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Dr Masimba Mavaza
Proponents of regime change are putting in place obstacles to peace and freedom as the 2023 elections draw closer.
In 12 months or so, Zimbabweans will cast their votes in the mother of all elections.

In the electoral frenzy, some people in the opposition are already stealing elections in provinces around the country.

No doubt, the CCC leader, Nelson Chamisa’s effort to over­turn the 2018 election had absurd elements. It culmin­ated, of course, in the deadly chaos of the August 2018 insurrection.

Now, the more we learn, the more we real­ise that there was a concer­ted plan to steal the elec­tion, and upend the results. All this was actively planned by the opposition under the spell of foreign hands.

Next time the opposition is not planning to be that amateur­ish. In fact, Chamisa’s allies are system­at­ic­ally planting obstacles to peaceful elec­tions in provinces across the coun­try.

The CCC legis­lators have bestowed upon them­selves the power to remove and replace local elec­tion offi­cials with partisan oper­at­ives. They are trying to rob the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of the power to prop­erly run credible elections.

The starting point has been to demonise ZEC so that it loses the moral right to run elections. This is a way of making a case against ZEC should the CCC lose the elections.

In the past few months the CCC and its proxies launched phony partisan reviews of the 2018 elec­tion results with the help of biased actors masquerading as non-governmental organisations, who employed inad­equate safe­guards.

The involvement of evil foreign hands expose the long­stand­ing prob­lem of vote suppres­sion, and elec­tion sabot­age, which has always been blamed on ZANU PF, yet it has been manufactured in the opposition backyard.

The opposition is trying to go even further by promoting economic downturn in order to starve the nation to rebellion.

How much further?
Each time Zimbabwe nears elections, the opposition starts making noise about electoral reforms at the same time insisting that the electoral system in the country is designed to give advantage to the ruling party.

This narrative is spread around to make the international community lose confidence in Zimbabwe’s electoral system. Thank­fully, none of those tactics pass this time around, but their wide­spread consid­er­a­tion is itself alarm­ing.

The opposition actions are treasonous and are meant to cause havoc. Zimbabwe has always been faced with disgusting foreign interference, which is shock­ing to demo­cratic sens­ib­il­it­ies.

Just a few years ago, the idea that politi­cians should have the power to over­turn an elec­tion would have been unthink­able. Indeed, what is the point of voting if the opposition politicians can simply wave away the result? They can declare an election rigged before it is even done.

The alarm­ing success of the elec­tion sabot­age strategies during the past four years, along with the auda­cious­ness of opposition lead­ers to publicly confirm that they are just a phone call away to bring back colonialists, should have Zimbabweans worried about the health of our demo­cracy.

It’s worth noting that Zimbabwe is the only country with local terrorists masquerading as opposition, and they are still far away from prison. Even if they are exposed they come back for another swing of the bat.

In all their shenanigans they have been voted down by the people. Now they have employed businesspeople on their side, and they are sabotaging the economy to make life unbearable for Zimbabweans. They are playing the politics of the stomach, so that they can tempt the people to sell their motherland for food.

They have deliberately removed food from the table and started a vicious campaign to blame ZANU PF for these economic woes.

All this is one more reason why a legis­lat­ive action is the only truly effect­ive answer.  An action like passing the Patriotic Bill and any law which protects the people from NGOs who come in sheep skin.

The POV and Patriotic Bill currently pending in the Senate would prevent most forms of elec­tion sabot­age. It would protect local elec­tion offi­cials from polit­ic­ally motiv­ated blackmail being used by the opposition. It would reverse attempts to label ZANU PF as clueless.

It would estab­lish limits on foreign interference and it would allow voters to make choices without being held at ransom through hunger. If losing candidates ever attempt to nullify election results citizens should have the right to sue for redress.

We cannot wait for the elec­tion sabot­age move­ment to progress further. Anti-demo­cracy advoc­ates have made their inten­tions clear. It is time to repu­di­ate them, and to stand up for democracy.

The nation is seriously threatened by dangers in the interior. It is those in the country who are dangerous to democracy. They put the whole economy to such painful lengths so that they provoke the anger of the nation.

They want people to be hungry to make them vote with their stomachs and not with their brains. An internal rebellion is one led by a crown prince, the chief of defence or a minister. An internal rebellion is more dangerous than one in the outer regions because it is like nurturing a viper in one’s garden.

A contest is a situation in which individuals expend irretrievable resources to win valuable prize(s). “Sabotage” is a deliberate and costly act of damaging a rival’s likelihood of winning a contest. Sabotage can be observed in our economic situation now.

This has nothing to do with mismanagement, but pure concentrated efforts to bring the nation to its knees. We must be alive to the understanding of why sabotage occurs, its effects on individual contestants and on overall welfare, with possible means of reducing it. We note that most sabotage activities are aimed at the economy, so that the ripple effects will shake citizens to uproot the ruling party, which has their welfare at heart.

It is true that sabotage reduces productive effort exerted by the Government and may lessen the effectiveness of public policies, making the Government look clueless.

We cannot allow the opposition to destroy our economy and try to benefit from it. Zimbabwe’s economy continues to bleed under sabotage but it will stabilise.

Despite the difficult working conditions, the Second Republic has created a conducive environment for business to grow even in the face of deliberate sabotage.  We can all see that our economy is rising, despite being under attack by our own children who are turning yellow.  The economy of Zimbabwe is resilient because of the wise leadership of ZANU PF.

As we get closer to 2023 we have to notice the wanton price hikes which are uncalled for.

Regardless of the acts of destabilising the economy and our local currency, President Mnangagwa has remained on top of the situation.

We should heed the wise words of Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa who said: “Regardless of the acts of destabilising the economy and our local currency, President Mnangagwa remains on top of the situation. We will have a stable currency because that is the last fight for our independence”

We can almost hear the sound of economic rebound.We must remember that Zimbabwe is open for business and it is poised to be one of the best growing economies in the world.

While the CCC is getting tired and turning yellow, ZANU PF remains green and growing. The CCC lacks vision and strength to run and lead a nation.

What is happening in Zimbabwe now is the result of sabotage by the opposition which they always do towards elections.
Every Zimbabwean should trust the President. The question we must ask ourselves is: what shall I do for my country?  Not what your country can do for you.

Zimbabwe is the only country we can call ours in the whole world, so let us guard our independence jealously. Let us not allow our country to be sold by a phone call as promised by the CCC.