Last week the “Group of Elders” comprising
notable individuals like the former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ms Graca Machel advised SADC leaders to facilitate
"a transition in Zimbabwe". The group was concerned with
Zimbabwe’s worsening economic crisis and warned the country could slide into
the abyss and take the region with it. Sadly the regional body paid no heed.
“Minister Mumbengegwi said, "There was
no discussion on Zimbabwe, but one country did mention that it had received
this letter from three people who said they were part of an NGO calling itself
'The Elders'. The Heads of State were actually quite angry about that letter.
They said, 'These three think that we are puppets. Summit should reject this
attempt by the three individuals to set an agenda for us,” reported the Sunday
News.
"The Head of State who had brought it said, 'I agree that we should reject it totally. I just wanted to find out if others had received the letter that I received.' It turned out that the majority of Heads of State, including Zimbabwe, had not received the letter which was unanimously thrown out in the end. In Sadc, we have our own way of doing things if we think something needs to be done. In this particular case, no one thinks there is anything that needs to be done."
"The Head of State who had brought it said, 'I agree that we should reject it totally. I just wanted to find out if others had received the letter that I received.' It turned out that the majority of Heads of State, including Zimbabwe, had not received the letter which was unanimously thrown out in the end. In Sadc, we have our own way of doing things if we think something needs to be done. In this particular case, no one thinks there is anything that needs to be done."
My guess is the minister is being very
selective and quoting from the one SADC leader who is sympathetic to the Zanu
PF regime and, like Mugabe himself, refusing to acknowledge the reality that Zimbabwe
is sinking deeper and deeper into the economic abyss and is now totally
helpless to stop the sinking. Zimbabwe is not new to having political and
economic crisis and forcing SADC to step in to help.
The Zimbabwe economy sunk to new world record
breaking lows in 2000 to 2008 when inflation reached 500 billion per cent,
there was nothing in shops, etc. It was not surprising that Zimbabweans risked
life and limp to force regime change just to end the economic crisis. Mugabe’s
response was to use even more brutal violence to force people to vote for him.
Not even SADC could turn a blind eye to such barbarism; they demanded that
Mugabe accepted to formation of GNU which would be tasked to implement
democratic reforms so the vote rigging and wanton violence of 2008 will never
be repeated.
Sadly none of the reforms were implemented
allowing Mugabe to blatantly rig the 2013 elections and putting the country
back when it was in before the 2008 elections with the same corrupt and
tyrannical Zanu PF regime back in power.
Mugabe was able to rig the national elections
but could not rig economic recovery. Whatever little economic recovery the
country had enjoyed during the GNU quickly disappear as corruption and
mismanagement returned with vengeance. Unemployment has surged to 90% plus and
so too has corruption, millions of Zimbabweans now live in abject poverty,
there is no clean running water and power cuts are now the norm, etc.
Only those SADC leaders who have their heads buried
in the sand, like Mugabe would not have seen that Zimbabwe is back in the same
economic and political crisis it was in run-up to 2008.
The only reason SADC leaders would be loathed
to intervene again in Zimbabwe’s never ending crisis is exactly that – it is a
never ending crisis. Morgan Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders had the
chance to implement the democratic reforms and end the crisis but instead chose
to do nothing. SADC leaders did their best to remind MDC to implement the
reforms but were ignored. As long as SADC leaders have corrupt and incompetent
opposition leaders like Tsvangirai to work with they know no reforms will never
be implemented and so why bother be involved again.
The Group of Elders are asking SADC not to
give up on Zimbabwe for no better reason than that the consequence of Zimbabwe
sinking an deeper into the abyss are unthinkable for the people of Zimbabwe and
the region as a whole. With so much at stake the Group of Elders are right in
risking abuse from Mugabe and his Ministers and highlight this serious problem.
Everyone knows Mugabe hates to hear the truth
spoken about him and his regime and we all know of the regime’s abrasive nature
and abusive language! Minister Mumbengegwi was just giving the Group of Elders a
timely reminder of both.
“They have been quiet for three years and suddenly they now want electoral reforms and give themselves a funny name, a parastatal name like NERA. Let us be clear, for a long time since 1999, the opposition was saying the most important reform that must happen in the country is a new constitution. The current Electoral Act as it is now is a product of the Global Political Agreement parties,” said Minister Moyo.
ReplyDelete“Opposition parties are literally saying put in place electoral reforms that will ensure that you lose and we win. That will never happen anywhere in a modern constitutional democracy that a political party that has come into government on the back of negotiated electoral reforms to then come up with reforms intended to reform itself out of power.”
MDC had the opportunity to implement all the democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 GPA and the party failed to get even one reform implemented. President Mugabe played his cards rights in granting MDC leaders all the gravy train treats, a $4 million mansion for Tsvangirai and endure the humiliation of having to share power with the upstarts but got his reward – not even one reform was implemented in spite SADC’s repeated call on MDC to do so.
It is political naivety, indeed sheer madness, to expect Zanu PF to now take up the mantle and implement the democratic reforms the party had worked so hard to make sure they never see the light of day. Only real corrupt and incompetent individuals like Tsvangirai would even suggest such nonsense.