Probity warrants reinstatement of unduly recalled MPs

GOOD day, President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Your Excellency, throughout history, true greatness of presidents has always been measured by the probity with which they stand up for the common good during trying times.

It seems to me that the unfair recalls of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) parliamentarians and councillors constitute a political crisis for your Presidency. Their recalls have no legal basis at all, neither do they have a sturdy moral leg to stand on.

They were effected in a moment of madness which warrants sobriety to redress.  As I see it, the recalls and the subsequent by-elections, pose trying times which require true-blue Statesmanship to resolve.

Your Excellency, the unity commemorations we recently observed count for nothing if the political crisis wrought by a depraved man, masquerading as interim secretary-general of the Nelson Chamisa-led CCC is not resolved with maturity and probity.

There are reasonable grounds to believe that the government and Zanu-PF have a hand in the causing of the crisis. With the party itching to secure the requisite threshold majority in Parliament, its associate, Forever Associates Zimbabwe, (Faz) could not have been an innocent bystander in this endeavour.

It has to be reckoned that Faz is not a stranger to electoral controversy. It was fingered in the rigging of Zanu-PF in-house elections which had to be re-run twice and thrice in some strongly disputed instances.

Your Excellency, if you ask me, the citizenry have since been of the view that it would have been wise to let the deposed late former President Robert Mugabe rule from the grave as his widow Grace put it, than having you as his successor.

Her sentiments resonated with the Zanu-PF statement that your dismissal from the party was due to your lack of probity. With all due respect, the lack of probity has oftentimes been glaringly evident. Methinks it was folly for you to reappoint a Vice-President who had previously resigned on account of his zero diligence in the management of his zip, hip and lip.

Constraints of editorial space restrict me to mention the appointment of the Commander of the Defence Forces to the politburo which was eventually rescinded and those of your kith and kin to ministerial and other government positions.

Now, with the High Court ruling that the turncoat who has been masquerading as the opposition CCC interim secretary-general has no capacity to act on behalf of the party, it evidences lack of leadership probity that government heeded his recalls of parliamentary and council elected representatives without due care and consideration.

Considering that you initially stormed to the Presidency in 2017 courtesy of a military-orchestrated succession, from my perspective, it must have been your uppermost guiding principle to adhere strictly to the tenets of democracy.

You ought to have been mindful that you escaped international censure by a whisker. There are many leaders who assumed power in a like manner who got an outpouring of condemnation. Your narrow escape with the benefit of doubt, is the subject for later debate.

Your Excellency, as I see it, the bullish determination of your Presidency to have its own way is contradictory to the norms and ideals of democracy. Despite claims of being soft as wool, twice in the early phase of your Presidency you let loose the military on citizenry.

Yet, if yours was sincerely a new dispensation, there ought to have been evidence of significant departure from the old. Apparently, that has not been the case given the unbridled force unleashed on citizenry on one hand, and inconclusive elections on the other.

Sadly, the spirit of authoritarianism is as prevalent now as then. It is apparent that your obstinacy is wreaking havoc on democracy. Consequently, it is grievous that the foundation and pillars of democracy have been reduced to rubble, akin to a war-torn zone.

Little wonder, your push for the normalisation of relations with the European Union, Commonwealth and other Western countries and institutions is bearing no fruit, in spite of your touting the said engagement and re-engagement thrust.

It must have been out of desperation for co-operation that you recently announced that an agreement was made for Motswana and Zimbabweans to cross borders without using passports. Was it not  shameful that the Botswana Parliament disowned the said agreement?

All things being equal, my thoughts are that you should have resigned from the Presidency and leadership of Zanu-PF in the aftermath of the sham August harmonised elections. Yet, owing to your bullish determination to go headlong on your terms, you stayed put.

Your Excellency, I am of the mindset that your Presidency in particular, and your government in general, are beset with a daunting legitimacy crisis. My thoughts on the current stalemate are that the predicament the country is in is unenviable.

With all the election observer missions noting that the elections did not meet local, regional and international standards, consequences of failure of the credibility test were bound to take a toll on your Presidency.

It appears to me that the government has a legitimacy crisis. My thoughts on the current predicament are that besides the imperative reinstatement of the unduly recalled parliamentarians and councillors, there must be a re-run of the harmonised elections.

It seems to me that Zimbabwe cannot be open for business owing to the political crisis. She is in the eye of the storm. Consequently, your government does not have a legitimate mandate to rule considering that the August harmonised elections failed the credibility test.

Your Excellency, from my perspective, probity warrants the reinstatement of the recalled parliamentarians and councillors without further ado. I reckon that this is the utmost prudent political decision that will define your Presidency.