Zimpapers Logo

IT’S like deja vu — we have been here before!

Zimbabwe is once again in the spotlight with the West, its local quislings in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change fronted by Mr Nelson Chamisa and their civil society surrogates coalescing to paint a picture of strife, turmoil and chaos. 

The United States of America has taken the lead in this latest onslaught with its Ambassador Brian Nichols at the forefront of co-ordinating a campaign to foment a crisis whose objective is regime change couched under the veil of street protests. At the time of writing, Mr Nichols had beat a hasty retreat to Washington to touch base after his embarrassing incident in Chitungwiza where he held a meeting with MDC-A deputy chairperson Mr Job Sikhala and openly urged the party to engage in street protests. 

What has changed since that historic day in November 2017 when the MDC-A and other opposition parties marched in unison with war veterans and Zanu-PF to call for the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe? Hasn’t President Mnangagwa stayed true to his promise to reform the country and put the economy back on track? We might be living in another country but as far as we are concerned the reform process is well and truly underway with the repeal of key pieces of legislation at various stages. 

The Public Order and Security Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Broadcasting Services Act and other laws deemed undemocratic and curtailing the freedoms of the people of Zimbabwe are being repealed and replaced with better pieces of legislation. Government has also instituted far reaching economic reforms to accelerate the ease of doing business, attract investment and ramp up production in industry. 

Granted, the reforms being implemented under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme are painful and will take time to yield results but this is no excuse to abandon them. What Zimbabwe is going through is akin to a patient in the early stages of treatment where the effects of the medicine are yet to be felt. It shall soon come to pass. 

We are extremely disappointed that the MDC-A, some civil society groups and their Western handlers are taking advantage of the hardships Zimbabweans are going through as a result of austerity measures to whip up emotions in the futile hope of fomenting an uprising. We appeal particularly to the US government to give Zimbabwe a chance to chart its economic path without the distraction of its meddlesome mischief. What does it hope to achieve by starting fires  that it might not be able to douse? 

Does it seriously expect the Government of Zimbabwe, overwhelmingly mandated by millions in the July 2018 harmonised elections to govern, to simply fold its hands and watch as the country burns? We have seen enough of the US interference in other countries to know that the end result is not always pretty. The so called Arab Springs, whose chief sponsor was the US and which swept through the Middle East and some parts of North Africa, left in their wake failed and weak States most of which are lawless jungles. 

The case of Libya is a poignant reminder of the futility of regime change. Once a rich, proud and stable economic giant, the country is now a shell, reduced to rubble by years of internal strife. Warlords roam the countryside with the capital Tripoli controlled by militia. The US and their European allies packed up and left soon after achieving their objective of toppling and killing Muammar Gadaffi. 

What happened thereafter was not their business. Libyans have been left to their devices and are tearing each other apart and might never know peace. How tragic! Over the past few days since the street protests called by the MDC-A flopped, we have seen a resurgence of alleged abductions and other incidents of banditry and insurgency. 

The script is the same. MDC-A officials are the alleged targets of violence, kidnappings and attacks. In most of these incidents, masked gunmen are involved. While we commiserate with the victims of these attacks, we can’t help wondering who could be behind them. 

While the MDC-A predictably blames “Government agents”, we aver that it does not make sense for the State to perpetrate such attacks knowing full well the consequences therein. It’s like scoring an own goal. We are therefore inclined to believe that there might be a third hand in these incidents whose objective is to soil the image of President Mnangagwa’s administration. 

In the meantime, we ask all concerned to give law enforcement agents an opportunity to do their job so that the nation can get to the bottom of these incidents. The generality of the population should remain calm and go about their normal business. Government has already said it is concerned about these allegations and Zimbabweans should give them time to investigate so that they untangle the mystery behind these dastardly acts.