Honestly, Zanu (PF) is totally unimaginative, to say the least. How can a political party that has experienced so much loss of popular support continue to hold onto the very individual who has caused it to become a political leper throughout the country, if not the region? How is it possible that none of the people in Zanu (PF) can summon the courage to tell the 86-year-old dictator that he has now become a serious liability to his political party? Is it possible that all the members of that crumbling party are so scared of Mugabe that they dare not tell him to his face that it is now time for him to retire from politics? No wonder, Margret Dongo once called all Zanu (PF) members of Parliament Mugabes wives.
Perhaps the truth of the matter is that it is not really Mugabe that these people are afraid of. Rather, it is Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the MDC-T that they are petrified of. They know that without Mugabe, Zanu (PF) is incapable of producing any serious electoral candidate at the presidential level who can stand shoulder to shoulder against Tsvangirai and expect to win.
That is very true as the results of the 2008 presidential race amply demonstrated. Indeed, it is strongly suspected that the published results had been heavily manipulated in order to give poor old Robert a respectable percentage vis–vis what Tsvangirai had received. In other words, Robert may have received much less than the 43% that was officially announced by the ZEC at that time. This means that in the elections of 2011 there will be worse rigging in order to give Mugabe a win over Tsvangirai. The people of this country know that Mugabe no longer has any capacity to win an election.
Media reports indicate that the Zanu (PF)s violence machinery has already started operating in some areas, and some people have already had to leave their homes for safer areas. Tsvangirai has publicly stated that the MDC will pull out of the 2011 elections should violence be used by Zanu (PF). Should this happen, then Mugabe will proceed with the elections since other smaller parties are likely to stay in the rat race.
This will give Mugabe the opportunity to argue that the elections were not a one-horse race. The nation will be forced backwards in terms of political development. Our situation will, once again, deteriorate to the levels of 2007/08. This will mean that sanctions will stay in place and Zimbabwe will remain a pariah state that is shunned by other countries.
Mugabe and his party will not receive any meaningful recognition and acceptance by other countries. Hundreds of thousands of our people will once again trek out of the country into the Diaspora. Our social sector will collapse as schools, clinics and hospitals will close down.
It will be as if the clock has been turned back to the year 2007. This will result in a lot of damage to a whole generation of young people, some of whom may never be able to attain a college education in their lifetime. The big boys will intensify their looting and primitive accumulation of wealth and wives. The Chombo example is but the tip of an iceberg. Several things can be done to prevent all of the above from happening. We should pray for Gods intervention to end the reign of some of our most cruel oppressors. It bothers me that the church no longer calls for days of prayer for the nation these days.
Post published in: Opinions