Dismayed doesn't even begin to explain how I feel at discovering that President Mugabe and his Zanu PF cohorts have stooped so low as to illicit money from the very poor in the name of supporting their party. Poverty is rife in Zimbabwe with the majority of the people living below the poverty datum line and yet they are still expected to contribute funds towards Zanu PF's agenda regardless of their political affiliation.
Villagers in Vumba were forced to pay $5 towards President Mugabe's 93rd birthday bash and yet we are told that ZANU PF loyal supporters gave willingly towards this cause. Considering that most of these villagers can barely afford to feed themselves and their families it's unbelievable that the government would still expect donations from these poor villagers. This is just another clear indication that the government does not care for the plight of its people but will instead do all they can to push their agenda. Another woman in Sabhuku Nyamagwada's village in Vumba, spoke of her fear at being an MDC supporter as she was threatened with death if she supported anyone else's party other than President Mugabe's ZANU PF party. MDC supporters in that village have resorted to walk in pairs out of fear and as a safeguard against being brutalised or murdered.
Villagers in Hwedza told the daily news in Zimbabwe last week on Sunday that they were being forced to contribute towards a youth rally that ZANU PF wants to host in Marondera in June. To my way of thinking, if ZANU PF is so great and popular, people would not need to be coerced into supporting them and their causes. The constitution is very clear that every ZImbabwean citizen has the right to belong to any political party that they choose as is indicated by the extract below:
67. Political rights•
1. Every Zimbabwean citizen has the right :-
a. to free, fair and regular elections for any elective public office established in terms of this Constitution or any other law; and b. to make political choices freely.
2. Subject to this Constitution, every Zimbabwean citizen has the right--• Freedom of assembly • Freedom of association • Right to form political parties
a. to form, to join and to participate in the activities of a political party or organisation of their choice;
b. to campaign freely and peacefully for a political party or cause;
c. to participate in peaceful political activity; and
d. to participate, individually or collectively, in gatherings or groups or in any other manner, in peaceful activities to influence, challenge or support the policies of the Government or any political or whatever cause.
The government and their enforcers clearly have not read this memo as they continue to intimidate and harass non supporters. People can no longer rely on the government and the police to keep them safe and it seems as if we have entered an era where we need someone else to police the government as they can no longer be trusted to put the interests of the wider population ahead of their own agenda...these are dark times for Zimbabwe.
Thursday 25 May 2017
Sunday 7 May 2017
Will things ever change in Zimbabwe?
Leaders set the culture for whatever groups they lead and that group cannot develop beyond the vision of its leadership. If the head is rotten the rest of the body will be rotten as well. In the case of Zimbabwe it's a sad but true fact that nothing is going to improve as long as the current leadership in all branches of government continues to lead. The corruption in government is so deep set and has cascaded from the head of its leadership to the people with minor positions in the government, to the point of becoming normal that no one even bats an eyelash when they come across it. The only way that a change can come in this kind of system is to have a complete overhaul of all the systems in government and start afresh building from the top to the bottom.
Over the past few weeks I have been horrified at the blatant disregard of the constitution by members of the Zimbabwean parliament as they openly opposed the core values of what the constitution stands for. This behaviour has gone unchecked and is completely unacceptable for people who hold such public seats in office. Martin Dinha who is the Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Minister was quoted saying that the 1970's liberation war veterans who oppose President Mugabe should be captured, stripped and taken to the army barracks where they would be beaten as punishment. When he was later asked about this by the media he said these comments were made in jest. Why would someone in authority joke about people being beaten and think that this is funny when ordinary citizens are being arrested for doing less? When Mr Dinha was elected in power he swore to uphold the constitution of the country and for him to joke about perpetrating violence towards its citizenry clearly shows his contempt at everything that the constitution stands for when it comes to the ordinary Zimbabwean people.
Shuvai Mahofa who is the provincial Affairs Minister has also gone on record saying that only Zanu PF supporters will be favoured in contract awarding for the construction of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway.
"Recruitment of general labourers should be done through the local Zanu PF leadership, we need to screen and take our people only."
"District chairpersons should have a list of party cadres so that when the program starts, you are ready with the names of our youths."
"This is what we agreed at the leadership of the province.''
The construction of this road is estimated to take up to 3 years and will create about 330 000 casual jobs. The government is supposed to be impartial and provide equal job opportunities for its citizens but they are using their strength to indirectly force people to become members of their party. People are hungry and desperate for jobs and the government is manipulating this vulnerability in order to garner more support for their party in the lead up to the 2018 elections.
This is not the first time that the government has manipulated people into supporting them and it seems to be a trend that they have adopted leading up to major elections. This continues to happen because we the people continue to allow it. For many years I, like a lot of people had my head in the sand and pretended that everything was alright as long as I managed to look after myself. This kind of attitude is what has kept this Zanu PF ruling party in power and will continue to keep them in power as long as we the Zimbabwean people continue to watch as they treat the country's possessions as their own personal property. We the people can bring about a positive change in Zimbabwe by using our God given talents, be it our voices to say 'enough is enough', our legal knowledge on how this ruling Zanu PF party can be stopped or just being the person who agrees to stand up and be counted as standing up for the rights of the Zimbabwean people and opposing the atrocities that are being committed by the government...the buck starts with us.
Over the past few weeks I have been horrified at the blatant disregard of the constitution by members of the Zimbabwean parliament as they openly opposed the core values of what the constitution stands for. This behaviour has gone unchecked and is completely unacceptable for people who hold such public seats in office. Martin Dinha who is the Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Minister was quoted saying that the 1970's liberation war veterans who oppose President Mugabe should be captured, stripped and taken to the army barracks where they would be beaten as punishment. When he was later asked about this by the media he said these comments were made in jest. Why would someone in authority joke about people being beaten and think that this is funny when ordinary citizens are being arrested for doing less? When Mr Dinha was elected in power he swore to uphold the constitution of the country and for him to joke about perpetrating violence towards its citizenry clearly shows his contempt at everything that the constitution stands for when it comes to the ordinary Zimbabwean people.
Shuvai Mahofa who is the provincial Affairs Minister has also gone on record saying that only Zanu PF supporters will be favoured in contract awarding for the construction of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway.
"Recruitment of general labourers should be done through the local Zanu PF leadership, we need to screen and take our people only."
"District chairpersons should have a list of party cadres so that when the program starts, you are ready with the names of our youths."
"This is what we agreed at the leadership of the province.''
The construction of this road is estimated to take up to 3 years and will create about 330 000 casual jobs. The government is supposed to be impartial and provide equal job opportunities for its citizens but they are using their strength to indirectly force people to become members of their party. People are hungry and desperate for jobs and the government is manipulating this vulnerability in order to garner more support for their party in the lead up to the 2018 elections.
This is not the first time that the government has manipulated people into supporting them and it seems to be a trend that they have adopted leading up to major elections. This continues to happen because we the people continue to allow it. For many years I, like a lot of people had my head in the sand and pretended that everything was alright as long as I managed to look after myself. This kind of attitude is what has kept this Zanu PF ruling party in power and will continue to keep them in power as long as we the Zimbabwean people continue to watch as they treat the country's possessions as their own personal property. We the people can bring about a positive change in Zimbabwe by using our God given talents, be it our voices to say 'enough is enough', our legal knowledge on how this ruling Zanu PF party can be stopped or just being the person who agrees to stand up and be counted as standing up for the rights of the Zimbabwean people and opposing the atrocities that are being committed by the government...the buck starts with us.
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