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Destroy venomous political snakes’ nests

Opinion & Analysis
The 2013 July harmonised elections have not brought the envisaged harmony to Zimbabwe; not even to the ruling party.

The 2013 July harmonised elections have not brought the envisaged harmony to Zimbabwe; not even to the ruling party.

Painona with Tapiwa Nyandoro

And that is despite the party garnering an “overwhelming” majority, sufficient to re-write the fat, jobs for boys and girls Constitution.

Bitter fights have erupted in the two major parties, both seemingly based on personalities and devoid of ideological discourse.

This has a very negative influence on the business climate. Both party leaders must move quickly to quell the discord in their parties for the economy of the country’s sake. The task needs a snake charmer’s unwavering concentration.

Vladimir Putin, in his first term as the President of Russia, once said: “Politicians are like snakes; when hungry they eat each other.”

I thought the Russian leader was being unkind on the beasts; how could they sink so low? According to Shona folklore, the opposite is indeed true.

When snakes fight, the victor is supposed to dig out some root to cure or resuscitate its vanquished colleague.

Any person lucky enough to catch the victor in healthcare action could easily land a University of Zimbabwe PhD in Life Sciences even before writing the thesis! To date, no “punter” has been that fortunate.

Instead, one Saturday afternoon watching National Geographic Wild, to my horror, a hungry and lithe cobra swallowed a fatter and shorter puff adder!

It, indeed, was true that “snakes are like politicians, when hungry, they eat each other”!

Hunger has seized Zimbabwe’s political class. The hunger has made the brood restless. Forked tongues are out and the sound of hissing is everywhere.

By and large, business empires, badly managed and acquired through unorthodox means, are collapsing as the hole in the economy gets larger.

President Robert Mugabe has given it his all — ZimAsset being his final card. He has seen it fail to deliver as conceived. That may have finally broken his indomitable spirit.

He may, thus, want to go. He may want to rest. He indeed may want to give his country a reprieve from United States anger, by creating an opportunity his absence from the political scene would bring, for re-engaging with the West.

The poor, rather than the brood of vipers that surround him, have paid with their “toil, tears, sweat and blood” for the impasse. Those that love and respect the President put his welfare first and want him to rest as a national icon.

He may want to take the time to pen a letter to Pope Francis, who took the name of saint Francis, the patron Saint of the poor.

The President would want to describe his achievements here on earth, more like what Senator Edward Kennedy, a long-serving member of the US congress and a fellow devout Catholic, did in his last days.

Enumerated in these letters ought to be noble deeds, and a few confessions perhaps. But the sticking of daggers into a widow’s back would be an extremely low point.

Those that love themselves and especially money more, and who fear his absence from the throne for their own sake would want him to stay on the harness regardless of the status of his health, or even his own wishes.

He is, of course, aware of that and knows how dangerous the hungry lot is. Give them Vice-President Joice Mujuru to swallow today; they will soon be back for more. It is important to destroy their nests.

Will the old warrior pull yet another rabbit out of his hat to keep the cobras at bay? Serpents, he knows, do not honour promises or respect contracts.

He has, however, a few options he could exercise given the threat that has been cunningly conceived for his own household. He still has a majority in Parliament.

He could postpone the Zanu PF congress and use the time and his majority to amend the constitution so as to:

Give a President one seven-and-half year or 10-year term, while keeping the life of Parliament to five years.

This would allow a President to focus on his work and not on politicking. The late Eddison Zvobgo was right to separate, on occasion, presidential elections from those of the legislature;

Allow the President to choose a running mate who would automatically succeed the President, American style, in case of a President’s incapacitation.

Allow the President to choose his Cabinet from within and outside the legislature as he or she wishes, Parliament having the task of approving his nominations to Cabinet

Fix the number of ministries to no more than 12.

Limit the number of Parliamentary terms to five; backdating eligible terms to 1990.

Limit the number of legislators to 120, recognising we are a small, poor country.

Trim the police and regular army to a combined total of 30 000 dual skilled men.

That, and more, done, he would turn his attention to his party’s constitution.

The old Zanu constitution in which he was secretary-general, with the late liberation war hero Herbert Chitepo as chairman and Ndabaningi Sithole as president was better than the Soviet era one the party has now.

The top four party leaders, however, need to be barred from contesting for national office while holding top party positions and for three years after relinquishing them.

This rule to further democracy could be linked to the Political Parties Financing Act to give it teeth.

Primary elections for the right to represent any party receiving funding from Treasury, in national Presidential elections, would be open to all party cadres, and voting open to all taxpayers, even those outside parties involved.

With that behind him, Mugabe would call for his party’s congress and parliamentary and presidential elections within a year. His resume to the Pope would have been greatly enriched.