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Mr.
Mugabe, listen to me: No elections without reforms, period
Rejoice
Ngwenya
April 08, 2013
I have, since
1999, at selected occasions worked with both Professor Welshman
Ncube and Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai in the struggle for legitimate regime
change. They mean well for oppressed citizens of Zimbabwe. But in
attempting to do the best for us, they must not be deceived by the
so-called March 16 peaceful constitutional
referendum. The stubbornly arrogant ZANU-PF dictatorship still
has at its disposal enough political toxins to inflict a mortal
blow on our bid for genuine emancipation.
Mr. Mugabe insists
on a June 2013 plebiscite at the expiry of the current Parliament’s
term. I am elated that Professor Ncube informed Jakaya Kikwete how
Mugabe has missed by a mile the legal connotation of rushed proclamations.
Mr. Tsvangirai also shows positive signs of agitation with ZANU-PF’s
schizophrenic demands. However, writing letters to SADC and gate-crushing
into courts is no panacea, especially when dealing with a deranged
dictatorship. The right thing is to de-construct the myth of Mugabe’s
constitutional superiority. Like Jerry Thompson’s forays into
the Ku Klux Klan, expose and erode ZANU-PF’s superficial self-esteem.
We the people
will vote, so we must fearlessly resist attempts to be stampeded
into an election whose results are predetermined by ZANU-PF. The
two MDC leaders must get off their leather-padded seats and visit
the villages. There is a massive captive audience that needs to
know what truly free and fair elections mean. Instead of wasting
valuable time on electoral manifestos, explain to villagers what
laws need to be adjusted to suit the New Constitution. Tell them
it is impossible to have a credible voter registration exercise
within ZANU-PF’s timeline. Will they be happy to know that
the same Tobaiwa Mudede who crafted the 2008 Voters Roll is still
involved? Are the villagers aware why Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and Public
Order Security Act (POSA) must be repealed to enable free communication
and assembly? Tell the villagers that Zimbabwe Election Commission
is staffed with ZANU-PF cronies and that we need community broadcasters
in every province, including licencing exiled SW Radio, Studio 7
and VoP radio stations.
Remind them
that banning NGO work in villages, arrest of their leaders and lawyers
like Beatrice Mtetwa is part of a broader agenda of intimidatory
tactics to neutralise Human Rights Defenders and cow them into involuntary
compliance. The villagers must know that when The Herald and ZBC
insult MDC leaders, it’s meant to erode the value of democracy.
In order to perpetuate high level ZANU-PF electoral corruption,
officials of the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission are arrested
and intimidated.
The villagers
should know that if key state institutions responsible for the administration
of justice are transformed from being biased towards ZANU-PF, innocent
MDC leaders will not languish in police cells. Tell them of the
ZANU-PF Chipangano; al Shabab terror groups who are agents of political
violence but freely roam the streets of Mbare and Mbizo. The villagers
should know that closure and disbandment of torture camps will enable
rural citizens to assembly and vote freely. The army, police and
ZANU-PF militia must remain confined in their barracks. Besides,
if JOMIC is not permitted to function as per the Global
Political Agreement, how can there be peace in the villages
when perpetrators like Jabulani Sibanda are not brought to book?
Professor Welshman Ncube and Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai should ultimately
warn Mugabe he risks a massive, unprecedented popular resistance
if he forces an election without all these key electoral reforms.
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