Create government institutions that reflect society

It is a fact of life in Zimbabwe that communities in Matabeleland have a constant frustration of not being represented, or being misrepresented in the national dialogue, and these distorted images are used to shape national institutions and provide solutions to fake hazards. The government of Zimbabwe as understood and experienced in Matabeleland turns out to be a social and cultural disconnect, somebody else’s culture and their idea of who we are and what we need; it is Mashonaland’s attempt at controlling the rest of us; we do not see our image in the national government.

Changes are required at both local and national level, so government structures and institutions become a reflection of society. Matabeleland must embrace the challenge of developing a right government system. This will be the government that reflects society in its entirety, increases access to equal opportunity for political influence, protects and efficiently enables different communities to engage with each other in a civil manner, meets the needs of the majority while safeguarding minority population groups’ rights.

Representative Democracy has been billed as that system that by its intent and actions closely reflects society; a government of the people by the people, but that is not to say other forms of governance are less representative or incapable or assuming that representative democracy lives to its billing and thus, the right system for everyone. The most suitable government for us will be informed by our in-depth understanding of our society, its past, the present and where we want to be tomorrow.  

We want to look at the past not out of fear of the future but with pride and intentionality; we want to learn from it; we want to understand the foundational structures of our society – why we are who we are, comprehend the changes we have undergone, why we value things we value today; how the status and influence of social interaction of different genders is intertwined with power distribution, the interaction of different ethnic groups and how that contributes to national socio-political structures and security, etc.

It is important that we pay focused attention to our past because the history of our past is no less significant than our dreams for the future. We need a good appreciation of how we evolved to the present state to figure out a pathway to our desired future; we want to see how our future can be enabled and how potential interruptions from our past and the present can be avoided or reduced.

The last thing we want is to find ourselves in the unenviable position where in the name of progress, we wake up to the reality that we have replaced what worked with what sounds well but does not work. It is for that reason that we are of the belief that to achieve good governance systems and structures, we will require a good understanding of our past not just copying and pasting ‘successful’ foreign systems.

Foreign systems are designed from foreign values, and we do not always have complimentary local tools capable of evaluating success and failure which, by design, are themselves often based on foreign interpretations. That is why taken as they are, even the ‘best’ of the best foreign systems have failed in Africa; they have failed to bring our diverse communities together; failed to actualise the potential of individuals and communities.

We argue that majoritarian democracy in Zimbabwe has done more damage than good to local and national governance. It has facilitated the appropriation of power by central government, marginalised minority population groups, extended favour to certain population groups and social classes and withdrew same from others, leaving huge sectors of society aggrieved and desperate for a solution.

Unjust transfers of power have been made possible through elected officials turning into representatives of their political parties’ policies to their constituencies instead of being representatives of their constituencies in parliament.

It must be pointed out that while central government has been effective in delegitimising local authorities, it has failed to provide effective leadership that meets local needs because it is rotten to the core and so are its representative officials. Cities can no longer meet their sanitary, energy provision, etc., requirements because contracts are given to ZANU PF allies who squander the money without providing contracted services.  

Government must not seek to expropriate power from the people but facilitate maximisation of local capabilities through legislation that empowers locals. What can be done locally, must not be taken over by central government. Government must not control individual interests. People must see themselves in their government and government must fear people.