Mr President Your re-election was not won fairly, squarely
GOOD day, President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Your Excellency, it is my conviction that your re-election was not won fairly and squarely. As I see it, Chief Justice Luke Malaba deserves an earful for his claim that the harmonised elections were credible and peaceful.
Life needs not be a grind as it is now. Citizenry has never been as destitute as they are currently. They are burdened by the weight of an impoverished existence. Their vote counts for nothing.
They are carrying within their hearts a spirit bowed by hardships. Yet, they conceal moans and groans in their silence.
They hold in the innermost depth of their soul the fervent prayer that someday, the tide of fate will somehow turn for the better.
From where I stand, they are itching for the long anticipated opportunity to resuscitate the fragments of their crushed aspirations.
Yet, their suffering is not by choice, but by circumstances as the so-called new dispensation became the new desperation for households.
Their destitution is not of their own making. With the so-called second republic perpetuating a culture of inconclusive elections, the citizenry’s scramble for a decent standard of living has become unprecedented. It has fallen to unimaginable desperation.
Even Apostle Paul’s words: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed,” (2 Corinthians 4 verses 8-9) no longer suffices as an inspiration for citizenry to face hardships with equanimity. Actually, citizenry are crushed, abandoned, persecuted, struck down and destroyed.
Your Excellency, the preserved exhortation of the critical thinking ancestor, Aristotle, “Be a critical thinker, and do not accept everything you hear as truth. Be a critical thinker and evaluate what you believe in,” came to mind as Malaba congratulated you on your said electoral victory in the August 23 and 24 harmonised elections.
Despite the fact that the electoral outcome was inconclusive, with observer missions concluding that they had come short of the credibility test, Malaba nonetheless congratulated you. He was at odds with the findings of local, regional and international observers who concluded that the harmonised elections were a sham.
Truly, I am not privy to the evidence Malaba relied on in congratulating you. Yet, he rode roughshod over the cornerstone of the legal maxim: “He who has the evidence is king.”
I reckon the congratulations did not emanate from a sound mind and judgment. They lacked the essence of credible evidence that can stand the test of time.
It is my conviction that Malaba knows your re-election was not won fairly and squarely. He is aware in his heart of hearts that truth does not lose its essence because it has been denied. Nonetheless, he opted to stand for political perversion.
As I see it, he is aware that anyone who partakes in the practice of denying or distorting the truth inevitably soils their reputation.
Such a person will never be viewed with honour, credibility and legitimacy in whatever field of human endeavour they will be practitioners.
Since time immemorial, the essence of truth has never been sufficiently manipulated by the depraved to suit their whims. Hence the adage, truth will come out.
Your Excellency, Malaba cannot be a lone stranger in the country who does not know a thing or two about your desperation for legitimacy since the immediate aftermath of the August harmonised elections. He is well aware of your poverty of legitimacy.
With all due respect, Malaba is familiar with your eagerness to salvage legitimacy from the international community. He cannot profess ignorance of your desperation for acceptance. Actually, he is concerned about the growing discontent within the populace.
Your hurried diplomatic offensive whereby you summoned ambassadors accredited to Zimbabwe to choke them with your plea for them to accept your re-election as duly authentic and credible was classic.
Henceforth, your being declared the winner of an election which observer missions described as flawed and the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change immediately disputed, alleging vote rigging, among other irregularities, marked your desperation for legitimacy which was destined to be a thorn in the flesh for you.
Your Excellency, the desperation to legitimise your controversial reelection
perched you on the horns of a dilemma. It thrust you forlornly at the gapping abyss of international isolation. It doused the lingering hopes of readmission to the Commonwealth.
There is no doubt that Malaba knows that election observer missions from the Southern African Development Community, African Union and the European Union reported that the elections fell short of Zimbabwe’s democratic principles yardstick.
Yet, speaking at the official opening of the 2024 Legal Year, Malaba not only brazenly rubbished regional and international election observer missions, but went further to claim that the elections were free and fair.
“The Judiciary takes this opportunity to join the nation in commending Zimbabweans for exercising their constitutional right to deliver peaceful, free, fair and credible elections. On behalf of the Judicial Service Commission and the Judiciary, I take this opportunity to congratulate the President of Zimbabwe. I also congratulate the two Vice-Presidents for their rise to the key constitutional offices,” rumbled Malaba, in direct contradiction to reason and the overwhelming evidence of the prevailing reality.
As I see it, truth always prevails, regardless of any rigorous attempts at counterfeiting it.
Small wonder, Zimbabwe is a classic example of a country whose legitimacy crisis stems from the untoward practice of attempting to pass counterfeit as genuine.
Your Excellency, notwithstanding the congratulatory message from Malaba, your legitimacy crisis is destined to haunt you.
It was unethical for him to give the elections a clean bill of health. Yet, they were a sham. Granted, your re-election was not won fairly and squarely.