Picking hope in the midst of political chaos

By Terence Chimhavi

Citizens queue to vote.

The political dynamics to engulf the country post the 2013 harmonized elections though depressing, present a lot of hope for those in pursuit of a more justiciable, socially accountable and democratic national order, if discerned from a more critical angle. This argument is with regards to the general upheavals to dog various political parties and/or movements, which upheavals have unfortunately not spared the civic space.

Joice Mujuru - casualty of purge.

 One key point that you will note in trying to extricate the real reason or reasons behind - the purges within and from political parties; personal differences leading to splitting of parties and organizations; the overt in-fighting apparent in many political and civic outfits – they all come at a great cost to the ordinary citizen. Some will take issue to the general paralysis within the ruling party due to this infighting which threatens their capacity as a government to clearly lead and direct national development; others bemoan the near dearth of a movement once thought to be a democratic alternative to the Zanu PF hegemony; and others are beginning to lose hope in a vibrant civic society that can genuinely push for social accountability on the part of government to its citizens.

Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi - won't give up power.

You will find in all this however, a general trend that, as times have moved, the idea of a social democratic order, where the government is chiefly responsible for the welfare of its citizens, is slowly but surely getting currency and becoming more and more accepted as a precursor to sustainable development globally. Moving with it is the equally fundamental idea that succession is a normal functional tenet of any vibrant organization. Even regional blocs on the continent, notably the AU, EAC, ECOWAS and SADC all have charters that actively promote social justice and democracy on the continent.

President Mugabe - accused of holding onto power undemocratically.

As a result, where the leadership of any institution or organization, political or civic, is not alive to some of the fundamental tenets of democracy, they are left with little option but to act undemocratically, unfortunately in pursuit of holding on to undemocratic decisions, which they can only defend if still firmly in control. This is where emanates the fixation by most leaders in civic and political movements to continue their stay in power in perpetuation, using all sorts of justifications as may appease the situation.

Expelled for also wanting leadership change.

And the fact that within such organizations still exist some people who are prepared to challenge such autocracy, exercised both overtly and covertly, in the face of imminent expulsions, censures, intimidation, what have you, is telling of the belief that members of most organizations still have that they hold the power to call leadership to account. It’s no wonder then that you will have Zanu PF as a party expelling or suspending a host of its erstwhile leaders on allegations of trying to topple their long-serving leader. Of course these members of the party are concerned with the fact that the country cannot be perpetually held under the leadership of one individual when all other countries, with whom we ‘fellowship’, regularly change leaders. Even the statutes to which we are chief custodians (at least for the remainder of the respective terms) promote and encourage change of leadership, based on the notion of bequeathing, for posterity’s sake, what we may hold dear, to the next generation. 

It then becomes apparent that even though they may tell a different story publicly, there are a lot of people within Zanu PF who believe in an open succession plan for the party, in line with what is generally accepted regionally and even globally. The ANC and Chama Cha Mapinduzi are just but a few of Zanu PF’s contemporaries who have benefited as political outfits from clear succession plans.

We started together but now...

It’s sad that the opposition in Zimbabwe has generally not learnt as well (or is refusing to learn) from how stability within an institution can actually be strengthened through having clear succession plans. Much as leaders may detest the idea, the one constant of life is change – it can only be delayed but never avoided. And the differences that have led to successive splits in the opposition movement, though largely personal, also show that the era where an individual can domineer over a people in perpetuity is fast fading. Because people, as individuals, have diverse ideas and thinking, all mostly intended for the good of the collective or the common good, believe that anyone is capable of leading, for as long as clear rules on how such leadership is exercised are stipulated and adhered to, with sound accountability foundations.

Thabo Mbeki - learnt the hard way.

If people no longer agree with you as a leader or with your leadership (in terms of political or policy direction), they will tell you, and if you are arrogant enough to try and silence them, then they will obviously take action to ensure they do away with you. Granted, these efforts can equally be unsuccessful or autocratically crushed but they do not die away entirely. And the idea that a leader clings on to power when a significant proportion of those they lead think they have overstayed, is definitely as much a personal as a moral blow to the authority of any such leader.

Therefore much as the goings-on in the mainstream political and civic space may be depressing as you watch from a distance, as they clearly impede progress to the collective goal of attaining, at the least, the common good, they are also testimony from a closer perspective, to the idea that autocratic leadership will always be challenged, even from within as it may then equally translate outside. And it is from the ambers and off-shoots of such challenge, that real movement towards social justice and democracy will emerge to do away with autocratic, elitist hegemony.

The writer writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted at tchimhavi@gmail.com