Dialogue necessary to create a conducive environment for undisputed elections

Dialogue that enables the development of processes that will result in undisputed election results is the only dialogue that is essential among stakeholders in the country in order to address the country’s challenges. The reason why dialogue has failed in Zimbabwe is that you President Mnangagwa, who call yourself a listening President, said you will not have any dialogue with Chamisa if Chamisa brings up his election dispute to the negotiating table because the Constitutional Court declared you President. The Court may have made a verdict, but the evidence remains that the elections were rigged, and that must be addressed to avoid similar things happening in the future.

The opposition cannot be expected to be silent over rigging, even if the courts rule against their claims if they have irrefutable evidence. The opposition is entitled to share the evidence of rigging with anyone who cares to listen, including the international community, especially when a President who did not win a free and fair election gives a condition that he does not accept election rigging to be on the agenda of dialogue. Since you claim to be a listening President, you must live to your claim and listen to the evidence of your agents’ rigging the elections in your favor. If you do not listen to issues that negatively affect the country, then people, including the international community, will say you are a hypocrite, and will never take the country out of the crisis it finds itself in. You, your colleagues in Zanu PF, and the compromised opposition should never blame sanctions on anyone, but on Government and Zanu PF’s human rights abuses.

People become very suspicious when a supposed President of the opposition praises a National President who the public knows to have rigged an election. This is why those opposition leaders who are attracted by the carrots you give will never be accepted by the people because people are fully aware of the harassment administered to them by your agents.

So despite the fact that the Constitutional Court judge found no evidence of rigging, you should accept that your supporters intimidated people as in the video of William Mutomba which has been shown in many places. You should accept the evidence of people having to be asked to register in Zanu PF registers at the polling stations which is a form of rigging. And most importantly, you should, in addition to publicly rebuking the actions of people like William Mutomba whose video terrorising the electorate went viral and others who committed similar crimes to rig the election in your favor, you must get them arrested for the crimes.

Nothing brings stability to a country more than a free and fair election. We need a free and fair election in Zimbabwe to cleanse the country’s image and bring back confidence. We need a free and fair election to get the people of Zimbabwe to work together. As long as there is rigging, the people of Zimbabwe will remain bitter, and there will always be instability. These abuses are continuing under your nose, President Mnangagwa, and you have not said a word about it. Video footage of Zanu PF leaders telling people that they will be evicted or prevented from gold punning if they support the opposition post the 2018 elections continue to circulate. These are the things that should be discussed in the dialogue.

Listening President, please swallow your pride and listen to evidence of election rigging by your agents. That will help find solutions to future elections, and that will move the country forward.

Kennedy Kaitano

Video evidence of terrorisation of the electorate by President Mnangagwa’s agent William Mutomba Junior  https://twitter.com/Doctor_Decent/status/1021956125179211776?s=08