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Archive for the 'Zimbabwe Blog' Category

ZEC’s efficiency astounding

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 by Bev Clark

My take is not on who won the 2013 election but rather the speed and efficiency ZEC discharged  its duties and short memories displayed by both AU and SADC. In 2008 announcing figures took ± 6weeks. In 2013 it was more complicated coz constituency figures had to determine senator seats as well as provincial and female representation, in under 4 days comprehensive results are given. I smell a rat! – Kubatana subscriber

Zanu PF did not have to rig

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 by Bev Clark

A very useful perspective on the importance of voter registration – something that the MDC failed to take seriously:

MT, his leadership and 1 million people (an estimate but more later) are accountable to the nation for the trouncing by Zanu PF.

Prior to 2008, and over the last 5 years, fringe advisers to MT and his team have been telling him that this battle is about registered voters. But this advice was never taken seriously. My estimation (by taking many many small “straw polls”) has been that 30% of MDC supporters are not registered to vote – not for any draconian legislation but just because it is not easy, they are lazy and their leaders are not imploring them to register.

In the last few days I have increased my estimation. I am staggered by how many people are not registered. A 40-year old lawyer who had a beer group on a Friday evening of six mates – he is the only one registered. A father of senior school kids was wringing his hands today saying “now my kids will never get jobs” but he is not registered and therefore did not vote – for his kids! In a small NGO of 20 people 5 are not registered.

MT and his team have been told that voter registration should be on top of the agenda with SADC during the GNU days. That an extended mobile registration exercise should have taken place last year or even the year before (without the emotions of an election in sight) with SADC observing the process. This exercise should have been treated as more important than election day.

The MDC set up “voters clubs” through their ineffective structures and thought this was “job done”. Crazy, crazy, crazy. How is it possible that MT, Biti and others did not take voter registration seriously – they had 5 years to do it?

This did not escape Mugabe and his advisers. They would have seen the discrepancies between the census figures and the ward voters roll and licked their wrinkled lips. They have always had a “fast track” registration system for their supporters (and those people that the local leaders knew they could cower into voting).

Mugabe held a mockery of a voter a registration exercise just before these elections so the Observers could tick that box. But the process was deliberately slow (as we all knew it would be) and deliberately poorly advertised (as we all knew it would be). In any case it was too late to register the massive number that needed to be registered (and they knew this).

So in a nutshell MT has gone headlong into political suicide (and taken the nation with him) with 1 million of his supporters unable to vote. He had 5 years to address this. We will soon find out, when the numbers of this election come out, what a meaningful % this 1 million will be. Meanwhile MDC wring their hands and cry foul. They mislead their followers that Mugabe stole the election reinforcing the “learned helplessness – my vote does not count!”  This is highly irresponsible. He and his top team need to admit their basic, strategic blunder and they must make way for new leadership.

For sure Zanu PF got up to tricks but the voter registration battle had the overwhelming impact.

But Zimbabweans are stunned and talking, erroneously,  about the magic of the Zanu PF’s rigging machinery. Zanu PF did not have to!

Zimbabwe : A silenced state

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 by Fungayi Mukosera

A lot of people have run out of words to describe the unexpected silence in our country after this daylight theft of our election. Others have taken it as an opportunity or cover up, whichever stance people might propound, to decorate Zimbabweans as a tranquil, law abiding and understanding people. These are all true about us but they are not sufficient in explaining the silence over the 31 July rigged election. Neither do these excuses attempt to explain the silence over a public secret that was told by the late Edward Chindori Chininga that diamond remittances are disappearing and not benefiting the citizens. Zimbabweans are not silent about these evil acts against their liberties and rights but rather they are silenced. The Central Intelligence Organisation in our country has done a remarkable job in making sure that every Zimbabwean in and outside country is silent to allow the totalitarians running our country to loot our resources without any inquisition. Only God knows the anger and pain that is brewing in the silence of the people.

Regroup and come back rejuvenated

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 by Lenard Kamwendo

The assumption that ZANU-PF was idle in their plans gave MDC-T an early victory celebration before even the elections were done. Taking down a party, which has enjoyed power for 33 years, is no mean feat and half way through the journey MDC-T’s struggle train took some unnecessary stops. Many are still asking themselves questions on how the MDC-T lost the election when victory was written all over it. The election defeat of 2008 was painful for ZANU-PF but their wounds healed fast helped by the lifeline they received from the inclusive government. MDC-T was deceived into thinking that the revolutionary party was out of the game, and limping. Little did they know that hit and run guerilla tactics had been born? With almost every resource at its disposal ZANU-PF out maneuvered MDC-T in every way. Regional and continental institutions like SADC and the African Union gave MDC-T a false sense of hope, forgetting that they were going against the odds since nationalist and former liberation movements like ZANU-PF formed these institutions. The countless court cases and trips across Africa to mobilize support from regional leaders kept MDC-T busy and out of touch with the reality of what was happening on the ground.  It seems this election defeat gave former allies of MDC-T some ammunition to castigate Tsvangirai’s leadership especially when he dumped them during the constitution campaign. But credit should be given to Tsvangirai for giving his best under a hostile environment. Besides the party’s losing streak in the courts let’s hope August’s dusty wind will not erase Tsvangirai’s hopes of seeking redress through legal means.

Questionable amnesia

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 by Marko Phiri

In the past few days I’ve been musing about the poll results in rural Matebeleland and couldn’t help but wonder how the psychology of political persuasion works.

I even tried – and actually I’m still trying – to understand it as extending from the psychology of political violence itself as informed by events of the early 1980s in that region, and wondered what could have changed for a people who for so long have demanded among other things that range from compensation and retributive justice to “overwhelmingly” elect the very political animal at the centre of these nightmares.

Time sure must be greatest healer!

I recalled Owen Maseko’s work “Sibathontisele.” Maseko’s exhibition that documents the Gukurahundi atrocities – not surprisingly for many – only got him into trouble, and my reaction to the Matebeleland vote was to ask myself: what is Maseko’s reaction to this?

Of course not just Maseko, but indeed many others for whom Matebeleland remains a symbol of Zanu-PF antipathy, and it shall remain a mystery for me how Zimbabwe’s south-west was won.

I recalled Maseko’s work specifically because of the trouble it got him into with the “authorities,” the same “authorities” who today are claiming the subject of Maseko’s work have “seen the light” and today are jubilant with terrific amnesia!

This is no way to stoke anything (some political egos and other things phallic were long stroked!) but the Matebeleland vote count is plainly outside the realm of credible all things considered.

And as McDonald Lewanika writes elsewhere: “something less sophisticated than politics that will put them on their deathbed.”

And THEY know who they are!

Zimbabweans speak out – Should the MDC boycott their seats?

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Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 by Amanda Atwood

Following the MDC’s statement on 1 August declaring Zimbabwe’s 31 July harmonised election illegitimate, and their 3 August decision to boycott institutions of government, we asked our subscribers the following question:

Kubatana! With the MDC-T calling the election illegitimate should their elected MPs & councillors take up their seats or boycott Parliament & local government?

Around 2/3 of respondents said the MDC should boycott Parliament and local government, and not take up their seats as MPs or councillors. (This is about the same ratio that thought the 31 July election date was too soon in the first place.) The main reason for this was that to take up their seats would be to legitimise an election the MDC has called illegitimate. There was a strong sense from subscribers that “the MDC cannot have it both ways. Some respondents also thought that the MDC wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything by taking up their seats, or that Zanu PF should be left to govern the country on its own.

About 30% of respondents said the MDC should take up their seats, primarily because they had a mandate or responsibility from the people who had elected them. A few thought it was unrealistic to expect the MDC to boycott their seats, because of the benefits individual MPs and councillors get from being in office.

A small percentage were undecided or had mixed opinions on the issue.

We’ve published all of the feedback we’ve received so far here. Also, where we knew where a subscriber was writing from, we plotted their response on a map, to show the geographic distribution of opinion.

mdc_boycott_opinion_map_130806

A small sampling of responses includes:

  • I’m so angry at the moment that I would rather not answer that question.
  • The should not and let them rule the country vari vega if the elections were free and fair the winning party why is it victimising the losing one s suporters
  • yes they should boycott coz once they participate they will legitimize the fradulant election
  • They should stay with the pple! Why go to parly when we know that even their results were doctored to mollify us. Mugabe and his party won – let him rule alone!
  • They shd let zanu pf go it alone or since zpf intends to subvert the wil of e pple thru constitutn amndments mdc shdnt be part of it
  • MDC-T elected MPs & councillors should take up their seats so as not to dissapoint pple who chose them.
  • Only if they have something to do
  • Plse advise mdc-t mps not to boycot. We know what happened and we heavily backing the mdc-t party. Let the skeleton mp representation fill their places in the palamnt even if they are going to snow there. They should sit in parliament and preserve the smoldering light of mdc-t. Don’t they learn frm zanu ndonga which kept its 1 seat for 20yrs? Its falling down in an unfortold political playground tricks. When politicians fall down they should stand up and run again. Why boycoting? Be like solders! We will there one day.
  • They must boycott taking up of seats 2 show our disappointments. The people will speak what next. Dont be traped using money. We mustn’t be greedy about salaries.
  • Mgabe’s silly, did anounced presidential results in 2 Days. In 2008 it took him a quarter year, his a typical thief. We will not loose hope. In protest our MDC MPs shoudn’t get in the parliament of cronies.
  • They should not take part in council or parliament business bt Mdc must give them allowances so that they are nt tempted by the lv fo money
  • That has always been the problem with MDC.They must not participert in anyway.Look at what GNU begot and the Zumas are now saying to Tsvangirai accept results.
  • Participating means legitimising the illigitimate they should not b part of it people are angry
  • The MDC-Ts must not take the seat because if they take the seat that means they have agred with the results
  • They shoud have nothing to do with this guvnment of thieves.If they do they will have betrayed us, themselves as well.
  • These are crying babies.those who won deserve their seats
  • Now it’s tight it was better to boycott 31 July polls coz if they do that what about those people who elected?
  • They should boycott to show the illegitimace.
  • They should not take part in any part because if the election is rejected and participating amounts to acceptance which is a contradiction.
  • Mr T may keep quiet but shld let Spksman, Sec Gen, Org Sec rouse the bulldust if not satisfied. Tell him so. Chiefs did lot of damage for playing fierce dragon.
  • Stupid and foolish MDC candidates without Zimbabwe at heart can boycot.In elections one loses or wins. Respect results and the law.
  • The must not sit with those wolves.They stole our vote and try to make it a normal process.Obasanjo, may the Lord forgive him for tellin’ the opposite of what he saw.
  • They should not boycot they were elected by people who want them to serve them .they are boycoting the electorate
  • They should boycot, otherwise taking up the duties will legitimise the illegitimate
  • They should boycot becoz if they take office posts it will be free &fair election
  • They shld not even try to work with wolfs, instead they shld concerntrate about giving their party members information about the way forward & the stance to take so that the will of the pple of zimbabwe are met without fear of the unknown person.we demand our right now !
  • They should boycott .Their presents would legitimise everything after all they will never have an impact

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