| |
Back to Index
Visionary leadership is needed in Zimbabwe
Clyde B.
Chakupeta
September 08, 2008
I have always felt that
Zimbabwe is not going to move into a meaningful future if the leaders
in power cannot comprehend the reality in which Zimbabwe is enveloped.
Zimbabwe is home to one of the world-s most severe and ignored
man made crises. The country faces tragic and dangerous times when
all around are woes, crises and failures and the leaders point us
back to the war of liberation and to 'the bright horizons
that lie in wait-. Disaster has come because the leaders live
in a sea of illusions.
Zimbabwe today begs to
build a truly original future instead of trying to coble together
a distant past. The leadership is in a quandary of quagmire; symptomatic
of an age when childish egocentrism thrives or when the survival
of one becomes far more important than survival of the rest. To
dig the country out of the post Mugabe rubble, I propose why Mugabe
must resign immediately.
Firstly, the life and
legacy of governance is the foundation upon which a country-s
political stability, economic success, conflict resolution, efficient
service delivery and basic human rights rest. Mugabe-s government
has failed this in the last ten years. His philosophy is not 'governance-
but 'govern them-. The purpose of good governance is
for the common good, modeled along national happiness. Gross National
Happiness is the responsibility of the state to create the right
environment where the citizen can seek and find happiness. This
stresses the improvement of physical, intellectual, social and economic
stability through services as health, education, trade, commerce,
employment, urban development, housing, environment conservation,
preservation and promotion of culture. All these, we have been on
the spiral of regression. The government [in waiting] needs to come
up with a different approach to development, something that would
monitor and regulate the nature and pace of change without compromising
the essence of our citizens- well being.
Secondly, the language
of universal human rights is arguably the only shared system which
we have in the modern world for discussing questions of justice.
Human rights have been trampled upon in Zimbabwe in favour of political
mileage for a select few. Our justice system has in the process
fallen victim. The country needs a critical survey of philosophical
and theoretical approaches to human rights, a concept with the ability
to identify and to confront and to remedy worldwide 'man-s
inhumanity to man-. The present government seems to have neglected
human rights reflection which is often informed by natural law.
Mugabe-s government this last decade has lacked the political
somberness to respect human dignity, neither uphold the universally
held human rights declaration.
Thirdly, the country
is in a political, social, economic and intellectual stagnation
because of ill-conceived partisan policies. Everyone is filled with
rage. The health system is in utter shambles, nurses and doctors
spend more time on strike. The cheque they are getting is not even
worth the paper it is written on? How can they do their job when
there are no medicines, when there is no electricity half of the
week, when there is no water running the taps, when the equipment
incessantly breaks down or is non functional for months on end.
The strike is just to remind the government that it is not all about
money, but to sustain a healthy nation.
Unemployment
has gone beyond 80%. Our leadership is impoverished in mind to think
of a solution out of this, if ever they find this as a problem.
The lunatic leaders in Zimbabwe pay no heed to unemployment, heralded
by the farm invasions and Operation
Murambatsvina, political gimmicks to salvage some elements.
Zimbabwean workers are
on record to be one among the highly taxed workers the world over.
With 45% being taxed from the meager earnings, one wonders whether
government has run out of ideas that its only source of income is
tax. Taxes, says Walter Rodney, "do not produce national wealth
and development. Wealth has to be produced out of nature -
from tilling the land, mining minerals, felling trees or turning
raw materials into finished products for human consumption"
In Zimbabwe production is stagnant, industries have been doomed
non-functional, the country even imports maize, wheat, sugar . . . .
All these can be produced and surplus obtained for export.
Fourthly, political meddling
in the justice system has led to people believing that one needs
to belong to the right political party that renders one sacrosanct
and above the law. Incidences of people having been murdered before,
during and after the March and June polls are just but one example.
Allegations of torture as well as incidences of alleged misconduct
on the part of government officials [police and judicial officers]
are not trivial matters and if not addressed timeously and in a
proper manner, cast a dark and unsavoury shadow over the entire
policing and justice system since an Orwellian impression can be
created that some are more equal than other.
The underlying message
is that the country should not sacrifice elements of justice, elements
important for public happiness and confidence is government structures.
These have been compromised to save one man-s grandiose appetite
for power.
I propose a common stance
towards unity, racial equality, reconciliation, fairness, accountability,
transparency, good governance and political stability. These are
ingredients for a new Zimbabwe which definitely is coming, not out
of the 'on-going talks- but from the people-s
revolution. Apolitical citizens are called upon to heed the message
of peace, a just society, equality, racial harmony and non-violence.
The people of Zimbabwe deserve better, and the above reasons are
just but an indication of Mugabe-s demise, which is near.
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
|
