89 REASONS WHY MUGABE HAD TO GO 1. At 89, President Mugabe has by far passed the retirement age of 65 and should rest like any other old man of his age. At nearly 90 he needs to spend time with his young children and also give advice to whoever wins the Presidency. It was clear from the 10 rallies he addressed that Mugabe needs to rest and Zimbabweans should do him that favour today. 2. He inherited a “Jewel of Africa” and wrecked it through Marxist and Stone Age policies. The economy is now grounded. 3. The country is failing to feed its citizens and is importing food from neighbouring countries like Zambia. 4. He has refused to apologise for Gukurahundi atrocities where an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians lost their lives in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions. 5. Under Mugabe, there has been inadequate power generation resulting in rolling power outages. 6. Almost nine in every 10 Zimbabweans are unemployed in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and his party has no clue on how to deal with unemployment which has hit the youths hardest. Today, our graduates are employed at fast food outlets as cashiers and cooks. 7. Mugabe has been stalked by repeated accusations of electoral fraud over the last four national elections and including today’s vote. 8. Under his rule, the country has been convulsed by unprecedented violence, while those who committed murder in the run up to the 2008 Presidential run-off are still free. 9. Notwithstanding the violence that has blighted the country, there has been blatant impunity in redressing the dark chapters. 10. Mugabe has failed to invest in health delivery and he now shuns local facilities to seek specialist treatment outside the country. Most Zimbabweans cannot afford to get treatment at hospitals and are dying at home. 11. His Zanu PF manifesto vilifies the ministry of Education for working with donors to revive the country’s education sector, which was devastated by his own economic mismanagement, albeit after investing in the sector in the early years of his rule. 12. Mugabe is hell-bent on quickly reviving the Zimdollar which caused unprecedented hardships in the country. 13. Under Mugabe’s rule, the family unit has been disintegrated as millions fled economic hardships to seek opportunities in the Diaspora. He has also denied the Diasporans voting rights. 14. Mugabe has ruled by fear, and uses laws like Posa and Aippa inherited from the racist Smith regime. 15. He is fond of globetrotting despite the perilous state of the country’s finances. 16. Mugabe has staunchly refused to open up the broadcast sector to new players and maintained a broadcast monopoly that has seen Zimbabweans resorting to foreign TV and radio channels. 17. Under Mugabe, university grants have been scrapped and tertiary education is steadily deteriorating under the weight of under-funding. 18. There has been no transparency in revenues being realised from minerals, pointedly diamonds. 19. Corruption has become endemic under Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, with the country ranking 154 out of 182 under Transparency International’s corruption perception index. 20. He has shut down four newspapers. 21. There has been militarisation of Zimbabwe under the veteran ruler, with blurred lines between national institutions and political parties. 22. Under Mugabe’s rule, local banks are charging high interest rates as much as 35 percent due to high political instability and risk. 23. Zimbabwe has one of highest unemployment rates of more than 80 percent due to company closures under his watch. 24. Mugabe’s policy inconsistencies have affected the country’s ability to attract investment. 25. The Zanu PF-driven indigenisation policy which requires foreign-owned firms to surrender a controlling 51 percent to locals has resulted in companies pulling out of the country, resulting in job losses and investors staying away. 26. Zimbabwe has resorted to the use of a multi-currency system after its Zimdollar currency became worthless due to poor economic policies. 27. Zimbabwe has gone into the record books after registering one of highest rates of inflation under a Mugabe government. 28. The country also printed one of the world’s highest denominations, worth less than a US dollar. 29. His government has destroyed agriculture, once the country’s biggest export earner and employer after enforcing forced farm seizures. 30. Zimbabwe remains a net importer of South African products with a trade deficit of $3,53 million after it imported goods worth $3,207 billion against exports of $2,674 billion in 2012. 31. Under Mugabe, over $7,4 billion generated by the country’s small to medium enterprises last year, is still to find its way into the formal banking system due to risk concerns. 32. Under Mugabe, the legislature has expanded at an alarming rate, with the 8th Parliament set to have a bloated Parliament of 400 sitting MPs from the current 210 who will be paid at the taxpayers’ expense. 33. Mugabe has failed to bring to book legislators who abused the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which was meant to develop constituencies. 34. Under his watch, Zanu PF MPs that were not attending Parliament including Jonathan Moyo and Webster Shamu were never reprimanded. 35. Mugabe does not respect the doctrine of separation of powers by arms of government as the executive continued overriding other arms of the State such as the judiciary and the legislature. 36. Because of the repressive environment imposed on the country by Mugabe, Zimbabwean music legends such as Thomas Mapfumo were forced into exile. 37. There has been paranoid censorship, with songs perceived to be against Mugabe’s party denied airplay by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. 38. Under Mugabe, the poor economic environment has made once-popular musicians paupers and has forced many other musicians to quit music for other ventures. 39. In sport, Mugabe’s contempt for games means this important sector of life has been heavily underfunded for the three decades he has been in power. 40. Mugabe is impervious to new ideas. 41. He is not forward-looking and spends time harping about the liberation struggle and not charting a new direction for the country. 42. Under his rule, there has been systematic breakdown of the rule of law. 43. There has been a purge of the judiciary and installation of pliant judges on the bench. 44. He has failed to deal with selective application of the law by police and judicial officers. 45. Under Mugabe, uncollected garbage is contaminating cities across the country. 46. Under Mugabe the rail system has collapsed and mothballed with apparently no plan to revive this crucial and cheap travel mode. 47. The road infrastructure is littered with potholes, suffering neglect. 48. There is widespread prostitution because of lack of economic opportunities. 49. The whole citizenry has been turned into vendors and dealers because of lack of opportunities. 50. Under Mugabe, the economy has failed to produce star businesspersons and those who have succeeded have been hounded out of the country. 51. There was systematic collapse of recreational facilities under Mugabe’s 33-year rule, from swimming pools in the townships! 52. Mugabe lost the 2008 elections and used violence to retain power, and for that he must lose. 53. Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe was booted out of the Commonwealth. 54. He presided over shortages of basics like salt, sugar and mealie-meal among others. 55. Under Mugabe, there are many unresolved mysterious deaths like that of Rashiwe Guzha, Sydney Malunga and others. 56. Mugabe has neglected the war veterans who brought independence to this country. He has rarely if any, met with war veterans as an association. 57. Mugabe needs to rest and write books about his life and struggles. 58. Under Mugabe, thousands of people lost their pensions which they will not recover. 59. He is causing unnecessary tension with big neighbour South Africa. 60. It is through Mugabe’s human rights’ violations which forced the Western countries to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe. The others which take us to 89 are: destruction of Zesa, NRZ, Air Zimbabwe, Arda, Caaz, PTC, CMED, Zupco, DDF, Shabanie/Mashaba Mines, Zimalloys, banking sector, sport, social fabric, faith in government, general entertainment, small businesses, transport infrastructure, tourism, bread basket status, well being of the people, local currency, transparency in government and water supplies to urban areas. The last four reasons are Mugabe’s failures to: complete the Zambezi Water Project, Kunzvi Dam, fully utilise the Beira/Harare pipeline and dualise the country’s roads which have become death traps.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 12:27:57 +0000
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