THE US conditions expected to be met for Zimbabwe’s impending general elections to be considered free, fair and credible is a typical example of big brother condescending mentality of a world’s Super power.
In their desire to rid Zimbabwe of a Government formed by a former liberation movement, the US passed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) in 2001.
This draconian law enabled the US to enforce crippling illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, on the pretext we had ‘deprived the whites of their land’.
The recent poll preconditions are in the form of a proposed amendments of the 2001 ZDERA.
What is infuriating is, like the original ZDERA, this later version was crafted by the MDC in Harare for the US to copy and paste into an American law.
To imagine that black Zimbabweans can crack their heads to help Americans make fellow citizens suffer through illegal sanctions is unacceptable.
But more was to come.
Soon after Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa was installed as President, he gave the impression he was going to open a new chapter in Zimbabwean history.
The disintegrated factions of the MDC in the form of Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube found cause to unite.
Here was another chance for the US to bring a Government out of a former liberation movement to its knees.
Let the Zimbabweans toil under sanctions and when the economy ‘screamed’ they would rebel against their Government.
And the American response was swift.
The updated ZDERAA is meant to be the appropriate response to the plea by the MDC triumvirate of Biti, Chamisa and Ncube to bring down an otherwise popular Government.
But what is clear is that the American people don’t know much about the mentality of Zimbabweans.
That the conditions tabulated by the American Senators in the Senate are a mere carbon copy of what was unveiled by Chamisa at the launch of his Plan and Environment for A Credible Election (PEACE) is not an accident.
For many years they have been banking on the sanctions card to bring down the Zimbabwe Government and many times Zimbabweans have stood by their Government at the polls.
Even as we speak, Zimbabweans did not take kindly to the MDC-Alliance’s plea for the imposition of sanctions on their country.
Impending poll results might be a useful guide to the reaction of Zimbabweans.
Some of the conditions spelt out by the Americans, copied from Chamisa, are impossible to fulfil.
And this is deliberate.
They know they are unlikely to win at any general election and because some of the conditions set are impossible to meet, it becomes easy to cry fowl.
For a start, they want to discriminate against all those with a military background and yet they know that both ZAPU and ZANU are manned by people who played critical roles to liberate the country from colonial bondage.
The Constitution clearly spells out one can play a role in Government as long as one surrenders his/her military roles.
You find the ignorant American Senators bringing Gukurahundi and Murambatsvina episodes into the mix, just to create confusion by whipping up emotions.
When the American conditions include the Diaspora vote, something impossible within our present voting parameters, it becomes abundantly clear that we are better off without Uncle Sam.