Source: Zanu PF govt has failed democratic test: Analysts – NewsDay Zimbabwe
BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA
GOVERNMENT was yesterday blasted for inheriting and maintaining colonial civic suppression tactics 41 years after independence.
This came out during a virtual meeting conducted by SIVIO Institute to discuss the state of affairs in the country 41 years after independence.
East and Southern Africa Amnesty International regional director Deprose Muchena said the present government had failed to uphold its pledge to transform the lives of citizens, and instead closed the little available democratic space in the country.
“The new nationalist leaders promised to dismantle the colonial State, that is its laws, policies and its institutional framework, including weaponisation of the law, racism and discrimination,” he said.
“The leaders also promised to offer a sense of belonging to the citizens. Government also promised to respect human rights. However, at 41, the human rights question is still one of the biggest questions that human right defenders are still dealing with.”
Law expert Alex Magaisa said: “There is a democratic deficit in post-independent Zimbabwe. There is still exclusion in politics precisely because the ruling party (Zanu PF) views itself as the State and it has caused many challenges for the nation to move forward. Zimbabwe is not the only country which was colonised. So many African countries have been colonised although in different circumstances but many have managed to move on from colonisation and develop forward.”
Legal expert Munyaradzi Gwisai said the Zimbabwean government made efforts to honour its independence promises during the first two years, but regressed thereafter.
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COMMENTS
When it comes to freedom, it is naive to take people like Alex Magaisa and other MDC leaders seriously because they had the opportunity to end Zanu PF dictatorship during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and they wasted it.
It is true that the MDC MPs did not make the best use of their positions during GNU, and some even brought shame on themselves and MDC when they began to look more like ZANUPF at the feeding trough. However, remember that the agreement for a GNU required that Mugabe remain in the top spot, and he did all in his power to oppose reforms that would have implemented democracy and brought freedom and equality to the people. ZANUPF had lost the election, but so many were childishly naive to trust that snake Mugabe was honorable enough to be trusted. Snakes are just that way… the same way blind trust was put into Mnangagwa when he took over, but he has no honor or integrity, and was NEVER deserving of any trust at all. Face it, history has PROVEN beyond a shadow of doubt that ZANUPF can not be trusted… they are thieves, bandits, pirates, murderers, kidnappers, extortionists, and all the things that has destroyed the nation and enslaved its people.