ELECTIONS are upon us and it is imperative for Zimbabweans to be clear about what kind of person they want to lead the country.
No Holds Barred with Dumisani Nkomo
It would be critical for citizens the media and civil society to debate on what kind of President we need as a country at this time.
It is also critical for people to interrogate ideas and issues which the Presidential candidates will be bringing to the electoral table. My article will thus not focus on individuals contesting in the elections, but rather what kind of individuals should occupy the office of the President.
People will then be free to pass their own judgments and make their own choices depending on whether their preferred candidates pass this test or indeed other tests as this template will not be exhaustive.
The person elected to be the next President of Zimbabwe must be somebody who is capable of steering the country from economic stagnancy to the path of sustainable economic growth epitomised by increased investor confidence translating to direct foreign investment.
This will lead to increased economic activity culminating in job creation. The new President must also be able to harness the rich economic potential which the country already has in the form of bountiful mineral resources.
The President should be somebody who has a vision of a Zimbabwe of the future and not necessarily be fixated to the past. The President should be in touch with global economic, social, political and developmental trends.
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He or she (unfortunately there was no woman who submitted her name) must be a person in touch with the people, in touch with reality and emerging governance trends.
This is key because many African leaders are obsessed with the past, obsessed with themselves and obsessed with amassing wealth at the expense of the masses.
The head of State and government should be more than a politician, but also a statesman who is able to inspire support from various strata of the Zimbabwean community including diverse political parties, government institutions, the business sector, churches, traditional leaders and the citizenry.
The President should be a person of integrity, this is not to say that he or she should be a paragon of virtue as a President is not called to sainthood, but governance. Morality is important, but should not be a sole determinant as this is an election for a President not a pope.
A President should thus be morally responsible, but this alone is not enough as other skills and competencies are needed to govern a country.
While Nicollo Machiavelli postulates that a leader must “be feared rather than loved”, I would like to say that the leader should be loved and not feared. He or she must not be a person who personalises State institutions and processes, but subjects himself or herself to democratic processes.
The President must be a person who respects the Constitution and constitutional processes. Those who aspire for the office of President should thus have a record in respecting their own party constitutions and processes.
The President must be able to distinguish between the party and the government and not confuse or fuse the two as the two are separate and distinct. The party may have the mandate to rule, but it governs on behalf of all Zimbabweans.
A President should thus be able to inspire support and confidence from Zimbabweans from across the political, racial, gender and ethnic divide.
The quality of the presidential aspirant should be measured by what is constitutionally required of a President which includes but is not limited to: Upholding and defending the Constitution, conferring awards, appointing and receiving diplomats, oversight over foreign policy etc.
The head of State also declares war and peace in accordance with the Constitution. All this means the President should have mix or be imbued with social entrepreneurship, political acumen and craft competence in leadership.
Zimbabwe needs a President with the integrity of Daniel and the vision of Joseph (both Bible characters). He or she (but since we have concluded that current reality dictates that the person will be a he) should be like a son of Isaac — who would understand the times and would understand what should be done (1 Chronicles 12:32).
The President should not be obsessed with making war and love, but peace and stability.
The citizenry should be able to decipher clearly what a President has to offer and how they proffer to make their vision into policy, policy into reality.
Our electoral politics is bereft of substance, but focuses on peripheral issues of ethnicity and personality. In a proper democracy, the presidential candidates should be summoned to live electoral debates beamed on national television and radio both, State and private.
They should clearly articulate their party manifestos and justify why people should vote for them. This will only be possible with a media that is non-partisan (both private and State). Elections should be a contest of ideas and ideologies not just personalities.
Let us scrutinise the quality of Presidential candidates, the quality their party manifestoes, the quality of the ideas and not just be carried away by the quantity of people making noise on their behalf as nations are ruled by ideas not noise. Admittedly this may only be relevant to future elections as our electoral democracy is still evolving and growing.
The tragedy of politics is the fact that the most popular politician may not necessarily be the best man or woman for the job. Dumisani Nkomo is an activist and opinion leader
