ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: ZANU PF, A PARTY ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE!!

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: ZANU PF, A PARTY ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE!!: ZANU PF’s chaotic primary elections held this week have left the party deeply divided and in turmoil ahead of crucial polls slated for July...

ZANU PF, A PARTY ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE!!

ZANU PF’s chaotic primary elections held this week have left the party deeply divided and in turmoil ahead of crucial polls slated for July 31, raising fears of a repeat of the 2008 bhora musango strategy (internal sabotage) by losers and disgruntled members. Controversial disqualifications, re-admissions through the backdoor and impositions of candidates, poor logistics, lack of information, shortage of ballot papers, attempts to run-away with ballot boxes, delayed announcement of results and allegations of rigging were some of the problems which characterised Zanu PF’s primary elections on Tuesday and Wednesday. One of the biggest problems which the party now faces before the general elections is that, infighting and divisions are likely to worsen as shown by previous experiences. The primaries left a trail of divisions and bitterness, creating room for internal sabotage in the general elections. A senior Zanu PF politburo official said yesterday after muddling through the primaries officials now have a challenging task of managing the acrimonious aftermath so that the resultant fallouts do not undermine the party’s prospects in the general elections.

“Primary elections suck up and waste vast resources, including large sums of money. But they just don’t drain resources, they also exhaust the candidates physically and emotionally, while leaving the losers licking their wounds and winners limping before facing bigger opponents in the general elections,” the official said. “Beyond that, hotly contested primaries intensify internal divisions and infighting. Such intraparty conflicts contribute to the loss of votes in the general election, for supporters of losing candidates will either vote for MDC parties’ candidates or abstain altogether.”

Another official said: “That is the problem when primaries are not held properly and well managed. They can be destructive and in our case we didn’t have time to hold them properly and allow a healing period. Such was the case in 2008. It may well be that our biggest enemy may not be the MDC parties, which are losing support anyway, but ourselves.”

After Zanu PF lost the 2008 parliamentary elections for the first time since 1980, President Robert Mugabe blamed internal divisions and wrangling for the defeat. Mugabe was also affected as he became a victim of bhora musango strategy. Some Zanu PF candidates in the parliamentary polls campaigned for themselves alone, urging their supporters to vote for whoever they wanted when it came to the presidential election. The internal polls to choose party representatives for the watershed polls reignited deep-seated factionalism within the party, particularly in volatile Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Mashonaland West and Matabeleland provinces. The provinces have been dogged by bickering over the years, which led to the disbandment of district coordinating committees last year.

The primary elections became a theatre for internal political power struggles as the main factions battled to seize control of the party and position themselves to produce a successor to Mugabe (89), now reeling from old age and reported ill-health. Battle lines were drawn on a factional basis between the two main rival camps led by Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. The polls, which were characterised by violence, intimidation, voting irregularities and ballot rigging, also saw young turks and candidates with security backgrounds battling it out with the old guard.  However, most members of the old guard won, ensuring Zanu PF failed its internal test of renewal. This would guarantee that the party remains dominated by deadwood ahead of its elective congress next year.

During the primaries this week, daggers were drawn as the two factions battled to outdo each other. There was some bloodbath in some provinces as heavyweights fell by the wayside. Some of Mnangagwa’s key allies who lost include Larry Mavhima, Paul Mangwana, Shylet Uyoyo (Masvingo women’s league chairperson) and Trainos Huruba (Masvingo political commissar). Key officials in Mujuru’s camp who were defeated include Rugare Gumbo, the faction’s stalwart in the Midlands, Basil Nyabadza and Lazarus Dokora. Allegations of rigging were raised in Bindura North where ballot papers were distributed late Wednesday afternoon after one of the candidates protested and threatened to withdraw from the race. The ballot papers were printed at the winning candidate, Kenneth Musanhi’s company and distribution was haphazard amid allegations he first sent them to areas where he was stronger.

There was drama in Midlands amid allegations of rigging and flashes of violence. For long periods it appeared Gumbo would win by a huge margin but results from Masase, Mberengwa, were withheld as allegations of ballot stuffing were raised. In the end, Mnangagwa’s ally, July Moyo won with more than 19 000 votes against Gumbo’s 14 000. “People in Mberengwa, especially those from Gumbo’s home area, Mbuya Nehanda and Mataruse, are fuming. They feel he was cheated,” a Gumbo supporter said. Another politburo member said: “It is unfortunate that some candidates manipulated the figures. This will definitely affect us at the next elections. I don’t know how we are going to handle these cases when nomination court sits tomorrow (today).”

In Masvingo, Tafadzwa Shumba of Mwenezi West also alleged ballot stuffing and has since appealed against the results which saw Lemson Matavire winning. In Mashonaland West province, local government Ignatius Chombo’s re-election was controversial after his ex-wife Marian was first disqualified and then re-admitted following demonstrations by her supporters at the party headquarters in Harare but later found her name missing from the ballot papers. In Bikiti West where Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono’s former advisor Munyaradzi Kereke was said to have won, results were however withheld for undisclosed reasons. Kereke had initially been disqualified by the politburo before he was reinstated after frantic lobbying. A lot of appeals are expected despite nomination of candidates today.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: ZRPCAMPAIGNING FOR ZANU-PF, WERE IS THE OPPOSITIO...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS:
ZRPCAMPAIGNING FOR ZANU-PF, WERE IS THE OPPOSITIO...: ZRP CAMPAIGNING FOR ZANU-PF, WERE IS THE OPPOSITION GRAND-COALITION? Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) commanders have embarked on a ful...

ZRP CAMPAIGNING FOR ZANU-PF, WERE IS THE OPPOSITION GRAND-COALITION?

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) commanders have embarked on a full-throttle campaign for Zanu PF by ordering all officers in charge of police stations to ensure that all subordinates and their next of kin, particularly those residing in the camps, are registered to vote for the party. A senior police officer told Zimbabwe Independent that this directive is designed to intimidate the cops and their families about a month before what could be one of the closely-contested elections in the country’s history. Those who “disobey” have been threatened with dismissal from the force and eviction from police camps. “All those residing in police camps have to show proof that they voted for Zanu PF by writing serial numbers on the ballot papers against their identification numbers on the station lists,” said the officer. Recently, commanders have been touring police stations countrywide urging officers, their spouses and everyone residing in police camps to register for elections and vote for Zanu PF in a move critics have branded as efforts to mislead, intimidate or pressure them ahead of the elections. Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri recently told a gathering of police officers’ spouses that they should be “patriotic and demonstrate their love of the country by returning Zanu PF to power”.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OFMUJURU WAS THE WORK OF THE ...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS:
THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OFMUJURU WAS THE WORK OF THE ...: THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OF MUJURU WAS THE WORK OF THE INVISIBLE HAND!!! To what extent was Mujuru a victim of conspiracy?  When one goes ...

THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OF MUJURU WAS THE WORK OF THE INVISIBLE HAND!!!

To what extent was Mujuru a victim of conspiracy?  When one goes through the rules of procedure and evidence it is clear that an invisible hand was prevalent. Mujuru sought to have peace with his nemesis in the party, Emmerson Mnangagwa, soon before his death. He phoned Mnangagwa to find out whether they could have a meeting to discuss various ways to resolve the succession dilemma in the party as President Robert Mugabe was resisting exit from the throne. Mujuru pointed to Mnangagwa that people were spreading rumours that the two of them were sworn enemies and that they were responsible for dragging the party into extinction.

The General requested whether Mnangagwa would agree to a face-to-face meeting to discuss this and he agreed. The two met at Mnangagwa’s Tynwald Farm on the western side of Harare. Mujuru shared with him that the only way to save the party was for both of them to go to Mugabe and tell him to step down during the period of the inclusive government and leave one of them as the leader of the party and the country.

Mujuru suggested that he was comfortable if either one of them became President and the other became First Vice President. He told Mnangagwa that Amai Mujuru would step down as he could influence her. The General even said that the two of them could revive the fortunes of the party to 1980 level. He pointed out that the President was now a liability both to the party and the country. The two agreed that this was the route to go. They planned to have a meeting with Mugabe to tell him their thoughts. Mujuru said he was prepared to present the message as he had nothing to fear from sharing his thoughts about how the party and the country could move forward. Unbeknown to Mujuru, soon after the meeting Mnangagwa phoned and requested an urgent meeting with Mugabe.

Mnangagwa told the President that he had an urgent security issue to discuss with him. At that meeting he briefed the President about his meeting with the General and how they plotted to have him step down. He told the President everything they planned and their need for a meeting with him. Mugabe and Mnangagwa then planned to grant the meeting immediately, listen to Mujuru and plan how to deal with him thereafter. The meeting was held and, as agreed, Mujuru explained to the President the state of the party and the country.

He told Mugabe that the legacy of the liberation struggle was being tarnished and warned him that if he continued in defiance, the party and the nation would be rubble. They told Mugabe that he had had his time and it was wise for him to leave while there were still positive memories about him. Mujuru believed that he could still influence the old man to call it a day as he was the one who assisted Mugabe to be the leader of ZANU during the tumultuous period of the liberation struggle when several commanders refused his leadership of the ZANLA forces. But the President was already angry about the role the General had played in encouraging Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa to rebel against him. He was also aware that the General had a huge hand in the disinformation trail which the Central Intelligence Organization produced up to the run-off the March 2008 elections. During that time the Director-General of the CIO Happyton Bonyongwe was leading a disinformation crusade, telling Mugabe that everything was rosy, while underground some intelligence officers ground campaigning for Makoni. Bonyongwe owed Mujuru because he was appointed to the position of Director General (CIO) over the head of his then boss, Rtd Brigadier General Elisha Muzonzini, who was unceremoniously shuffled to Kenya as Ambassador.

Mnangagwa was anxious for revenge against Mujuru, who had plotted his humiliation when he failed to become Vice President of the party and the country. Mugabe is an avid student and follower of the Machiavellian theorem: that you must be as cunning as a fox.

When you commit the mission it must be done in a manner that does not show suspicion and after carrying out the elimination of undesirable elements around you, you must speak glowingly of that person at his funeral. This is exactly what Mugabe and Mnangagwa did. The General was told that they would conclude the matter as soon as the President returned from the SADC Luanda Summit. While he was there, a senior army general was tasked with working with the CIO through a protégé of Menard Muzariri (former deputy DG of the CIO) - who brought in his three Lebanese assassins based in South Africa to accomplish the mission to eliminate the General.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: OPPRESSIVE LAWS ALIVE AND WELL IN ZIMBABWEOppres...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS:
OPPRESSIVE LAWS ALIVE AND WELL IN ZIMBABWE
Oppres...: OPPRESSIVE LAWS ALIVE AND WELL IN ZIMBABWE Oppressive laws that were in force in 2008, such as the Public Order and Security Act, a...

OPPRESSIVE LAWS ALIVE AND WELL IN ZIMBABWE

Oppressive laws that were in force in 2008, such as the Public Order and Security Act, and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, often abused by Zanu-PF-aligned sections of the police to punish opponents, remain on the statute books. Zimbabwe's highly partisan police force continues to harass and arbitrarily arrest civil society activists and members of the MDC under these laws. Those who dare to criticize Mugabe or peacefully protest against economic and political conditions in the streets can be arrested, beaten or tortured. The leadership of the police, army and the state broadcaster continue to brazenly support Zanu-PF, while sidelining the MDC. And the MDC, lacking control of the state bureaucracy, has been powerless to enact democratic reforms. The economy has somewhat improved under the power-sharing government, although these gains are still beyond the reach of many Zimbabweans living below the poverty line. The country's health and education systems, decimated before 2009, are up and running. However, even these improvements can unravel if Zimbabwe rushes headlong toward ill-prepared elections.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: MUGABE FORCED TO MOVE ELECTION DATE!! Robert Mug...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: MUGABE FORCED TO MOVE ELECTION DATE!!

 Robert Mug...: MUGABE FORCED TO MOVE ELECTION DATE!!   Robert Mugabe at the SADC meeting of regional leaders, who called for the Zimbabwe election...

MUGABE FORCED TO MOVE ELECTION DATE!!

 Robert Mugabe at the SADC meeting of regional leaders, who called for the Zimbabwe election deadline to be pushed back.  Zimbabwe's highest court has received an application from Robert Mugabe's party to delay crucial elections by at least two weeks following pressure from regional leaders. The president has insisted he is merely abiding by a previous court order in holding general elections on 31 July. The prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, a longtime opponent of Mugabe and opposition leader, wants the vote to be held in September.

Zimbabwe's last elections in 2008 were plagued by violence and ultimately forced Mugabe to join a power-sharing government with the opposition. Officials at the constitutional court said the papers submitted by Mugabe's party asked the court to review the earlier ruling that called for a vote before the end of July. Wednesday's move comes days after southern African regional leaders met in Mozambique and pushed for an extension until 14 August so key electoral reforms and poll preparations can take place. The justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said in the papers filed at the constitutional court that he was directed by a summit of the regional presidents in Mozambique to file an urgent application to postpone the elections and asked for an extension to 14 August, court officials said.

Tomaz Salomão, secretary general of the 15-nation regional, political and economic bloc known as the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, said on Tuesday the presidents had urged Mugabe and all political groups to heed their concerns over early elections. He said the SADC grouping pledged to recognise any new decision by Zimbabwe's highest court. "If the court does not accept the appeal our task is to deploy our observers to ensure there is at least a conducive environment for elections," he said.
Tsvangirai insists new elections can be called as late as October under the nation's new constitution to allow time for democratic reforms spelled out in both the power-sharing coalition agreement and the constitution to be put into place to pave the way for a free and fair vote. His party says a two-week extension is still inadequate to complete reforms to sweeping media and security laws, and changes in the police, military and security services, traditionally loyal to Mugabe, to ensure their impartiality. Mugabe declared the July poll date on 13 June, saying he was obeying the ruling of the constitutional court that linked the need for elections to a month after the automatic dissolution of the Harare parliament at the end of its current five-year term on 28 June. His announcement on the voting date meant the drafting of amendments to longstanding election laws were frozen on legal and procedural grounds. No date was set for the appeal before the bench of nine judges at the constitutional court.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: A SENSE OFIMPENDING DOOM, AS ZIM HEADS FOR ELECTIO...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: A SENSE OFIMPENDING DOOM, AS ZIM HEADS FOR ELECTIO...: A SENSE OF IMPENDING DOOM, AS ZIM HEADS FOR ELECTIONS!!! For millions of Zimbabweans, the new year is less a symbol of hope than of d...

A SENSE OF IMPENDING DOOM, AS ZIM HEADS FOR ELECTIONS!!!

For millions of Zimbabweans, the new year is less a symbol of hope than of dread. Elections are supposed to take place in 2013, and judging from past experience, they augur nothing more than violence, torture and death, accompanied by economic meltdown and political chaos. As Human Rights Watch notes in its new report, Race Against Time: The need for legal and institutional reforms ahead of Zimbabwe's elections, the former ruling party, the Zanu-PF, has so far blocked important reforms that could pave the way for peaceful, free and fair elections. The UK government and the EU should, when they meet next month to review targeted sanctions against the president, Robert Mugabe, and his inner circle, press for proper reforms ahead of internationally monitored elections before talking about a shift in policy toward Zimbabwe.

During a visit to Zimbabwe in November, I got a vivid sense of impending doom. People told me of their feelings of deja vu: another cycle of electoral violence was approaching, but little had changed on the ground. Instead of focusing on pulling themselves out of poverty and on rebuilding lives shattered by the 2008 wave of political repression, they were bracing themselves for further chaos. This is not paranoia. The 2008 general elections were riddled with extreme violence by the security forces and supporters of Zanu-PF. Security forces and supporters killed over 200 people and beat, tortured and displaced thousands more. I spoke to scores of battered victims who told of how the police failed to protect them or ensure justice. It was a period of terror, when the state machinery was unleashed on ordinary Zimbabweans and little has changed since then, despite the formation of a unity government between Zanu-PF, led by Mugabe, and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe's declaration late last year that Zimbabwe would hold elections this year with or without a new constitution dashed hopes of a peaceful election and the promise that a new constitution would level the political playing field. Some Zimbabweans told me that to avoid being targeted by Mugabe's thugs and henchmen, as in 2008, they falsely professed allegiance to Zanu-PF by attending rallies and party activities and making donations to the party. Others moved around with Zanu-PF membership cards or other party regalia that included, for motorists, displaying scarves with Mugabe's face or Zanu-PF's logo. Zanu-PF supporters have already developed a jingle frequently played on state television and radio that loosely translates to: "In the [president's] office, Bob [Mugabe] still reigns supreme." Memories of the beatings, killings, rapes and other abuses that took place in 2008 remain fresh in the minds of thousands of victims and their relatives across the country. They know that those who carried out the violence have not been brought to book, and that there is nothing to stop them from committing similar acts this year.

Oppressive laws that were in force in 2008, such as the Public Order and Security Act, and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, often abused by Zanu-PF-aligned sections of the police to punish opponents, remain on the statute books. Zimbabwe's highly partisan police force continues to harass and arbitrarily arrest civil society activists and members of the MDC under these laws. Those who dare to criticise Mugabe or peacefully protest against economic and political conditions in the streets can be arrested, beaten or tortured. The leadership of the police, army and the state broadcaster continue to brazenly support Zanu-PF, while sidelining the MDC. And the MDC, lacking control of the state bureaucracy, has been powerless to enact democratic reforms. The economy has somewhat improved under the power-sharing government, although these gains are still beyond the reach of many Zimbabweans living below the poverty line. The country's health and education systems, decimated before 2009, are up and running. However, even these improvements can unravel if Zimbabwe rushes headlong toward ill-prepared elections.

For Zimbabwe's neighbours and international donors such as the UK government, the establishment of the unity government brought with it a veneer of normality. Some felt it was time to restore all ties with Zimbabwe, encouraged by positive reports from the MDC side of government that all was well in this marriage of inconvenience. However, conditions on the ground are a sign that neighbours and donors need to exercise caution before they re-engage fully with the government. It is also time for South Africa's president Jacob Zuma, who has been facilitating political negotiations in Zimbabwe on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to insist that Zimbabwe's political leaders put the interests of Zimbabweans first – before all else. The UK and others should be working with Zuma toward this goal. There is little point in holding elections that, in essence, will be without choice, and that can only result in another round of bloodshed and destruction.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: WINNING OVER A DICTATOR-BLUE-PRINT!!

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: WINNING OVER A DICTATOR-BLUE-PRINT!!: Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has announced that he will hold elections before the end of July – ostensibly respecting by a recent c...

WINNING OVER A DICTATOR-BLUE-PRINT!!

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has announced that he will hold elections before the end of July – ostensibly respecting by a recent court ruling but in effect over-riding calls for political reforms before the vote takes place. In the coalition government, Mugabe's Zanu-PF has stalled reforms over the last four years by diverting attention towards the removal of western sanctions. It is now inconceivable that the changes necessary for a free and fair vote will be instituted in the next few weeks, and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) will have to find another way to defeat Zanu-PF.

Embrace populism

Buoyed by the 'Africa rising' narrative, nationalism is on the rise across the continent, and Zimbabwe is no exception. In recent elections in Zambia and Kenya, the victors – Michael Sata and Uhuru Kenyatta – ran sustained anti–western campaigns that drew the support of the young and educated. If the opposition wants to succeed, they might as well embrace nationalism and adopt a position where they argue that they are the best guarantor of the independence legacy that has been betrayed by Zanu-PF. In other words, this time around Tsvangirai might need to wage a more populist, more aggressive campaign that might even be reminiscent of Mugabe's tone (though moderated). Tsvangirai should also attempt to convince some of Mugabe's softer supporters that he can secure the gains of the current regime, such as land reform. This will put Zanu-PF in a defensive mode, and deprive them of ammunition to attack Tsvangirai as a neo–imperialist agent. The trouble with adopting such a strategy is that it needs time, and there is precious little of that if elections are indeed to be held by the 31 July.

Undermine Zanu-PF

Another pillar of the opposition efforts should be undermining Zanu-PF party unity. Currently, the aging president skilfully manages a brittle internal balance of power between various factions. But maintaining such a balance is extremely difficult and a great deal of it is done via patronage politics. Undermining elite cohesion by bringing key individuals into the fold of the opposition is likely to achieve two objectives. This tactic not only brings with it patronage networks, but also the former stalwart's votes, and experience. Second, and at a psychological level, drawing party stalwarts counters the narrative that Zanu-PF's unity is invincible.

Form a coalition of the opposition

One realistic campaign strategy remains: a coalition of opposition forces. The main opposition party (MDC-T) continues to be adamant that it will win on its own. Tsvangirai's party seems oblivious to a mountain of complex of problems it faces; a dwindling support base, unequal level playing field, circumscribed regional and international support, a surge in Zanu-PF popularity and also a crowded opposition space with reportedly 28 eight candidates vying for the presidency. MDC-T needs to be realistic and understand that joining a coalition is crucial. It is crucial that the MDC-T doesn't try to go it along. The opposition has failed in the previous elections despite odds being slightly better than today. In fact, no single political party has successfully challenged Zanu-PF's stranglehold on Zimbabwean politics since independence. A coalition would not only change the fundamentals of Zimbabwean opposition, but also the very terms in which the Zimbabweans think about and define national politics. So the best way of topping Mugabe is for the opposition to combine its efforts, resources and votes.

Choose your partners carefully

The MDC-T, despite its faults in coalition government, remains the anchor of the opposition and should therefore take a lead in any negotiations. Building a strong coalition should be limited to the MDC-N (led by Welshman Ncube) to back Tsvangirai as the presidential candidate. Ncube is a polarising figure and is perceived as being vocal on behalf of the voters from Matabeleland and the Midlands regions. But it is precisely because of this quality that he is in a unique position to mobilise votes from these two regions. Drawing Simba Makoni (Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn) and Dumiso Dabengwa (Zapu-PF) into an alliance might be problematic. Politically both men were creations of Zanu-PF and still benefit materially from ancient Zanu-PF patronage networks. It is not unreasonable that some see Dabengwa and Makoni's political parties as proxies created by Zanu-PF to disrupt the strength of the opposition. The differences between the MDC-T and MDC-N leaders are fundamental. Ncube accuses Tsvangirai of being weak on democratic and leadership credentials, while the Tsvangirai accuses Ncube of being provincial. Each sees himself as best suited to be president.

Be Generous

To create an environment for constructive dialogue, relations between Tsvangirai and Ncube need to be reset. Tsvangirai must desist from making statements that risk pushing Ncube's party further away. It is important to remember that Ncube is one of the architects and ideologues of the original MDC. Instead of ridiculing him, Tsvangirai should acknowledge his contribution and treat him as a friend who must be embraced. He also needs to acknowledge Ncube's growing influence and support in the Matabeleland and Midland regions. In extending an olive branch, MDC-T must attempt to address some of Ncube's legitimate grievances. Ncube remains convinced that Tsvangirai and his inner circle worked to block his ascent to the top of the party. Ncube also alleges that MDC-T has deliberately undermined his party by labelling it as "tribal" or provincial.

Whilst the above are manageable problems, more difficult is the discussion of who is going to be offered what as part of the strategic partnership. The main MDC must be seen to be generous in what it offers. Ncube's party will seek assurances on key positions in return for backing the coalition, as they cannot be expected to relinquish their independence without getting tangible offers in return. Equally, the MDC-N leader will need to display humility and self discipline. Despite their differences, a coalition of the opposition is a possible and viable strategy. The two parties have a convergent interest of getting rid of Mugabe. We also have to remind ourselves that in the 2008 presidential elections Ncube urged his supporters to vote for Simba Makoni. Such an unprecedented overture shows his pragmatic side and that he is open to negotiations.

Don't falter. Not forming a coalition is not an option

Failure to form a united opposition is a prescription for defeat. The MDC-T is trailing Zanu-PF in polls, and no one who is seriously concerned with political and electoral strategies can afford to ignore these, no matter how flawed or old they are. Not only do the polls show that Zanu-PF support has surged, but most importantly the party may use these numbers to justify a rigged electoral "win". Poor shows at rallies, an unequal level playing field and circumscribed regional and international support also counts against the MDC-T. Politics needs ideals and policies, but most crucially a sense of direction. Zanu-PF is corrupt, ruthless and violent, but nobody can accuse Mugabe's party of being directionless. They alone seem to know how to get what they want in the next elections and they may well be rewarded for that. Their adversaries should be wise enough to draw together and substitute competition for political union. A coalition coupled with an effective campaign strategy offers the best chance.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: ZIMBABWE IN A NUTSHELL!!!

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: ZIMBABWE IN A NUTSHELL!!!: This thinking takes me to the liberation history which is the foundation for modern Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe has a proud and heroic past which ...

ZIMBABWE IN A NUTSHELL!!!

This thinking takes me to the liberation history which is the foundation for modern Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe has a proud and heroic past which is capable of propelling its living people into a dignified future of citizens capable of choosing a leadership of its own choice. We must remember our rich past, which exist as a secure foundation for our future. The Ndebele-Shona Uprisings of 1896-7 ranks among the other heroic anti-imperialist struggles such as the Boxer Uprising in China, Maji Maji Uprising in Tanzania, Battle of Isandhlwana in South Africa, Nama-Herero Resistance in Namibia, Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya and many other heroic responses to colonial encroachment.

Academic problematisations and complications of these heroic African heroic deeds of whether the Ndebele and the Shona acted in concert and were centrally commanded aside, the point is that Zimbabweans have never voluntarily surrendered to colonialism. What became Zimbabweans in 1980, are a people with a rich history of resistance to colonialism. It is a people who resist colonialism, puppetry and tyranny, coming from whatever colour of the perpetrator(s). As we look into the future, we must be guided by these principles and values. We must also be cognisant of the fact that along the political journey from being colonised subjects into ‘independent’ citizens, a number of blunders were made that compromised our nationalism and raised questions about the calibre of those who claimed leadership.

The coupling of Chimurenga ideology with Gukurahundi strategy messed up the decolonial revolution. The practice of acting as nationalist in public while practising tribalism behind the scenes complicated and compromised our liberation struggle. The practice of creating a ‘party-nation’ and a ‘party-state’ after 1980 opened the flood-gates for the return of ethnicity and tribalism in their most detestable forms. There were even strange demonstrations of ethnic thinking taken too far, where in the course of the campaigns for the 1980 elections one of the leaders of the contesting parties had the audacity to tell Lord Soames without blinking that there was ‘Nkomo’s country’ where he could not expect to raise a crowd of supporters and advised Nkomo not to expect to raise a crowd of supporters in ‘his country.’

Such dirty thinking must surely die if Zimbabwe is to live as nation. The perpetrators and victims are paying the price today for this obnoxious thinking. The yoking of ‘our guns and our votes’ into inseparable twins enabled, authorised, routinised, and normalised violence as mediator in politics in Zimbabwe and the consequences are out there for anyone with eyes to see. The other downside of Zimbabwe’s political evolution was allowing puppetry to permeate our body politic resulting in miscarriage of the Zimbabwe nationalist revolution. There is no one with a clear knowledge of history who doesn’t know that the Lancaster House in London became a political maternity ward in which British and American political mid-wives of Euro-American global designs actively participated in the delivery of Zimbabwe as a ‘neo-colony’ rather an independent state!

That was the beginning of puppetry which was followed by knighthoods being accepted. Policies of reconciliation and notions of forgiveness were used to dignify puppetry. As noted by Ibbo Mandaza, reconciliation policies were in reality manifestations of ‘the mourn of the weak’ even if proclaimed from high moral ground. How do we make sense of a leader who went at length to justify reconciliation with colonialists while at the same time engaging in Gukurahundi operation in Matabeleland and the Midlands regions? Because of puppetry, the Euro-American world condoned what was happening and raised no complaints about human rights as they do today. The simple explanation is that within Euro-American notions of subjectivity, black people rank at the lowest end of the ontological scale. Suffice to say, in the 1980s puppetry was disguised as a mark of being a statesman and it developed into blind acceptance of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) in the 1990s that became known as Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP).  Accepting ESAP at a time when students, workers, and intellectuals advised the Zanu PF government against it epitomised the highest levels of the consequences of puppetry.

Due to puppetry, Zimbabwe lost its role as the bridgehead of decolonisation. The Third Chimurenga became muddled in violence, corruption, economic meltdown, ‘executive lawlessness,’ and resuscitation of the hold of Euro-American imperial designs over Zimbabwe. The message of decoloniality became imbricated with post-Cold War neo-liberal messages of good governance, human rights and democracy. The MDC embraced this discourse at a time when decoloniality was in paralysis. What escaped the minds of many is that neo-liberalism is a child of the Washington Consensus. The Washington Consensus is leitmotif of global imperial designs. Consequently, Zimbabweans became caught up in an invidious situation of incomplete decolonisation that was opening the way for coloniality.

Coloniality is a reference to the continuation of colonial relations long after the end of direct colonialism. Both Zanu PF and MDC formations are guilty of a complacent understanding of operations of Euro-American imperial global designs underpinned by invisible colonial matrices of power. Zanu PF is guilty of concubinage with Euro-American world in the 1980s and 1990s only to rail against its dangers of coloniality when the designs and the matrices were directly ranged against it. Zznu PF thought it could do what it did to the Ndebele-speaking people to the remaining white commercial farmers without any response from the Euro-American world! That was a misreading of the politics of classification of human population according to race that ensued in 1492 where whiteness assumed a heavier ontological density and value above blackness that was depicted as constituted by ‘deficits’ and ‘lacks’ (lacking souls, lacking writing, lacking history, lacking civilization, lacking development, lacking responsibility, lacking democracy and lacking human rights).

MDC formations are guilty of blindly embracing neo-liberal thinking to the extent of finding themselves not only caught-up within Euro-American imperial global designs but also having to defend themselves from the accusation of being running dogs of imperialism. With vigilance such a scenario could not have arisen in the first place. Simply because there were global imperial designs that hovered above the Zimbabwe crisis partly reproducing it and partly seeking to act as part of solution, the Harare political disputants could not fully realise the invisible hand that made negotiations impossible. The cardinal mistake they did was to blame each other and resort to violence.

The reality is that both Zanu PF and MDC formations are caught up within the web of invisible colonial matrices of power that need to be clearly understood. Global imperial designs have tied them by tails so that they exhaust their energies on in-fighting and in the process sparing the real enemy which is coloniality. They must avoid finishing each other in this unnecessary violence. The violence that has engulfed Zimbabwe ever since 1980 is part of missing the ball and getting the player. The ball is Euro-American imperial global designs in place since conquest. It is coloniality. Our leaders are caught-up within its snares. Its long-term solution is three-pronged long-term investment in decoloniality aimed at addressing the issues to do with being black in this world that is best described as racially hierarchised, patriarchal, Euro-American-centric, hetero-normative, Christian-centric and modern order; addressing the issues of enduring global asymmetrical power relations in which the USA and NATO are at the apex and Zimbabwe in particular and Africa in general are at the subaltern bottom; and addressing the issue of hegemony of Euro-American knowledges of alterity that not only result in colonisation of the mind but make it almost impossible for as black people to imagine another life and world beyond the present that was shaped by imperialism.

It is a struggle that involve the mobilisation of the whole continent as it cannot be won by one country fighting alone. Zimbabwe needs to play a leading role in this struggle drawing from its rich revolutionary history and avoid missing the point to the extent of devouring its own innocent citizens.

Looking into the future of Zimbabwe

There are number of clear actions that must be taken to re-build Zimbabwe. It entails simultaneous pursuit of twin goals of decoloniality and democratisation. This future direction must build on what is already underway.

# The experience of inclusive government must be used to deepen confidence among Harare political disputants. They must work from the perspective that they are political opponents not enemies. They must wake up to the reality that the liberation struggle was partly aimed at enabling Zimbabweans to actively participate in the politics of their country through forming political parties and exercising the right to vote that was denied under settler colonialism. Men and women sacrificed lives for this right to vote and it must not be denied to Zimbabweans once more.

# What must be transcended is both puppetry and tyranny informed by misconceptions neo-liberalism and neo-nationalism respectively. The three years of the existence of inclusive government must not be down-played; instead important lessons must be drawn to enable correction of ideological mistakes and misconstrued perceptions of politics by both Zanu PF and MDC formations that landed Zimbabwe in an unprecedented crisis that opened flood-gates for easy external infiltration.

#  As part of furthering the pursuit of decoloniality, Zimbabwe must be re-imagined beyond the confines of Westphalian and Berlin Consensus discourses of centralized states that were imposed by force on society ala the colonial state. Zimbabwe is ripe to enter a genuine decoloniality route that involves a deliberate the drive towards devolution of power as an opportunity to re-model inherited colonial power structures and governance structures that do not enable Zimbabwe space to fully govern themselves at the local level.

Zimbabwe is as great country that must be ashamed on continuing colonial ways of governing its people. The constitution-making was a great missed opportunity where Zimbabweans could have genuinely embarked on state reconstitution and thorough decolonisation of this inherited political formation. Devolution of power is just but a beginning of a journey towards resolution of the national question involving further decolonization the state; indigenization of power and further democratisation of practices and styles of governance.

# While what COPAC has put together into draft constitution might not be what was expected by some constituencies among us, the referendum must be allowed to go ahead to bring this constitution-making to an end. What the leaders must ensure during the referendum is zero-tolerance for violence. The referendum will be a test-case for the level of preparedness of Zimbabwe for national elections next year.

Everything is possible for Zimbabwe if our present leaders genuinely seek to soft land this great nation. The courage that propelled Zimbabweans to fight the liberation struggle must now be deployed to democratise the state, socialise power and this can be done if we dedicate our collective efforts to face our history, seek truth, accountability, forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing.

Our violent past has become hindrance to political progress and this cannot be allowed to remain like this before it compromises the future of the next generation. It is possible to transcend our ugly past, only if we commit ourselves to openness about the wrongs we have done. Such priceless gestures as apologies work wonders for those committed to build nations comprised of various people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: CANADA WITHDRAWS FROM UNWTO OVER MUGABE HONOUR!!

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: CANADA WITHDRAWS FROM UNWTO OVER MUGABE HONOUR!!: He harms himself, who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner or the man who denies peace and freedom to ano...

CANADA WITHDRAWS FROM UNWTO OVER MUGABE HONOUR!!

He harms himself, who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner or the man who denies peace and freedom to another man deserveth not for himself. It is of common knowledge that Mr Mugabe has no honour and to assume otherwise, will be a mockery to all Zimbabwean people, we applaud the actions of the Canadian Government.

Indeed, we need to be brutally frank on the diagnosis of the Zimbabwe problems before we tease out prescriptions. There must be no sacred cows as we seek for solutions to the Zimbabwe problems. We need to revisit our national history that gave birth to Zimbabwe and isolate the progressive cultures and values while critiquing the negative tendencies, before launching ourselves into an understanding of the murky present with to try and forecast into a dignified future for Zimbabwe. The decision by the United Nations World Tourism Office (UNWTO) to select Robert Mugabe as an ambassador for tourism continues to be criticised, with Canada now withdrawing from the body in protest. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Thursday the ‘appointment’ of Mugabe as an international tourism ambassador was what led to the withdrawal. Baird said it was the “last straw”for Canada's participation in the UNWTO. There is need for a sober but critical reflection on the core elements of a relevant past that gave birth to Zimbabwe; the murky present and the mysterious future of this great Southern African nation that is at stake.The murky present is locked in a series of debilitating contests pitting, below are some of the problems:

# Forces of progress against those of both puppetry and tyranny concealed under bastardised ideologies of democracy and nationalism respectively,

# Angry victims of violence and terror seeking justice and accountability against a terrified political-military leadership fearful of leaving public offices because of active participation in violence and massacre of fellow citizens,

# The terrified, hungry, impoverished, oppressed citizenry against a brutal and selfish elite cabal engaged in naked primitive accumulation ala colonialism and which has elevated itself to an alpha and omega leadership of Zimbabwe that only God can remove from power,

# Forces of global imperial designs ever ready to sustain Euro-American hegemony against pan-African solidarity seeking to propel Africa into a dignified global space,

# Forces of progressive decoloniality against those of reactionary neo-colonialism/neo-liberalism;

# Forces in favour of devolved power and governance structure against old-time forces of centrism informed by imperial Westphalian and Berlin Consensus thought,

# Forces of narrow ethnicity, clannism, regionalism, tribalised nationalism against inclusive, civic and pan-Zimbabwean nationalism,

# Forces of traditionalism, masculinism/dodaism and patriarchy against femininity and wamanism,

# Forces of gerontocracy against‘born-frees’ and the future leaders of Zimbabwe.

Canada had already signalled a year ago that it intended to withdraw from the UNWTO. But an Order in Council is required to formalise any such notice period. "After (minister Baird) heard that (Mugabe) was honoured at an event, after he was invited to join this global leaders group, he signed the Order in Council almost immediately," said Baird’s spokesman Joseph Lavoie. "They were legitimising him by enlisting Mugabe to promote tourism," Lavoie said, adding: "In our view that makes him a small 'a' ambassador."

 The UN body has insisted that Mugabe has not been an awarded an official title, saying it does not run an ‘ambassadorial’ programme. But critics continue to view the decision to choose Zimbabwe as the co-host country for the UNWTO’s 2013 General Assembly as an indirect endorsement of the Mugabe regime. Political analyst and former Zimbabwean diplomat Clifford Mashiri said the UN’s credibility is in doubt over this move, adding that ZANU PF “likely feels endorsed and that it hasn’t done anything wrong in terms of human rights.”

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: MUGABE EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END, YOURS IS JUST N...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: MUGABE EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END, YOURS IS JUST N...: In Zimbabwe small kids have lost respect for Mr Mugabe, calling someone MUGABE is now an insult in Zimbabwe, that how low Mugabe`s popul...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: MUGABE EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END, YOURS IS JUST N...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: MUGABE EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END, YOURS IS JUST N...: In Zimbabwe small kids have lost respect for Mr Mugabe, calling someone MUGABE is now an insult in Zimbabwe, that how low Mugabe`s popul...

MUGABE EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END, YOURS IS JUST NEAR!!!

In Zimbabwe small kids have lost respect for Mr Mugabe, calling someone MUGABE is now an insult in Zimbabwe, thats how low Mr Mugabe`s popularity is. Every time Zanu PF puffs itself up into a big bubble of self-importance, he comes along and bursts it, thats Khama we are talking about. He was at it again in Maputo last weekend. While President Robert Mugabe was reportedly keeping other heads of state waiting while he had a tête-à-tête with Namibia’s President, Hifikepunye Pohamba, Khama, a retired general close to Zanu PF leaders, took the opportunity to comment on Zimbabwe’s securocrats. He asked why people were still talking endlessly about a “bush war” that ended 33 years ago. It is easy to answer that. Mugabe is able to project himself as the authentic voice of African nationalism. It may not be a valid claim 33 years after Independence, but it makes him feel good. Mugabe went on and on about history before Khama came in. “Khama asked why people were still talking about a bush war that ended 33 years ago,” an observer said. “He pointed out that when the liberation war was fought it was not against the MDCs.” Such nostalgic rhetoric was misplaced, the observer said, reflecting a general sentiment back home.

Securocrats

MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti reported after the meeting that the summit had “underscored the obligation of our security chiefs to respect the constitution and issued a statement complying with Article 208 of the new constitution which speaks to the neutrality of our security forces, that they cannot be active members of any political party and that they will respect, salute and obey any legitimate constitutional order”. Not exactly what the Herald has been telling us in its damage control exercise!

 Poor King Arthur

Observers in Maputo were full of praise for the man from Wales. He dazzled the meeting with his magisterial command of the issues. When the MDC-T officials emerged they were generous in their praise. And poor King Arthur was confined to the leader pages of the local Izvestia, which sadly nobody reads! Some went on to call him a village idiot and those who were discrete called him political dwarf with delusions of eloquence. The man might know one or two things about robots, but when it comes to politics, certainly, the man is still to produce something someone can take home.

 Chirruping recruits

Meanwhile, we were shocked to see police recruits openly declaring their allegiance to Mugabe. They wished him a “resounding success” in the forthcoming elections.

“We celebrate your life and leadership as you are the practical definition of a revolutionary cadre,” they chirruped. “Your call for Pan-Africanism should invigorate other African leaders to be united and support each other …” This was a far cry from Maputo where heads of state demonstrated impatience with Mugabe’s blandishments. And are any of those present at Morris Depot aware of how many votes the Zanu PF-supported PAC got in the 1994 South African election? It was the smallest amount for any party. There followed a funny little drama, we were told, in which two fighters wearing British and US outfits engaged in combat with a third party purporting to be Mugabe. He put up a spirited fight before a sympathiser, Russia, came in to assist and vanquish the Westerners. After the victory “children” were served with milk representing the milk and honey of Mugabe’s rule. No, seriously! Ushers wore Zanu PF regalia. Observers say that senior officers could be seen waving their fists in the air as the recruits pledged their allegiance to their commander.

Readers’ feedback

The newly launched Southern Eye has been carrying an interesting range of letters in its feedback column. On Monday a correspondent made the obvious point in response to a story titled Hell for gays if Zanu PF wins. This followed Zanu PF’s promise of new persecutions if it wins the election.

The correspondent said: “Mugabe should concentrate more on uplifting Zimbabweans suffering from the harsh economic conditions which he and his party gave rise to and deal with the massive corruption in the Zimbabwean economy.” This is all true, but we shouldn’t forget just how much Zanu PF and its allies among the Biblical bigots just love persecuting people.

Dysfunctional party

The Sunday Mail carried a story last weekend about a snake handler who had passed his skill down through the generations. His father was a snake handler as was his grandfather. His experience had made him the local expert on the reptiles, the story said. He was confident his understudies would be successful. “I know that they will do well,” he said. “Abraham is a natural leader while Amos is a fearless handler who can tackle and subdue the most aggressive of snakes.” How interesting. Here is a family that has put in place a succession plan; a simple family that has taken steps to secure its future. But what do we have at the national level? A dysfunctional political party that can’t even take the first tentative steps towards passing on the baton. However, let’s be fair. We do know of some snakes in the grass which carry a particularly lethal poison, but do not belong to the same family.

 Trojan horses

We were interested to see a picture in the Sunday Mail of Zimpapers group chief executive Justin Mutasa chatting with Dr Nyaradzo Mtizira at the launch of his book, The Regime Change Agenda — Focus on Zimbabwe, authored by the Botswana-based medical practitioner. The book focuses on the country’s socio-economic revolution and the West’s “rabid attempt to protect its interests in resource-rich Zimbabwe through local Trojan horses”. Strange, we haven’t heard of the doctor or his interest in regime change. And we thought the Trojan horse was Greek! He seems to have come out of the election woodwork. Here is another expatriate who prefers the comfortable life abroad to the growing dereliction at home wrought by his friends in Zanu PF. We wonder if he knows Reason who just can’t tear himself away from Australia!

 Perennial losers

Did we hear Mugabe saying some years ago he would not appoint as ministers individuals who had not been elected to parliament? Well, he said it again, if Muckraker heard right, just the other day. That would be a good question to ask the president at a press conference: “Do you recall the undertaking you made …?” Some of the perennial losers that have expressed an interest in taking part in the election,” Southern Eye reports, “are Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Absolom Sikhosana and Joseph Tshuma.” Our question is: how many times are they allowed to lose and still be taken seriously? Sikhanyiso: that one’s for you.

 A note to Huni

And a note to our friend Munyaradzi Huni. If Sir Ketumile Masire carried a knighthood, then his wife would be Lady Masire and not Mrs Masire. And while it is good to see Botswana and Zimbabwe getting on so well, have we forgotten so quickly how fraught relations were when Tsvangirai was staying in Gaborone in 2008? And then wasn’t there something about a transmitter relay station at Fransistown? Has that gone away? While it is not the function of journalists to stir things up, they shouldn’t at least be so naïve. We are sure our Botswana expert Cde Caesar agrees with us on this!

 Ankomah’s naïvety

Another example of naïvety was evident from Baffour Ankomah, editor of New African, a mouthpiece for Mugabe. Andrew Young, the magazine reported, “had confirmed the White House’s official remorse to President Mugabe admitting that the US had been wrong in supporting Britain in the dispute with Britain over land reform”. Really? It is true that Young has in the past adopted a pro-Zanu PF position in his dealing with the Zimbabwe authorities. But it is extremely doubtful that he would have expressed the White House’s “official remorse”. In fact, we have a pretty good idea where that came from. The same official who facilitated Young’s visit.

 Matter of fact

Last week we carried a snippet claiming the Hartley Platinum Mine road just outside Chegutu cost US$15 million to construct. The acting chair of Zimplats Holdings Ltd, the Zimplats parent company, said he would like to set the record straight “for the benefit of numerous faithful readers of the popular Muckraker column”. The Ngezi-Mhondoro highway is in fact 77km long and the cost was US$19 million in 2001, he said. We stand corrected.

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: NOTHING MORE CAN MUGABE DO TO US, HE IS DAMAGED GO...

ZIMBABWE TOWARDS NEW ELECTIONS: NOTHING MORE CAN MUGABE DO TO US, HE IS DAMAGED GO...: President Robert Mugabe’s nomination as Zanu PF’s candidate in the forthcoming general elections, given his old age, failing health and ...

NOTHING MORE CAN MUGABE DO TO US, HE IS DAMAGED GOODS!!!

President Robert Mugabe’s nomination as Zanu PF’s candidate in the forthcoming general elections, given his old age, failing health and the way he is now out of touch with reality, is as preposterous as selecting a village headman to act as a rocket scientist leading a Mars exploration mission. Since a typical village headman cannot match an engineer in terms of technical ability and capacity to run such a mission, the exploration would be doomed to fail, besides being a costly adventure for both the leader and his team.Given that he is now struggling with old age complications, detached from current realities around him and unaware of what is actually happening and ought to be done to take Zimbabwe forward, Mugabe is certainly no longer suitable to lead Zanu PF into the next crucial elections. In short, he is now beyond his sell-by date and thus incapable of providing the required leadership in Zanu PF’s mission to win the next polls.

 Ongoing attempts by the party to rebrand Mugabe’s image have reached new levels of desperation with the emergence of the “House of Gushungo” clothes brand, which targets first-time voters and the urban electorate, as these two groups will be crucial in the coming elections. However, what Zanu PF fails to realise is that it is not the outward image of the party that matters the most in luring voters but what it stands for. Due to extended periods of economic mismanagement and decisions such as the DRC war intervention, unbudgeted war victims compensation, wasteful government expenditures, corruption and a series of misguided policies, the economy succumbed to the impact of structural problems and maladministration. The failure by Mugabe’s regime will go down in history as one of the most astonishing.

 No matter how Zanu PF tries to rebrand Mugabe, as long as Zimbabwe holds peaceful and credible elections in which voters are allowed to express themselves without undue hindrances, he will lose because his policies have been destructive. The land reform policy was noble, but its execution was flawed. Genuine reforms need to be driven by the quest for justice and progress, not short-term political agendas. The problem is, instead of rectifying his mistakes, Mugabe is always on the defensive, blaming sanctions imposed by the West for the country’s economic demise. Although sanctions have ended up having the unintended consequences, it is economic mismanagement rather than sanctions that led to Zimbabwe’s economic collapse.

 Contrary to the Rhodesian situation, Zimbabwe still trades and does business with much of the world, including the support it gets from Sadc, Comesa, the African Union and key economic regions like Asia, Latin America and Middle East, which include huge economies like China, India, Brazil and Russia. Western countries still give it humanitarian aid. Cuba has been under American sanctions for more than 50 years, but has one of the best healthcare systems in the world. By contrast, Zimbabwe’s healthcare system has all but collapsed. International corruption watchdog Transparency International in its corruption index for 2012 ranked Zimbabwe number 163 out of 174 most corrupt countries in the world. Within Sadc, Zimbabwe is ranked the most corrupt nation.

One wonders whether there would ever be any acknowledgement of failure by Mugabe and his Zanu PF loyalists. Even though they send their children to learn abroad after destroying Zimbabwe’s education system, Zanu PF leaders are still in denial. When they fall sick, they rush to seek treatment outside the country. Look at the South African situation, despite continuing inequalities they have managed to maintain their infrastructure and when former president Nelson Mandela falls sick, he is not flown out of the country for medical attention.

 Zimbabwe’s education sector has not been spared from the effects of mismanagement. That is why Mugabe and his Zanu PF officials send their children abroad instead of developing world-class local institutions. This “House of Gushungo” brand designed to target first-time voters and the urbanities will not work if the approach is to mask dictatorship and failure. How do people begin to see Mugabe and Zanu PF differently when perpetrators of the 2008 electoral atrocities are still roaming the streets? How do voters change their minds about Mugabe and Zanu PF when victims of the Gukurahundi massacres have not had an apology, let alone compensation from the state for the killings? Repressive legislation curtailing political and civil liberties is still in place, so why would voters think the situation has changed? At the age of 89, Mugabe should be enjoying his pension with his grandchildren and providing advice whenever required.