Devolution of power, what all the frenzy appears to be about

The deafening crescendo of befuddled voices and opinions expressed about the ZAPU flagship policy of devolving power in Zimbabwe is as disconcerting as it is a cause for alarm. One wonders if the confusion and confusing opinions expressed are intended to exhibit or to disguise ignorance about what devolution, in particular a la mode the ZAPU vision for Zimbabwe is.

Like the very vision of a free Zimbabwe conceived and enunciated by newly formed ZAPU party more than fifty years ago, devolution has been hijacked, bastardised and soiled transforming the noble concept into something unrecognizable, something far removed from the lofty principles espoused in the ZAPU policy statements.

Inexplicably, there is a portrayal of devolution as intentioned on fragmenting the country, breaking up and dismantling some functional and progressive entity; come on, let's be real, where do such notions emanate from? What smooth operating entity are others seeing in Zimbabwe that is hidden from the rest of us? Through devolution ZAPU intends to lift Zimbabwe from its current governance doldrums and usher in maturity and true democracy to people and country.

The historical facts speak volumes about how something brilliant and visionary can be transformed and disfigured to some grotesque monstrosity; take the ZAPU vision of a free country espoused at the   party's formation in 1961, a vision of respect for all people irrespective of race colour or creed, observance of human rights and a country which would be a true bastion of democracy and freedom! How the dream has turned into a nightmare, how the vision was hijacked into some tribal and racial cacophony with an incontrovertible vindictive vendetta agenda, which has generated unimaginable strife, mistrust and hatred in the nation, in the process creating festering sores that will take a long time to heal.

The party in government over the past 32 years set itself up to settle old scores, real or imagined. On winning elections in 1980 the Zanu government embarked on "pay-back time" agenda of an eye for ten eyes which spawned hatred, dispossessions, murders, a genocide, a legacy of division and inter-community strife that will remain a stain on our country for God knows how long!

The johnny-come-lately proponents of devolution, who have crawled out of every crevice conceivable, with gleaming, recently doctored new constitutions, jumped onto their soapboxes to holler at the tops of their voices about their newly discovered zeal for devolution. Talk about chancers!

Once word was out that devolution resonated with the majority, a potential vote winner, the scramble was on to claim the ZAPU flagship as their own. In fact, contrary to their earlier scepticism, they had been devolutionists all along! The words: "jumping onto a bandwagon" don't quite match the hypocrisy and opportunism exhibited.

It is indeed unfortunate that the lack of grasp of the essence of devolution by some of those now shouting loudest about the policy and their clumsy attempts to explain it may be doing more harm than good.

The problem created is that in attempting to sell something whose essence they cannot fathom these new merchants of devolution are presenting some botched up gobbledegook that neither they or the intended audience cannot enthuse about, just as would happen to any salesman would trying to purvey a product that they had no faith in or believed to be faulty.

All that can be observed is the bizarre dislocation between some of these parties' espousal of devolution as judged against the backdrop of their current practices and the types and composition of leadership structures they possess.

The mismatch cannot be disguised. Which party in Zimbabwe other than ZAPU has members empowered to make decisions truly reflective of their wishes? I fully appreciate that this could be a double edged sword; there is still the residual tendency among Zimbabweans to judge the efficacy of political parties by the visibility and vociferousness of their leaders. The culture of belief in towering leader giants remains prevalent; there is still a lingering and unfortunate wish to create demigods to be served; again and again we brew our own dictators! Hence the truly embarrassing suffixing of leader initials to party names, narcissism gone bonkers. If I were one of such leaders, I would cringe with embarrassment! But that is me.

Of course our electors need to be weaned from the "all power at the centre" mentality to the politics of true empowerment of all! How sad that parties and people still hanker to be possessed by the leaders. As in ZAPU, leaders need to be functionaries, with fixed terms of service but not "the be all and end all" of their formations. That is part of the essence of true belief in devolution.

Thus devolution aims at empowering every person in the land, at achieving a mature democracy in which every person has a real say in his/her governance both locally and country wide. It is time that all Zimbabweans ditched the notion that freedom entails a once every five years cycle of content devoid voting, often under duress, and even then for individuals who upon election immediately switch allegiance and accountability from the electors to the masters in Harare, the seat of all power and authority.

By embracing devolution, those elected would become truly accountable to those who put them in office.  All citizens elevated to stakeholders status in a way that would ensure they would have a real say over decisions that affected their lives locally and nationally.

One of the effects of colonialism and domination has been to instil low self-worth and denigration of people's own ability to determine their own futures. The oppressed become resigned to having their lives determined for them by some masters somewhere removed, the further the better. This in part explains the illogical resistance to the ZAPU concept of devolution by some who would be beneficiaries of the policy.

There is the problem, as already stated that many of those shouting loudest and coming up with the most inane judgments have no clue about what devolution entails, let alone its potential for transforming governance in Zimbabwe as envisioned by my party, ZAPU.

A functional definition of devolution, to be found in most reference sources reads:
"Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level.  Devolution differs from federalism in that the devolved powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government, thus the state remains, de jure unitary legislator."

To this let me add a quote of the ZAPU vision and the benefits that would accrue therefrom for our country:

"Devolution brings development to the people and removes all bottlenecks and red tape created by the current Harare-based centralist governance system. People become masters of their own destiny by controlling and owning their natural resources. Devolution empowers the people to be self-determining. Clearly, devolution is not cessation and we do not understand why anyone would want to link our party to cessation."

How then does anyone interpret from the views above this notion that a devolved state is a divided or fragmented one? Mischief most foul at play!

It is an incontrovertible fact that Zimbabwe comprises of a rich and gaudy tapestry of peoples and cultures and our country is the richer for that. It is when we celebrate our unique differences that we are drawn closer together into one state that respects and encourages the sense of belonging. What could be more spectacularly beautiful than a gathering of peoples from all the corners of Zimbabwe, empowered and united in their distinctive uniqueness?

To try to  deprive or disempower people of their heritage, to attempt to denigrate other people's cultures and practices as happens now suppresses natural potential, impoverishes the nation and may generate hatred and anger leading to a centrifugal force that makes groups want to dissociate from such a repressive and enforced unity.

The human spirit is at its best when empowered and free. Any attempt to act against the natural inclination is bound to meet with resistance, often generating a pressure cooker effect. As time progresses the pressure builds up, in time brewing up an inevitable cataclysmic and destructive eruption.

Devolution offers the safety valve for maintaining equilibrium in a nation. When each is empowered within their own counter forces are minimized; peaceful co-existence of people of different cultures is better assured. Devolution would offer the antidote to undercurrents of discontent evident in many parts of our country, and perhaps the only assurance against the potential for a violent revolution down the line.

The proof of the malaise in governance of our country is not hard to discern. Where else in the world would there be such a stampede by citizens simply wanting to "out" to unknown futures in the world out there? It is a truism that humans, like other animals derive most comfort from familiar surroundings. It thus takes a lot effort for people to forsake the known to an uncertain the unknown, to surrender one's dignity and join the migrants and be referred to as an "expat", "refugee" or "exile".

Most of Zimbabwe's woes must be put firmly at the doorstep of the current system of governance in Zimbabwe, steeped as it is in patronage, cronyism and nepotism, a pyramid with its apex comprising of the greedy, filthy rich oligarchic elite. These are the ones who have it all, power, money, everything. It is no wonder that these will defend their privileges with all the might at their disposal; to them, devolution is a threat to their privileges to be resisted with everything at their disposal.

The staircase winds downwards to the base, the downtrodden, the near "Untouchables" of Zimbabwe; those peoples and regions that have experienced nothing but a spiral of decline under the current governance dispensation. These are the masses, the povo's, us. We deserve better. Only devolution will see us out of this morass.

The battle lines are drawn. Greed knows no bounds. There is no doubt that the beneficiaries of the ill-gotten wealth will do all in their power to maintain their favoured status. They will lie, misinform, scare monger to maintain their insatiable appetites to dominate.

We will only have ourselves to blame if we allow power to reside in the hands of the few, at our expense!

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The originator of the article can be contacted at bayethe@aol.com