Zimbabwe's longest electoral season

IN exactly two weeks, Zimbabweans are going to the polling booth again, as the silly season that began last May stubbornly refuses to end for various reasons — single-minded pursuit of power by opposition leaders or Zanu-PF's design to vanquish the opposition for the long durée.

The February 3 by-elections are the second batch of elections occasioned by main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leadership turmoil. Zimbabwe held the first batch of by-elections in December after disputed self-proclaimed CCC interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu recalled nine MPs who were allegedly imposed on the electorate.

The CCC led by Nelson Chamisa made Tshabangu's actions easier by not having a publicly known constitution and leadership beyond Chamisa and a coterie of his appointments. This loophole has been exploited to the fullest by Zanu-PF.

The CCC, since May 2023, has been on the campaign trail. A campaign it can ill afford but has been forced on it because of ‘strategic ambiguity' policy that even some of its members neither understand nor articulate.

It would be interesting to note how the party will campaign for its members and what promises it will make to the electorate. The party has not introspected since its dismal defeat in August general elections.

It only gave disjointed statements on legal challenges, waiting for Sadc to intervene and lastly trying to have talks with Zanu-PF. Of the three, nothing came out, leaving the members and bystanders more confused than before.

Chamisa, in particular, has largely been in hibernation and his troops have no commander. He sporadically posts on X, but these are mainly motivational speeches based on Biblical verses and not political programmes of action.

The recalls have exposed how deeply entrenched the schisms in the opposition are. This cannot be over-emphasised. Chamisa should raise his head above the parapet and show leadership, reunite and refocus the party rather than going AWOL.

The party's failure to lead while concentrating on electioneering is well captured by activities in Harare. It is not only Tshabangu who is making recalls, but also Chamisa through proxies like Gift Siziba and councillors at Town House. Only last week, there was a foiled attempt to remove mayor Jacob Mafume.

Mafume was blunt in assessing the levels of competence and qualification of some councillors. He said: "We welcome the vitality and debate of the council and people are free to contribute when there are heated debates. There is no provision, our understanding is very different as councillors and sometimes our levels of comprehension are different depending on the tools we developed for themselves before they become councillors."

Mafume was not done, but soaked it in by adding: "The Constitution is very clear on how a councillor or a mayor leaves office. And one of them is certainly not by passing the motion in the chamber."

Sensing the disharmony in the opposition camp, Presidential spokesperson George Charamba gleefully tweeted arguing that there is need to have Harare led by a government-appointed commission, in one stroke removing the opposition from any semblance of power they have.

"With the paralysis which Triple C infighting has brought on the City of Harare and given the raging cholera pandemic, it is about time Local Government minister approached his Excellency with the proposal to use presidential powers to bring Harare municipality under direct State administration. There is a good case now using the public health argument," Charamba posted on X, a microblogging site.

This is not a new position. Charamba in a Sunday Mail column, writing as Bishop Lazurus, warned urban local authorities — read the opposition since it controls 33 of the 34 urban councils — that the government was mulling action against failure to deliver.

"Well, the so-called city fathers should put their act together by mid-year by doing the needful — doing their job. They have already been put on notice. They should know that those who now hold the levers of power are men and women of consequence," Charamba opined.

For good measure, he added, "The time to change the face of our cities is now."This politics of brinksmanship should come to an end. The CCC has to quickly ride the tide and turn to shore. They have to have structures, collective leadership and above all clear ideology and programme of action.

On the other hand, Zanu-PF has to play fairly. It cannot entertain the idea of reversing democracy where people have a right to choose their public representatives, even if they choose the wrong ones.

The second and most important thing is to have a constitutional amendment. Elected representatives should only be recalled through a petition by a third or more of the voters on the voters roll. Any other recall should be by way of persuasion, asking those who deviate from party positions to voluntarily resign.

Zimbabwe cannot perpetually live in an election mode. After elections, those elected to lead should get on with the job. Those in opposition should hold those in power accountable and hope that at the next poll they will win.

The country has so many things that need fixing. It needs job creation and functional public health and education systems. It needs food aid for those facing food insecurity. It needs more energy sources, water sources and passable roads.

These things do not happen on their own. They need human agents — elected representatives — to implement. We cannot continue being bogged down by never ending electioneering.

Our politicians should understand this, the electorate should hold them to account rather than continuously celebrating mediocrity.Zimbabweans from across the political divide should stop the see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil mentality. Voters should not babysit political leaders' egos.

It is not an easy thing to do, considering the leaders we have today, but it has to be done starting now if Zimbabwe wants a better 2024. The election mode has to be switched off and we see it in 2027.

    Paidamoyo Muzulu is a journalist based in Harare. He writes here in his personal capacity.