The disastrous reign of ZANU PF in Zimbabwe is now a regional crisis affecting the whole of SADC. Fearing peer review and the regional call for accountability, the Rogue Regime in Harare is now fomenting chaos by actively participating in the rigging of elections across the SADC region.
So politically radioactive is ZANU PF that everything it touches turns to chaos.
A short while ago, SADC and the world witnessed ZANU PF members casting ballots for Mozambique's FRELIMO in broad daylight. Such blatant vote rigging and other glaring irregularities have sparked a wave of violent protests by opposition parties and their supporters in Mozambique.
Unsurprisingly, Zimbabwe the current SADC Chair, led by President Mnangagwa, has hurried to prematurely congratulate FRELIMO on its electoral victory while the country burns. Heavily armed soldiers in Mozambique have indiscriminately opened fire on protesters, killing some and wounding many.
The army's response is reminiscent of the August 1, 2018 killing of Zimbabwean civilians during the post-electoral protests that followed the disputed outcome of general elections that gave President Mnangagwa his first illegitimate term in office.
- There is diminishing hope for stability in Mozambique and other SADC member states where ZANU PF contamination has been reported.
- Recent reports of Namibia awarding ballot printing to a ZANU PF apparatchik are worrisome.
- Botswana's former President, Ian Khama has raised alarm, pointing to possible rigging by ZANU PF in favour of incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
- South Africa's watershed elections in May this year were also reportedly massaged by ZANU PF, the self-made Regional Rigging Consultancy.
For ZANU PF, these regional shenanigans are an existential necessity as SADC standards on free elections are too high for the rogue regime to uphold. The greatest goal for ZANU PF since its formation as a breakaway from ZAPU in 1963, is power retention, preferably in a one-party state. Inspired by the likes of Khmer Rouge and the Taliban, ZANU PF is now a regional cancer that will corrupt the whole SADC region if left unchecked.
Zimbabweans tortured by economic collapse and repressive rule will continue fleeing from Zimbabwe to settle in other parts of the SADC region where conditions are relatively normal. The economic ruin bedevilling Zimbabwe will soon spread to other parts of SADC as economic refugees from Zimbabwe multiply.
As for the populace in Zimbabwe, the greatest impact of ZANU PF misrule will remain in the form of terrifying maternal and infant mortality rates. Independently verified statistics on Zimbabwe's institutional maternity challenges paint a grim picture of a country precariously on the brink.
{This article has been written in support of the two Petitions being presented in London on the 24th October 2024 to the Prime Minister, the FCDO and the UK Government in General. All {opposition parties and Other Human Rights Groups will be delivering these to the door of 10 Downing Street at 13:30 and 14:30. Details and updates of these petitions can be found at this link - including the ability to read and download them after the 24th. https://zexit.org/zexit/24th-october-petitions } All involved are extremely grateful to President Nkomo for taking the time to to write this lucid article.
- Institutional maternal mortality rate was 114 per 100,000 live births in 2023 compared to 107 in 2022, noting a concerning increase.
- Perinatal mortality rate (PMR) increased from 28.4 per 1000 births to 35.6 per 1000 births.
- Most perinatal deaths (75.3%) occurred at Kwekwe General Hospital situated at the centre of a gold-rich part of Zimbabwe.
- Hypertension contributed 59/333 (17.7%) to stillbirths while
- birth asphyxia accounted for 210/511 (41.1%) of early neonatal deaths (ENND) as at 20 September 2023.
- Mortality rate, neonatal (per 1,000 live births) in Zimbabwe was reported at 24.3 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources.
- In response to the alarming rates of maternal mortality caused by Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH), Zimbabwe is adopting the World Health Organization (WHO) E-MOTIVE approach, a pioneering strategy proven to save lives in low-resource settings.
- In Zimbabwe, with a Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 462 deaths per 100,000 live births, urgent measures are needed to prevent these preventable losses.
Tragically, ZANU PF through the PVO Bill is determined to derail the critical role played by PVOs and NGOs in funding interventions at community levels. ZANU PF accuses PVOs and NGOs of sponsoring opposition parties and encouraging dissenting voices against its decades-long misrule.
Without NGOs the bad conditions faced by mothers in Zimbabwe would be worse, with no end in sight.
The excesses of ZANU PF cannot go unchallenged.
ZAPU now stands ready to defend Zimbabwe from further decline. The liberation struggle which our armed wing ZPRA co-executed could not have succeeded early enough without the strategic support our ex-combatants, exiles and civilian refugees received in countries like Zambia, Mozambique, Angola and Botswana.
We cannot remain silent as the SADC region is poisoned by the Rogue Regime in Harare. Our liberation ethos and unwavering commitment towards a free Zimbabwe cannot allow us to turn a blind eye to the tumorous growth of ZANU PF regional influence.
ZAPU supports all the benchmarks ratified by SADC member states to guarantee the holding of free and fair elections across the region.
With 2028 fast approaching, the SADC troika on peace and security needs to pay more attention to Zimbabwe as a pre-emptive measure against ZANU PF electoral fraud.
Furthermore, ZAPU calls upon all Zimbabweans to give their country a chance by withholding their votes from ZANU PF.
The time has come to push the reset button by electing ZAPU, the mother party of Zimbabwe's revolutionary journey. Join or vote for ZAPU to restore the dignity of our mothers and to ensure that infants born in Zimbabwe can survive and thrive in a free country. Let us wrestle back our beloved country from the imposters masquerading as a government.
Peacefully but with determination we can unite to make it impossible even for the Regional Rigging Consultancy in Harare to steal the vote in 2028.