Source: Tendai Ruben Mbofana
Addressing the Electoral Commissions Forum of the Southern Africa Development Community (EFC-SADC) 18th Annual General Conference – a few days ago, in Botswana – the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) chairperson Rita Makarau made a tacit admission that Zimbabwe’s electoral system was flawed.
Makarau – who is also the chairperson of the EFC-SADC – said that when they were presented with country reports at the conference, she naturally first read on Zimbabwe.
She went on to say that her initial response was that what the report said about Zimbabwe was not true, however, she later had to admit that, most probably, what was presented was the reality and the truth.
Makarau even went as far as advising her fellow delegates that, ‘sometimes when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we only see what we ourselves want to see, but we also have to see what others see in us’.
What is it that was in the report about Zimbabwe’s electoral system that she would immediately dismiss as being ‘not true’?
What could a regional body as the ECF-SADC possibly say about Zimbabwe, that could be regarded by a largely discredited organ as ZEC, as being baseless?
What is in that report that others see in Zimbabwe’s electoral system, but ZEC and the ZANU PF government do not see?
Zimbabweans, by now know the ZANU PF government’s defensive nature when it is confronted with the truth, as it always dismisses everything that it is truthfully accused of, as being lies.
This is not only limited to the government, but also includes organs that as supposedly ‘independent’, yet are well-known to be sympathetic to the ruling party, and are accused of being biased towards it – and ZEC is no exception, as can be readily witnessed by today’s peaceful demonstration against it and the country’s skewed electoral laws and playing field, by a coalition of opposition political parties, under the banner of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA).
Although, I have tried, but failed to get a copy of this EFC-SADC report, qualified conjecture, will lead me to conclude that Zimbabwe’s electoral system had been reported as being flawed, and that was why Makarau initially reacted by denial.
However, from what she said in her address, she then made a tacit admission that what the report highlighted could be, in fact, true – further advising her fellow delegates to have the same attitude.
In this regard, can anyone be wrong in asserting that Makarau, whilst admitting to SADC that the electoral system in Zimbabwe is flawed, should make the same admission to the people of Zimbabwe, especially today, when NERA are peacefully demonstrating against ZEC, and the county’s unfair electoral laws and playing field.
She should come out in the open and tell the nation what the ECF-SADC report said about Zimbabwe’s electoral system, and explain to the nation what ZEC intends to do to rectify the situation.
The ZANU PF government should similarly come out and address the same concerns raised in the report, and those by NERA.
The suffering people of Zimbabwe, who have been duped enough by this skewed system deserve to have answers.
Instead of the now usual brutal response to any dissent by the ZANU PF government, the nation needs a direct response to their genuine concerns that have been ignored for over two decades.
As such, the people are justified in their frustrations, such that they have decided to peacefully take the issue onto the streets.
If these ZANU PF people say that they brought democracy to this country – I am not sure from where – then the people need to see that democracy at work.
It should not just be an empty slogan – in the same mould as their allies, such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is anything, but democratic.
Democracy is not relative and determined by only one section of a nation’s population, but has internationally accepted statutes – some of which, as in SADC, Zimbabwe is a signatory to – and is expected to religiously adhere to them.
The country was not forced to be party to these statutes, and that is why it is even the chair of the ECF-SADC.
Furthermore, the Constitution of Zimbabwe is very clear on the electoral system of the country, yet the same government that is expected to uphold this supreme law, is its greatest violator.
If ZANU PF is so confident of its popularity, why does it not show that by first aligning all the country’s laws with the Constitution?
Needless to say, aligning a country’s laws to the Constitution should not even be based on whether the ruling party is confident of surviving or not, but is its duty.
If it then fails in that duty, then it would have lost all legitimacy, and must step down, or be forced to step down through legal channels.
Whilst addressing the same ECF-SADC conference, Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama, who is also the SADC chairman, advised politicians in the region to adhere to election processes and avoid manipulating elections which usually caused election related conflicts.
He also said that members of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBS) should conduct elections with unquestionable integrity – something that I hope both ZEC and the ZANU PF government will take serious heed of.
As the nation braces itself for the 2018 Elections, the ZANU PF government should acknowledge, as Makarau tacitly did, that Zimbabwe is on a very dangerous course, and headed for disaster, where no one will be a winner.
As long as the people of Zimbabwe are continually cheated of their democratic right to freely elect a government of their choice, then the chances of civil unrest become more and more likely.
The right to freely vote – in a level political playing field – and having that choice respected, is a right that has cost lives all across the globe.
That is the same reason Nelson Mandela was prepared to die in prison – refusing to negotiate for his release.
That is the reason thousands upon thousands of genuine liberation war heroes and innocent civilians, especially in the rural areas, perished in Zimbabwe in the 1960s and 70s – even though the struggle in ZANU had been highjacked by mercenaries in the mid-70s.
This should not only be a legal right, but a natural and inalienable right that every citizen deserves – and a right that people are prepared to die for.
As Nelson Mandela said at the Rivonia trial, ‘I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die’.
Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist and commentator, writer, and journalist. He writes in his personal capacity, and welcome any feedback. Please feel free to WhatsApp/call: +263782283975, or email: tendaiandtinta.mbofana [at] gmail [dot] com. Follow on Twitter: @Tendai_Mbofana