ASKED about the country’s preparedness to run national elections anytime soon, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson, Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe, contradicted Joyce Kazembe, his deputy, who had earlier on looked at the situation through rose-tinted glasses, telling a petrified nation that it was all systems go at the electoral body.
Mutambanengwe had this to say: “The timeframe (for election readiness) is much longer than that envisaged by political parties . . . We have a huge task and that task includes cleaning up of the voters roll and the lack of financial resources, which is the biggest challenge. But all the same, the question of when the elections should be held remains a political decision.”
The issues raised by Mutambanengwe — who became the third black lawyer to be admitted to the then Rhodesian Bar in 1964 after the late chief justice Enock Dumbutshena and nationalist, Herbert Chitepo (also late) — are quite pertinent.
And that coming from a respected lawyer who has seen it all, is most comforting.
A thorough diagnosis of the multi-faceted crisis haunting Zimbabwe, if the truth be told, would reveal that at the core of the country’s ills is the manner in which national polls have been conducted in the past two decades.
The nation has consistently gone to the polls after every five years, in the case of general elections, and after every six years in the case of presidential polls using the same modus operandi, but still expecting different outcomes.
While this system changed in 2008 with the adoption of synchronised elections following the 19th amendment of the Constitution, the fact has remained: That Zimbabweans have been consistent in this regard.
It is, however, the conduct of the elections themselves where the plot has been lost.
Zimbabwe has not held a single poll whose outcome has been upheld as truly reflective of the people’s wishes ever since the Zimbabwe Unity Movement came into the picture in 1989 under the leadership of Two-Boy, the nom de guerre for firebrand politician, Edgar Tekere.
Contestation over the outcome of national elections took a turn for the worst in 2000 when a stronger opposition in the form of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) emerged, riding on a deep well of disenchantment among Zimbabweans who were fed up with the direction the country’s economy was taking.
But each time the polls are held, the outcome has failed to remove the Denver boot in the form of legitimacy imposed on the country’s wheels by those who see themselves as champions of democracy. These have ganged up against President Robert Mugabe’s previous administration, which despite being forced by the Southern African Development Community and the African Union to go into a transitional arrangement with the MDC factions — giving birth to the Global Political Agreement of September 2008 — continues to be treated like a leper in the alliance by the United States and its allies in Europe.
This, along with the controversial land reforms and a cocktail of populist policies adopted to appease voters, became the genesis of the travel restrictions and asset freezes slapped on the ruling elite in ZANU-PF, touching off a painful economic recession — the worst ever in Zimbabwe’s history.
The factors tainting the country’s national elections are varied as they are many of them.
It all starts with the proclamation of electoral dates, the delimitation exercise, the chaotic voters’ roll, the selection of observers to monitor the plebiscites, the conduct of the actual elections and the environment prevailing before, during and after the polls.
We could not agree more with Mutambanengwe that a lot still needs to be done to make the outcome of any election acceptable as free and fair. Rushing to hold polls under the prevailing circumstances would be like putting the cart before the horses.
Throughout the country, scars inflicted during the controversial March 2008 elections, which spilled into a presidential run-off in June of the same year, are still to heal.
Those who feel aggrieved by the violence meted against them and their relatives are livid, itching for revenge.
While there is a unit mandated to mend the divided nation — the Organ on National Healing and Integration — has not been visible in its efforts. Resultantly, the country has remained deeply polarised with the anger turning into a powder keg that could explode at any time.
Worse still, the country’s economy is still in the high dependency unit after emerging from the intensive care early last year.
Chances of it relapsing into a comma should the powers-that-be call for elections next year without first addressing the concerns pointed out by the ZEC boss and a number of other well-meaning citizens and institutions, are quite high.
To complicate matters, ZEC, just like all the other arms of government, is not sufficiently funded to allow it to effectively discharge its duties. Without the resources — both human and financial — there is no way ZEC can perform miracles or a Houdini.
Against this background, the question becomes: Is Mutambanengwe up to the challenge?
We are convinced he is the right man for the job. Given the electoral space, Mutambanengwe should be able to deliver the goods.
But the fact that he is commuting between Windhoek and Harare since being sworn into office in March, is a major cause for concern.
Unless someone pointed a gun at his head resulting in the learned judge accepting the appointment against his will, there is no justification as to why Mutambanengwe continues to be domiciled in Windhoek, where he was seconded to the Namibian High Court in 1994.
Apart from putting a strain on the little resources that ZEC is operating with or his pocket, whatever the case may be, it is not possible for him to serve two masters at the same time. One of them is likely to be prejudiced.
Mutambanengwe is carrying the nation’s hopes. He has the unenviable task of wringing changes at the electoral body to make ZEC truly effective, independent and trusted in managing national polls.
Civic organisations have a valid argument in calling for the relocation of the ZEC chairperson back to his roots.
If he is so interested in his job in Namibia and is afraid of losing it in the event that he relocates back home, then it is time the government should act if it wants the job done.
The first option, which is a difficult one considering that ZEC is poorly funded, is for Mutambanengwe’s new paymasters to make good on his prejudices by fully compensating him in terms of his salary and other perks that he is currently enjoying in Namibia. This will free the man from his hectic itinerary whereby he is having to shuttle between Windhoek and Harare.
Simon Khaya Moyo, the ZANU-PF national chairman and the country’s former ambassador to South Africa, tried to be in two places at the same time and found this to be not only taxing, but impossible as well. He eventually relocated to Harare, where he is now working full time at “Shake-Shake building” — the party’s headquarters.
The other option would be for the government to take advantage of the warm relations that currently exist between Windhoek and Harare by asking his employers to accede to a leave of absence for an agreed period so that Mutambanengwe could fully apply his mind on the task at hand and thereafter return to the Namibian bench once his mission has been accomplished.
The other option is for Mutambanengwe to rescind his appointment at ZEC in order to give room to someone else who can dedicate himself or herself fully to the electoral body.
With all due respect Justice Mutambanengwe, it is that simple: It is either you ship in or ship out. Period!
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