Apparently, President Mugabe’s efforts at lobbying the Sadc leaders to buy his battle cry for elections this year came to nothing, while the MDC-T’s preferred position won the day. This must be a big lesson to the former ruling political party; that gone are the days when whatever Mugabe wants done or said by the regional leaders would be said and done. Zanu (PF) still took advantage of these meetings and harped on about the need for sanctions to be lifted, but this did not persuade the regional leaders to allow the country to prepare for elections with or without the new constitution.
Stalling the process
The regional leaders are obviously aware that most of the agreed reforms have not been implemented because Mugabe and his party are actively stalling the process for reasons best known to them. There is therefore no need for them to cry about the need for elections this year when they are the ones who are dragging their feet in relation to the implementation of the agreed reforms.
Job well done
The MDC formations need to be congratulated for a job well done in lobbying the Sadc leaders and keeping them well informed about developments in this country. More lobbying needs to be undertaken, especially regarding the now increasing incidents of political violence and lengthy detentions of innocent MDC supporters facing trumped up charges. The nation waits with bated breath to see whether those who are suspected of having murdered Magura will be subjected to due process in the administration of justice.
The MDC formations need to identify and publish the reforms that are still to be implemented, clearly indicating the specific individuals that are tasked with their implementation.
Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has publicly blamed Webster Shamu, the Minister of Information and Publicity for refusing to properly reconstitute the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe and for refusing to direct state-owned and controlled media houses to stop playing Zanu (PF) jingles.
The same direct exposure should also be levelled at all the other Cabinet ministers whose responsibility it is to implement the remaining reforms. This is the best way of demonstrating to the people of this country that although Zanu (PF) cries so much about elections this year, they are certainly the ones that are forcing the nation to delay the elections until some time next year. Further, as a smart election campaign strategy, the MDC formations need to identify all the businesses that have already been taken over and ruined by Zanu (PF) senior officials and publish that information. The nation needs to know who owns what businesses and how are they performing in relation to the national economy.
It is a fact that most of the enterprises taken over by these people have since folded up or are actively making huge losses, not because of sanctions, but because of bad management and outright theft and corruption. Now the same people want to seize more enterprises in the name of indigenization and economic empowerment. This will speed up the economic demise of this country and our children will never be able to get any jobs or start businesses of their own under this failing regime. – makumbe60@gmail.com
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis