Back to Index

This article participates on the following special index pages:

Can early elections resolve the 'Zimbabwe crisis'?
Dr. Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni
August 19, 2010

The SADC Troika meeting in Windhoek the capital city of Namibia is said to have put pressure on the Harare disputants to resolve the 'outstanding- issues within a month and expressed its desire to see Zimbabwe holding elections next year. The real question that needs sober analysis is: Can early elections resolve the multiple and multi-layered ailments bedeviling Zimbabwe? Have those calling for early elections clearly understood the core problems that plunged Zimbabwe into crisis in the first place? Has the Inclusive Government, the regional body (SADC), African Union (AU) and other concerned global powers, come up with a new plan to ensure free and fair elections next? How are the SADC guidelines on elections going to be enforced this time around? The consequences for Zimbabwe and the region, of yet another botched election are too ghastly to contemplate.

It is this fear of consequences of another sham election that prompted me to make this short contribution and speak directly to some of the core problems that cannot be resolved by early elections and worse still if those elections fail to reflect the general will of the people. The starting point to avert a deeper crisis is to seek to understand what is meant by the 'Zimbabwe Crisis.- Is it just a question of political legitimacy that can be solved by elections? My take is that free and fair elections are just part of the solution to the 'Zimbabwe Crisis.-

Elections might solve the crisis of political legitimacy. Crisis of political legitimacy is just part of a myriad of other key problems. What must be thought carefully is the issue of a rash to the state house by whoever will win the proposed elections, without institutional changes that are oriented towards democracy. While I understand the sources of growing impatience among those political actors who feel they were denied an opportunity to formally ascend to power at the end of the harmonized elections of 29 March 2008 and the increasing realization that very little can be done to effect a comprehensive turn- around national strategy without full control of the state, the serious danger is to interpret the 'Zimbabwe Crisis- in simplistic terms of 'regime change.- The crisis is broader than that.

At the centre of the crisis are six main issues: (i) failure by the former ruling party ZANU-PF to respond progressively to the changing meaning of freedom across generations and time; (ii) the failure by founding fathers/mothers of Zimbabwe to craft a clear criterion of belonging to a post-settler society that went beyond the policy of reconciliation and enforced national unity; (iii) timid, inconsistent, and partisan-oriented ways of dealing with issues of social and economic justice rooted in a particular histories; (iv) failure of ethnicised and racialized nationalism as a foundation myth of a stable postcolonial political community consonant with values of social pluralism and diversities; ZANU-PF-s consistent refusal to adhere to a clear formula of how power is to be reproduced over time and across generations; and finally, the crisis of instrumentalisation and politicization of the military and security organs of the state to serve a particular regime that dates back to the liberation war.

Unless both citizens and the leadership across different political formations, transcend the current terrible fear of gazing into the future and avoid the 'dung-beetle approach- of marching into the 21st century reverse-wise with the mind perpetually fixated into the past, then a 'New Zimbabwe- remains remote. What is happening around the on-going process of constitution-making reveals the unpreparedness of the country for another election. The language used by some political actors and the behaviour of their supporters is deplorable to say the least. The failure of both ZANU-PF and MDC political formations to resolve the so-called outstanding issues indicates a terrible crisis of leadership. Even the way the GPA was crafted reveals a selfish agenda across political formations. ZANU-PF wanted to buy time and to re-launch itself into political life in what Professor Jonathan Moyo termed the 'Lazarus resurrection.- The former opposition MDC formations sought to use the GPA to ascend to political power. It seems no-one came on board with true national interests.

Expecting a 'colonial subject- like President Robert Mugabe who actively played a part in a nationalist project that was itself deeply interpellated and shaped by colonialism, to lead the crusade of democracy, is like asking the nineteenth century King Lobengula Khumalo to talk about modern discourse of human rights and democracy. President Mugabe is a man of yesterday. The crisis is that even the younger ones that masquerade as national leaders mentally manifest a belonging to the past of violence engendered by both colonialism and nationalism. This has created a deep generational problem. ZANU-PF attempted to deal with it through bungling of the unemployed youth into Border Gezi Training Centres as a nursery for its reproduction in the 21st century. This was a selfish way of dealing with the issue.

Because the crisis has a key generational element, it also reveals itself as a crisis of political language among those aspiring to lead the nation. The present leaders have not yet found the relevant semantics and correct phrases that could adequately encapsulate the signs of the time and express the current longings and demands of the people. Parroting nationalism or democracy is not adequate. What we witness in Zimbabwe is ideological capitulation in the face of a challenging future and the preference to talk about the past and trying to run the country through memory rather than rational policies. What is often forgotten is that the past will never be the future. We need to brace ourselves for the future challenges and respond in a rational and progressive manner that enables us to avoid anger and the practice of killing each other. Militarization of the state is just an adherence to the warrior tradition that failed even military geniuses like King Shaka of the Zulu. It-s just a temporary refuge for scoundrels.

For Zimbabwe to transcend and cross-over from the reality of violence and crisis, there is need for serious investment of their intellectual and other energies on a new constitution that genuinely reflect the views of the people and national healing and reconciliation. There can be no rebirth of a 'New Zimbabwe- without a new constitution that embraces and reflects the longings and visions of the people. Pushing the people into election-mode now is counter-productive. It confuses the constitution-making process with electioneering. Some misguided elements are already busy disrupting the constitution-making meetings and making dangerous statements which reveal deep political confusion. What must be avoided are quick-fix strategies, be they coming from SADC or emerging internally. The resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis is bound to be a painstaking process rather than an event. Zimbabwe desperately needs a Truth and Reconciliation Commission rather than the current feeble Organ on National Healing, Integration and Reconciliation that is not even backed by any statutory instrument and is not informed by seeking truth. Perhaps elections if they are free and fair might be a blessing if the winner will commit to a programme of social justice, truth and reconciliation that are needed in a country that has experienced a series and catalogues of violence since the colonial era. There are still pertinent questions that continue to beg for answers, before the country is ready for elections: What have we done with our politicized security sector? Will it remain in the barracks this time and leave politics to politicians? Has our police force finally re-discovered the lost Police Charter defining the remit of their duties?

Having elections next year without comprehensive and genuine institutional reform of a state that has undergone systematic militarization including giving birth to such semi-military units as war-veterans and green-bombers and their quasi-structures, might be a recipe for another crisis. One can only give SADC the benefit of the doubt that this time around they will come up with mechanism to make sure next year-s elections are conducted according to SADC election guidelines. But I have no doubt that if elections take place next year and produce an acceptable outright winner and those who lost behave well and allow a new government to take office; it might quicken the process of the country-s return to normalcy. But postcolonial Africa have seen political parties that campaign for change but once they win elections they fight against those calling for real change. Citizen vigilance must be maintained until democratic governance is attained in Zimbabwe. Less trust and more vigilance!

*Dr. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni is writing from Johannesburg and can be contacted on: sgatsha@yahoo.co.uk

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