VOA
17th May 2018
David Coltart of the MDC Alliance says the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is currently violating Southern African Development Community guidelines on elections as it is not giving opposition parties fair coverage in the run up to the forthcoming polls.
Watch what was actually said here:
https://www.voazimbabwe.com/a/zimbabwe-africa-david-coltart/4397694.html
Bulawayo News 24
By Hopewell Chin’ono
14th May 2018
I was just wondering about the upcoming election and pondering on whether there are people still to be won over, so-called floating voters.
The electoral dynamics in Zimbabwe are very interesting for political watchers.
What matters now is how the protagonists are engaging with the electorate and how their messages are being received, embraced or dismissed.
Nelson “Wamba” Chamisa went into the campaign cycle early to test the waters and from the crowds coming out to his rallies, he has greatly energized his social base with his message of and for Change.
The attached video shows how the elites debate is detached from the reality on the ground and the messages that the voters want to hear.
Emmerson Mnangagwa has not yet hit the road and as such we are yet to measure the strength of his message and how the electorate will receive it.
However there are certain things that we can use to test the seriousness of those around him and their resolve to put up a strong message scaffolded by common sense as opposed to the Robert Mugabe arrogance of power attitude.
My original question is still as relevant today as it was a month ago because after watching the BBC Hard Talk interview on ZBC, the average Wamba supporter that I have spoken to is not bothered at all by how Wamba fared.
They seem committed to supporting him regardless and have declared that their vote is not negotiable.
These people have reasons for saying and thinking like that, their main issues like the lack of money in the banks have persisted regardless of Robert Mugabe’s demise.
This is a huge problem for the incumbent President and his team who haven’t been able to communicate with the voters why things haven’t changed.
Wamba is promising to sort out the money supply problem in two weeks. He argues that the real issue is lack of confidence in the system of governance.
He is referring to 2009 and how the GNU restored confidence in the banking and financial services sectors. It is fact that only the MDCT can claim the fruits of the GNU whether rightly or wrongly.
You can never convince an average Zimbabwean voter otherwise because they enjoyed the fruits of that inclusive government.
So Wamba is basing his message on his government track record and he has the GNU Finance minister Tendai Biti on his side as a show of confidence to the multitudes turning up at his rallies.
Tendai Biti is credited with running a tight ship at the finance ministry, whether it was all down to him alone is a debate for another day.
In politics it is perception that matters especially when you are talking about complex matters.
Wamba’s opponent, Emmerson Mnangagwa has no such luxury, all his government ministers are tainted with wholesale corruption or have no decent track record to fall back on.
So the only cogent human tools that ED has are Constantino Chiwenga and himself, tools that also carry the bogeyman tag of the 2008 post-election violence.
Nelson Chamisa is selling himself and his party as the victim of that 2008 post-election violence and electoral fraud.
This is difficult to dismiss because the evidence is well documented and out there.
So I have argued to my elitist and social media friends that issues like lying about Trump’s $15billion and bullet trains pale into insignificance to an electorate that was once a victim of a ZANUPF campaign of terror.
The two are incomparable and that is what explains why his London trip and its Hard Talk baggage have not hurt Wamba.
It is easier for an average voter to believe that Wamba will sort out the money supply problem because the MDCT is credited with having done exactly that in 2009.
The other side has not explained how they also contributed to that success and as such, what we do not know does not matter.
It is difficult for ZANUPF to claim anything from that period because they have their DNA all over the ruinous rule of Robert Mugabe.
They are the party founded by Robert Mugabe after all and they have not done anything to rebrand themselves as Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson did with New Labour in Britain.
The greatest tools that ED has are the huge team of technocrats and experts around his office and government.
However they have failed to communicate that message to the masses, a message that the world now has some confidence in them.
I know that besides Britain, the major financial institutions see his continuity as a stabilizing factor in pulling Zimbabwe out of the sewer that Mugabe left us in. However this has to be underpinned with legitimacy which can only come through a clean electoral victory
How does he get that message to the masses, a message to let them know that their vote will assist him smoothen the path to prosperity?
Their communications experts need to figure that out because it is a technical message that needs proper crafting so that it comes out with clarity to the voter.
The other issue helping Wamba is his age.
Whilst Stephen Suckur thinks that Nero (as Nelson is also known) is a man in hurry, his compatriots and supporters believe that his time is now.
The majority of the voters are young, so it is an insult to their own self-esteem to tell them that one of their own is still “a toddler” as some ED supporters have been doing.
The old folk in rural areas see Wamba as their own son who left the village and did well in the City, they don’t see him as a toddler because they are being looked after by their kids who are much younger than Wamba.
These kids are cushioning them from the financial vagaries of 38 years of a ZANUPF government which they consider to have delivered nothing except wealth to the corrupt political elites.
So belittling Wamba on the basis of his age will backfire terribly, only be a dishonest ZANUPF supporter trying to please ED will advice him to use that line. ZANUPF has no luxury of peddling insults because of its track record.
A serious ED supporter should tell him the truth kuti shefu pane nyaya(boss there is an issue here) and devise a better plan to counter that narrative of Wamba being the future and a clean break with the past.
The problem that ED has is that Mugabe’s people who benefited from lying to and pleasing Mugabe now surround him. It is difficult to sell a new dispensation that is driven by an old dispensation.
They disregarded security reports that would annoy Bob, ED needs people that will tell him the truth so that he can plan ahead with clarity and precision.
Wamba is selling a message of what he can do if he is elected, a message of hope and a departure with the past.
He is telling them that his presidency will revive the economic growth that took pace during the GNU days, he is telling them that the hospitals will be up and running again as happened during the GNU era. He has a recent past to refer to and make his supporters visualize on.
So far all I have seen from ZANUPF is spending hours on end delegitimizing Wamba’s message instead of telling us what they will do if re-elected and how they will do it.
It is difficult for ZANUPF to talk about a departure with the past when in the same vain they refer to Robert Mugabe as their icon and revolutionary hero in their election manifesto.
That icon is seen as the chief architect of today’s problems and a broken Zimbabwe, so the contradiction is stark!
The bullet train and airports stuff has not hurt Wamba at all because the masses know that it is all electoral campaign theatrics. It is no different to the two million jobs promised in the 2013 ZANUPF election manifesto that was called Zim-Asset.
It is no different to the 1,5Million houses promised in the 2018 ZANUPF election manifesto.
They can’t be delivered and anyone who tells you that they can should see a shrink.
Wamba has nothing to his name but a track record of five years in the GNU and the people loved that short-lived experiment. It was an experiment shared with ZANUPF but somehow ED and his team will have to figure out how they can also claim credit for some of that success.
ED and ZANUPF have a soiled 37 years under their belt, their advisors need to undo that memory and package ED as the Moses who will unlock the door to the future although he won’t be part of that future. The President is 75 years old, the same age that Robert Mugabe was in 1999.
ED and his team have so far failed dismally to pluck low hanging fruits like attempting to do cosmetic work on hated legislation like AIPPA and POSA.
They failed to even publicly rebuke corrupt ministers and this to many voters is proof that the administration is still the same regardless of changing the administrator.
Instead of being creative, ED’s team are being defensive both in private and on social media, they need to start telling the nation why their man is different from Robert Mugabe.
Shouting that #EDhasmyvote is as annoying as it is hollow to a person facing daily challenges in their life, more so when it is coming from someone who has disembarked from a brand new Japanese or German SUV bought by tax dollars.
The other problem that the Zimbabwean President has is that he is surrounded by a lot of buccaneer businessmen, fraudsters, dealers and deceptive characters who lack the exposure to realize the damage their presence around him will do to ED the candidate.
They have no big ideas for him to succeed and win the election legitimately except the usual brown nosing and sycophancy.
He needs to get rid of these thugs and create a palpable proximity between himself and these people and stick with the professionals.
Nelson has put a team of well-known and capable political hands next to him, Tendai Biti, Douglas Mwonzora, Welshman Ncube and David Coltart.
We will see whom the president will rely on publicly once he gets on the road to win hearts and minds of voters.
Internationally, ED won the support of the British government through their ambassador, Catriona Laing. This they won before Mugabe’s demise. Contrary to this charm offensive, Tendai Biti has been denigrating the person of Catriona Laing on twitter and in public spaces.
This is not helpful because the Brits are a key stakeholder in giving a clean bill of health to the electoral process. Wamba will never get this support from the British Ambassador Laing, it is too late.
ED gained a bit of respect from the Americans when Senator Christopher Coons and his team came to Harare in early April. However that short-lived respect is now wilting because he hasn’t done anything yet as a statement of intention to fulfil what he promised them.
They are now thinking of turning the screws as they feel that what they were promised by Ed and his team was meant to buy time.
His people haven’t engaged with the US as much as they did with the Brits.
Typical of ZANUPF, they are spending more time with the Brits and yet that battle was won long ago, the more time they are spending with the Brits is now delegitimizing both themselves and the British ambassador. (I will write about the America view during the week.)
This week there is a BBC team in Harare led by Jonathan Munro that seeks to smoothen relations with the Zimbabwean government.
This is all good for purposes of healing the two decades broken relationship between the BBC and the ZANUPF administration.
However ED needs to be engaging more with the American media because his problem lies with convincing the US government that he is indeed the real deal and change agent.
He needs to give a big US interview to an American Network, an interview that will position his credentials as the rightful man to take Zimbabwe out of Mugabeism.
It doesn’t need to be a Hard Talk type but something with a network that is taken seriously on Capitol Hill.
He also needs to give a big interview to a respectable American newspaper as opposed to his New York Times Oped.
It was roundly dismissed at Capitol Hill as the work of a Lobbying Company.
Zimbabwe needs America’s backing because all the international financial institutions take their cue from Uncle Sam.
So far the US is not convinced and instead of spending hours on end with the Brits, ED’s team needs to engage the Americans and win them over.
So I come back to my question again, with all these variables, have Zimbabweans made up their minds on who to vote for or there are floating voters to be won over?
Can the President turn the corner and halt Wamba’s charge if he deploys the right team and tactics?
Can he win the Americans over by doing some reform work that is credible enough?
Can he get rid of the toxic characters around his informal teams and can he leverage on the post Mugabe euphoria and eloquently speak into the common man’s struggles without it being dismissed as an election gimmick?
He needs to convince the country and the world that he has the capable people to help him turn the tide. He needs to borrow a leaf from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s book.
Cyril Ramaphosa deployed what he called a team of “lions” and “tigers” to lure domestic and global investors with the aim of raising $100-billion for South Africa in the next five years.
President Mnangagwa needs to send a similar message of seriousness to the electorate, the local and international investors and the global political elites. Deals from places like Belarus don’t count as they are seen as only beneficial to the ruling elites and not the country.
Since taking over from Robert Mugabe, roads are being fixed and money has been released to councils, however it is only those of us who speak to the political elites who know about this.
He needs to use an effective media campaign team that can show what his administration has done so far and explain that change is incremental.
He needs to explain why buying brand news cars for Chiefs was more important than buying ambulances for district hospitals.
All this communication work will assist in making sure that the present government is not forced to use its old ways of retaining power, in which case we will be back into the future.
Hopewell Chin’ono is an award winning Zimbabwean journalist and documentary filmmaker. He is a CNN African journalist of the year and Harvard University Nieman Fellow.
His next film, State of Mind looking at mental illness in Zimbabwe will be launched in June in Harare and Johannesburg by Graca machel. He can be contacted on hopewell2@post.harvard.eduor on twitter @daddyhope
Zimeye
13th May 2018
By Paul Nyathi
The MDC has unveiled its 34 House of Assembly candidates to contest this year’s harmonised elections.
The party did not have any primary elections but used the discretion of the National Council to decide the candidates where more than one person showed willingness to contest the election.
The names were revealed to media in a statement by party spokesperson Kurai Chihwayi.
“The MDC National Council met in ordinary full session in Harare on Saturday 12th of May 2018 and deliberated on various national issues including the upcoming harmonised elections scheduled for between 22 July and 22 August 2018 and the following were the candidates approved by the National Council.
Pilate Ndebele – Bulilima West
Maxwel Mthunzana -Lupane East
Mxolisi Sibanda – Lupane WestWitness Khumalo -Tsholotsho North
Zenzo Nkomo – Tsholotsho South
Joyce Ndhlovu – Gwanda North
Patrick Dube – Gwanda Central
Angilacala Ndlovu – Insiza South
David Coltart – Bulawayo East
Stella Ndlovu – Luveve
Nimrod Lunga – Vungu
Miriam Mushayi – Kuwadzana
Edwin Mushoriwa – Dzivarasekwa
Thandiwe Mlilo – Mberengwa East
Osherd Mtunami – Shurugwi South
Nicholas Bwanyashuro – Muzvezve
Maseko – Zvishavane Runde
Moreblessing Charuma – Chegutu East
Munyamana Godfrey – Mutare North
Jealous Munemero – Buhera North
Faith Chakwera – Mazowe South
Tamary Chimanzi – Mazowe West
Nyanhete – Chikomba West
Boniface Mushore – Mutoko North
Constance Chihota – Marondera West
Kenias Donga – Chiredzi East
Lovemore Zanawi – Chiredzi South
George Mudombo – Chivi CentralTibba Paswell – Chivi South
Chihwayi said that the party is committed to working within the terms of the MDC Alliance coalition though reports from the MDC-T the senior partner to the coalition are that the party is threatening and preparing to contest in some of the constituencies seconded to the MDC.
The MDC-T party is said to be claiming that some candidates presented by Ncube are not popular enough to wrestle the seats from ZANU PF.
The Chronicle
By Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
12th May 2018
INFIGHTING in the Mr Nelson Chamisa-led MDC-T has resulted in the party failing to finalise its list of candidates who will represent it in Matabeleland in the forthcoming general elections.
The party which was supposed to finalise the list of candidates in the three Matabeleland provinces, only reached consensus in five out of the 12 constituencies for the National Assembly in Bulawayo province. The party resolved not to conduct primaries to select candidates but instead opted for consensus which has been criticised by party supporters who say the method is undemocratic as it is open to manipulation by the leadership.
The party’s national leadership was in the province on Thursday to announce the final list of candidates but only five candidates were confirmed as there are disagreements in the rest of the constituencies. The selection of candidates saw sitting MPs Tabitha Khumalo (Bulawayo East) and Dorcas Sibanda (Bulawayo Central) stepping aside for new candidates.
According to sources within the party, Bulawayo MP under proportional representation Nicola Watson will represent the MDC-T in Bulawayo Central constituency where she will battle it out with Zanu-PF’s Cde Mlungisi Moyo.
Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Gift Banda will contest under the party’s ticket for Njube-Lobengula constituency against Cde Maidei Mpala of Zanu-PF.
Ward Seven Councillor, James Sithole has been selected to stand for the party in Makokoba constituency where he will battle it out with Cde Tshinga Dube of Zanu-PF.
Mr David Coltart will represent Bulawayo East while Bulawayo lawyer, Kucaca Phulu, has been selected to represent Nkulumane constituency and will contest against Cde David Ndlovu.
MP Sibanda yesterday told Chronicle that she had stepped aside to give Watson a chance, adding that she’ll decide on her next move.
“We agreed as a party to select our candidates on the basis of discussing and reaching a consensus in every constituency. I’m content with giving a fellow party member a chance to contest in the elections. I’m yet to decide on my next move,†said MP Sibanda.
MP Khumalo said she also decided to give Mr Coltart a chance and will wait for the party to assign her. — @pamelashumba1
Senator David Coltart
Statement regarding the recent MDC Alliance trip to the UK
12th May 2018
I am back from the UK having accompanied MDC Alliance Presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti.
In the course of four days we met the British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Africa Minister Harriet Baldwin, the Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, senior MPs including Kate Hoey, Sir Henry Bellingham and Andrew Mitchell, a senior editorial team from the Economist, a senior editorial team from the Financial Times, including the editor, Lionel Barber, and other distinguished journalists like Matthew Parris. In addition Nelson Chamisa addressed the Oxford Students Union, Chatham House and was interviewed on BBC Hardtalk.
For a trip which was pulled together at short notice and financed on a shoe string budget it was a resounding success. Unlike ZANU PF delegations which draw on all of the resources of the State (and in some respects international institutions) this trip was funded solely on the generosity of individual Zimbabweans. I flew economy, stayed with friends in London and we all used the tube to get around. Tendai Biti paid for his own airfare.
Our message was simple – we like all Zimbabweans want our nation to prosper. But for it to prosper our Constitution must be respected in letter and spirit. We pointed out that there was gulf between the rhetoric of the Mnangagwa administration and action on the ground. We explained that for all the statements of commitment to a “free, fair and credible election” the reality is that less than 3 months from the election ZEC remains a biased, militarised institution. Furthermore the opaque process for the printing of the ballots using same tricks as 2013, the deployment of troops in rural areas, subtlety intimidating the electorate and the ongoing use of the ZBC, Herald and Chronicle as propaganda vehicles (in brazen defiance of clear Constitutional obligations) all show that this regime is not committed to a fair election. We stated that a fair election cannot solely consist of an election which is relatively violence free.
We also spoke about our economic policies – that unlike the “command economic policies” of ZANU PF we will respect the rule of law and the free market. Unlike ZANU PF which pays mere lip service to rooting our corruption but still keeps the most corrupt people in office, we will tackle it head on. Unlike ZANU PF which speaks of giving farmers 99 year leases, but does not do so in any way which gives farmers real security, we will grant bankable title to all farmers. Unlike ZANU PF which continues to spend money it doesn’t have, we will be responsible with the national purse and protect peoples’ savings, investments and bank deposits.
We spoke about our demonstrable track record – that this was not pie in the sky. We reminded our hosts that between 2009 and 2013 the economy grew, that people did have confidence in the banking system, that bank deposits grew, that people could get money out of banks, that schools did reopen, that hospitals did have drugs, that Zimbabweans did start to return home, and that a new Constitution was written and agreed to by millions of Zimbabweans.
We never at any time spoke about the need for sanctions. We made it quite clear that we, like all Zimbabweans, want to take the Nation forward, but that the best way of doing that was if whatever government takes power respects our own Zimbabwean laws and Constitution; that more than anything else we will make the country attractive to foreign investors again; that foreign investors can see through mere rhetoric and that the reason the economy has continued to plummet since Mugabe’s removal is because business confidence has not been restored by the new regime.
Our message was well received by all the people we spoke to. Most importantly Nelson Chamisa spoke eloquently and clearly about everything I have written about above, demonstrating that despite his relative youth he has the capacity to lead a new government well. At the end of our meeting with Boris Johnson he said how impressed he was by Nelson Chamisa. Inevitably there have been detractors, mainly from people who are now in the employ of the Mnangagwa regime or who write for the propaganda rags such as the Herald and the Chronicle. Nelson Chamisa was given a grilling on Hardtalk, as was to be expected. No doubt he has learned from the experience and he is a quick learner. Having done Hardtalk twice myself I know how demanding it is and I respect that he was prepared to go into the firing line – something his principal opponent in this election appears not prepared to do.
It is important to remember that Nelson Chamisa has known nothing else other than the crazy political environment which has existed in this country since he entered politics in September 1999. Ever since he was 3 years old Mnangagwa has held some type of office, during which time Zimbabwe has been plundered and devastated. He has been detained, beaten up and left for dead at Harare airport. He has had leadership thrust on him by his own National Executive following the untimely death of Morgan Tsvangirai, who clearly demonstrated his own faith in him before his death.
The amount of abuse being directed his way shows how much of a threat he poses to a de facto military regime which has a long and bloody history of murdering, torturing and brutalising its opponents. Despite all of this he is bravely campaigning and at the core of his message is non violence. He is the only leader campaigning country wide at present drawing thousands of people to his rallies in both rural and urban areas. Of course Nelson Chamisa has faults. All of us do. Of course he has made mistakes in some of his pronouncements – all of us have done so in our own political careers. None of is perfect – but at this moment in our history we cannot let perfection be the enemy of the good.
Notwithstanding these human flaws and the quality of some of the other Presidential candidates, Chamisa is the only competent person who realistically stands between ongoing de facto military rule and a new dawn for Zimbabwe. Everything else is simply pie in the sky. That is the harsh reality all those who dream of a new vibrant, tolerant and free Zimbabwe need to confront.
Senator David Coltart
Bulawayo
12th May 2018
VOA
10th May 2018
The leader of the MDC-T formation, Nelson Chamisa, says his party is concerned about the Zimbabwe Defence Forces’ involvement in politics.
Speaking at Chatham House in London on Wednesday, Chamisa said despite the army’s move to remove former president Robert Mugabe from power last November, he is confident that there are some soldiers who are still professional enough to stay away from politics.
“We are extremely concerned that the military ofcourse played a pivotal role in politics of our country in the context of what happened in November but also in the context of what is happening now in terms of elections … What we want to see there is the politics of engagement by civilians. So, yes, we are concerned but we are fortified by the fact that we also have a lot of soldiers who are professional, who respect the will of the people, who will respect the will of the electorate.â€
In response to a question on “booting out†Chinese companies from Zimbabwe if elected president in the forthcoming presidential poll, Chamisa said there is need to have mutual relations between the two nations.
“Our relationship with China, like l indicated, should not be a relationship of unequal, should be a relationship of win win, if we are to do business let’s do business on the bases of the set values, set notes, our good governance, human rights observance, non-exploitation of citizens of both countries that is the basis of our engagement .
“Yes, China is a big global player but also understand historical issues around our relationship with United Kingdom. We need to revive that, this cat and mouse relationship with the British government or British people is not helping our country because we have a historical link that we need to harness and harvest out, we must cream off that important relationship. So, the immediate thing we are going to do is to restore good and happy relations between the British and Zimbabwean people so that we mutually build our country.â€
Chamisa, who is accompanied by People’s Democratic Party leader Tendai Biti and former Education Minister David Coltart, is expected to meet with some state officials before appearing in a televised interview.
VOA
9th May 2018
The Movement for Democratic Change Alliance’s presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa, says Zimbabwe is currently facing a leadership crisis like other African nations.
In his address at Oxford Union in the United Kingdom, Chamisa said there is need for a change of government in the country currently devastated a leadership crisis.
In a statement, the MDC-T said Chamisa told the hundreds of people that “everything in Africa rises or falls with leadership. Once we get leadership right, everything else goes right. The shortage in Africa is not a shortage of resources, but a shortage in leadership which is manifesting itself in a shortage of many things. When you see diseases in Africa, you are not seeing disease but a death of leadership. How do we cure that? We cure it by making sure we put Zimbabwe on a path to a free and fair election. We have put certain benchmarks to achieve that free and fair election.â€
The MDC Alliance says President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government should address 10 key issues in order for the country to hold free, fair and credible elections.
This includes calls for an independent electoral body, a proper oversight over the voters’ roll and election materials, an impartial military that respects the election result, media and legislative reforms, the early arrival of international monitors, a peaceful vote, fair distribution of food handouts to the needy and depoliticization of traditional leaders
“We are giving a fighting chance to the people of Zimbabwe as we go into this election. Why am I saying so? We are saying so because we know in any struggle we must be able to stand up and be counted and to define a narrative to which people have to come through. We did it before as a people. During the liberation struggle, we forgot about race, we forgot about class, we forgot about tribe, we forgot about all the other classes that may separate us to look at the great idea of liberation. We achieved that liberation.
“Unfortunately, that liberation was checked halfway, why? Because of exhausted nationalism. Why? Because we had those who came into power failing to realize that occupying power is not for self-empowerment or self-entitlement. Title is not for the self but for others. We have not done things for others but for ourselves.â€
Chamisa believes that the leadership crisis in Africa has resulted in serious social, economic and political problems in most nations.
“This has been the biggest problem on the African continent. That when leaders assume positions of responsibility they forget that the primary objective is service and sacrifice. And they begin to think about themselves, building a parasitic elite that is focusing on self-aggrandizement at the expense of the populace. That is what we need to cure.â€
He stressed that Zimbabwe is facing the same problem as ousted president Robert Mugabe replaced the late Prime Minister Ian Smith and then created an autocratic regime.
“I have a lot of respect of Robert Mugabe the young, though I do not have any respect for Robert Mugabe the old, because he betrayed the ideals of Robert Mugabe the young, who was a liberation icon. I suppose there is something wrong with age, but I don’t think so. Age comes with wisdom, but for Mr. Mugabe, age came alone. And these are the things we want to make sure we are able to deal with.â€
President Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba was not immediately available for comment.
The Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford.
Chamisa, who is accompanied by MDC’s David Coltart and Tendai Biti of the People’s Democratic Party, is expected to hold several meetings with Zimbabweans living in the United Kingdom, British officials and address various think tanks.
The Chronicle
Editorial Comment
8th May 2018
IN December last year, less than two weeks after the dramatic events of November where a new dispensation was ushered into power in the wake of former President Robert Mugabe’s resignation, MDC Alliance leaders Messrs Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti embarked on a trip to the United States of America where they joined other anti-Government activists Mr Dewa Mavhinga and Mr Peter Godwin to demonise Zimbabwe before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In sensational and shocking presentations before the influential committee, the quartet took turns to make a strong case for the maintenance of sanctions on Zimbabwe by besmirching the new administration led by President Mnangagwa even before they had time to acclimatise to their new offices. Right thinking Zimbabweans roundly condemned their macabre charade and pointed out that it was unfair for the opposition politicians to expect the new Government to have righted the wrongs of the past 37 years in a space of a fortnight.
They also called out the duo of Mr Chamisa and Mr Biti for seeking to gain cheap political capital at the expense of the generality of Zimbabweans who were suffering under the yoke of punitive measures, particularly the ruinous and misnamed Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA).
Addressing the Committee, Mr Biti urged the US to maintain the sanctions until after this year’s harmonised elections saying the opposition movements will only advise the IMF and other institutions after assessing the conduct of the 2018 elections.
He said the western world must only assist when reforms have been effected and acted upon by the Zimbabwean Government. “If we are able to deliver as a country a free, fair and legitimate election, in respect of which everyone accepts the results thereof and the provisions of the constitution spelt out in Section 2 of our constitution, the founding values of the constitution that deal with power transfer are respected and there is genuine power transfer in Zimbabwe, then quite clearly, there is an obligation in the international community to assist us particularly the third question where we have to engage the World Bank, the IMF and the Paris Club of lenders,†said Mr Biti.
His co-panelist Mr Mavhinga said the US should push Sadc and AU to insist on a roadmap for free elections, demanding domestic and international observers, and making sure outgoing Zec boss Justice Rita Makarau’s replacement is independent. In the wake of their appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the US announced in February this year that it was maintaining sanctions on Zimbabwe for another year.
It said a review of the punitive measures will be done after the harmonised elections. Government has instituted far reaching reforms and has pledged to hold free, fair and credible elections. It has also embarked on a re-engagement drive with the Western world while reinforcing its cordial relations in the East.
Already, the world is warming up to the new administration with many countries promising to assist Zimbabwe find its footing. However, despite the best efforts of President Mnangagwa’s Government, the opposition appears steeped in the past where it used to demonise the country in return for trinkets from its Western funders.
Messrs Chamisa and Biti are in the United Kingdom on another mission to undermine the Government and reverse the immense progress that has been achieved on the diplomatic front by Harare. Writing on his Facebook timeline, former Education Minister Senator David Coltart — who is part of the MDC Alliance contingent to the UK — let the cat out of the bag when he revealed that the delegation would rubbish the Zanu-PF Government by pointing out its shortcomings to the British establishment.
“The main purpose of the week (in Britain) will be to promote British investment in Zimbabwe in a new era under an MDC Alliance government. We will explain that the fundamental difference between the MDC Alliance and Zanu-PF is that we, unlike Zanu-PF, will implement Zimbabwe’s new Constitution in full — in letter and spirit — and that we will respect the rule of law,†said Senator Coltart in his post.
“For all Zanu-PF’s rhetoric about Zimbabwe being “open for business†the one thing they have never learnt in 38 years of misrule is that the single most important factor in any investor’s decision to invest in a foreign country is security of the investment.†Clearly, the opposition learnt nothing from its trip of shame to the US and will continue its scorched earth policy of burning down the country in pursuit of its selfish agenda to ascend to power.
Now more than ever, Zimbabweans need to unite and promote the country as a safe investment destination not continuous demonisation. MDC Alliance leaders need to appreciate that the image of the country is much more important than their political careers.
The Herald
“David Coltart Correspondent” – as it quoted me!
7th May 2018
The Herald published a Facebook post I did quoting me as a correspondent and suggestig that this was a sinister agenda – here is what they published.
“Today (yesterday) I leave for the UK to join MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti for a series of meetings this week with British Government leaders, opposition leaders and officials.
We will also be meeting journalists from the Economist, Financial Times, Spectator, Evening Standard and other leading British newspapers.
Nelson Chamisa will also be speaking at Oxford University and Chatham House. It is a great honour for me to have been invited to join Nelson Chamisa on this trip. I am absolutely delighted that once again I am working with my old comrades who have been in the trenches with me since the MDC was formed on the 11th September 1999. In fact, the MDC Alliance is in essence the resurrection of the original MDC — read up on the original interim leadership and you will see what I mean. The main purpose of the week will be to promote British investment in Zimbabwe in a new era under an MDC Alliance government.
We will explain that the fundamental difference between the MDC Alliance and zanu-pf is that we, unlike Zanu-PF, will implement Zimbabwe’s new Constitution in full — in letter and spirit — and that we will respect the rule of law.
For all zanu-pf’s rhetoric about Zimbabwe being “open for businessâ€, the one thing they have never learnt in 38 years of misrule is that the single most important factor in any investor’s decision to invest in a foreign country is security of the investment.
If an investor feels that the rules will change, or that a dispute will come before a biased, political judge, or that permits will have to be obtained through bribery, the investor will simply look elsewhere.
That is why just this week, SA President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Africa/Japan Investment summit, stressed that South Africa’s judiciary is independent and that his Government totally respects South Africa’s Constitution. He gets it.
Sadly, Zanu-PF doesn’t — including President Mnangagwa’s Government.
This is not just about Zanu-PF under Robert Mugabe. Since Emmerson Mnangagwa came to power in November (2017) the Constitution has been systematically breached — General Chiwenga’s appointment as VP and being in charge of Defence is unconstitutional, as are the appointments of Resident Ministers, the failure to open up the ZBC, The Herald and Chronicle and a raft of other actions.
Our judiciary remains seriously compromised — and rather than implement the Constitution it is none other than President Mnangagwa who in recent times tried to amend the Constitution to further undermine the independence of the judiciary, by reducing the powers of the Judicial Service Commission in selecting the Chief Justice.
In contrast, the MDC Alliance, which after all has been the main driver of the new Constitution agreed to by Zimbabweans in 2013, will respect and implement the Constitution in all its fullness. And that is the one fundamental difference between the MDC Alliance and not just zanu-pf, but all the other major parties contesting the election.
Without Morgan Tsvangirai, Nelson Chamisa, Jessie Fungayi Majome, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, Douglas Mwonzora and many other MDC leaders, there would never have been a new democratic Constitution. That is a hard fact. So we will be telling the British Government and investors that British investment will be secure under an MDC Alliance government.
We will also remind them that when the MDC had just a small amount of influence in Government between 2009 and 2013, the economy grew dramatically, hospitals reopened, children went back to school and a new democratic Constitution was written and accepted by millions of Zimbabweans.
In other words, these are not empty promises, or mere rhetoric — we have a demonstrable track record.
If we grasp the full reins of Government, Zimbabwe will boom.
God bless Zimbabwe.”
New Zimbabwe.com
7th May 2018
Former Sports Minister David Coltart has lamented the increase in the number cricket and football administrators seeking political office ahead of the upcoming harmonised elections, saying it is detrimental to the development of the country’s two biggest sporting codes.
The forthcoming harmonised elections have seen a surge in the number of sports personalities mainly from football and cricket seeking political office after their participation in the recent Zanu PF primary elections.
Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) president Philip Chiyangwa and his deputy Omega Sibanda together with Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukhuhlani recently contested in the Zanu PF primary elections ahead of the national harmonised elections later this year.
Sibanda won the right to represent Zanu PF in the upcoming general elections after being declared the winner in the ruling party’s primary elections in Gweru’s Vungu district while Chiyangwa is also seeking to contested and won last week’s primary polls for Zvimba South (Mashonaland West province).
“My view has always been that ideally politics and sport should be divorced from each other but sadly you can never fully separate politics from sport,” Coltart told NewZimbabwe.com.
“I was Minister of Sports and had political powers over sporting bodies but I think what is critical is that sports administrators should not be political, the same way as headmasters and church leaders should be apolitical.
“So it is problematic when you have sports administrators who also want to hold political office.”
Coltart said the entry into politics by current and former cricket administrators exposed how the country’s second biggest sport had become heavily politicised.
Mukuhlani, who is the current Zimbabwe Cricket board chairman won last week’s Zanu PF primary polls for the Mhondoro-Ngezi constituency while former ZC MD Ozias Bvute also earned the right to represent Goromonzi North constituency.
“Cricket in Zimbabwe has for some time been heavily politicised over the past few years if you take into consideration the fact that the current chairman (Tavengwa Mukhulani) and the previous CEO (Ozias Bvute) are both standing for political office,” said Coltart.
“It’s very clear that cricket has become completely politicised and my argument as minister and now has always been that we want to cricket administration and selection to be dominated by people who know and love the game.
“In other words people with international or first class cricket experience not politicians. That’s why I have never sought office in Zimbabwe Cricket because I feel that would make the organisation too political.”
He added; “It’s the same with football; it has also been dominated by politicians.
“When cricket was run by apolitical people it was run better and it was in the black and not in the red as what is the case now and it’s the same case with football.
“Ever since football and cricket have been pollicised just look at what has happened.”
Zimbabwe Cricket is current facing a debt of over $19 million ears of mismanagement and the conflict of interests harboured by some of its key officials while the equally cash strapped local football governing body also has a ballooning debt which is now over $7 million.
“It’s become very clear that sporting disciplines where there is money involved are dominated by Zanu PF you don’t see that in sports codes like hockey or swimming but it’s become very clear that in sports where people think they can make money out of their involvement in sport its dominated by Zanu PF.”