ON Sunday I was following the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) star rally at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare.
On the same day, the ruling Zanu PF party held its second rally at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera, where thousands of Zupco buses were hired to transport supporters to the venue.
As usual, guest of honour, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga delivered a boring and uninspiring speech.
He threatened money changers without telling thousands of bussed supporters how the government intends to resuscitate the economy, which is in the intensive care unit.
Chiwenga took time to mock CCC leader Nelson Chamisa.
In Bulawayo, MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora told less that 300 supporters that he had fruitful engagements with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, where he is pushing for dialogue.
Basing on the crowd that thronged Zimbabwe Grounds, Chamisa is still a force to reckon with.
Even the MDC-T founding father Morgan Tsvangirai never pulled such multitudes. It also shows that Chamisa appeals to the people more. Zimbabweans see hope in Chamisa.
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Despite the frustrations Chamisa’s supporters experienced at the hands of the police, they walked long distances to the Zimbabwe Grounds.
CCC has proved beyond doubt that it is the next government.
The country has regressed under Mnangagwa’s leadership.
The problems bedevilling the country needs fresh ideas. We need to do away with toxic politics of hate, patronage, nepotism and tribalism which have negatively affected our beautiful country — once breadbasket of southern Africa.
CCC is the solution to the challenges Zimbabwe is facing. CCC must be wary of those itching and jostling to take up positions in the new party for self-aggrandisement rather than development. Chamisa’s star rally showed that he is connected to the grassroots and represents the future.
CCC’s star rally put to rest the question who is leading the biggest opposition party between Chamisa and Mwonzora.
Mwonzora, Morgen Komichi and Elias Mudzuri’s political careers are over; they are dead and buried.
The court of public opinion has made a judgment. It is God’s case, no appeal. –Leonard Koni
Zacc, a case of all froth no beer
ALL along, people had come to believe that this body named Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) really exists.
It is surprising that people are too blind to see that it is another Zanu PF ploy to woodwink the suffering majority to believe something is being done to arrest corruption in the country.
But alas, Zacc was established to cover up and silence the war-cry on massive looting which has been going on since independence. Has this commission ever convicted an individual on corruption charges?
Ever since it started its investigations which are carried out only in the media, no one has ever been convicted.
Tell me of any alleged criminal who was part of those surrounding the late former President Robert Mugabe was convicted.
What happened to Priscah Mupfumira’s case?
Former Health minister Obadiah Moyo’s case has died a natural death.
US$15 billion of diamond revenue disappeared without trace and not even one arrest was made.
Zinara bought snow graders and no one was punished for such a costly boob.
Zacc is a clear case of all froth no beer.
All people are being investigated at their workplaces, but are being cleared by some individuals whose hands could be not that clean.
I have every reason and right to suspect that Zacc officials are dining with those being investigated.
As the situation stands, now is the time to take Zanu PF head-on. It has gone too far in its endeavour to deceive the majority.
There is nothing like an anti-corruption commission existing anywhere in Zimbabwe and this evil misuse of public funds should stop with immediate effect.
Civil servants are yet to receive their salary increments, yet funds are being thrown in a bottomless pit. –Chief Chiduku
Govt should adopt ‘you eat what you gather’ policy
ZIMBABWE is in crisis, but to expect the Zanu PF government to resolve this is impossible.
Today, nearly four out of every five Zimbabweans survives in abject poverty. On average, Zimbabweans are poorer now than they were at independence in 1980. Informal employment is at 95%, which is why the civil service has more than doubled over the last 10 years to 600 000 employees — this is the only place the government can create jobs.
But the crisis Zimbabwe is facing is no accident. It is a man-made calamity. Over the last 42 years of independence, Zanu PF has presided over the disintegration of the productive sector of the economy. Driven by sheer incompetence and greed, the party has completely destroyed a once thriving economy.
Firstly, industries closed in the face of vanishing foreign investment.
Secondly, infrastructure was not maintained and no investments were made.
Thirdly, the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy was ripped open when land was politically redistributed.
In today’s Zimbabwe, the elite prosper in the midst of misery because of maladministration. Furthermore, they have created cartels that control the importation and distribution of fuel in the country.
The military and other privileged corporates and individuals are offered mining concessions that are then parcelled out opaquely to friends, local and foreign.
Zanu PF cannot be expected to reform a system that it not only profits from, but on which its rule depends.
During the government of national unity between 2009 and 2013, three critical things were introduced.
lIt was recognised that the government could not spend what it does not have. We described this as the “eat what you kill” philosophy. This immediately provided confidence and clarity to foreign investors and international partners.
lWe dollarised the economy, thereby ridding the country of arbitrage opportunities against the inflating Zimbabwean currency.
lWe opened up the economy thereby incentivising the private sector.
Without governance and transparency, the only investors we will get in Zimbabwe are cowboys and opportunists, a mafia by another name. Without political change and the necessary will, reform will only amount to empty words. It is like putting lipstick on a crocodile. –Mwana Ngundu
