The Proof is in the pudding

Zimbabwe goes for elections due in August this year and President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised to deliver a free and fair election.

The President’s timely and welcome commitment came at the second structured dialogue on Zimbabwe’s arrears clearance and debt resolution process last week.

He said: “Zimbabwe will conduct free and fair elections this year, consistent with our Constitution and electoral laws. In addition, human rights concerns are being addressed in line with our country’s laws and international conventions.”

Mnangagwa, who is facing off with Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa said the administration is unwavering in its adherence to constitutionalism, the rule of law and the tenets of good governance.

The government, he said, will also ensure that laws are applied without fear or favour.

Governance and economic reforms and the compensation of former farm owners are some of the housekeeping issues Zimbabwe has to address as it seeks to clear the US$14.04bn debt to multilateral and bilateral creditors.

It is standard practice that countries should hold free and fair elections to move forward and remove the tension that is normally associated with polls which are seen as a winner take all. Such characterisation of polls breeds violence as candidates seek to win at all costs.

It is one thing to promise a free and fair election. It is another thing to deliver it. The recent controversy over the delimitation report are signals of challenges ahead.

The belligerent tone by some of the government officials is illustrating the war-like nature that is normally associated with Zimbabwe polls and belies the claims this administration has shed the “old ways” of its predecessor.

The United States and UK, two of the countries the Mnangagwa’s administration are normalising relations with, are accused of allegedly trying to interfere with the electoral processes.

What escaped the said government official is that the UK last week told the second structured dialogue on the need for a free and fair poll.

It was not the UK alone that implored for a free and fair election.

Akinwumi Adesina, African Development Bank president and the leader of the arrears clearance and debt resolution process, said the free and fair polls will remove headwinds on Zimbabwe’s path to clear its arrears and debt. Former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano who is the high level facilitator in the arrears clearance process last week implored Zimbabweans “to conduct themselves in an orderly manner” during the electoral process.

He said citizens should stay away from violence or any illegal act which undermines the electoral process and should refuse to be used as cannon fodder by politicians. Disputed polls have bred acrimony, making Zimbabwe a theatre of divisions, leading to the kudira jecha brigade (you will never succeed).

Zimbabwe needs to break with the past of disputed polls and cannot continue to be the “sick man” of the region. There are new threats the region has to contend with such as the insurgency in Mozambique and the effects of climate change. President Mnangagwa has put his head on the block. His lieutenants should be whipped into line so that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.

The spotlight is on the government to walk the talk and go beyond the promises of delivering a free and fair election.

The proof is in the pudding.