The challenges of creating a participative democracy in Zimbabwe

Zimbabweans are much too patient and too tolerant perhaps making them easy prey to be subjugated by any government or political party

It was only last week while attending a debate by politicians in Harare that I realized that Zimbabwe may be a long way from having a participative democracy. What struck me was the speakers' haughtiness and God complex in articulating what they think should happen in Zimbabwe. This of course is hardly surprising given that since independence in 1980, our politics have been prescriptive in nature and our politicians have gotten used to being treated like little gods. Democracy in Zimbabwe has been to date characterized by the exercise of the popular vote after which we have handed on a platter, all the responsibilities of running the country to the majority party. What worries me is that in protest to Zanu-PF we may blindly recreate the same system while expecting different results (the last time I looked, this is defined as insanity).

In my opinion, any political party that has the majority vote will behave in a similar fashion regardless of climate or geographical location. Absolute power leads to arrogance, non-accountability and the belief by those that wield power of their invincibility.

As Zimbabweans we need to be circumspect and learn from history. Zimbabweans have really never been activists. Our history is significantly different from that of South Africa for example where, the country's liberation was delivered through the uprisings of local communities who made the country ungovernable and who to this day, continue to use the right to protest as a means to register their dismay with delivery by the government. South Africa is therefore more positioned to create a participative and vibrant democracy because of the nature of the black South African compared to Zimbabwe.

In Zimbabwe the contrary is true I think. Zimbabweans are much too patient and too tolerant perhaps making them easy prey to be subjugated by any government or political party that has a majority vote. You only have too witness how our politicians carry themselves in public.

The other factor is that, in the past, our government has really never been tolerant of dissent and this has somewhat “conditioned” Zimbabweans and remains a significant albatross towards the creation of a vibrant and participative democracy. The reaction of most skilled Zimbabweans was typically to leave the country when things got rough and hope that things will change without their active participation in causing that change. To that I am, of course, not immune but that is about to change. The reaction of some of those intellectuals and businessmen that remained behind was to accept the deplorable socio political conditions while complaining in private.

It is now necessary for us to realize that the creation of a new democracy that is significant in Zimbabwe requires that all of us take the responsibility not to be mere voters but to actively participate in the political process to create a better future. It is essential that we all become continual  activists to some extent so that we do not recreate the past but enrich the dialogue on our future. We can no longer delegate this responsibility to a significant few.

Besides the drive to create a new social system that is under-pinned by the respect of human rights, freedom of speech and diverse media, it is indispensable for Zimbabwean civil society to have a strong platform to challenge, expose   and expect more from our future politicians and continually remind them of their responsibilities to serve the public. We must not think that a good and well debated constitution guarantees liberty but rather realize that an active informed, organized and vibrant community does.

We have a choice to make; do we expect different results by creating the same system that has not worked in our interests in the past, or do we take the responsibility to create the future we all desire?

I think the choice is obvious and for me the sooner those Zimbabweans in the Diaspora take an active part in developments at home and stop being arm chair critics and Zimbabweans in general wake up to the fact that the vote does not guarantee freedom and democracy, the quicker we are bound to see a better Zimbabwe emerging.

I await the emergence of a strong opposition party in any future government and us discontinuing the habit of delivering our votes en masse to one political party. It has not worked to our advantage in the past and it will not work now.

The future must surely be different from the past and only you and I can make it so.

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Vince Musewe is an independent economist currently in Harare and you may contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com

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