ED ASKED to implement reforms

THE Netherlands ambassador to Zimbabwe Barbara van Hellemond has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government to accelerate the process of aligning all laws, policies and legal instruments with the Constitution.

"The Constitution of Zimbabwe was made a supreme law in 2013; five years later, many laws are still not aligned to it," Hellemond said.

"Progress has been made, but it is not enough. The Netherlands Embassy stands with the United Nations and other international development partners in urging the government to accelerate the process of aligning all laws, policies and legal instruments with the Constitution of Zimbabwe.”

There are two things to be said here:

1. Calling for reforms is one thing, calling for reforms and meaning it is another. Zanu PF has learned to ignore the opposition MDC leaders’ demands for reforms, red lines ultimatums, “No reform, no elections!” party resolutions, etc., etc.  MDC has always participated in the elections with not even one reform in place; Zanu PF knows that and so has never ever considered it necessary for the party to concede to any opposition demands. 

It is now over five years since Zimbabwe approved the new constitution, as ambassador Hellemond has rightly pointed out. So we should be seeing the coercive stick being wielded and used. The EU, should be talking of extending the targeted sanctions against Zanu PF leaders, for example, and force the regime’s leaders to sit up and pay attention.

2. Zanu PF has taken full advantage of its carte blanche dictatorial power to rig the recent elections; the horse has bolted, surely all attention must be on how to get the horse back into the stable and not on bolting the stable door. 

Even if Zanu PF was to implement every reform and align every law this will not get us out of the present predicament of having a vote rigging regime in office. Zanu PF has rigged elections for the last 38 years and, instead of being punished for committing high treason, the thugs have been rewarded with, not just power, but absolute power. 

Allowing Zanu PF to get away with vote rigging has set a dangerous precedence and the nation has paid dearly for it in lost treasure, wasted opportunities, human suffering and over 30 000 cold blooded political murders. The only sure way to end the curse of rigged elections is by making sure all those guilty of this treasonous act are punished and are never ever again rewarded for it!

We want help ending the folly of rewarding those who rig elections and end this curse once and once for all. The last thing we want is people encouraging us to bury our heads in the sand and pretend Zanu PF will reform itself out of office, especially when those people will never allow such foolishness in their own country!

BY JEFF KURAI CHAKANYUKA