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Abuse of political power continues to hold the nation at ransom
Mary Jane Ncube, Transparency International Zimbabwe
October 15, 2008

Six weeks after the signing of the agreement ZANU PF the illegitimate ruling party continues to hold the country at ransom, making everything and everyone dance to its tune. Once again assuming wrongly that the silence of the masses is equal to stupidity, and as such leaves them to pay tokenism to the spirit of the political power sharing agreement.

The Herald report of 14 October 2008 states arrogantly that Morgan Tsvangirai 'got more than Kenya-s Odinga-. Should this comparison make Tsvangirai feel grateful? Should it make the nation grateful? Once again assuming that whatever crumbs ZANU PF gives to MDC it should be eternally grateful of the magnanimous gesture from ZANU PF which after all is the interloper!

In its blinding arrogance ZANU PF and its vast web of clients fail to grasp that the power sharing is neither about them nor the two MDC formations. It is about ending the deepening social -economic and political crisis that has ruined any semblance of governance in this country through corruption in the form of gross abuse of political power to commit corruption and simultaneously protect the corrupt, coupled with gross incompetence and misgovernance of all state institutions to the benefit of the ZANU PF harem. The spirit of the power sharing agreement according to all concerned Zimbabweans is that it should usher in a period of transition that leads to a to a new culture and ethos freedom of expression, assembly, tolerance and other fundamental democratic rights, demonstrated by increased civic participation, responsive governance and open democratic dispensation. The general population, minus the minority benefiting from the patronage will not permit this power - sharing to be turned into a ZANU PF coup and a travesty of progress.

ZANU PF as always is missing the point and like all egotistic self - centred entities thinks the power -sharing agreement is their rescue package. The party arrogantly assumes that by paying token acknowledgement to the power sharing agreement, by holding on to the key ministries then MDC, the investors and donors would be hoodwinked into pouring in money for ZANU PF to revive itself and carry on in its old form of looting, misgovernance, abusing human rights and politicising humanitarian aid. There is an assumption that by paying cursory attention to power sharing in the same manner that the 1987 Unity Accord was approached it can be used as a the gimmick to silence MDC forever as was the fate of PF ZAPU.

The big gesture of unity depicted in the embrace of Robert Mugabe, Joseph Msika and Joyce Mujuru, fools no-one but the benefactors of the patronage. For concerned Zimbabweans it is nothing but a show of denial that the Titanic has really been hit by an iceberg and is really going to sink. This is demonstrated by holding on to the key ministries that are in most need of interventions for major reforms such as the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Media Information and Publicity, Local Government and Urban development, Higher and Tertiary education, Mines and Mining Development, Transport and Lands and Agriculture for the country to start on a new slate, as these ministries are among those that have suffered tremendous losses under the ZANU PF regime. What is likely to change should these ministries stay in the stronghold of ZANU PF? It was the understanding of all the reform - minded Zimbabweans that the power sharing is to usher in a new era of political stability, social and economic development. The kind of cabinet desired by ZANU PF does not attest to any sincerity or desire for change on the part of this party.

It is still not clear whether the international investors and donors will come in their droves to rescue Zimbabwe should the two MDC formations once again swallow the bitter bill and arm twisting of ZANU PF and accept this proposed distribution of ministries as the problem areas still remain in the hands of the problem makers. One must conclude that ZANU PF being represented by educated but unlearned men and women is aware of this at some subliminal level but as always are thumping their noses in the air and telling the nation and the world 'we don-t care as long as we can keep getting our lions share-.

It must be stated to the misguided author of the piece of news in the Herald, that it not doesn-t matter how much more than Odinga MorganTsvangirai got. The point for debate is whether what he got gives him sufficient leverage to influence positive reforms that would take the nation from the precipice of all grand scale humanitarian disaster to recovery. It must be noted that the timing for Kibaki-s political corruption and that of Robert Mugabe are also different and require noting. Kibaki stole an election precisely six years after he came into power and enjoyed at least six years of favourable relations from the international community with major financing for big and small recovery projects for Kenya pouring in. Mugabe on the other hand has a history of stealing elections and abusing his political power at the expense of his own people. Counting 1980 this March and June elections of 2008 are the 6th such stolen elections. Remember one of his June election campaign messages read . . . ' 1980, we did it once lets do it again-. The point is Kibaki-s PNU was probably given the benefit of the doubt by the international community and business as a first time interloper, ZANU PF on the other hand is not.

To conclude ZANU PF must forthwith desist from holding the nation at ransom. It must stop dictating the pace of change and nature of change Zimbabwe is to undergo. The power sharing deal is for all Zimbabweans and about Zimbabwe, not the politicians. If the international community buy into it, it will be because they are thinking about the over 3 million people who are facing death by starvation throughout the country, and the millions more who are displaced; living as illegal aliens elsewhere. They will not be thinking of the politicians who already have cost the nation everything because of greed and corruption. The Zimbabwean population is peaceable not dumb as ZANU PF and other parts of the world seem to assume. We have opted for peace not bloodshed, and it may be that we have yet given ZANU PF a long rope by which it will hang itself. We fair minded Zimbabweans, caring about the rising number of destitute people, beggars on the streets, rising poverty and crime, the young people who are wasting precious time selling airtime and bread in the street when they should be at school; the rural folk who are competing for hacha fruit with their donkeys for sustenance, want change, transformation and a chance to make sense of our lives as well as secure the future for our children. We demand that the desires of the people come first for once, as a sign of sincerity and true acknowledgement of the people-s desire for change.

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