Zim hits turbulent times

By Newsday | Aug. 21, 2023

To rub salt to the wound, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF government appear to have decided to throw caution to the wind in a bid to retain power.

WITH just a day to go to Zimbabwe’s 2023 presidential, parliamentary and council elections, nothing looks good. There is every sign that chaos might blight Wednesday’s polls as opposition parties argue that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec)’s preparations for this plebiscite have been too opaque to result a free, fair and credible electoral process.

Coupled with Zec’s “bleeps and blunders” stretching as far back as the delimitation process, it has been a tough call for the country’s opposition which has been holding the rough end of the stick as the police have been banning their rallies while some presidential hopefuls such as Saviour Kasukuwere and Linda Masarira have been forced by the courts to watch the poll race from the terraces.

Things are, indeed, heating up and it is increasingly becoming clear that this is going to be one hell of an election whose outcome might make or break the economically and politically fragile southern African nation.

That more matters concerning this election keep flooding the courts, literally on the eve of a crucial poll, is a clear indicator that nothing is well about this election.

To rub salt to the wound, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF government appear to have decided to throw caution to the wind in a bid to retain power.

While it is the prerogative of the incumbent and his government to decide who should and should not observe the elections, that some local and foreign observers have been blocked from physically witnessing the polls speaks volumes to what lies ahead.

It would also seem the incumbent is now resolutely adamant that he does not really care about his and the election’s credibility, a sad development in the short history of our fledgling democracy.

In his address at a rally in Shurugwi, Mnangagwa said he and Zanu PF would not be lectured about democracy by anyone or any nation.

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“It is Zanu PF, the revolutionary party, that has the right to talk about democracy, because we fought for it … No one should come and tell us: ‘Are your elections free, fair and transparent?’ Nonsense!”

We sincerely hope that this is just electioneering; otherwise it does not bode well for Zimbabwe. Why did Mnangagwa bother to invite foreign observers if he is not prepared to be scrutinised by peers and neighbours? Why did he even bother to call for this election in the first place if he and Zanu PF know the alpha to omega about democracy?

It is quite curious that Zanu PF fought against the racist Ian Smith’s regime who also passionately talked about his own brand of democracy which only promoted the welfare of his kind. It is ironic that Mnangagwa and Zanu PF are now telling us that their brand of democracy is utopian and should never be challenged when they themselves challenged another brand of democracy they were not comfortable with.

The spine chills when a leader starts claiming the absolute right to dictate to his followers.