The Crackdown by government proxies

Chaos in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights wishes to share with stakeholders critical information on the unfolding human rights crisis in Zimbabwe following the outbreak of violent protests across the country and the ensuing disproportionate response by the state apparatus,” reported Zimeye.

“To date ZADHR network of Doctors across the country, both in the public and private sector have attended to a total of 172 cases. 68 cases were gunshot wounds with the affected individuals sustaining severe injuries which required urgent surgery in most cases. The remainder of the cases ranged from assaults with sharp objects, booted feet, baton sticks, sjamboks and tarmac abrasions.”

There reports that as many as nine people have been shot dead by the Zanu PF apparatchik!

This should not be happening in our country; we should not be experiencing all the economic hardship of shortages of cash, foreign currency, drugs, fuel, food, jobs, etc. The three-fold increase in fuel prices and the fuel shortages are the immediate cause of the street protests but the root cause of is the serious economic meltdown; itself a by-product of 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule. Zimbabwe is a rich nation with great economic potential but nearly four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption has reduced the country to the poorest nation in Africa.

This should have never happened and we must all, every Zimbabwean with half a working brain, hang our collective heads in shame that we have allowed the nation to come to this! The most immediate question we must focus on now, is how are we going to get out of this mess? "Vakuru vanoti tuka benzi warirwira!" as one would say in Shona.

If the root cause of the country is in this economic and political mess is 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule. The solution is obvious; end the corrupt and tyrannical rule and put into place measures to ensure the nation is never again subjected to such rule.

 Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF junta have remained in power for the last 38 years because of they blatantly rigged the elections denying Zimbabweans their freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life itself. The regime blatantly rigged last July's elections too. In the past the nation has rewarded Zanu PF for rigging elections by allowing the party to rule; this was a serious mistake on our part and the nation has paid dearly for it, as we can see. The only sure way to end the curse of rigged elections is to make sure those who rig elections are punished and never ever reward with high office.

It is in this spirit that Mnangagwa and his junta must now be told in no uncertain terms that they rigged last July's elections, they have no mandate to rule and therefore must step down.

To stop another dictatorial regime emerging now and in the future, Zimbabwe must implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the dictatorial powers and control Zanu PF had accrued over the last four decades.

Zanu PF must step down to allow the nation the political space and time to appoint an interim administration that will be tasked to implement the democratic reforms above. The reforms should have been implemented during 2008 to 2013 GNU. Sadly not even one reform was ever implemented in five years of that GNU.

Zimbabwe’s true heroes and heroines whose hearts were deeply troubled to see Zimbabweans denied their freedoms, human rights and suffer from want and have made their own contribution in the fight for freedom and justice; many have paid the ultimate price of losing their very lives. They must all be spinning in their graves to what is happening in post-independent Zimbabwe. One only hopes that out of the chaos and violence sweeping the country today will finally emerge the free, just and prosperous Zimbabwe we have all been praying and dying, literally, for these last 38 years!  

By Jeff Kurai Chakanyuka

Its no the doctors to blame

THE Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association has announced that its members who had resumed duty on Monday will be withdrawing their services on Tuesday to join the rest of their counterparts who did not report for duty.

This makes a lot of sense. What is the point of going back to work if your pay does not cover even the bare essentials such as transport, food, etc.?

In Zimbabwe, we have a government that is arguing junior doctors, teachers, etc. to continue working because patients and student are “entitled to health care and education”.

So if doctors and teachers are not paid enough to cover their transport, food and other bare necessities to sustain life, common sense will tell you there will be no doctors in our hospitals and no teachers in our schools.

The irony is that Zimbabwe is not a poor nation. In 1980, when the country gained her independence it was a middle-income nation, with a robust national economy and all the potential to be the South Korea of Africa. 38 years of Zanu PF gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have destroyed the nation’s economy. Today, we are the poorest nation in Africa. 

We have the few filthy rich ruling elite who live in their palatial mansions, with fleets of posh cars, have many multi-million dollar farms and other business interests, 45 gold watches, etc. They are renowned for the extravagant lifestyles. They are not particularly bothered that the country’s education and health services have all but collapse; they have stopped using the local schools and hospitals a long time ago.

The filthy rich few are but islands in a growing ocean expense of the millions living in abject poverty.   

To accuse the junior doctors or the teachers of neglecting the patience and the students in pursuit of “their own advantage” as Adam Smith would put it is to miss the point completely. If these doctors and teachers had been after their own self-interest then they would have abandoned their posts a long time ago. 

They are doing so now because they do not have the money to pay for their transport, they cannot work on an empty stomach, etc.

 As much as some people would like to discuss Zimbabwe’s problems in terms of economic policies, resource management, etc. these will not be enough to solve our problems.

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.” argued the great economist Adam Smith.

Adam Smith’s ideas are sound, still they would not solve Zimbabwe’s problems because our problems are not so much about sound economics but about the insatiable greed of the few ruling elite. 

“It is not from the benevolence of the few filthy rich ruling elite that we expect our dinner, their greed is insatiable. They appeal to the junior doctor’s humanity to work for nothing in appalling conditions. Meanwhile, the ruling elite squander US$ 3 million sending a chef to Singapore for eye treatment!” to paraphrase Adam Smith.

“We, the people, should address ourselves not to the ruling elite’s humanity but to their selfishness and greed.

“Zimbabwe’s political system in which the ruling elite enjoy absolute power to rig elections and stay in power regardless of the democratic wish of the people is cancer killing the nation. Zanu PF thugs do not have the divine right to rule Zimbabwe; they usurped the people’s power and we must restore democratic accountability now before it is too late!”

In short, we should not blame the junior doctors or teacher for refusing to give of their services at great expense to themselves. We should blame the ruling elite for creaming off the nation’s wealth to pay for their extravagant lifestyles at the expense of the nation. It is the ruling elite’s fault that we are in this economic mess.

Our number one problem is one of bad governance. Mnangagwa and his junta will never admit that they have failed to govern our primary task are to make sure the people’s democratic right to have a meaningful say on who governs the nation is restored and respected! 

 

Mnangagwa and his junta rigged the July 2018 elections, 

they have no mandate to govern and they must go.

By Jeff Kurai Chakanyuka

Mnangagwa's not a leader but a dictator

Demands for living wages and a national outcry over deteriorating conditions of life in the country are not a crime and do not need political instigation. The people are not blind to the fact that their conditions of living are falling by the day and they do not need alleged regime change agents to tell them that.

“Mnangagwa needs to take charge and make bold decisions including dealing with the currency crisis to take Zimbabweans out of this misery.”

This advice makes as much sense as advising the farmer to bolt the stable door when the proverbial horse has already bolted! 

Yes, the worsening economic meltdown is causing serious suffering and deaths amongst the millions now living in abject poverty. The people do not need Nelson Chamisa or anyone else to tell them they are suffering and dying unnecessarily.

Yes, the economic situation in Zimbabwe is so bad there is a real danger of country descending into social and political unrest and chaos. 

But here is the crux of the matter; whilst there were many things Mnangagwa could and should have done to revive the country’s comatose economy after taking over in the November 2017 coup. The tragic reality is he has done very little and, worse still, he has done many bad things too. He had his many golden opportunities to save Zimbabwe and he has wasted them all.

Mnangagwa started well with his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” call. After decades of the usual anti-business rhetoric and laws from Mugabe, here was a Zanu PF leader keen to create a friendly economic environment to attract local and foreign investors. Great!

But given that Mnangagwa had been Mugabe’s right-hand man for donkey years, it is not surprising that the investors held back to see if Mnangagwa was the democrat he claimed to be. The acid test was whether Mnangagwa would keep his promise to end corruption and hold free, fair and credible elections. 

In 2016 Mugabe admitted that nation was “swindled” of $15 billion in diamond revenue. He never arrested even one swindler or recovered one dollar. A year after the admission, the then Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, told parliament that government was receiving 1/6 of the expected tax revenue from the diamond mining, thus confirming the looting was still taking place. 

“There will be zero tolerance on corruption!” Mnangagwa promised when he took over in November 2017. It is now over a year and still not even one diamond swindler has ever been arrested and not one dollar of the looted billions recovered. The wholesale looting is still taking place to this day! 

When it came to holding free and fair elections it was clear from the word go that Mnangagwa had no intention of honouring this promise. He contemptuously dismissed those calling for the implementation of the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible as barking dogs. 

“Zanu PF ichatonga! Igotonga! Imi muchingohukura! Nokuhukura!” (Zanu PF will rule! And rule! Whilst you (calling for reforms) bark! And bark!) Mnangagwa boasted on many occasions. This is music to the ears of his Zanu PF coup plotters and hardliners. 

The November 2017 coup plotters called it “Operation Restore Legacy!” The coup’s primary objective was to wrestle power from Mugabe, because he wanted to give it to his wife and her G40 faction, and give it back to Mnangagwa and the other coup plotters. Mnangagwa and the other coup plotters are members of the Joint Operation Command, the shadowy Junta that has ruled the country for decades. 

Mnangagwa and company had risked everything, their looted wealth and even their lives, in staging the coup against Mugabe to secure power. They were not going to risk losing it eight months later in free, fair and credible elections; especially when it was within their power and past experience to rig the elections. 

So rigging the 30 July 2018 elections was to Mnangagwa and company, phase two of the Operation Restore Legacy. 

However, by blatantly rigging the elections Mnangagwa confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs. He could not have done more to scare away local and foreign investors he had been wooing with his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” call.

It is all very well for the Standard to advise Mnangagwa “to take charge and make bold decisions including dealing with the currency crisis”. Blaming the Bond Notes currency for the nation’s economic problems is silly. The strength and stability of the nation’s currency is a measure of the strength and stability of the nation’s economy. 

What “bold decisions” can Mnangagwa make now that will change the political reality that Zimbabwe is a pariah state. And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there is no hope of any meaningful economic recovery.  

It is for us, ordinary Zimbabweans, to make our bold move. We must demand the full restoration of our freedoms and basic human rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country. We must demand that only those with the people democratic mandate to govern Zimbabwe will govern the country. And since Zanu PF rigged the recent elections, the party is illegitimate and must step down. 

We all know the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and political paralysis is the de facto Zanu PF one-party dictatorship. We must now take the bold steps to end this curse of rigged elections and pariah state before Zanu PF drags the whole nation into the abyss.

By Jeff Kurai Chakanyuka

Doctors strike over...

The people of Zimbabwe have been painfully aware that Zanu PF was bringing mass poverty instead of mass prosperity the party never tired of promising. Still, the nation was unable to remove the regime from office because the party blatantly rigged the elections. 

Following the November 2017 military coup that removed Mugabe from power, Mnangagwa, who took over as the new president, promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. He failed to keep his promise; Zanu PF blatantly rigged the 30 July 2018 elections just as the party had done in the past. 

As much as Mnangagwa and the other Zanu PF leaders would want the nation to believe that the November 2017 transformed Zanu PF and Zimbabwe; this is just cheap propaganda. Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs. 

The country’s economy is not going to accomplish any meaningful recovery, much less prosper, as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state. Ever since the rigged July 2018 elections, the country has experienced serious shortages of cash, foreign currency, fuel, food, etc. - proof of the worsening economic meltdown.

Auxilia Mnangagwa did not meet the striking doctors because she is concerned about their economic well-being or the health needs of the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans. She knows by now that her “Zimbabwe is open for business!” clarion call of a year ago has failed to bring the flood of local and foreign investors. 

Indeed, she has been careful to promise the doctors short term hardship for long term prosperity. The regime vision 2030 offers middle-income status. This is a familiar tactic by the regime the people are asked to endure heart-breaking hardship in return for a mirage! 

The real reason the First Lady met the doctors and is as keen as mustard to end the strike is because the strike and talks on more to come are posing a real pressure of her husband and Zanu PF’s hold on power. She knows that the party rigged last year’s elections. She also knows that most of the international elections observers have condemned the elections as “unfair and failed to meet international standards”! The worsening economic situation is increasing the pressure on the regime to step down and end her reign as First Lady. 

If First Lady Mnangagwa believes the doctor’s strike is the last labour and social unrest Zanu PF will have to deal with; then she is more naive than I thought. After 38 years of being promised economic prosperity by Zanu PF only to get the opposite, the nation’s patience was finally reached the breaking point! 

Zanu PF has rigged elections in the past and got away with it. Not this time!For the good of the country, this illegitimate Zanu PF regime must step down and, in the end, the regime will be forced to step down.

By Jeff Kurai Chakanyuka

Expect nothing from Mnangagwa in 2019

Why wait! Why did ED fail to surprise the whole nation with a prosperous 2018?

Mnangagwa was a senior member of Zanu PF for the last 38 years, it is nonsense to pretend that he did not play his role in the mismanagement, corruption and the lawlessness that caused the economic ruin. He certainly played the biggest role, second to Mugabe himself, in the blatant rigging of elections and use of brute force to establish and retain the de facto one party’s state.

Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections last July. He failed to keep his promised and blatantly rigged the elections. Mnangagwa and his junta have no democratic mandate to govern, they are illegitimate, and they must therefore step down. 

Yes, since the country gained her independence in 1980, Zanu PF has rigged the elections to stay in power. The people of Zimbabwe have turned a blind eye to the rigging for fear of the regime’s angry reaction if they did otherwise. This, as we can now see, was a foolish mistake because 38 years of Zanu PF misrule has left the nation in economic ruins. 

Zanu PF rigged the 30 July 2018 elections are the party must step down; we must not repeat the mistake of the last 38 years of rewarding those who rig elections by allowing them to rule. 

“Insanity,” said the great Physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Albert Einstein, “is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different result!”

For the last 38 years we have allowed ourselves to be ruled by a corrupt and vote rigging regime in the hope that it will deliver economic prosperity, “Gutsva ruzhinji!” (Mass prosperity!), as Mugabe never tired of telling the nation. All Zanu PF has ever brought is mass poverty! 

The simple most important lesson we should have learned from the folly of the last four decades is: that it pays in the end to elect a competent and democratically accountable government in the beginning. Our insanity was to expect a vote rigging and hence illegitimate regime to delivery economic prosperity! 

People like Dr Mavaza are Zanu PF apologists, probably paid and paid well; that is the excuse for their insanity. What excuse do the rest of us have to be insane, especially the millions now living in abject poverty, the real victims of the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship!

By Jeff Kurai Chakanyuka