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NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Zimbabwe can learn from Kenya

Editorials
Kenyans went to the polls on Monday to elect a new leadership that will take the East African country into a new era following the coalition government that has been in power since 2008.

Kenyans went to the polls on Monday to elect a new leadership that will take the East African country into a new era following the coalition government that has been in power since 2008.

Though 17 people have died compared to the 1 200 who perished during the December 2007 post-electoral violence, cases of political clashes have declined significantly.

No doubt any loss of life is worrying, but we applaud the manner in which the Kenyans have conducted themselves during this poll. It is also critical to note that these deaths were perpetrated by a coastal separatist group demanding secession of the Indian Ocean coastal strip and their reasons were related specifically to the polls. This is an indication that calls for peace by the political leaders and reforms by the transitional government have brought the desired results.

Outgoing Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta among hordes of other leaders have found common ground and so far so good for Kenya and its electoral process. What makes the Kenyan experience relevant to Zimbabwe is that in the aftermath of the 2007 election violence, political leaders agreed to a coalition government to preside over the crafting of a new constitution and reforms before holding elections.

In 2010, Kenya adopted a new constitution and strengthened its democratic institutions in the build-up to the current polls.

The leaders in that coalition government spoke unequivocally against violence and now what is obtaining on the ground shows maturity on the part of political leaders and their supporters.

Like Kenya, Zimbabwe went through the same bloody process in the post-March 2008 election era that left scores of opposition supporters injured and many homeless.

President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara agreed to a coalition government, the need for a new constitution and a number of reforms before fresh elections.

While Mugabe has repeatedly called for an end to violence, it appears his message has no takers in his Zanu PF party.

And in all these processes, Kenya proved to be a classic case study for Zimbabwe. Like Zimbabwe, Kenya has been under the management of an inclusive arrangement and there could be no better inspiration than from our Kenyan brothers and sisters.

Though the final results have not been released, it is evident that there is more that binds the Kenyans together now.

The challenge therefore now remains with Zimbabwe to demonstrate to the world that the country can hold a peaceful and credible election. However, what is worrying in our case as pointed out recently by the Institute for Democracy in southern Africa (Idasa) is the lack of space for opposition politics and therefore inadequate oversight. Zanu PF continues to dominate the political arena and the use of State resources for personal and party gain is common. “In contrast (with Kenya), the Zimbabwean process is incomplete and highly politicised,” Idasa noted.

We hope and pray that as we slowly gravitate towards the crucial elections political parties can demonstrate to the world that we can agree to disagree in a peaceful manner.