MIDWEEK WATCH REPORTER
MASVINGO-Firebrand youthful opposition CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa has been urged to swallow the bitter pill and recognise President Mnangagwa as the winner of the last election because he failed to stop the rigging of elections as per his promise in the run up to the hotly contested plebiscite.
Respected political analyst, Professor Eldred Masunungure said Chamisa assured his supporters that this time around there will be no rigging and now he turns around and claims otherwise.
“When ED grabbed power from Mugabe, he was given two years to finish Mugabe’s term but nothing worked. I warned my brother (Mnangagwa) on the repercussions of grabbing power. I told him what you have done, you have committed a crime in heaven and on earth. He grabbed another five years from me in 2018.
“This time we know he is thinking of employing dirty tactics but all corners are covered because we know what he uses to steal elections. We want to see when election results are being announced, the gap must be huge.” said Chamisa in July this year at a rally in Beitbridge
Prof Masunungure added that Chamisa should not worst time and provide evidence that the elections were rigged or he should swallow the unpopular pill no matter how bitter it is and take his seat as the official opposition leader.
“Chamisa told the world that this time around they have put in place measures against any form of rigging by Zanu PF, but he is now turning around saying the elections were rigged without the V11s.
“While it is bitter to accept Mnangagwa’s victory for Chamisa, at the moment there is no option because there is no evidence on the table to show that the elections were rigged.
“In our survey we showed that Zanu PF would win the elections by that margin and that is what happened.
“According to the results it is Zanu PF that should do an introspection for not doing so well in some of its strongholds and CCC must revel in their performance.
“Given the resources used by Zanu PF in the run up to the elections, the party did not do well in both parliamentary and presidential elections.
“CCC should lobby parliament to change the Constitution so that there is an official seat for the opposition leader and move on with life.
“As for this election it is a done deal, dead and buried, dead in the water, all that Chamisa is doing is just meant to please his restless supporters whom he assured of victory,” said Prof Masunungure.
On approaching the court, prominent social commentator, Ruben Mbofana said there is a strong possibility that CCC does not have evidence that the elections were rigged which is crucial in a court of law.
“There is a very high likelihood that the CCC actually does not have in their possession all the V11 forms.
“This could be because the opposition did not have polling agents at each of the 12,370 polling stations in the country – or, their agents were threatened not to submit these to the party.
“Either way, without all the 12,370 V11 forms, there can be no way of proving their allegations in a competent court of law – which are the basis in challenging the tallies of the number of votes cast for each candidate.
“So far, the CCC has not come out, convincingly, with any evidence that they actually have these forms,” said Mbofana.
Mbofana also opined recently that it would be folly for CCC to contemplate a rerun under the same conditions which it lost the elections.
“According to the CCC, these new polls should be under the supervision of a ‘neutral’ body – such as SADC, the AU or UN.
As much as that sounds all well and good – but there is a problem with that thinking.
Let us remember that the main dispute with the recent elections – as has been the case with all the previous ones, spanning two decades – is not necessarily the vote counting and tabulation alone.
The entire electoral process is a huge sham and scandal – a point made unambiguously and unequivocally clear in the various preliminary reports by SADC, AU-COMESA, the Commonwealth, and EU.
It is the process itself that is a problem.
This covers such aspects as the crippling fear instilled in the people of Zimbabwe – most particularly in the rural areas – which has been an ongoing phenomenal since before independence in 1980.
As a result of an over four-decade-long reign of terror and even horrendous atrocities unleashed by the ruling ZANU PF, the ordinary citizenry are now terrified of opposing the party – a fear that is now deeply ingrained in their psyche.
These same communities have also been made to believe – after decades of indoctrination and threats – that their votes were not a secret, since there were ways for figuring out who voted for whom.
The hallmark of any free, fair and credible election is the knowledge and confidence by the electorate of not only their safety, but also secrecy of their choices.
That is why, even in urban areas, very few people dare to speak publicly against the regime – let alone pen the stuff that I write.
Self-censorship has become an everyday aspect of ordinary Zimbabweans’ lives.
They would rather be cautious than sorry.
As such, even under the supervision of SADC, AU, or even the UN – surely, are the people of Zimbabwe going to immediately shed off their fear of ZANU PF, if a fresh election was called today?,” opined Mbofana in a recent article.
Harare based social analyst, Shelfer Phiri said even if SADC was to agree to run the elections, the body is broke and do not have the capacity to do so.
“Considering that they only managed to second 63 observers as compared to EU which had 145, it shows the body is limping financially and cannot afford to run elections which require millions of dollars and serious logistics,” she said.
