Were Matabeleland to capitulate to the limiting and marginalizing postcolonial institutions of Zimbabwe, our soul will die. We spend our time worrying about territorial independence rather than doing what’s right for us — what’s right for our families, communities, and nation. What legislative changes are required so government works for us? How can we ensure territorial independence translates to improved governance, better living standards and public protection against excesses of power?

How much power is held and used by individuals and institutions influences our social, economic and political landscape; it determines whether people are united with trust or divided with fear. Government is us and not some foreign power over us. Citizens are the most powerful branch of government, not a President and senators and members of parliament and government officials.

Critical thinking is essential for accountability; we must not be caught up in the banality of evil while advancing our interests. Advancing our people’s rights does not rely on the withdrawal of the same from others, but respect of humanity and nature. We must design frameworks that help us unmask evil from its camouflage.

Focus should be on the research and creation of institutions that reflect our identity, are well-informed by the past and better invested in the future and motivated by the desire for social equity, increase public access to equal opportunity to resources and power to transform dreams to concrete reality.

Let us break free from the darkest stage of political history where our people are ruled by brute force and subjected to comments that slur their ethnicity.

It is time to define in our own terms what a good government will look like. The moral test of government is how that government treats the vulnerable in society — the children, the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled.

Matabeleland will benefit from a Swiss-style government system as a collective head of state and government, as opposed to a single head of state, will better suit our diverse society.

Experience from Zimbabwe and elsewhere illustrates the vulnerability of single heads of state and government systems to exploitation by power-hungry leaders. Where one person is granted unrivalled power to pardon criminals, justice is threatened. Where a president nominates supreme court justices to the judicial branch which is supposedly a co-equal of the three branches of the government – legislative, executive, and judicial, the impartiality of the judicial branch is questionable.

In Matabeleland, executive power will be vested in the Federal Council, a seven-member body that will act as both the collective head of state and government ensuring a balance of power and collective responsibility. This body would be elected by the Federal Assembly (Parliament) and operate as a collegial body, meaning decisions will be made collectively. Each member of the Federal Council will head a specific department of the federal administration. 

• Federal Council:

Elected by the Federal Assembly for a four-year term, the Federal Council will be the collective head of state and government, and the highest executive authority. It will be made up of seven members, each heading a government department. 

• Collective Presidency:

The Federal Council will function as a collective presidency; executive power would be dispersed among the seven members of the Federal Council with no single individual holding ultimate executive authority. 

• Federal Assembly:

The legislative body (parliament) of Matabeleland. This will be a bicameral parliament consisting of the National Council (representative of Matabeleland’s population) and the Council of States (representing regions) and these will have equal powers. Their main function will be to deliberate and vote on federal laws. Crucially, the Federal Assembly will elect the Federal Council. 

• Rotating Presidency:

Members of the Federal Council will elect a President and Vice-President annually from their members; these positions will mainly carry out representative functions with no additional power. The President will chair the Federal Council’s meetings and may take precautionary measures in urgent situations. 

• Collegial decision-making:

This is a collaborative process in which the seven-member body will work together to reach decisions, emphasizing shared responsibility and input from all members. The process would involve consensus-building and compromise, ensuring that no single member’s preferred decision is implemented without considering others’ perspectives. 

• Judiciary:

The judiciary will be made up of the judges and officers of the courts of law to be overseen by the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. The courts will be tasked with deciding on conflicts between state bodies, between the state and individuals and between individuals. Members of the Supreme Court will be chosen by an independent body, the Judiciary Appointments Council, which will facilitate the process and choose the judges based on merit only.

Government, it must be known, is the people of Matabeleland; the public extends its mandate to the president and parliament. As the highest branch of government, people reserve the right to decide how they are led.