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An
investigation into the causes of political violence during the March
2002 Presidential election in Zimbabwe, with particular reference
to Rusitu valley, Chimanimani District
Moses
Semwayo, The Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance, Africa
University
July 20, 2004
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Introduction
Few would disagree that organised political violence has had
disastrous consequences for human life, and civilisation in this
century. War, dictatorship, terrorism, genocide, and systems of
social oppression have conspired to take millions of lives, divert
precious economic resources from other human enterprises, and place
the continued existence of humanity in question.
Yet while a
conclusion may be reached at rationally, that people may not survive
our collective dependence on violence, both national states and
insurgent movements cling to its use. In the absence of the international
rule of law or a just world order, organised violence appears to
be the ultimate recourse against intolerable conditions and grave
threats to our lives, interests, and values. It persists, on the
one hand, because of a widespread, but largely unexamined belief
that it 'works' and on the other hand, because there are no generally
recognised alternative means of resolving those critical conflicts
in which one or both parties perceive the stakes as too high to
permit compromise. Kruegler and Parkman (1992).
Good governance
is perceived by a sizeable proportion of the community as a necessary
condition to the restoration and preservation of peace, stability,
security and enjoyment of the good things of life. Good governance
is not only regarded as essential to the legitimacy of governments
and the empowerment of civil society generally, but is now seen
as probably the only way out of the quagmire of crises facing the
continent at the present time particularly Zimbabwe.(Lungu 1999).
This was also
echoed by other practitioners that good governance is now regarded
as a pre-requisite for a people’s welfare and a condition for donor
support throughout the world. Africa Forum and Network on Debt and
Development (AFRODAD 2003). The key attributes of good governance
according to AFRODAD are participation, transparency and accountability.
It also promotes the rule of law and the equitable distribution
of resources. Donor countries and international financial institutions
have in recent years used a country’s governance performance as
a criterion to determine the donor’s assistance.
Clause 79 of
the NEPAD document, reads as follows: ‘It is generally acknowledged
that development is impossible in the absence of true democracy,
respect for human rights, peace and good governance.’ Tsunga (2003)
On the other hand the IMF has used the practice of good governance
as a condition for providing balance of payments support to several
Africa countries. (AFRODAD, 2003).
According to
Rapoport and Weinburg (2001), good governance includes the holding
of elections regularly to choose leaders freely and fairly. A new
atmosphere of non-violence is creating a democratic climate, which
facilitates free and fair elections of representatives. They further
argued that elections have been held to choose parliamentarians,
presidents, church leaders and student leaders. Elections conducted
under calm conditions have brought sustainable peace throughout
the world. This view was also supported by Hyden (1999).
Elections conducted
under a calm environment enables citizens to express their will
in choosing their government. On the other hand, elections held
under violent conditions have been characterized by conflicts, which
have often escalated into civil wars in most of the African countries
whenever the opposition rejects or boycotts them as reported by
the United States Institute of Peace (USIP 2003). The Human Rights
Forum 2000 report also asserted that representatives must be chosen
peacefully, freely and fairly.
Rapoport and
Weinberg (2001) reported that elections throughout the world may
serve important functions in democratic states, namely:
- elections
are important because they legitimatise democratic states by combining
political obligation with consensual participation. To do this,
elections must be public, free and should give citizens access
to politically relevant information.
- insofar as
they bind citizens and parties to the state, elections may perform
an integrating function in democratic states.
elections and the rules that govern them may also play an important
socializing role in the teaching and transmission of democratic
values to the citizenry.
- elections
may provide conventional means for the transfer of political power.
Each of the four functions may help to reduce the possibility
of political violence. Without a culture of tolerance, free and
fair elections are not possible in most parts of Africa (Daily
News, 2 March 2002).
This research
therefore, is intended to investigate the major causes of political
violence during the 2002 elections in Rusitu Valley, situated in
the Chimanimani area. A non-violent culture is necessary to restore
peace and confidence in the elected and local leadership of the
country. People of any state yearn for an opportunity to express
themselves freely to avoid conflicts in the future. Intimidation,
violence, corruption, limited access to the media, all militate
against principles of democracy, hence the need to investigate the
causes of violence. Elections are an important feature of democracy,
before forming 'a government of the people, by the people and for
the people'. Representatives must be chosen peacefully, freely and
fairly (HRF, 2000). Ideally, the constitution or laws of the country
should establish the frequency with which elections are held. (Hyden,
1997).
Conclusions
and Recommendations
In a nutshell, it can be concluded that the culture of tolerance,
participation, transparency, freedom and other precepts of good
governance are still new and scarce in Rusitu Valley hence the need
to inculcate the culture of tolerance and democracy where different
views are paramount to the development of the area.
It may be argued
that the political violence that engulfed Rusitu Valley may have
also occurred in different parts of Zimbabwe It may therefore be
wise to conduct further researches in two or three districts to
compare and make generalizations for the rest of the country.
This emanates
from the fact that some responses were also recorded from the literature
review that indicated that violence was also experienced. The current
situation of political violence emanates from the inaugural elections
in 1980, which were reported as having been violent and the rest
of them up to 2002. There is an urgent need to have an Independent
Electoral Supervisory Commission, which will run the elections without
fear or favour.
This project
strongly recommends that:
- A new constitution
should be put in place so that the terms of office and powers
of the executive are checked from time to time.
- The running
of elections should be left to an independent electoral supervisory
commission. Violence is likely to be fuelled when people have
no confidence in the monitoring situation.
- I recommend
that there is need for peace committees in the area to allow for
tolerant of divergent views and opinions.
- To petition
the United Nations that holding the 2005 general parliamentary
elections under these same conditions, the results of the plebiscite
are predictable, hence the need to put in place mechanisms that
promote for a free and fair election.
- Political
parties should avoid bussing campaigners from other constituencies
to come and cause violence in areas they are not known.
- Members of
the uniformed forces and CIOs should be not be partisan a to reject
or accept an elected candidate and they should be scrutinised
and made accountable for their actions whilst at work.
- More civic
education to allow the people of Rusitu Valley to make informed
decisions in life Research to be carried in more than three District
to find out the causes of violence and recommend to the United
Nations
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