By Patrick Guramatunhu- The way forward for Zimbabwe demands a complete overhaul of the country’s rotten political system.
Some people have argued that Zanu PF and MDC leaders cannot be trusted to implement the democratic reforms because they are part of the rot. Every time any MDC leader open his/her mouth, one can see why they are indeed part of the rot.
“Biti said the military had raised a number of issues with the late Morgan Tsvangirai after he won the 2008 elections – issues he said never received sufficient attention during the talks which led to the formation of the GNU,” Daily News reported.
“He said some of the concerns raised by the army then were the need for guarantees that a future government would not prosecute them or dispossess them of their land.”
To start with Tendai Biti should explain why he and his MDC friends failed to raise this and many other democratic reform issues during the last GNU. The truth is the MDC leaders had the snouts in the feeding trough and they completely forgot about the reforms.
The reforms of the Police, Army, CIO and Prison Services were on the national agenda during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Security service reforms were no more intractable than any of the other reform issues.
Those in the security services are not the only ones who have benefited from the chaotic and corrupt Zanu PF land redistribution. The need to recover land and put it back into productive use is key to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery. And so land will be recovered from all those who now own the land on that basis in a open and transparent manner. Why should Army or anyone else one seek special treatment and guarantees?
“MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti says any meaningful national dialogue that is to take place in the country should involve the military,” reported Daily News.
“Biti said the military were an important factor in Zimbabwean politics and should be involved in any talks aimed at fostering democracy and national stability.”
When Mugabe realised that his Zanu PF regime was failing to deliver the freedom, justice, peace and economic prosperity the party started to lose its public support. Mugabe turned to all manner of undemocratic means to retain Zanu PF’s iron grip on power including the use of brute force. And so he roped in the coercive state institutions the Army, Police, CIO and Prison Services to form the shadowy Joint Operation Command (JOC).
Yes Zimbabwe’s security sector has played a major role in Zimbabwe politics, JOC has been the real power behind Zanu PF. It is important to understand that it was Mugabe who invited the Army, Police, etc. and why.
A heathy and functioning democratic Zimbabwe will have no need of JOC and all the security services can revert back to their assigned roles.
We must make up our own mind what it is we want. We cannot say we want a democratic Zimbabwe in which the army is answerable to the civilian government and yet are the ones inviting the army to play a part in civilian politics.
“To foster democracy and national stability, the arm must be involved!” That is what Mugabe did by forming JOC and, as we can now see, it did not foster democracy but dictatorship or national stability but the exact opposite!
What Zimbabwe needs is a clean break with the failed economic policies and the narrow minded political ethos of the past. People like Tendai Biti, Nelson Chamisa, Emmerson Mnangagwa, etc., etc. will never deliver that clean break because they are an integral part of that past. And so instead of implementing the necessary transformative democratic reforms they will be giving excuses for maintain the status quo!