THE recent amendments to the Electoral Act are either the work of a stupid government or a government that thinks its citizens are stupid.
The disqualification of a person who has been convicted for violence from standing as a candidate should be music to the ears of citizens who have been battered by years of violence and general misrule.
But we, by now, all know the devious nature of our Zanu PF leaders.
Of course, this legislation is designed to crush the opposition. It allows for Zanu PF to have enough time to buy judges and convict framed opponents of any crimes they can dream up.
It also gives six months impunity before the elections for Zanu PF thugs to intimidate the electorate in the lead-up to elections.
Government surely knows, as we commoners do, that for a person to be convicted, it needs a police report first.
The police will not and do not take any report of violence perpetrated by a Zanu PF member, but are quick to arrest a Citizens Coalition for Change supporter even if they have committed no crime.
The Nyatsime debacle involving the sending to prison of Zengeza West legislator Job Sikhala and the others without trial is a perfect example of the police’s and Zanu PF’s duplicity.
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So it can be taken as read that this amendment to the Act is designed solely for non-Zanu PF members.
Even if the police do get a successful prosecution against a Zanu PF member, he/she will get a pardon from President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
All the rhetoric from Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF about being peaceful is just an open lie to try to hoodwink the international community into believing the leopard has changed its spots.
It has and will never change as doing so will see it out of power with an overwhelming majority overnight. The only way they can and do win elections is through terrorism.
Right now, they are openly, in front of senior police officers and in broad daylight, terrorising peace-loving citizens.
Media posts abound but not one Zanu PF member from Mnangagwa to the lowest level supporter has condemned this ongoing terrorism. Why? Because it keeps the population cowed into voting for them — terrorism works. Look at Afghanistan and North Korea. We are no different.
In reality, there are only three ways to gain our freedom.
- By the gun, but that will not happen as there are no international supporters who will support that route for regime change, no matter what Zanu PF says and tries to make us believe.
- By mass action, which is a distinct possibility as the masses get hungry and angry over the misrule and fear inflicted on them by Zanu PF.
- By waking up Zanu PF members as to the seriousness of using terrorism.
This should be done by the opposition parties stating now that when they do manage to dislodge Zanu PF from their stranglehold on the country, laws will be enacted outlawing terrorism, retrospectively, with very heavy penalties, even death by firing squad.
The onus of proof of innocence must be on anyone being accused of terrorism. This might sound harsh, but terrorism has held back the country from attaining peace and prosperity for 43 years now. Our freedom is long overdue.
Remembering that violence does not have to grab you by the throat, people engaged in passive terrorism such as nurses not attending to victims of violence, judicial and police officers not prosecuting Zanu PF members and persecuting opposition members like the Nyatsime detainees, chiefs and headmen forcing their subjects to vote against their free will, Zanu PF officals denying citizens food aid, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission manipulating the vote, etc, are all equally guilty of terrorism and must answer for their crimes against the citizens.-A Mbire
Keep your eyes on the ball
NO amount of gold or silver or superlatives will break the solidity of my enduring spirit against all forms of persecution, machinations, plots and conspiracies against me. Ask those who know me better. I urge all of you, dearest compatriots, to also remain resolute and unshaken in light of the vices in our nation.
Keep your eyes on the ball. I find bright spots in my willingness to make sacrifices, even against all forms of adversity.
People are not freed by doing nothing, but by making selfless sacrifices.
I might be suffering in prison because the precious life of Moreblessing Ali was terminated by those who have arrogated themselves that power, but my “persecution” goes beyond that. It is, to me, an effort to eliminate me politically and silence us all.
Despite the laurel wreath of the present, I am resolute, unmoved, and unshaken here at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
Great men and women are remembered and counted among the marathon runners of history. The vicissitudes of the present are a test of endurance.
I am prepared to run this race to the finish. This, let me emphasise, I am prepared to do.
The great warriors of the world are those not understood by the present, but remembered by history in a legacy that will span centuries.
This will be the mark of men and women who are prepared to carry the fight for their ideas and ideals to the end, damn the consequences.
I am emboldened by the great observation of the greatest man ever to live.
In Africa, the good guys usually lose; they are imprisoned, tormented, tortured, killed, beaten up, or simply beaten down, but they are immortalised by history.
Let them throw me in jail, no matter how insurmountable the situation appears. I see victory all around. We shall be victorious.
May the Gracious Almighty God bless and protect all of you.-Job Wiwa Sikhala
Universities must be centres of innovation and development
THE growth and development of almost every nation orbit around the ability of higher learning institutions to be innovative.
Across the global spectrum, particularly in developed nations, universities have been making ground-breaking researches and discoveries that have had positive impact on humanity.
To some, universities played a major role in the famous industrial revolution which brought about optimum efficiency of industries.
The discoveries by Harvard Medical Schools have also positively reduced mortality rate.
These discoveries include but not limited to 1799 Smallpox vaccine, 1843 Puerperal fever, 1846 Anaesthesia, 1886 Appendicitis, 1890s-1910 Insect-borne disease transmission; scurvy; heat-killed vaccines, 1914 electrocardiograph, 1922 insulin; founding of Joslin Diabetes Centre, 1923 heart valve surgery, 1925 Three-flanged nail, 1927 Iron lung syphilis test and 2020 contributed to the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Ironically, in Zimbabwe, universities have successfully failed to come up with new innovative ways that foster national development and growth.
There have not been ground-breaking discoveries with respect to national challenges.
The introduction of the Education 5.0 syllabus has not brought any positive impact except wholesome populistic policies and glorified propaganda.
It is a clear indication of government’s failure to carry out feasibility study prior the introduction of the policy.
The announcement by government that the University of Zimbabwe will now produce number plates is rather worrying and disheartening, more so from the supposed leading higher learning institution in the country.
At a time when other universities are contributing to their countries’ bid and race for fourth industrial revolution, universities in Zimbabwe are being relegated to the production of sanitisers, face masks and number plates.
At this rate, an upper-middle class economy remains a utopian idea.
It is also a testament to government’s failure to fulfil the objectives set in the National Development Strategy 1 priority 7, which focuses on human capital development and innovation.
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development
