Back to Index

Pillars of democracy not understood by Zanu PF as constitution based in Zimbabwe
Andrew Manyevere
December 06, 2007

The western society is illustrative of democracy at best in practice. Having come through many painful stages of political development, they have today stood chained to the support for human and people rights. Canada has one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation on human rights, so comprehensive such that it is difficult to implement in its entirety. No wonder even countries like America the human right principle, appears as though a mere rhetoric. The joy though, is this that, people can always challenge either the government or individual officials of government on breaches of human rights with the judiciary upholding the morality of law. Unlike many states in Africa, Zimbabwe being primary target for breach to human rights with impunity, no one dare challenge governments on wrongs against human and people rights. It is true to acknowledge incremental efforts towards this end on the continent; even though failure outweighs success in this plight.

No wonder in a country where there is no practice of separation of powers principle to governance, Zimbabwe authority are strangers to truth and cannot keep promise ever.

Zimbabwe on paper is a republic with a president with executive powers; a parliament which rubber stamps the head of government decisions for fear that legislatures may loose their posts if not life. The Judiciary exists on paper. There are judges who truly love the spirit of the rule of law and would like to follow it without much success.

While Zimbabwe is meant to be a republic, signs reveal that political motivated decisions are not different from those made by Musharaaf of Pakistan. President Mugabe has suspended judges and had them brought into trial for exercising the rule of law using proper principles of law. Judges have had to run away from Zimbabwe because beyond the failure to carry justice through the courts, Mr Mugabe has used instant justice-s methods to instill his authority through fear than reason.

Legal system entails reasoning. All dictator regimes do not like reasoning where they always end up losers; therefore they apply force and violence to control. It will be very unfortunate for President Thabo Mbeki to fail the second time on Zimbabwe. Mbeki promoted unreservedly the theme of quiet diplomacy to give Mugabe breathing space without success except have the opposition politics suffer (1980-2006). President Mbeki, with the blessing of Africa through SADC countries, succeeded to have Africa adopt the mediation diplomacy between Zanu PF and the MDC (2007 . . . .). It appears that the period of mediation is threatened more with failure from the very composition of African leadership which cannot denounce a fellow state for failure except embark on some political cover up procrastination.

This is because there is no respect of rule of law. There are always battles of ugly words, hatred and murder of each other through use of guns to have a change of government in Africa constitutionally restored. Because the media is not effective the contest for leadership is virtually absent.

The constitution in Zimbabwe is based on what President Robert Mugabe wants to see safeguard him than protection of the people. This is the very ugly problem which has run down the economy and politics of the country, ultimately affecting all citizens- life in the country.

It is beyond this writers comprehension why the United Nations (UN), Commonwealth, not to mention the African Union (AU), cannot institute a commission of enquiry into whether people of Zimbabwe are happy or not and free or not in view of claims by Mugabe that he is popular. In view of many deaths taking place in Zimbabwe caused by the unreported actions of the militia. It is true that people are being beaten, tortured bitterly to demonstrate that Mugabe does not care about international community and can work hell on the population at will.

The government systems of brutality, so called Operations Dirty of May 2005, popularly known as Murambasvina, only revealed the worst behavior of any civilian government in the history of governance. Despite the open findings and the condemnation by the world body, UN, President Mugabe has done nothing to correct or improve poor life of civilians in the country.

The 2005 general elections in Zimbabwe were supposed to have been done under strict observation of the SADC electoral protocol, which were violated by the Mugabe regime. Needless for me to point to volumes and volumes of the MDC fights in the courts of Zimbabwe on rigging of elections by Zanu-pf government.

The country-s constitution is in the intensive care unit. Mr. Mugabe applies his intuition to run the country, proposing pieces of change to the constitution at will despite that the referendum is supposed to attend to any constitutional change after 2000 referendum which defeated Mugabe from imposing wild and sweeping changes to the constitution. Because Mr. Mugabe knows he will be defeated in any open contest, he uses his blind parliament to rubber stamp his idea.

Mr Tsvangirai and the MDC have tried to engage the Zanu-pf with absolute patients in the hope the world will prevail on him to see common sense and respect the country-s constitution. Should it be a surprise that, at a time when everybody would expect that Mbeki mediation should have dealt a blow to violence on:

1. Disbanding of the militia.
2. New examination of the voter-s role.
3. Appointment of a world based Electoral Commission
4. Supervision of peace in the country.
5. Open media to all political parties and have the radio station cover all political parties- activities.
6. Allow Diaspora to vote; that it is promising total failure?.

What else could any political party in Zimbabwe say on the obvious failure in the Mbeki on going mediation efforts? It-s not easy for a political party to denounce efforts as paper exercise without binding results. It is beyond a shadow of doubt that the Mbeki mediation has taken too long to denounce wrong from right and therefore lacking morality for correction. That political opposition is being treated as though a stranger by a government confessing to seek political solution mocks the basis of mediation.

There is no doubt that the people of Zimbabwe know who is responsible and where its going wrong, but are violently forced to keep quiet with some of the most brutal and traumatic ways ever done and applied since the Hitler-s second world war brutality on race. It-s a pity the authors of international Conventions have something to cover in limiting genocide to narrow definition of kill by gun. People are dying from both HIV/AIDS and traumatic syndromes of one sort and other in Zimbabwe. The post Mugabe era shall equally see many of us sick to think of what those who left us miserably went through.

With a police force, army and judges sworn to allegiance of Zanu-Pf political party overt or otherwise, the governance is not only corrupt but decayed. There is only one thing left, to keep appealing to the UN; despite what so called radicals might say, Zimbabwe is a worst scenario of a world uncaring. With one third of the population out of the country and many more coming out, the world need to act before some good Samaritans help remove force with force. This is not the desire of the MDC after all these years of patiently demonstrating democratic approach to resolving governance issues.

Zimbabweans we need a common agenda to remove Mugabe. The world needs to create the atmosphere where violence is killed once and for all enabling democratic forces success, anywhere.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP