Back to Index

This article participates on the following special index pages:

The election we want and beyond...
Tafirenyika Makunike, The Financial Gazette
January 21, 2008

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=2252

Editor — The future of Zimbabwe interests me because that is where I am most likely to spend the rest of my days on earth. For a country that has some claim to enlightenment, I was one of those disappointed that after 28 years of independence all we could offer by way of leadership material from a whole nation of 14 million people was "vaMugabe chete-chete" and Morgan "zvichanaka chete" Tsvangirai.

This national drought of leadership was spreading despair, alarm and despondency among the populace until the entry of Simba Makoni.

One of the reasons we have been wandering in the 'economic and political desert- is because we are unable to detach ourselves from our parochial view and take a long-term vision of what is good for Zimbabwe not just MDC or ZANU-PF.

Applying a Solomonic judgment view, both MDC and ZANU-PF would rather have Zimbabwe, the baby, sawn in two and each one of them taking a dead piece just to spite the other, rather than let one of them two nurture the baby.

So to extricate ourselves from this mess we need to stop being emotional and rationally weigh our options.

While the leaders of both MDC and ZANU-PF behave like the big "chefs" by failing to avail themselves during the registration process, Makoni showed better humility, personally filing his own papers.

My MDC compatriots in South Africa went hysterical when I suggested that what Tsvangirai did to humiliate Mbeki by asking him to show more spine was strategically a wrong thing to do.

We as a nation need to learn that if we do not do anything about our situation, we should not expect a Knight in shining armor from SADC, AU and UN to come to our rescue.

We have about a month to go before the elections and do not have the time to micro-analyse the context and background to Makoni-s candidacy. Every politician, including Simba, is an opportunist and potentially a liar and whatever they say has to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Collaboration between ZANU-PF and MDC has already occurred through the 18th constitutional amendments so what would be wrong with collaborating now in the Makoni project for the benefit of Zimbabwe? What principles would the MDC be using to say that they won-t work with Simba but are prepared to forge electoral pacts with Jonathan Moyo who personifies the ultimate political prostitution and excesses of what is wrong with our politics.

For example Moyo, who has expressed his disgust with the events of Gukurahundi, was prepared at Tsholotsho to install as future president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a key player in the tragedy. Politicians are not driven by principles but by opportunities.

I have a dream that on March 29, we will hold an election not accompanied by violence or the barbaric use of "pasi nanhingi" slogans that have been rampant across Zimbabwe-s political landscape.

To me an ideal outcome would be a scenario where MDC would win the parliamentary vote with no more than 45 percent of the vote, ZANU-PF no more than 38 percent and the fringe parties and independents the balance of 17 percent.

If Makoni wins the presidential election, this would really result in the proper balance of power between the executive and legislature while at the same time keep everyone humble. Makoni can then "institute a process of national healing and reconciliation" and restoration of Zimbabwe into the international community.

The winner-takes-all scenario is bad for national healing in a polarised society as has been shown in Kenya.

From a ZANU-PF perspective, Makoni has been the first to volunteer to bell the cat and for that the people of Zimbabwe should be grateful.

This 'mugoti unopiwa anyerere- strategy of vana Mnangagwa was useful during the liberation struggle but has no place in a modern day democracy.

Zimbabweans should all be free to express their views without fear of being lynched by Chinotimba and Jabulani Sibanda-s mob. Village bullies thrive on fear and it is time Zimbabweans say enough is enough.

We need to release our mindset from events of the past and set it to contemplate what is possible in the future. A national hostage crisis perpetuated by a few mercenaries masquerading as war veterans that began in 1980 seems set to continue in 2008.

Sacrifice was not a preserve for the war veterans that survived the war. For example my uncle who is one of many, lost five of his children in Mozambique during the war of liberation and he received neither acknowledgement nor compensation.

Teachers, clergymen, peasants and various communities across Zimbabwe contributed in kind to the struggle for independence.

I lost two years of my schooling life supporting the struggle but that should not in any way give me a sense of entitlement. That was the essence of sacrifice.

When I was in Zimbabwe in January, I passed through an almost 500 hectare farm and the proud owner had ploughed just five hectares.

Clearly this was a peasant farmer masquerading as a commercial farmer but the agricultural officials have no guts to get this gentleman off the land because he is a war veteran. Land is a finite resource and everyone who goes onto it must be able to produce optimally.

We have systematically decimated the commercial and manufacturing industry that we inherited intact from the Smith regime.

Masimirembwa should stop presiding over the de-industrialisation of Zimbabwe and stick to chicken farming while allowing the few manufacturers we still have to thrive. Hordes of people have to cross the border everyday to buy soap and cooking oil thereby exporting even the most menial jobs still available in Zimbabwe.

The only people thriving in this environment are rent seeking parasitic black market dealers straddling the economy from fuel to foreign currency.

Guarantees we need to extract from Makoni between now and 29 March are that he will only run for one term during the stabilization period and no matter how well he does during that period he must know that no one is indispensable.

We also need to know that he will not be beholden to a ZANU-PF Mafioso ring to the extent that he may not allow the law to take its course.

After all the indigenisation boo-hoos nearly all the gold and platinum mined in Zimbabwe is still owned by South African companies?

Even uncle Thabo has done much better in SA in the short time he started setting targets instead of just perpetuating the big talk. We need Simba to preside over an empowerment process that is fair, transparent and equitable.

As a result these elections represent opportunities for those who desire genuine change.

By the way I am not just one of those Diaspora armchair commentators but I am a registered voter who has voted in every election. I was eligible to vote since independence and by God-s grace will vote in the March 29 elections.

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