CiZC claims not regime change agents

CRISIS in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) says labelling the organisation regime change agents is a usual tactic used by dictatorships worldwide to muzzle all voices which attempt to hold them to account.

In a recent interview with NewsDay (ND), CiZC chairperson Peter Mutasa (PM) said this would, however, not silence them. Below are excerpts of the interview.

ND: When was CiZC born, and what prompted its birth?

PM: The CiZC was formed in August 2001 by several civil society organisations and the formation of the coalition was meant to spearhead a collective civil society response in addressing the multi-faceted crisis of governance and governmental legitimacy then engulfing Zimbabwe. The formation of the coalition was also informed by the need to push for a developmental trajectory informed by the people and inclusive of every citizen regardless of creed.

The coalition is a membership-based organisation and currently has 92 institutional members. These members are organised by thematic committees namely youth, gender, advocacy, peace building, arts, information and human rights committees. The coalition also has a regional information and advocacy desk which operates from our office based in Johannesburg, South Africa, whose major role has been to champion the accurate projection of Zimbabwe's challenges not only in the region but internationally. This is anchored on our belief that resolving Zimbabwe's challenges requires informed solidarity from her regional neighbours and the international community.

ND: Can you briefly outline the journey towards attainment of democracy and inclusive national development in Zimbabwe?

PM: The journey has not been an easy one, especially taking into consideration the increasingly authoritarian nature of our State, more notably at least since 2000. The 22 years of our existence symbolise years of trials and tribulations characterised by State repression and closure of the democratic space. It is unfortunate that in response to our calls for a genuinely people-centred governance framework, the State has responded essentially by further constricting the civic and democratic space, which is supposed to be the lifeline of a constitutional and participatory democratic governance framework. Instead, the State has resorted to name-calling, restrictive laws and brute force, characterised by abductions, arbitrary arrests, torture as well as extra-judicial killings, but we have remained vigilant and continue to be guided by our vision.

The journey has not been easy, but we have soldiered on and the coalition continues to leave an indelible footprint in the fight for democracy and good governance in Zimbabwe. The heightening of the closure of civic and democratic spaces that we have seen post the November 2017 coup just serves as a reminder to comrades and the generality of citizens alike, that the struggle continues and we must continue to push until we realise the dream of inclusive national development in Zimbabwe. I cannot overemphasise the apparent pointers to an increasingly authoritarian State we continue to see — the militarisation of key state institutions, persecution of dissenting voices, obscene levels of corruption and plunder of State resources and weaponisation of the Judiciary among many other vices.

Our antidote to these vices and resolving the long-standing crisis in the country is also simple. Zimbabweans must be assisted to have a genuine national dialogue process. What will this dialogue seek to do? It must seek to help Zimbabwe return to full norm compliance in modern statecraft by implementing comprehensive electoral, social, economic and political reforms. Such reforms must be undergirded by a firm commitment to return to political legitimacy and the restoration of constitutionalism. A devolved constitutional State (entails) the declaration of rights is the cornerstone of economic development; a political system built on a free and fair electoral system; and a competitive multi-party system that strengthens the social contract and underpins governmental legitimacy. It is incumbent upon the country's leadership to desist from cosmetic approaches on the issue of a national dialogue and engage all the key stakeholders including but not limited to political actors themselves, business, civil society in its entirety — the church, labour, students, women's movements, peasants, war veterans, ethnic minorities — every section of our varied population must be included and represented in this national dialogue.

ND: The CiZC has been accused of being a "regime change outfit that continuously seeks to please its Western masters". How do you react to these allegations?

PM: That is pure State propaganda which has been part of its efforts to delegitimise our work and evade accountability, while justifying persecution of pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders. The vision and mission of the coalition have always been clear. Only a dishonest person would want to claim that it takes the West to make Zimbabweans see the looting of State resources that is happening at a grand scale; or to see the sorry state of our health and education sectors and call the government out for that. Does it need the West to tell us that the Constitution of Zimbabwe exists to guide us on how to govern our country and run our affairs? Was our national Constitution of 2013 written in Washington DC or Brussels? For your information, even those who were fighting for the noble cause of our national independence were once labelled "terrorists" — ironically some of the very same terms they now call those holding them to account.

The treachery of those who label us "regime change agents" is all too apparent if you consider that we have a Constitution which provides for political rights and elections under section 67. It is the sovereign right of the people of Zimbabwe to vote for whom they want at anytime without any form of coercion. And if the people of Zimbabwe so choose to change an incumbent regime or government of the day, it is their right. So you must be alive to the fact that one of the tactics of dictatorships worldwide is to try and delegitimise all voices which attempt to hold them to account. And this is exactly what happens with those that label us as such. But we are not fazed. The struggle for a better Zimbabwe for all continues.

ND: What has been CiZC's greatest achievement over the past 22 years?

PM: The coalition continues to fight tirelessly against the entrenchment of authoritarian rule and the closure of civic and democratic spaces in Zimbabwe — our major success, which we have of course achieved in collaboration with the generality of well-meaning Zimbabweans is having managed to stop the contemporary quest for a one-party State by other means, as has tried to manifest in Zimbabwe especially post-2000. Perhaps, as well, our biggest achievement is that we have remained the foremost organisation that the government and its spin doctors easily attack for holding it to account. In a way, it is testimony that we are doing the right things. The current framework of governance by our ruling elite is the antithesis of how a country must be run. And as the coalition we have managed to identify and help shape precisely the Zimbabwe question or the national question. That is very important, both historically and contemporarily. Identifying and understanding the national question is the starting point in formulating and setting up the levers necessary to foster inclusive national development.

And this we have done by identifying that Zimbabwe suffers from a crisis of governance which manifests across three main facets — governance as State-society relations; governance as economic relations; and governance as public service delivery. The malaise afflicting our country is to be located in the confluence of these three. And it is based on this clarity around the national question that the coalition has managed to derive a membership whose mandate spans across these three facets of governance and remains at the centre of articulating this national question through its members, while being able to project it beyond the borders of Zimbabwe, given the global nature of the historical and contemporary questions of democratic governance, which did not end with the attainment of political independence in 1980.

ND: Can you describe the prevailing human rights situation, political freedom and democratic governance situation as the country heads towards elections?

PM: The situation on the ground ahead of the 2023 elections points to yet another costly charade with pre-determined outcomes. The playing field has not been level as evidenced by the continued onslaught on the opposition by the ruling Zanu-PF party that continues to exercise overbearing influence over the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and other State institutions that continue to be abused to further its power-retention interests. Zanu-PF has tilted the electoral playing field in its favour and this has created grounds for yet another disputed election which will ultimately lead to yet another legitimacy crisis. In April 2022, we published a report on the March 26 by-elections, which at the time we viewed as a dress rehearsal for the 2023 elections. Our verdict then was clear — not free, fair or credible. The same conditions of March 2022 remain in the run-up to August 2023, albeit with a worse set of laws and a heightened determination by Zanu-PF to further tilt the electoral playing field.

We continue to witness human rights violations being perpetrated by Zanu-PF activists and shadowy organisations affiliated to the ruling party such as Forever Associate of Zimbabwe (FAZ) and Heritage Trust. Judicial capture has also necessitated the persecution of opposition activists through prosecution Citizens' free participation in electoral processes has been restricted and this goes against the dictates of credible elections.

ND: Is Zimbabwe on the right path to achieving democracy?

PM: The fact of the matter is that Zimbabwe has suffered an apparent backslide from the positives we took from the Government of National Unity, which also gave us the 2013 Constitution. This was a very huge milestone in terms of setting Zimbabwe towards a path of democratic governance. But of course, it had one key weakness in that it failed to properly curtail executive power. And as a result, the incumbent President has used these executive powers to try and revive a long-held dream of turning Zimbabwe into a one-party State.

It is in the public record that the 22 years of our existence symbolise years of trials and tribulations which have been characterised by State repression and closure of civic and democratic spaces. Lives have been lost in this struggle for democratic governance and we pay tribute to living and fallen comrades for their invaluable contributions in resisting authoritarianism and the one-party State project. Achieving democracy implies upholding the Constitution which the so-called second republic has failed to do. Instead, we continue to witness amendments to the Constitution which have introduced anti-democratic provisions. Through a now nearly predictable cycle of disputed elections, Zimbabwe continues to witness a legitimacy crisis that has worsened the socio-economic and political crises in the country. The plunder of national resources by the political elite continues to work against inclusive national development as well. This is not the definition of democracy. This is dangerous and an antithesis to the democracy which you ask about. So the answer is an emphatic NO! Zimbabwe is not on any path to achieving democracy.