COULD Zimbabwe ever have a president like Jose Mujica, the “poor president of Uruguay”, who rejected the trappings of office and donated 90% of his salary to charity because he believed that the president should live like the majority of people he represented?
DENIS MOYO HUNT
Just imagine a Zimbabwe where national leaders understand that election to public office is a vocation to public service, a call to work selflessly and tirelessly for the freedom, equality and wellbeing of all Zimbabweans.
Just imagine a Zimbabwe characterised by the rule of law, integrity, transparency and accountability in government, sound economic management, and a prosperous and peaceful populace.
Just imagine a Zimbabwe with properly equipped and staffed hospitals and schools, thriving manufacturing, agricultural and mining sectors, and a refurbished national infrastructure.
Just imagine a Zimbabwe where people realise that it is just as great a crime to offer a bribe as it is to solicit one.
Is all this the stuff of pipe dreams? Perhaps not. The recent signing of the Coalition of Democrats (Code) agreement by five opposition parties is certainly a move in the right direction to establish that kind of Zimbabwe.
The reluctance of other parties, such as Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and Tendai Biti’s People’s Democratic Party, to join this venture could indicate that they are still wedded to the politics of power and personal rivalry, and they lack a comprehensive vision for the future of Zimbabwe.
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True power is vested in the people and, if the #ThisFlag campaign is any indication, the people are beginning to stir. People, who have been cowed into submission, are no longer afraid. Now is the time to wrest power from Zanu PF and to establish a truly sustainable democracy in Zimbabwe. We can only do that by coming together and working together.
Zunde is eager to support the Coalition of Democrats. As is stated on our new website, Zunde is a unifying political movement. We are in dialogue with political parties and we are in competition with none. Zunde is a catalyst for interaction that will generate a critical mass to form an alternative government in Zimbabwe.
However, we must look further than a coalition that will simply achieve the numbers to ensure victory at the ballot box. We must look beyond the election in 2018 to building a civil polity characterised by unity of purpose rather than political rivalry.
Now is the time to spell out the vision and values to underlie a shared strategy to rebuild Zimbabwe. Now is the time to fire the imagination of the populace with a vision of what Zimbabwe can be.
We should be preparing now for a truth and reconciliation process to address their grievances and to call to account those who have plundered our country and squandered its resources during the past 36 years.
We must promulgate credible policy with safeguards and guarantees that will attract the international investment and expertise necessary to kick-start our economy and restore our national institutions.
We must enlist the support of all those Zimbabwean professionals — doctors, nurses, teachers, academics, farmers, lawyers and businessmen — who are scattered throughout the diaspora and bring them home.
Zanu PF is disintegrating. It is essential that a strong and united coalition is ready to step into the void when they are gone — otherwise there is a risk of chaos and violence.
Now is the time to build a credible and unified alternative government that will ensure a smooth transition and political stability post Mugabe.
Zimbabwe is our motherland. Together we can do it.
Denis Moyo Hunt Team Zunde [email protected]
