The Herald
December 15 2010
I AM tempted, very tempted to delve into the WikiLeaks debate once again. What with the way the cables are leaving some grown men in the nude, as naked as the day their first cry rang out in the village, that day when their now cat’s paw little fists were clenched Zanu-PF style with elders gathered wondering what gifts the little one had brought into the world.
If only they had known then that they had just witnessed the birth of a monster that would invite a goblin against not only their village but the entire nation, I am sure the midwife would have washed her hands Pontius Pilate style and left the rondavel in a huff.
Ah, such is the mystery of life one never knows what the pregnancy will bring forth for as those of old put it: Nhumbu ininga inozvara mbavha nemuroyi.
Be that as it may, let me leave this subject for this week and address a dangerous lie that’s being peddled in some quarters, the claim that elections will bring about economic instability and as such they should be deferred to an as yet unknown date and year.
Such thinking presupposes that the economic instability of the past decade was caused by elections or contested electoral outcomes, an assertion that feeds into the MDC-T rhetoric that the neo-liberal platitudes of electoral democracy accounted for the economic regression of the past decade.
What is shocking about these claims is that they are also being parroted by people who should know better, captains of industry who do not see the irony of making such assertions while acknowledging, in the same breath, that the West’s illegal economic sanctions had a deleterious effect on the economy.
The well-fed men in the boardrooms claim that the inclusive Government has fostered a modicum of stability and elections should be deferred to enable them to translate the nascent stability into growth.
Hearing them speak like this, a Martian would be mistaken to think that some of them had no hand in the economic subterfuge. Some of these pontificators deliberately scaled down production or smuggled their products to neighbouring countries as they preferred the greenback to the increasingly volatile Zimdollar bearer cheques.
It’s not as if industry was not producing over the past 10 years, it was but the goods and the revenue that accrued from selling them were externalised to abet the illegal regime change drive. Some of them even locked out workers whenever the MDC or ZCTU called for their abortive stayaways.
This explains why soon after the then acting finance minister Patrick Chinamasa introduced the multi-currency regime; the goods appeared on shop shelves over night since they could be sold in hard currency locally.
Let’s not try to distort history.
The emerging stability has nothing to do with the fact that Tsvangirai now has an office at Munhumutapa Building or moves around in a three-car convoy, "it’s all about the Benjamins", as the young men about town would put it in reference to Benjamin Franklin whose visage adorns the US$100 note.
What the anti-poll lobby should never forget is that the inclusive Government was formed pursuant to fostering an environment of socio-economic stability in readiness for elections.
What makes them think that the elections will not give us another hung parliament necessitating another inclusive Government, if the inclusive Government is so good for the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange?
What is more, President Mugabe put it clearly where he said he felt uncomfortable exercising executive authority under a makeshift arrangement. Who in his right mind would want the current scenario where people who, we are told are flawed, weak, and indecisive and in need of ‘‘massive hand-holding’’ are left to superintend a nation with so many multi-faceted challenges as our dear Zimbabwe?
What is more? WikiLeaks has just revealed that some of these characters treat national affairs like Tizirai’s proverbial basket that on one end is being woven while on another its being undone.
Thanks to Julian Assange, we now know that MDC leaders are not only double-faced but are also fork-tongued as they say one thing during the day, and do the exact opposite at night.
Where can such an arrangement take us?
In fact, WikiLeaks makes the case for elections all the more compelling because saboteurs need to be punished severely in the court of public opinion. We were all told, ad nauseum over the past decade that the answer to our multi-faceted challenges are free and fair elections.
The inclusive Government was put in place primarily to pave way for the much-vaunted free and fair elections though it honestly beats me how an election can be adjudged to be free and fair in an environment of sanctions that were imposed specifically to influence voting patterns.
It’s a good thing that Zanu-PF is actually saying regardless of the effects of economic sanctions and the spectre of protest votes, they are prepared to go for elections. That stance should actually be applauded not derided.
It’s not difficult to see where all the talk of delaying elections is coming from. One WikiLeaks cable revealed as much where it said the regime change drive should look to time to do what it failed to achieve over the past decade. It’s quite clear that the anti-poll lobby believes the only way to realise regime change is to ensure that the Zanu-PF candidate is not President Mugabe.
The call to defer elections, even by those who initially thought the threat of early elections was a stick with which to browbeat Zanu-PF, is premised on the belief that President Mugabe would soon retire leaving Tsvangirai to face a new and ostensibly weaker opponent.
Well, well, such is their fear of a man they claim does not enjoy widespread support.
Be that as it may, those who imposed sanctions claimed they were doing so to promote democracy and good governance. Elections are part of their minimalist conception of democracy.
What better way to expose their double-speak than going for a poll, rout their lackeys openly, and then challenge them to justify the continued existence of sanctions?
caesar.zvayi@zimpapers.co.zw/
http://caesarzvayi.blogspot.com
