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The Zimbabwe crisis is about an irresponsible leadership
Phillip Pasirayi
January 28, 2006

THERE have been innumerable postulates regarding the origins of the Zimbabwean crisis but what is startling is the Zanu PF government's denial of responsibility and blame on the British, the Americans, the independent Press, non-governmental organisations, the Movement for Democratic Change, churches and the human rights activists who, according to Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa gallivant throughout the world to portray a negative image of the government and the country.

Another school of thought that has been maintained is that the current crisis has nothing to do with the massive human rights violations in Zimbabwe but that the crisis is a result of the vagaries of nature such as the years of successive droughts and floods that have hit some parts of the country in the past. Government has maintained that it is a victim of hostile propaganda from the West and that this crusade is led by the former colonial master, Britain who uses her influence in the European Union (EU) and the Commonwealth to ostracize the Zanu PF leadership.

The solution to the current political and economic crisis has been given as consolidating the gains of independence under the auspices of the so-called Third Chimurenga and developing a deliberate policy that has since been adopted by all Zanunised State institutions such as the public media, the police, the army, national youth service institutions and some tertiary colleges. Some ideologues who are part of the ruling elite, their chief being head of the Media and Information Commission (MIC), Tafataona Mahoso have invoked the rhetoric of empty Pan-Africanism and applauded the adoption of the "Look East Policy" by government and the subsequent bilateral and multilateral ties on trade, tourism, communications, technology and social and cultural exchange being concluded under the policy with countries like China and Iran.

Contrary to the wayward claims that the issue at stake in Zimbabwe is about Sovereignty (in the sense that Sovereignty is narrowly defined by Zanu PF), the culture of impunity, coupled with ineptitude, corruption and the abusive State institutions are largely the causes of the economic and political crisis. Claims to sovereignty do not make sense for a country such as ours that has control over its economic and political affairs and is not ruled by an imperial power or force. If the problem is about Sovereignty, as Zanu PF wants us to believe, then it is Zanu PF that is denying Zimbabweans both their economic and political Sovereignty and not some imagined foreign power working overtly through the MDC to effect an imagined regime change.

Successful black entrepreneurs like Mutumwa Mawere, Strive Masiyiwa, Nigel Chanakira, to mention but a few, are victims of this denial of economic Sovereignty as much as Engineer Elias Mudzuri, Misheck Shoko, Misheck Kagurabadza and the thousands of people who elected them into office are victims of the denial of political Sovereignty. So contrary to what we are told by the Zanu PF mouthpieces, The Herald and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings everyday, the ruling party is the chief culprit in frustrating the people's desire to express and enjoy their economic and political Sovereignties.

According to Alistair McConnachie (2003), Sovereignty means authority over one's own existence and this can apply to the individual, the community and the nation-State. It is by no coincidence that Zanu PF emphasises State Sovereignty though out of context than individual Sovereignty because the later means the people are empowered economically and politically and can freely go about their day-to-day business without undue interference from government. This is obviously a fallacy in Zimbabwe where those that work hard are even punished for doing so and those that loot are rewarded through multiple farms, appointment to Cabinet and top posts in the Public Service.

Through the enactment of draconian pieces of legislation such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the Non-Governmental Organisations Bill, Constitutional Amendment N0 17 and creating such monstrous institutions such as the Media and Information Commission (MIC), Zanu PF has rendered the country a pariah State that can no longer be part of the international community of the family of nations that respect the rule of law and recognise their citizens' rights.

Despite denials from the ruling class, the human agency factor has contributed a great deal to the fall of Zimbabwe from the once revered country whose education was once the best not only in Southern Africa but internationally, whose health system has irretrievably broken down and social security has collapsed. Sheer inefficiency, ineptitude, incompetence and the fact that public servants take comfort in being members of the ruling party and know that they have political "protection" even if they underperform is what has led to the failed State that Zimbabwe has become today.

In article entitled, "Africa's Mess, Mugabe's Mayhem", published in Foreign Affairs, Vol. 79, N0. 5 Oct-Sept 2000, Robert Rotberg, an eminent scholar and Director of the Program on Intra-State Conflict at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government says this of President Robert Mugabe:

The reason why Zimbabwe is even being condemned by such Pan African institutions like the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), a creation of the Organisation of African Union, the African Union's predecessor is because of the realisation of the human rights and development nexus and that such behaviour as subjecting defenceless citizens to torture and other forms of inhumane and degrading treatment is no longer admissible in the international realm.

The international community, which is ideally a community of civilised nations, barbaric acts such as shutting down newspapers, torture of civil and political rights activists, and confiscation of passports belonging to government critics and expelling elected mayors on flimsy allegations leads to imposition of the best form of sanctions such as the economic sanctions that the Zanu PF government has been slapped by the EU, Britain and the US.

Zimbabwe today is a strong candidate for a failed State except only for the absence of a civil war. The collapse of infrastructure, the level of politicisation of State institutions such as the judiciary, the police and the Army, shortage of basic commodities, the critical shortage of fuel and a totally ineffectual public transport exposes a government that has lost capacity to deliver basic social and economic services to the citizenry.

When the people elect a government they expect the government to provide or at least create an enabling environment that makes it easier for them to access health, education, social amenities and other goods and services to enhance their lives. If a government cannot

Two years back, I had an argument with a University of Zimbabwe International Relations lecturer who argued that Zimbabwe cannot be considered a failed State because central government is still intact and that it can still make laws. My point of disputation to this is that although central government still exists, it exists through coercive tactics, not by the will of the people. In all the previous elections since June 2000, Zanu PF has manipulated the electoral process making it extremely difficult for the opposition to make any meaningful impact.

The number of potholes on our roads can assist us to ascertain whether or not we can qualify Zimbabwe as a failed State. The answer becomes clear because it has become dangerous to drive in Zimbabwe not only because of potholes but because of dysfunctional traffic lights.

Instead of blaming our woes on the British who through the Department of International Development (DFID) are helping the country mitigate some of its challenging health problems and the US that funds the bulk of community-based and national development projects through US Aid, our government must be conciliatory rather than resemble the behaviour of a proverbial housefly that is stupid to follow the corpse into the grave.

In its present form, the government cannot be expected to genuinely deal with the problems haunting the country and re-engage the international community not only because of lack of capacity but because of the world's scepticism about Mugabe and his government. Some might want to ask, re-engaging which international community when Mugabe enjoys support from countries like China.

The "Look East Policy" has opened new havens for the most corrupt amongst the Zanu PF rank and file who have abused the few opportunities such as the Tractor Purchase Scheme. On the other hand Zimbabweans have had to put up with sub-standard and cheap products, derisively known as Zhing Zhong that have rendered the local fabric and textile industry redundant.

The human factor is a big factor in explaining the crisis which has reached fever pitch levels. It is unlikely that the situation will improve because of the rains that we have received this year. If corruption, human rights abuses, ineptitude and arrogance of the political leadership remains the system through which Zanu PF chooses to govern, then we are poised for further problems.

*Phillip Pasirayi is a Research fellow in International Relations, International Human Rights and Governance pursuing further studies in the United Kingdom.

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