Thursday 28 March 2024

According to the ancient Greeks there are three types of people; the idiots, the tribesmen and the citizen.

  FOOD FOR THOUGHT


Unless you understand your role in society, you can never make any meaningful contribution.


According to the Greeks there are three types of people on earth, 

- the idiots , 

- the tribesmen , and 

- the citizens . 

 

Studies show only 10% of Africans are citizens. 

The remaining 90% are either tribesmen or idiots . 


1. When the Greeks used the word "idiot", they did not use it as a curse word. 

 Idiots are people who just don’t care. 

If they write exams, they will cheat.

If they are in government they will steal.

 An idiot does not care at all, if he eats bananas he throws the peels anywhere instead of putting them in a  trash bin. 


 IDIOTS won't attend monthly neighborhood meetings. They won't pay security dues. They won't contribute to community development. Even when they see or know about something that will harm others in the community they won't report it . When they see/know/have something that will benefit their community they won't share. Infact, Idiots don't care to register for or vote in an election yet they complain the most. If they register to vote, IDIOTS will sell their votes for peanuts.


According to the Greeks, some societies have more idiots than tribesmen and citizens . 


2. The next set of people are tribesmen , these are people that look at everything from the point of view of their tribe.


These are people that believe in you only if you are part of their tribe. 

It can be terrible to have a tribesman as a leader, he will alienate the rest.


When the Greeks talk about tribes, it’s not just about ethnicity, they also consider religion, gang membership, group membership, party membership and even cult membership as a tribe.

A great percentage of Africans are tribesmen , because they view everything from the point of view of their tribes.

They trust only their tribesmen . 


3. The last group are citizens. 

These are people that like to do things the right way. 

They will respect traffic light rules even if no one is watching them.

They drive within speed limits.

They respect the laws, won’t cheat in exams.

In government they won’t steal.

They are compassionate and give to others to promote their wellbeing. 


 Citizens often promote projects that benefit everyone. 

The Greeks called this group the citizens . 


Some countries have more citizens than tribesmen and idiots . 

Others have so many idiots . 


A tribesman can become a citizen through orientation.

And an idiot can become a citizen by training and constant enforcement of the law. 


But things fall apart if you elect an idiot or tribesman to lead you if he has not been reformed. 


Where do you belong?

Are you an idiot , a tribesman or a citizen ?


Reflect about your life.


 REFLECT ABOUT YOUR IMMEDIATE COMMUNITY, CITY, STATE & NATION. 


So help us God !


The ancient Greeks were very clever! 


Those ancient Greeks, who bequeathed democracy to mankind those 2 500 years ago, were right in saying the system only works when the people are educated, knowledgeable and are diligent in holding those in public office to account. 


In Zimbabwe most of the voters are ignorant, naive and gullible and so both Zanu PF and MDC/CCC have taken full advantage of this to frighten and/or con the voters into doing the politician’s bidding even when it is not in the voters’ interest. It is no exaggeration to it is the politicians who hold the voters to account - the tail is wagging the dog! 


We 2 500 years later only have to adopt the wheel and use it and yet we are failing to do so! 43 years after independence, 2 500 after the Greeks, we are still failing to hold free, fair and credible elections! Fcuk me!

Zimbabwe is a failed state and in dire need of democratic reforms. What, other than rigged elections, is there for ED to "cement"!!! W Mukori

 Dictators live in their own world and they, characteristically, see and hear only what THEY want to see and hear. It is no surprise therefore that Mnangagwa’s Zimbabwe is now at complete variance with the reality, the Zimbabwe you and me know. 


”Zimbabwe is largely a Christian and God-fearing nation, with peace and unity being vital pillars of our nation building. Let us take the opportunity of the various activities lined ahead of both Government and the Party to preach and live in unity, peace, love and harmony," Mnangagwa told his fellow Zanu PF leaders.


"We must join communities as they congregate across our Wards, districts and provinces, towards cementing the prevailing peace, unity and social cohesion, which bind us as one people.


"In conclusion, our aim as the Party remains ensuring that we the descendants of Munhumutapa forever remain masters of our destiny. This is in itself one of the cornerstones of the People’s Revolution. We must as the Party, at every level, continue to work towards and facilitate the realisation of this overarching revolutionary mission."


The tyrant’s sheer arrogance, hypocrisy and blasè indifference to the tragic suffering and death of millions of Zimbabweans is insufferable!


Is he and his fellow Zanu PF cronies the only “descendants of Munhumutapa”? If every Zimbabwean is a descendant of Munhumutapa then we must all have a meaningful say in determining the nation’s destiny. Zanu PF has denied the ordinary Zimbabweans a meaningful say in the governance of the country. The regime is yet to hold free, fair and credible elections in 43 year of the country’s independence. 


Mnangagwa blatantly rigged the 2023 elections just as the party has rigged elections in the past. In a rare break with the norm, SADC, AU and Zimbabwe’s ZHRC election observers have all condemned the August 2023 elections as flawed and illegal.


This Zanu PF government did not get the people’s mandate to govern the country in a free, fair and credible election. This Zanu PF regime is therefore illegitimate. 


Zimbabwe is a failed state and the root cause is the failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. The right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country is not a privilege to be willy-nilly denied at the whim of some buffoon. It is the essence of good governance. 


In Zimbabwe the Zanu PF buffoons have denied the people the meaningful vote allowing the regime to impose its corrupt and tyrannical rule for 44 years with the tragic consequences we can see all around us. The country’s economy is in ruins, there is wholesale looting of the nation’s resources, there is rot and decay everywhere, basic services such as health care and education have all but collapsed after decades of being starved of funds, etc., etc. 


More than 49% of our people now live in abject poverty. THEY CAN’T BREATHE! 


Zimbabwe is a failed state. And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state governed by illegitimate corrupt and murderous thugs the nation will continue on its relentless slide into the abyss. Our system of government has failed our people and is in desperate and urgent need of a complete overhaul - not cementing. What is there worth cementing, for Pete’s sake!


The Zanu PF regime’s intention is to cement its iron grip on power and will ruthless silence all dissent under the pretext of maintaining peace and unity. Whilst the regime was annoyed by the damning SADC and AU August 2023 election observers’ reports it was relieved neither the regional nor the continental body denied the regime political legitimacy. 


It must be said that MDC/CCC leaders have helped Zanu PF stay in power by failing to implement even one reform in 23 years, especially during the 2008 to 2013 when they had the golden opportunity to do so. And ever since the GNU debacle, Chamisa and company have participated in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy for the same reasons they failed to implement the reforms - greed and incompetence.


We are stuck with this Zanu PF dictatorship for the next five years and possibly beyond. There is no chance of Zanu PF implementing any meaningful reforms to ensure 2028 elections are free, fair and credible. And there is no sign to suggest the corrupt and incompetent MDC/CCC leaders will not once again mobilise their ignorant and gullible supporters to participate in the flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy.


It is often said that nations get the government they deserve. We in Zimbabwe certainly deserve this corrupt, tyrannical and vote rigging Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its corrupt and incompetent MDC/CCC side-kick. For it what excuses do we have for participating in last year’s flawed elections only to give Zanu PF legitimacy, for example! We were warned that it was insane to participate but, as usual, ignored the warning!   


This Mnangagwa government is illegitimate and it is within our power as the people demand that SADC and AU must deny the regime political legitimacy; it is for us to demand that and not SADC and AU. The regime would not last to 2028, if we did! If we don’t, it is certain to last to 2028 elections and beyond!

Wednesday 27 March 2024

"Are there any quality leaders - not paying lip-service to free elections?" Take discerning and lip-reading voters to find them! W Mukori

 “In our midst, can we not find today leaders who do not pay lip services to freedom, justice and liberty to gain the people's trust?” asked one whatsApp group member.

This is not a simple question and therefore there is no simple answer.


The problem rises from having an electorate that is so ignorant they are fooled again and again and again because they do not have a discerning mind to distinguish substance from foam. MDC/CCC leaders, for example, have not only failed to implement even one reform to stop Zanu PF rigging elections they are the ones conning the people into participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. The people have failed to realise what is going on because they can only deal with one good and one bad at a time. 


The people have accepted Zanu PF as the bad guys and MDC/CCC as the good guys. They understand the simple reality of tossing a coin, it will land head or tail, good or bad. 


These people cannot comprehend the political reality that MDC/CCC leaders have failed to perform the task of implementing the reforms and therefore we have bad opposition. They cannot judge CCC leaders except in the light of Zanu PF which is nonsensical in this context since we have never entrusted Zanu PF with the task of implementing the reform. 


Of course, the MDC/CCC leaders can be corrupt and incompetent regardless of what Zanu PF is doing just as one can toss a second coin and its outcome is independent of the outcome of the first coin. Zanu PF and MDC/CCC have exploited this weakness in the populous so the latter has participated in flawed elections to give the former legitimacy for a share of the gravy train seats. 


Chamisa and company’s lip-service to reforms have become so bold and daring they have been making some really foolish claims such as plugging all vote rigging loop holes to stop rigging knowing fully well the voters will never pick it up. And, guess what, the voters are none the wiser even after 23 years of being conned!


So to answer your question, of course we can get competent leaders but they are not likely to be elected into office as long as we have an electorate so ignorant, naive and gullible they are certain to be swept off their feet by cheap promises and remain untouched by substance. After all the corrupt and incompetent leaders do not have to worry about delivering on their promises and so can afford to be prom the moon on a silver platter. The spicy the promises the more they appeal to the empty heads. 


The ancient Greeks were right, a healthy and functioning democracy demands an educated, knowledgeable and diligent electorate. The Zimbabwe electorate have been brainwashed by Zanu PF and MDC/CCC making them one of the most ignorant and stupid voters on earth.


 With such a brain-dead electorate it is no surprise Zimbabwe is a fail state. And, unless and until, something is done to educate the electorate, the country is certain to remain a failed state.

Sunday 24 March 2024

"2018 elections were free and Mnangagwa won; Americans know it!" claimed Cross. A lie dismissed with the contempt it deserves. W Mukori

 I have heard Eddie Cross say a lot of rubbish over the years but his latest claim that the 2018 elections were free, fair and credible, Mnangagwa won and the Americans knew it; takes the biscuit. He made the outrageous claims in “Inside ED Mnangagwa’s presidency #Freetalk” with journalist Dhara Blessing Mhlanga. 


Mr Eddie Cross was one of the late Morgan Tsvangirai’s most trusted advisers in MDC and only crossed the floor, as it were, soon after his death to become Mnangagwa’s ally. He has even has the singular honour of writing the Zanu PF dictator’s biography. (I have not read the book but from the snippets I have read; it is a flattering tale of no historic merit.)


If the interview with Dhara Blessed Mhlanga he talked about events in 2008 and then jumped to 2018 without so much as a passing comment on the GNU years. So it is to what he did not say that I wish to focus.


In all Eddie Cross’s blubbering over the years I have never ever heard him acknowledge that the primary purpose of the 2008 to 2013 GNU was to implement the democratic reforms. He is clearly not stupid because he has covered many of the other minor events details.


The 2008 to 2013 GNU was not a fair and agreeable arrangement but one thing is beyond dispute - it was the best get out of jail ticket the nation has ever had since independence. The Zanu PF dictatorship could and would have been totally dismantle IF Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had not sold out!


Robert Mugabe bribed Tsvangirai and company with the trappings of high office, the ministerial limos, the very generous salaries and allowance, the US$4 million mansion for Save himself, etc., etc. And to return the favour, the MDC forgot about the reforms.


“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidzi kudya anyerere!” boasted the Zanu PF cronies when asked why MDC leaders were not implementing any reforms. Of course, they cronies were right, after all they were victims of the same honey-pot trap themselves. 


“Mose murivakadzi vaMugabe!” Margaret Dongo had described her fellow Zanu PF MPs, Ministers and other party leaders in sheer exasperation at how they all grovelled before Mugabe. Mugabe had introduced the political patronage system, bribing leaders with the same ministerial limos, etc. and in return for the leaders’ dogged loyalty to him!


Of course, Eddie Cross was well aware that he and his MDC friends have sold out big time by not only failing to implement the reforms but by participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. Even if one was to accept that Mr Cross is not as clever as he looks, he is just a modern man with the intellect of homo neanderthalensis. Still he would have read what others like his MDC colleague David Coltart have said on the subject. 


“The (2013) electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility,” confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe. 


The bottom line is the 2008 to 2013 GNU  was the get out of jail card for Zimbabwe. We are still in jail because ever since the GNU MDC/CCC leaders had their snouts in the gravy train feeding troughs they have all but given up on implementing reforms. Eddie Cross’s claim that we can have free, fair and credible elections without first implementing reforms, we can be free whilst we still remain in jail, must be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserve. 


To deny the central importance go 2008 to 2013 GNU in the fight to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance is as meaningless as a solar system without the sun. The sun is not just the centre of the solar system and round which everything else revolve but, more significantly, the earth and all the other planets and we and all the other living things would not be here without the sun!! 

Friday 15 March 2024

Scourge of empty shelves is back as inflation soars, not yet 2008 heights. Still, juvenile mamba is just as deadly! W Mukori



A full grown black mamba, rovambira, five or more metres long has enough venom to kill 400 men! It is cold comfort to hear that a juvenile black mamba has enough poison to kill just a handful of men, especially if you are the one facing those beady eyes! 


Under this Mnangagwa Second Republic inflation has been creeping up and up it is Mount Everest 500 billion percent high of 2008 still it is already Mount Inyangeni high to cause serious economic hardships.

 

“ZIMBABWEAN retailers are struggling to restock locally produced goods using the local unit as manufacturers and wholesalers are turning them away in favour of those that pay in the United States dollar,” reported NewsDay.


“The failure by retailers to procure in local currency comes as the Zimdollar has experienced a sharp depreciation against the US$ amid calls for the full redollarisation of the economy.


“Retailers told NewsDay that they had gone for weeks without the supply of locally produced basic commodities and warned of critical shortages of some products such as sugar.”


We all know where this is going! Those is a position to demand payment for their goods or services in US$ and/or insist on payment is local currency, at the exchange rate of most favourable to them, will do so. And those without the economic muscle will find themselves being short changed at every turn. 


“As of yesterday, the Zimdollar was trading at 1:17 830 against the United States dollar at the interbank market and 1:18 500 in supermarkets, while it stood at 1:20 000 on the parallel market,” continued the report.


“American economics professor Steve Hanke on Wednesday said Zimbabwe's year-on-year inflation stood at 1 630%, the world's highest.


“Yet authorities claim that they have ticked all the boxes to contain annual inflation, which according to official statistics was 47,62% in February.”


Some one in my social media WhatsApp group asked me: Why do you always talk about implementing democratic reforms, free and fair elections, Zanu PF rigging the elections and many other political issues but hardly ever comment on the bread and butter economic matters?


Simple, as long as Zanu PF is able to rig elections and stay in power nothing will change. By blatantly rigging the elections Zanu PF confirmed that Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt and incompetent thugs; there is criminal waste of human and material resources, as we can see, and it is naive to expect the economy survive much less thrive. 


President Mnangagwa and his cronies keep wittering about Zimbabwe becoming an upper middle income nation by 2030, Vision 2030. This just propaganda, Zimbabwe’s economy is sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss, as the soaring inflation shows. 


Even if we accept the regime’s own very conservative inflation rate of 47%, how many countries in human history have enjoyed economic growth whilst inflation remained high? 


Zanu PF blatantly rigged the 2023 elections; SADC, AU and even our own ZHRC election observers all condemned the election as flawed and illegal. The regime got away with it because the country’s sellouts in main opposition party leaders, CCC led by Nelson Chamisa, conned the people into participating in the flawed elections to give the regime legitimacy. And once back in power the corruption and mismanagement have continued whilst selling us the vision 2030 mirage! 


Like it or not we cannot stop the gross mismanagement and rampant corruption, the cancers killing the Zimbabwe economy without first addressing the issue of good governance. We must cure ourselves of the double curse of rigged elections and bad governance. 


The present system gives ruling elite carte blanche powers to rig elections and after that, they do as they please. They completely ignore our suffering and pleas for meaningful change, we, the people, as helpless as a kitten chasing its own tail.


“Seek ye first the political kingdom and all other things shall be added unto you.” advised Independent Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah.


Simply put; We in Zimbabwe must seek a political system in which those in power are democratically accountable to the people only then can we hope for any meaningful economic recovery. 


There cannot be meaningful economic change in Zimbabwe without meaningful political change. There cannot be economic recovery without political reforms to underwrite and guarantee free, fair and credible elections.  

Wednesday 13 March 2024

"Mnangagwa is corrupt because he is still in liberation war mode." True but shaming him will not end kleptocracy. W Mukori

 There is an audio of “Retired Army officer speaks” pouring his heart out complaining about Zanu PF’s corrupt leaders and how their insatiable greed is the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic melt down. Corruption started soon after independence, he argues, and it is nonsense to blame the meltdown on sanctions. 


“Zanu PF leaders are still in the liberation war mode!” argues the speaker. “They left the bush and went into office without a proper demobilisation.”


This is just a feeble excuse for Zanu PF leaders’ insatiable  greed for power and wealth. The truth is Zimbabwe is not the only country in history that earned its independence after a bitter armed struggle, whilst many have emerged with a healthy and functioning democratic system of government we got this murderous kleptocracy. 


Many Zimbabweans did join the armed struggle because they genuinely believed in freedom, liberty and justice for all regardless of race, tribe or gender. Yes there were others who motives for taking up arms were not so benign and generous. There were many who jointed the armed struggle with mercenary goal of being richly rewarded.


“Our sacrifice will be fully rewarded or compensated after the war,” Jabulani Ngoma had said as he kissed her goodbye outside his parents’ home at Dendenyore. “those of us taking this calculated risk in the national interest, will be richly rewarded in Zimbabwe.” Wrote Geoffrey Nyarota in his book The Honourable Minister An Anatomy of Endemic Corruption.


In the book, Jabulani Ngoma is the fictional character who joins the liberation war in a huff, running away from justice who then becomes one of the pot-bellied minister in independent Zimbabwe living in a mansion, with fleet of posh cars, farms, small house, etc. etc. The epitome of corruption!


In the real Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe was Prime Minister of independent Zimbabwe and within a few weeks of being in power he replaced the Peugeot 406 Ian Smith had given his ministers with E-Class Mercedes Benz limos kicking off the patronage and chef culture behind rampant corruption. 


The audio retired Army officer waxed on and on about Zanu PF corruption, mismanagement, propaganda, rigged elections, etc., etc. We all know or should know all these things by now after 43 years of the regime’s tyrannical rule. What, in my humble opinion, we should be talking about is why have we, the people of Zimbabwe allowed this tyrannical Zanu PF kleptocracy rule for 43 years dragging the whole nation deep into this economic and political mess. 


Of course, there were many opportunities in the 43 years to end the Zanu PF dictatorship, with the best of those chances coming during the 2008 to 2013 GNU when SADC leaders forced Mugabe to accept the need for democratic reforms. 


The primary purpose of the GNU was to implement the democratic reforms and stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. Not even one token reform was implemented in 5, FIVE, years! 


Robert Mugabe bribed Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends with the trappings of high office; the E-Class Mercedes Benz, generous salary and allowances, a US$4 million mansion for Tsvangirai himself, etc., - the same honey trap used to buy the blind loyalty of his own Zanu PF leaders. It worked, Tsvangirai and company kicked the reforms out of the window; not even SADC leaders’s constant nagging could get MDC leaders to implement even one token reform in five years.


Indeed, ever since the GNU MDC/CCC leaders have abandoned implementing the reforms content with participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy for a few gravy train seats, a share of the spoils of power.


It is all very well our Army officer blubbering on and on about Zanu PF being a party of corrupt, incompetent and murderous crooks; it is true, Mnangagwa and company are indeed corrupt and murderous thugs. The material point is denouncing the regime alone will not end the dictatorship especially now that Mnangagwa has corrupted the nation’s institutions including the opposition -  men and women the public had entrusted the task to implement the reforms and dismantle Zanu PF. 


When Chamisa resigned from CCC claiming that Zanu PF had infiltrated the party, he was telling the truth but not the whole truth. He left out his own role in this infiltration! He was one of the NMDC -T ministers in the 2008 to 2013 GNU  why is it that he just like everyone else, did not lift a finger to implement even one token reform? 


“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidza kudya anyerere!” boasted Zanu PF cronies when ask why MDC leaders had forgotten about implementing the reforms!


Like everyone else he was the recipient of Mugabe’s generosity, the ministerial limo, generous salary and allowances and, after such an ostentatious start (he was barely out of college and already he was a minister) he did not want to rock the boat. 


Zimbabwe is a failed state and after 43 years in power Zanu PF has definitely a lot to answer for but as long as the regime continues to enjoy carte blanche powers to rig the elections it will ignore us completely and continue will the looting and plunder and rigging of elections. 


MDC/CCC leaders were elected to implement the reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. After 23 years, including 5 in the GNU, and not even one token reform implemented Chamisa and company have a lot to answer for. But whilst they continue to enjoy a few gravy train seats, a share of the spoils of power it is clear they ignore our demands for an explanation why they have not implemented even token reform. 


The A number One priority for the people of Zimbabwe must be stopping Zanu PF rigging elections and after 23 years with not even one reform in place we should be asking ourselves why have we continued to entrust MDC/CCC leaders with this key task of implementing the reforms. 23 years is a long time especially when there is nothing to show for it!


The very fact that Zimbabweans are sitting there wringing their fingers, lot and confused what to do; after 43 years of Zanu PF blatantly rigging the elections with MDC/CCC selling out on reforms the last 23 years; speaks volumes of our own ignorance and breathtaking incompetence. 


There is a time and season for everything; a time to sow and a time to reap. The Zanu PF dictatorship is not going to be stopped by denouncing the regime, naming and shaming its leaders as corrupt. They know that and they are beyond caring. What is required to implement the democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. MDC/CCC leaders have failed to get even one reform implemented in 23 years, we must find other leaders who will! Simple!


Why such a simple, obvious and rational step has remained an incomprehensible mystery and mission impossible to many Zimbabweans out there, beggars belief.  


Until we start thinking in a rational manner, Zimbabwe will remain a failed state.


People get government they deserve, we in Zimbabwe certainly deserve this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF kleptocracy complete with its equally corrupt and utterly useless CCC side-kick!