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People get the government they deserve
Trudy Stevenson, The Independent (Zimbabwe)
May 20, 2008

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805160963.html

"People get the government they deserve."

This is often quoted to explain why our governments are generally pretty awful, all over the world. The inference is that if people were more careful who they voted for, and if more people took the trouble to vote in the first place, we would not have such mediocre people in government, and indeed politicians would have to clean up their act and work a lot harder than they do.

Well, here we are in Zimbabwe in mid-May 2008, seven weeks after the election, with no government at all, at least so far as mandate from the people is concerned. We have the former government still supposedly in power because of the delay in the presidential election result, and we have at least one part of the future government, the legislature - i.e. the MPs and Senators - and nearly all the local government, but they are not doing anything! Quite why this is so baffles me, because they went to great lengths to get elected. Now that they are elected, you would think it might occur to perhaps one or two of them that they should DO something - speak to their constituents, write us a letter, send us an SMS, call us, or maybe just stop over at a shopping centre one day so we know they are still around.

But no, it appears that they are all in hibernation (winter is certainly approaching), or else the MDC representatives have fled across the border to join Morgan Tsvangirai. I do not want to believe the latter, because I would not like to think that the electorate chose candidates who were ready to abandon them as soon as they were elected. So it must be the former: the onset of winter has sent them all into hibernation. Yet I do not recall the previous lot of MPs hibernating. On the contrary, a number of them were visible and holding meetings, writing articles, attending functions, chatting to their constituents over the weekend, etc, all year round.

What has happened? Is the new lot of MDC reps so timid that they are afraid of their own constituents? Surely the odd threat from Chihuri or even Mugabe cannot have frightened them all into silence and invisibility? Surely at least there is one WOMAN among them who has the courage to start doing the job she was elected to do?

Ah, perhaps that-s it - they don-t know what they are supposed to do! But I seem to remember reading one or two manifestos and hearing a couple of winning candidates state very specifically what they intended to do if we voted for them. So - what are they waiting for?

If they are waiting for the outcome of the run-off of the Presidential election, that is madness, because that outcome might not be with us for several months yet. Anyway, do they really have to have a new President in power before they can start acting as people-s representatives on the ground? Surely not! Surely the very lack of a new President in power is what gives them even more responsibility than they would normally have to talk to their constituents and start trying to deal with their issues?

Meanwhile potholes deepen, garbage piles up, water and power continue to be cut, we still can-t find mealie meal, sugar, cooking oil, soap, or fuel except on the black market, salaries become more and more meaningless as our money becomes more and more worthless, more and more people are dying needlessly of AIDS-related diseases, orphans are increasing, doctors and teachers are leaving, our schools and hospitals are becoming hopeless places - the list goes on and on and on.

And by the way, who is paying for all the security forces who have been manning ZEC Command Centres throughout the country since a week before the election and are STILL THERE? The taxpayers, I presume - but has this expenditure been approved, and if so, by what authority? If not, what, if anything, are the new legislators doing about this? And how long are taxpayers expected to continue paying all these people to sit doing nothing at these Command Centres?

Do we have to wait for a new President before ANYTHING is done about ANY of this? Surely a group of 99 MDC MPs and several hundred Councilors could between them think of something helpful to do to address at least one of these problems, even without a new President in place?

Come on, new government! I believe we Zimbabweans deserve better than this. We do not have the government we deserve simply because the one part of that new government which is now in place and has our mandate is not doing its job.

A bit of boldness, please, new government! Seven weeks is long enough to find your feet. Now we want some action!

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