National convergence: Zimbabwe's hope for the future

That the Zimbabwean opposition parties have to avoid doing the same things and employing the same tactics as before if they are to get different results admits of no doubt. While the opposition, especially the MDC have done well in the past in checking Zanu-PF's sordid march towards the creation of a de facto one party state in Zimbabwe, they have not been able to wrestle state power from Zanu-PF. Two things explain this state of affairs;

First, Zanu-PF has employed all sorts of dirty tricks to remain in power. It has abused traditional leaders, the military and state institutions to maintain its hegemony. In the last elections for example Zanu-PF completely monopolised the state media. They also used state institutions to deny Zimbabweans living in areas perceived to be MDC strongholds the chance to register as voters. During the election period other political parties were denied access to the voters roll. These were some of the tricks that led to the so called landslide victory posted by Zanu-PF and the military in the last elections.

Second, the opposition did not avoid the error of the past of regarding Zanu-PF as their only opponent in the election. For that reason they concentrated their efforts in trying to defeat Zanu-PF in the elections. There is no question that when it comes to party versus party, Zanu-PF has no chance against the MDC. But in Zimbabwe it is the MDC versus Zanu-PF plus the entire state machinery. Thus the contest is as unfair as it is terribly uneven. Added to this conundrum the disintegration of political parties in Zimbabwe and the internal sabotage did not help matters. Zimbabwean opposition parties have simply failed to learn from Kenya that the proliferation of little political fiefdoms is unproductive.

Given the unevenness of the political playing field created by the conflation of party and state in Zimbabwe it is imperative that the whole nation be mobilised to solve the national question. Only when the whole nation is thinking selflessly about the real problems afflicting Zimbabwe can this evil dictatorship be defeated. This is achieved through the convergence of the nation on the problems affecting our country. This way, Zimbabweans are forced to objectively look at the real issues in trying to find solutions to the national question. The process therefore entails the nation answering the question; "what is wrong?" instead of the question "who is wrong?"

The national convergence concept comes as a result of the realisation that the problems in Zimbabwe are affecting every person irrespective of their political affiliation. An example of this is the endemic poverty in Zimbabwe which is biting all people across the political divide.

The National convergence concept is thus predicated upon three political, social and economic cannons. The first one is that, the future of Zimbabwe is much more important than any single political party or actor in Zimbabwe. The second one is that every Zimbabwean irrespective of his or her political identity has a role to play in shaping the future of Zimbabwe. This also includes political parties and other non-political entities in Zimbabwe. The concept does not place too much importance on the size of an organisation but on its existence. The third one is that, national political, economic and social values will soon transcend political party boundaries in the future.

Without attempting to exhaust them, Zimbabwe's problems include debilitating poverty, unemployment, economic stagnation and deflation, non-implementation of the constitution, disputed elections, social injustice, inequality and unequal opportunities for Zimbabweans across the political divide. The other problem is the conflation of the Zimbabwean state with the ruling party which has resulted in armed forces unduly interfering with the political life of Zimbabwe. The voters roll is not accessible to all the political actors in Zimbabwe and this did contribute to the disputation around the credibility of our elections. Put in other words the failure to hold elections whose processes and outcomes are acceptable to all Zimbabweans remains an albatross around our necks.

Zimbabwe is characterised by poor service delivery especially in the health and education sectors. For example over one million children are not going to school because of poverty. Erratic electricity supply is further hampering production in the little industry that has been left in Zimbabwe while the absence of clean water is just a harbinger of health disasters to come.

There is no doubt that international investors are shunning Zimbabwe with virtually no international direct investment flowing into the country. This is directly linked to the unpredictability of the Zimbabwean government as well the uncertainty of the political future of the country. The extremely poor relations that Zimbabwe has with the donor countries especially the West further exacerbate this problem.

The concept of national convergence therefore entails the involvement of all political parties, civil society, churches, capital and labour coming together to honestly deal with the national question. National convergence is not an election pact where political parties decide on a single candidate to field during election time. Political parties retain their leadership, identity and ideology. They are simply brought together with others as part of the solution to the national question. What they will decide to do when the election comes is an entirely different matter.

We are now in the post Mugabe era. Whether one is in Zanu-PF or outside it, this is the time to imagine the future without Mugabe. Through national convergence Zimbabweans will come up with a comprehensive economic policy designed to guide Zimbabwe to economic prosperity. Unshackled and unencumbered by political prejudices Zimbabweans will able to design what is best for their country. Further, through this programme, Zimbabweans will craft social policies designed to eradicate poverty, misery and social injustice. There is no question that national convergence we can once again make our politics competitive, attractive and decent. Election time must once again be fun time for Zimbabweans.

The time has come for all the political actors in Zimbabwe to be more imaginative and selfless. Our politics must now be centred on how to make Zimbabwe an economic, political and social powerhouse once more. We must now develop a new thinking that involves all of us finding value in each other. This way the future generations will be more grateful to us for having thought more of them than of ourselves at last.