In April 2023, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) launched the People's Human Rights Manifesto that captured the views of 250 000 ZimRights members and Zimbabwean citizens from the mining, farming, rural, urban and peri-urban communities.
The manifesto was presented to all the political parties who signed the commitment card in agreement with the 10 key asks presented by the citizens. Since then, ZimRights has successfully built a critical mass of knowledgeable and action-oriented citizens who are geared to engage in dialogue processes to transform their lives. The manifesto is a dialogue tool used to prepare citizens for stakeholder engagement.
Following the August 2023 elections, announcement of results, and swearing in of elected duty bearers, we thought the ship was ready to sail and start the implementation of the manifesto. Alas, on October 10, 2023, the first day of the National Assembly business, the Speaker announced that he had received a letter from SengezoTshabangu who claimed to be the interim secretary-general of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party notifying him that 14 named members of the House of Assembly had ceased to be members of the opposition party. On the same day, the Senate president made a similar announcement regarding 9 CCC senators. These recalls resulted in the vacancy of numerous seats in Parliament and councils, leaving youth and women politicians affected. Does it mean political parties are irrelevant because the people of Zimbabwe who elected the individuals have no legal relationship with a political party but with ZEC and Parliament.
If Zimbabwe is a democratic State, how then do we have political parties with powers to undo the will of the people by simply writing Parliament to that effect without any strong justification? And what does this mean to the People’s Human Rights Manifesto that was signed by representatives of the political parties? Is the commitment made by different political parties before the elections in April 2023 to uphold the 10 key asks outlined in the People Human Rights Manifesto still valid? Were they sincere in the first place, or they just signed commitments to get people to vote for them? Does it matter to have elections in Zimbabwe?
“The recalls did not just undermine the rights of people to choose leaders of their choice but it made people have leaders imposed on them which is grossly unfair, some of those in parliament were never chosen by the people so it has become a failed state were those in power are law to themselves”, said Rashweat Mukundu- Human Rights Activist and Africa Advisor at International Media Support.
Recalls place a wedge between political actors and the electorate, further perpetuating the deep polarisation and divisions that have characterised our nation pre and after the 2023 elections. They strongly send signals that political actors are power-focused, they do not consider the will of Zimbabweans who voted, thus undermining the significance of elections as a social contract negotiation process. Are recalls a deliberate move to silence the voice of Zimbabweans?
Lazurus Sauti, a political analyst, and media and communications expert once said, leaders are elected by the public, “the issues of recalls have affected democracy and undermine the right to fair representation, it has also discouraged people from participating in the electoral processes”.
This is the time for the Zimbabwean government to reimagine governance. With crisis comes the opportunity to change for good and tackle problems. It does not make sense anymore to choose one of us to go in a big room far away and create laws and policies in our name. It is time for collective action, the electorate and the duty bearers should come together, deliberate on the status quo, and jointly come up with solutions which they can all monitor the implementation. The People Human Rights Manifesto presents the elected leaders and the electorate with an opportunity for dialogue. The Manifesto is more than relevant now given the enduring political polarisation and utter disregard of the will of the people by way of contentious and undemocratic recalls that subdue the voice of the masses in the process of governance. ZimRights is ready to join forces with all progressive minds in pursuit of the democratic ideal.
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- Gillian Chinzete is the community engagement specialist for the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights). Comments on this article can be sent to [email protected]
