By Richard Gandari
The recent promulgation of by-elections by President Mnangagwa has sounded the death knell for longsuffering Zimbabweans.
It is now clear for all and sundry, that the electoral process in Zimbabwe is a costly and cumbersome exercise in futility. Not even the staunchest member of ZANU PF can justify the shredding of Zimbabwe’s constitution by a dictator, whose only marked checkbox corresponds to power retention.
That is the historical footnote that will sum up Mr Mnangagwa’s presidential legacy: he managed to stay in power for two terms, or maybe three.
There are growing fears that a two-thirds majority in parliament will give President Mnangagwa the carte blanche to amend the constitution and extend his stay in power. Since his disputed reelection in August, Mr Mnangagwa has been seized with nothing besides making strategic appointments of his cronies, to consolidate his position. Through his cherry-picked minions, the Zimbabwean despot has morphed into a political octopus with multiple hands on every possible lever of power. Apart from the rulers of Russia, Iran and North Korea, it is hard to imagine any president with absolute power like Mr Mnangagwa.
His deputy, Constantino Chiwenga is now an isolated pile of shivers, probably wishing he knew where Robert Mugabe is buried, to visit the grave and cry his heart out. How Mugabe was so right about Mnangagwa! The other deputy is probably half a draft for the state media obituary writer, after collapsing at a campaign rally held recently. Which leaves President Mnangagwa with unfettered power and little risk of falling in a palace coup. In fact, all the appointments made by the President so far, are tantamount to a methodical coup-proofing undertaking, meticulously executed by overzealous foot soldiers and tail-wagging lapdogs.
With his position insulated from all known internal threats, only an act of God can relieve Mr Mnangagwa of his duties. As fate would have it, the opposition led by Advocate Nelson Chamisa is in freefall. There has never been a better time to be a dictator in Zimbabwe. Mr Sengezo Tshabangu, who now commands more authority than Advocate Chamisa, has already indicated that he will be the appointing authority for the candidates to represent the CCC in the December 9 by-elections. Needless to surmise Mr Tshabangu’s political bloodletting will continue right up to the unceremonious dethroning of Advocate Chamisa himself.
Rumour has it that there are known individuals standing with Advocate Chamisa during the day but romping in bed with Mr Tshabangu at night. Others vehemently attribute Mr Tshabangu’s shenanigans to ZANU PF and their FAZ appendage. There is a separate colour on the Zimbabwean flag, for every conspiracy theory doing the rounds. According to many analysts, there is more to the Tshabangu enigma than meets the eye. It is quite tempting to believe that school of thought, because history is awash with many examples of men who were fronted by hidden conspirators, with daggers concealed in readiness for backstabbing.
Whichever argument you support, one thing universally clear is that Zimbabwe has been plunged into deeper crisis. Poverty has worsened. Unemployment has emasculated men into financial eunuchs. Unable to fend for their families, many have been forced into the death pits of artisanal mining and other hazardous occupations in dark forests. Abandoned and hungry, many women have resorted to the world’s oldest profession. Left to their own devices, children with no moral compass to follow, have succumbed to drug abuse, unwanted pregnancies and child marriages. Collectively, the mental health of Zimbabweans has greatly diminished, resulting in the myriad of social ills reported daily in the media.
It goes without saying, that such a hopeless nation cannot be galvanized into mass action. There are too many empty stomachs to whisper the idea even within one’s family circles. The regime in Harare uses food and other trinkets to sow divisions in every community across Zimbabwe. Mental health is also a major drawback for any strategic protests against the government’s ruinous economic policies. Men who walk around talking to themselves and youths stoned by drugs cannot be entrusted with placards nor petitions. Over the years, Zimbabwe has lost the capacity to apply coherent social pressure on their deeply entrenched government.
For five years after every stolen election, Zimbabweans have to wait in suspended animation, for another glimpse of hope to unshackle themselves. Like a slave ship docking for supplies, the election season only offers a momentary reprieve. For a free meal and a fizzy drink, one has to attend every rally to enjoy a modicum of normalcy, albeit for a very short season. Food for votes is the hallmark of a broken society, a country of lost souls. Between the ruling party’s elitist policies and the opposition chasing its own tail, Zimbabweans are trapped in a sinking ship. The endless wait for a new dawn has taken its toll on a tortured populace ravaged by stunted economic growth, with no end in sight.
For the average Zimbabwean, poverty is now a life sentence. Mr Mnangagwa cannot imagine any new economic strategy for this country. The only thing he can do for the next five years is to solidify his grip on power. In the meantime, Zimbabwe will remain a failed state. Even if the CCC is totally eliminated from parliament, an unchallenged ZANU PF government will never turn around the economic fortunes of Zimbabwe. The country is endowed with vast mineral resources, yes, but as Advocate Pastor Chamisa would quote from Proverbs 17 verse 16, “Of what use is money in the hands of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?”
Hope now rests upon an act of God or man, whichever comes first. Many are forced to ask, whither Zimbabwe? Will this troubled country ever be salvaged? Perhaps the answer lies in Zimbabwe’s northern neighbor, Zambia. Walking in Lusaka, one gets the optimism that a broken country can indeed be fixed, but never by the same hands that broke it.
