare at
his rally in Mutare on Tuesday.
By the MuckRaker
Instead of
telling the residents of Manicaland about policies his government
would
enact to improve their plight, Mugabe excoriated them for voting for
the
MDC-T in the last elections. And in typical Mugabe style it was never
Zanu
PF’s fault; the people had “lost their way”.
Mugabe’s rather dreary
speech failed to liven up even a captive crowd. That’s
how bad it has become
these days.
The memory lapses and forgetting people’s names, dates and
events is not
helping either. At the launch of Zanu PF’s manifesto in
Highfield, Mugabe
mixed up the date the National Democratic Party, which
preceded Zapu, was
formed in 1961. He also referred to the late
nationalist-cum-medical
practitioner Dr Edward Pswarayi as Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai.
The hero of the day for Zanu PF turned out to be
master of ceremonies Cde
Supa Mandiwanzira whose waxing lyrical would have
made Webster Shamu proud.
At least Mandiwanzira has stopped pretending to be
impartial.
Not to be outdone, Didymus Mutasa made an ode to Mugabe at the
rally in
which he said ndinokudai chaizvo (I love you with all my
heart).
Ironically the love poem came soon after Mugabe had attacked
gays!
Yet another chance
Zanu PF is making hay over a poster of
Tendai Biti looking at a copy of
their manifesto.
“Our manifesto has
excited everyone,” the caption reads.
But look more carefully. Morgan
Tsvangirai is having a good laugh over the
naivety of the
document.
Of course politicians are inclined to make extravagant claims
at election
time. But none quite match President Mugabe’s claim that Zanu PF
will
“quickly reverse” the stagnation experienced by Bulawayo during the
tenure
of the inclusive government.
“People have suffered enough,” he
declared in Lupane. “We want to give them
a government that will correct the
wrongs done in the last five years.”
If he is able to correct the wrongs
of the past five years, why hasn’t he
done so already?
Was he
paralysed during the tenure of the inclusive government, unable to do
anything useful?
Disturbed driver
Mutumwa Mawere recently
weighed in on Mugabe’s propensity to blame others
for his government’s
failures on the newly-formed 1st TV.
“How can you blame a passenger
(Tsvangirai) for an accident unless President
Mugabe can claim he was
disturbed from driving the car?” queried Mawere.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF
Politburo member Naison Ndlovu urged the electorate to
demonstrate their
“gratitude” to President Mugabe in the upcoming general
elections. We are
sure voters will have a present for him on July 31.
Sudden
concern
Then there was the “specialist treatment” Dr Chimedza was
suddenly offering
in Gutu South last weekend.
Chimedza said the
“quest to ensure access to health for ordinary people” had
always been his
passion.
Since when? As Zimpapers chair, we always thought the quest to
ensure the
public media remained partisan had been his passion.
And
why are colleagues in the medical sector only now being mobilised to
serve
the poor? What has he and his party been doing over the past five
years?
“My main wish is to make sure that ordinary people of
Zimbabwe, even in
remote corners of the country, have access to medical
facilities and I will
continue to fight to make that a reality one day,” he
claimed. But when is
“one day”? Will poor villagers have to wait for another
five years before
relief comes?
And how professional is it to get
involved in Zanu PF’s election campaign?
Should doctors who have taken the
Hippocratic oath lend themselves to
promises of this sort to win votes for a
political party?
Zanu PF (mis)rule
Tsvangirai was also making
promises although his were not medical. He
promised to roll out a housing
programme to improve the welfare of rural
folk.
“Most people still
live in poor houses reminiscent of those of our ancestors
such as Ambuya
Nehanda,” he said.
But why has nobody said anything about the victims of
Murambatsvina? Instead
we hear of populist measures designed to win urban
votes.
So first Zanu PF boots out urban residents, then it tells those that
remain
they needn’t pay rates any more. Exactly how do you run a city along
these
lines?
Telling it like it is
What a breath of fresh air
Lindiwe Zulu has been. She tells it like it is
and there is not much chance
of President Mugabe silencing her.
She is the sort of person we need right
now. One of ZTV’s talking heads, Dr
Charity Manyeruke, says Zulu is a
mafikizolo who needs to be schooled in
politics.
So who’s the
mafikizolo here? How many Zimbabweans know Zulu was an Umkhonto
weSizwe
cadre in the 1970s? What contribution did Manyeruke make to the
struggle for
independence, or any of that gang of stooges who advertise
their foolishness
on television on a daily basis?
The Herald says her language would make a
truck driver green with envy. What
language is that? Who goes around calling
their critics a street-woman?
The private media should hang their heads
in shame, the Herald’s editor
pontificates. What nonsense! Zulu is fighting
for a democratic Zimbabwe, the
same as most people in this country. Who does
the lickspittle Herald stand
for?
A cabal of redundant nationalists
clinging to power with nothing to offer
the electorate except more of the
same? Their message is “We promise to do
what we haven’t done in 33 years.”
And of course they have been doing their
best to avoid democratic change and
progress.
Blame the messenger
If Lindiwe Zulu reminds Mugabe and
his henchmen of what they pledged to do
in 2008 then that is precisely what
she should be doing.
Don’t we all know things are not looking good on the
ground? Shouldn’t she
have stated the obvious?
Zulu need not worry.
She enjoys the confidence of all progressive
Zimbabweans who want
change.
And as a trusted confidante of President Zuma she has little to
fear from
Mugabe’s tirades. We are sure the president knows the aphorism
about stones
and glass houses!
Our Mother Theresa
Meanwhile,
we note with interest that Grace Mugabe is referring to herself
as “mother
of the nation”.
“I pledge to provide regularly so that you do not
starve,” she told an
audience in Gwanda.
“Matabeleland South should
not starve when I, the mother of the nation, am
here.”
“I have
brought food for you,” she announced.
Is it permitted for candidates to court
voters with promises of food? Isn’t
this covered by Section 136 of the
Electoral Act? And should Grace be
calling herself “mother of the
nation”?
It is surely up to the people to confer such affection upon the
president’s
wife. Not for her to confer it upon herself.
Waiting for
Godot
Yet another “man of God” has emerged from the woodwork claiming
President
Mugabe is a “God chosen leader for Zimbabwe”.
Following in
the ignoble footsteps of Obadiah Msindo and Johannes Ndanga,
Reverend Sam
Malunga said “prophetic utterances” and “spiritual revelation”
showed him
Mugabe had been chosen by God. Mugabe’s leadership is not limited
by time,
Malunga claimed, but is a “calling from God”.
Malunga’s Tehillar
Christian Network sounds suspiciously similar to another
Zanu PF “church”,
Destiny for Afrika Network. Clearly there are no limits to
Zanu PF duplicity
before elections.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Opinion
ZIMBABWE has
been an unpredictable country over the past 13 years, but in a
checkered
history that has kept lurching from crisis to crisis, one event
has kept
coming back with certainty –– elections.
Candid Comment with Dingilizwe
Ntuli
Past elections have been marred by violence and intimidation
coupled with
the state-controlled media’s relentless demonising of Zanu PF’s
opponents.
However, since the last elections in 2008, a social media
revolution has
transformed the political and journalistic landscape in
Zimbabwe and indeed
the world.
The development of social media
networks like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp
has drastically changed the way
we interact with each other and dramatically
altered how the public consumes
information and news. Social media has also
increased the speed information
is gathered and disseminated.
Gone are the days of previous elections
when people solely depended on the
polarised media for news and
information.
While Facebook states on its homepage that it “helps you
connect and share
with the people in your life”, it also provides a
relatively safe forum to
debate political issues without fear because of the
cover of anonymity it
provides, particularly in our restrictive media
environment.
On August 28, 2009 mobile service provider Econet launched
the country’s
first mobile broadband enabling cellphone users to access the
internet via
their smartphones.
This helped surge internet
connectivity in Zimbabwe to the current levels of
4,5
million.
According to polling organisation Gallup International, Zimbabwe
has about
1,5 million Facebook users, but the figures could be higher
considering the
mobile phone penetration of 97%.
As US President
Barack Obama proved in his 2008 election campaign, social
media has proved
to be a useful organising tool.
It provides a means for news to travel in
smaller, more digestible forms and
has also become increasingly important in
keeping constituents tuned in to
political news and happenings as well as
providing a means of cheap and
efficient communication not bound by
geographical limitations.
Our political leadership has proved time and
again to be out of touch with
reality and to distort the truth. Social media
has come in to address some
of these challenges.
The Arab Spring,
which saw a series of protests and demonstrations in
Tunisia, Egypt, Libya,
and Yemen that began in December 2010, is widely
credited to have been
organised, publicised and updated via social networks.
A Social media
phenomenon like Baba Jukwa has effectively used Facebook to
push the
boundaries of media freedom and the free flow of information by
exposing
some dark state secrets.
Baba Jukwa has become a social media sensation
in Zimbabwe with about 280
000 Facebook likes compared to the pages of
President Robert Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who have about
100 000 likes each.
Next week’s elections provide Zimbabweans with the
perfect opportunity to
make use of social media to take election coverage to
new levels by sending
live updates in their respective locations, given the
lack of transparency
of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the
Registrar-General’s Office.
Zimbabweans must make use social media to
increase capacity for open
discussion of political matters.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Opinion
WHATEVER the outcome of
Wednesday’s general elections, this was a formidable
mission for President
Robert Mugabe’s opponents who were up against a
ruthless and experienced
political machine.
The Zimbabwe Independent Editorial
Firstly, we
had Tobaiwa Mudede with his masterful impression of how to
mismanage the
electoral roll. His dexterity saw a number of Rhodesian Front
ministers
resuscitated, while more recent politicians were denied access to
the
electronic version of the roll.
Meanwhile, the military were giving us
the benefit of their one-dimensional
political views while the party they
sought to promote declined to introduce
the reforms envisaged in the
elections roadmap.
Indeed, Zanu PF saw the constitution-making exercise
as designed to block
reforms of any significance. The result was a fudge
instead of a fanfare.
On that basis, next Wednesday’s elections will be
flawed from the outset. It
is already disputed. Much that needed to be done
has not been done, while
many things that didn’t need to be done have been
done.
If Mugabe wins, indigenisation which has done so much damage to the
economy
will be pursued with a vengeance, scaring off any possible
investors. The
proceeds of the forthcoming raid on the banks will be used to
fund land
depredations.
The president has even spoken of seizing
wildlife conservancies to provide
more available land. The consequences will
be too ghastly to contemplate as
events in the Save Conservancy
show.
But more generally we will witness a further downturn in the
economy if Zanu
PF wins with a landslide. There could indeed be a landslide
but maybe Mugabe
will lie beneath it.
If he wins the current economic
stability will be jeopardised. Instead there
will be decline with the old
guard back to inflict more damage.
Zanu PF is already proposing populist
measures such as cancellation of
municipal rates arrears and the
consequences will come back to haunt us.
This is misrule writ large, typical
of Mugabe.
The public media, which was supposed to provide different
parties a platform
to air their views and explain their manifestos, has been
turned into a Zanu
PF propaganda mouthpiece in defence of a cabal of
politicians with an
alarming record of failure.
Economists have said
the scale of the likely decline will take us back to
the era before 1997.
The situation is made worse by the incompetence of the
MDC-T and their weak
response to the challenge facing us. Morgan Tsvangirai
woke up very late to
the threat and has been trying to make up for lost
time.
We need
dynamic leadership but are unlikely to get it whoever wins. No
matter what
his shortcomings, Tsvangirai will at least take Zimbabwe forward
one way or
another.
The last thing Zimbabwe needs are failed rulers who don’t
understand the
need to get out of the way so a younger generation can take
charge. Mugabe
is a one-man disaster whose populist demagoguery has
inflicted untold damage
as we shall soon see if he wins.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 26, 2013 in Opinion
A 14th century
Chinese parable by Liu-Ji outlines a derelict understanding
of political
power quite well.
Editor’s Memo with Dumisani Muleya
In the feudal
state of Chu an old man survived by keeping monkeys in his
service. The
people of Chu called him “Jugong” (monkey master).
Each morning the old man
would assemble the monkeys in his courtyard and
order the eldest one to lead
the others to the mountains to gather fruit.
Each monkey had to give
one-tenth of his collection to the old man. Those
who failed to do so would
be ruthlessly whipped. All the monkeys suffered
bitterly but dared not
complain.
This story, originally titled Rule by Tricks is from Yu-li-zi
by Liu Ji and
has been translated by Sidney Tai.
Yu-li-zi is also the
pseudonym of Liu Ji. The translation was originally
published in Nonviolent
Sanctions: News from the Albert Einstein
Institution.
One day a small
monkey asked the other primates: “Did the old man plant all
the fruit trees
and bushes?”
The other monkeys anxiously replied: “No, they grew
naturally.” The small
monkey further asked: “Can’t we take the fruits
without the old man’s
permission?” The others responded: “Yes, we all
can!”
The small monkey continued: “Then, why should we depend on the old man;
why
must we all serve him?”
Before the small monkey was able to
finish, all the monkeys suddenly became
enlightened and woke up to the
reality of the miserable conditions and
existential threats.
On the
same night, watching that the old man had fallen asleep, the monkeys
tore
down all the barricades of the stockade in which they were confined,
and
destroyed the enclosure entirely. They also took the fruits the old man
had
in storage to the woods and never returned.
The old man finally died of
starvation. Yu-li-zi says, “Some men in the
world rule their people by
tricks and not by righteous principles. Aren’t
they just like the monkey
master?”
The moral of the story is contrary to popular opinion, leaders
including
rulers like President Robert Mugabe, are dependent on the
population and
societies they rule for survival. While some people think
Zimbabweans owe
Mugabe and Zanu PF a living, the reality is they owe their
rule to the
people.
Although rulers exert influence over the people
through power and coercion,
in reality people are masters of their countries
and boss to their
governments because they can change them as and when they
want if they are
get an opportunity and are determined enough.
That’s
why we talk of “government of the people, by the people, for the
people”, as
the US declaration of independence put it. Leaders and
governments come and
go, but people remain.
When Zimbabwe’s liberation movements, of which
Mugabe and others were part,
swept across the region and the country their
objective was to restore the
status of people as masters, not slaves of
their governments. It is sad to
realise that 33 years after independence,
Zimbabweans are treated as
servants and Mugabe as their king.
We are
always told we must be grateful to Mugabe and his cabal for
liberating us.
The people’s role in the struggle is conveniently forgotten.
This sort of
thinking not only reflects the arrogance of politicians, but
also
indifference of the people themselves.
It is the root cause of failure in
many African countries. So next week
Zimbabweans must behave like the
monkeys who brought down walls of
repression and broke chains of tyranny
after realising they are the masters
of their own destiny and Jugong ––the
monkey master –– could not survive
without their support.
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