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14th November 2023 ZAPU Statement
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- Written by: Duke Maplanka
- Category: Press Statements
- Hits: 865
Mr. President, you are not Zimbabwe
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- Written by: Tendai Ruben Mbofana
- Category: Take2Zimbabwe
- Hits: 941
We have heard this narrative over and over again for as long as we can remember.
The government of Zimbabwe had become obsessed with critics as ‘denigrating the country’.
- Nonetheless, how many of us have actually come across those supposedly ‘criticizing their own country’?
- Who has heard anyone saying, for instance, that Zimbabwe is an evil place that should be wiped off the face of the planet?
- Or, that the country was the most inhospitable and ugliest place in the world that no one should even bother visiting?
- Have we ever met anyone claiming that Zimbabweans are the most hateful people who are lazy and should never be entrusted with any responsibility?
- Or, that all the people of Zimbabwe were disease-ridden and anyone who came near them would die?
Honestly, I am trying my best to think of what could be described as ‘denigrating one’s country’. However, I and millions of other Zimbabweans out there have never encountered any such instances. So, where do those in the ruling elite get all this nonsense about some amongst us ‘criticizing their own country’?
I am one of those accused of this ‘sin’, and so have a pretty good idea of the answer. For those who follow my articles and interviews with various media organizations, I have no fear of telling truth to power. I can never hold back when it comes to my criticism of the appalling human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and the deplorable corruption and mismanagement – which has resulted in the unimaginable poverty and suffering of the majority.
The main culprits have been those in power – who have made careers out of looting our national resources whilst viciously and brutally cracking down on any voices of dissent. As such, anyone who dares stand up or speak out against this undeniable anti-people and anti-Zimbabwe criminally by the ruling establishment are, in turn, themselves portrayed as anti-people and anti-Zimbabwe.
Nonetheless, what can be more unpatriotic and ‘tarnishing the image of the country’ than a small powerful clique that enriches itself through the plunder of our shared resources – whilst millions of ordinary citizens wallow on abject poverty?
- Can there be anything more ‘denigrating’ to the country than our national soccer team having to play its ‘home matches’ in Rwanda simply because our own stadia have been abandoned in a state of near dilapidation?
- Is there anything that brings the name of Zimbabwe into disrepute than our police officers failing to graduate ostensibly due to a lack of sufficient uniforms?
- Or, that our hospitals have become death traps on account of a serious shortage of basic medications, functional cancer machines, ambulances, and other necessities?
- What can be more damaging to the country's reputation that being home to some of the poorest people in the world – with 49 percent living in extreme poverty, and two-thirds of the workforce earning below the poverty datum line?
- Furthermore, during the 2022/23 season, more than 3.8 million people in rural areas faced food insecurity at peak – such that they required some form of aid.
As a matter of fact, hunger has hit urban areas with a vengeance, with up to 2.2 million people in our towns and cities regarded as food insecure. Whereas for children in Zimbabwe, it is reported that one in three suffers from malnutrition. It has actually become a luxury for some families to have more than one meal a day! All these shocking statistics are happening in a country with a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of around US$20,68 billion for 2022, and a growth rate of 3.4 percent.
- In the mining sector, the country is posed to attain the US$12 billion target.
- At the same time, the country boasts of the largest reserves of lithium in Africa,
- the second platinum deposits in the world,
- the seventh largest producer of diamonds,
- and the second largest gold reserves per square kilometer.
Yet, we do not even have one soccer stadium that meets international standards! Who then is ‘portraying Zimbabwe in bad light’? Is it not a huge disgrace when those in power are the one percent who are enjoying a life of obscene opulence and lavishness from ill-gotten wealth derived from looted resources? Here, we have a country losing over US$3 billion each year through the smuggling of our minerals, illicit financial transactions, and other corrupt activities. Yet, those apparently caught red-handed are let go with just a slap on the wrist.
This, while those bravely standing up against all these nefarious deeds by those in power are immediately arrested and sent to jail on the most egregious and outrageous charges. Surely, on what grounds has Job Sikhala been behind bars for the past one and a half years, as repeatedly denied his constitutional right to bail in a case that does not appear to be going anywhere? Then we have Jacob Ngarivhume. Why was he sentenced to an effective three years imprisonment merely for calling for citizens to exercise their constitutional right to peacefully demonstrate against corruption in Zimbabwe?
What does such clear weaponization of the law – referred to as ‘warfare through lawfare’, or ‘persecution through prosecution’ – do for the image of the country?
So, again, I ask: Who really is ‘tarnishing the image of Zimbabwe’?
Is it not those in power – whose unleashing this savage oppression against those who speak out against their thievery is the real ‘denigrating the country’? So, when some of us criticize these acts of looting, corruption, and barbarism, are we criticizing the country or those in power? Let us never lose sight of the fact that there is a massive difference between the government and the country.
I know some of those in the ruling elite have become self-absorbed egotistical megalomaniacs – who now perceive themselves as synonymous with the country – but that is only delusional thinking. It is quite clear – based on the insane and maniacal looting taking place in Zimbabwe – that we have those in power who actually believe the country is their own personal property.
As such, for them (in their twisted minds), criticizing the ruling elite is the same as criticizing the country! Nonetheless, nothing can get further from the truth! Even amongst arguably the most ‘patriotic people on earth’, the Americans – they understand that being rabidly critical of their president and government is not the same as criticizing the US. One simply needs to watch CNN or Fox News to understand this fact. Current president Joe Biden is under constant immense condemnation for all manner of issues – from dismal economic performance (particularly in the wake of COVID-19), the chaotic pullout of US military forces from Afghanistan, his administration’s unflinching support for Israel, and of course the perceived persecution of presidential rival Donald Trump. Trump himself received even worse criticism during his tenure – most notably on his seeming misogynist, racist, and arrogant nature, shambolic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and supposed willful violation of the law Can any of this ever be characterized as Americans ‘criticizing or denigrating their own country’?
The good thing is that, no matter what we may think of the US, not once did the ruling establishment ever duck criticism under the cover of accusing dissenters of being ‘unpatriotic’. At least, they fully understand the difference between the president of the country and the country itself.
The same should apply to Zimbabwe.
Mr. President, you are not Zimbabwe!
UN Says Investigate Masaya Murder
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- Written by: John C Burke
- Category: ZEXIT
- Hits: 1442
Geneva — Taken from a VOA article {duplicated as "News" by other media} which ignores all ZEC vote rigging, manipulation and mis-declarations. ZHRO and many others are Organising Protests. See Image.
The United Nations called Friday for an independent investigation after an opposition activist in Zimbabwe was found dead following his abduction ahead of controversial by-elections {our italics - how about illegal due to fake recalls?}. The body of Tapfumanei Masaya, a pastor and an activist with the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), was discovered Monday, 30 kilometers (18 miles) outside Harare, the UN rights office said. He and fellow activist Jeffrey Kalosi had been snatched by armed men in broad daylight two days earlier while campaigning in the Zimbabwean capital for a CCC candidate.
"Both were reportedly tortured," UN rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said, adding that Kalosi had been released in the same area where Masaya's body turned up. See ZHRO Statement on the Tapfumanei Masaya Abduction, TORTURE and Murder
The killing follows a string of reported abductions, arrests and other violent acts that the CCC says {it is a campaign of intimidation that the evidence is showing} are part of a campaign of intimidation against its supporters following disputed general elections last August. Throssell noted that Zimbabwean authorities had said Masaya's killing was being investigated. {as unlikely as that is going to happen}
"We urge them to ensure there are thorough, prompt and independent investigations not only into his death but also into all allegations of people being tortured and kidnapped," she said.
"Perpetrators should be held accountable in fair trials that follow due process."
SADC Turns The Screw On Zimbabwe
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- Written by: Africa Beautiful Or Ruined?
- Category: ZEXIT
- Hits: 1091
By Our Correspondent in GABORONE, BOTSWANA
IT'S now not raining for President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ZANU PF Government, it's now pouring.
SADC has shifted a gear up taking President Mnangagwa completely by surprise.
In a stroke of luck this Correspondent got face to face with a SADC official in a meeting arranged by one of our veteran sources within SADC. We will not name the lanky bearded SADC official also light in complexion. He requested not to be named which indicates how delicate this ZIMBABWE issue is in SADC circles.
He starts on November 17. This is the date the SADC Panel of Leaders were scheduled to touch down in Zimbabwe for a meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Citizens Coalition for Change Leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa. The SADC Panel of Elders on November 17 informed President Emmerson Mnangagwa that they were extremely worried about the ZIMBABWE political impasse and believed it needed to be urgently addressed. On Monday November 20 President Emmerson Mnangagwa gave the SADC Panel of Elders November 24 as the date he was ready to meet them and the President had chosen the meeting to take place in Victoria Falls , ZIMBABWE.
But the SADC Panel of Elders informed President Emmerson Mnangagwa that they are no longer coming to ZIMBABWE to meet him. In fact President Emmerson Mnangagwa will now have to come to them in DAR ES LAAM, TANZANIA at a date when he was ready to meet them. This has taken President Mnangagwa completely by surprise. But if that surprised him , the next SADC move perplexed him. SADC will soon announce the removal of the SADC Anti-Sanctions on Zimbabwe Day , October 25 , from their Calendar.
The SADC Secretariat will send an official Communique on this new development to HARARE in the next two weeks through the SADC ORGAN on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation the SADC TROIKA. The SADC official said by removing the SADC Anti-Sanctions on Zimbabwe Day from the SADC Calendar it simply means SADC is now on the same page with the likes of the European Union - EU on the notion that there are serious Human rights abuses in Zimbabwe perpetrated by the ZIMBABWE Government itself and Sanctions imposed on ZIMBABWE are just.
In an attempt to verify we asked the SADC official a question and he replied:
" We do follow your publication. If SADC disagrees with this the SADC Secretariat will do what the former Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara did to one of your two stories on him. He refuted one of those two stories didn't he? ", he assured us.
Top Political Scientists say this development by SADC means just one thing. President Emmerson Mnangagwa now knows the position of SADC on ZIMBABWE that he is not recognized as the legitimate President of Zimbabwe.
Back home even those few within his Government who believed in him will now begin withdrawing their support. The ZIMBABWE DEFENCE Forces, the Army , who carried out a Coup that brought President Emmerson Mnangagwa after they removed former President Robert Mugabe have been SERIOUSLY comparing what they used to get under Mugabe to what they are getting today under Mnangagwa.
The difference is astonishing to them as they have now sunk further into poverty. They found what the CCC Leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa is always saying about the conditions a ZIMBABWEAN Soldier should be living in so appetizing. The next two weeks will be trying times for President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Christmas is very far , top Political Scientists say.
Source: Africa Beautiful of Ruined?
Press Statement - Satirical
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- Written by: @BhudhiGhivhi
- Category: ZEXIT
- Hits: 1049
➡️ WHISTLEBLOWER’S LAWYER:
Good morning members of the 4th estate. I want to thank you for gathering at such short notice for this press statement that I’m going to read on behalf of my client, seated here next to me, to my right. We will not be taking any questions today, so please bear with us. My client will make further comments at a later time.
Here now I shall read the statement:
- "The Zimbabwe harmonized election of August 2023 was a complete and shambolic SHAM.
- My party ZANU PF was defeated heavily across the board.
- Let me start off by stating categorically, that indeed, as you ALL know and the entire World knows, Mr. Nelson Chamisa is, as we speak, the President of the Nation of Zimbabwe, as voted OVERWHELMINGLY by the Zimbabwean People on 23rd August.
- Mr. Mnangagwa, despite all the underhanded efforts we made over the last 2-3 years in preparation to filch this election, was defeated in a landslide. It was an utter humiliation that reverberated like a horror dome through the corridors our Party.
- Never before have Zimbabweans spoken so clearly in rejection of a candidature.
- However, I must tell you now, that while MUCH focus has been on the Presidential elections of August 2023, this distraction has led the Nation to avert focus from the little-known fact that ZANU PF was absolutely trounced in the parliamentary elections as well!
The CCC won more than 2/3 of those seats in Parliamenet and we had to do some miraculous and speedy moving to adjust the numbers to reverse those victories.
In fact in some cases it was just too overwhelming and impossible to fudge the figures, so just like the Presidential results, we just had to announce figures from thin air and declare multiple ZANU PF winners, who had in fact lost.
- That is why you will NEVER ever see those figures published by ZEC.
- They have ZERO backing.
- Winners were just announced willy nilly to give Zanu Pf a majority!
- And now even after all of that, my Party has scraped the bottom of the barrel to create a diabolic scheme to remove even those few opposition MPs that they had originally allowed to keep their victories.
- They want to completely annihilate the opposition using law fare, and this fictional stooge character that they propped up as the so-called ‘secretary general’ of the CCC.
- It’s complete madness.
And this is all to do with wanting to have the numbers to make numerous nefarious changes to the Constitution, including to extend Mnangagwa’s term until he pretty much dies in office...
- But I must also tell you now, that just like all of you, I also have my limits.
- The truth is that I have been struggling for many years with my conscience.
- I don’t know how all of this happened but I woke up one morning and I was part of a deranged and criminal clique that was hell-bent on keeping power by any means necessary.
It’s like the metaphor of the frog in hot water. I must have been sitting in the water pot as it got slowly heated over the decades and I didn’t realize what was happening and the MONSTER that I was becoming, until the pot got so hot, that if it wasn’t the little sense of conscience I still have left, I would surely have stayed there in the pot of toxicity and greed until it boiled me to death, and I would go to the eternal fires of hell, that await me and my ZANU colleagues in the next world.
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