In Zimbabwe, it is clear that the opposition party MDC (MDC has lost the mojo and has been weakened by in-fighting) is not the party that will bring down Mugabe (as it was hoped), but expect a potential split within the ruling ZANU-PF party. As Mugabe’s health continues to deteriorate, we expect infighting as members vie for control and Mugabe’s position.

Read Ndumba Kamwanyah’s assertion that “Southern Africa’s ‘democracies’ do not produce citizens but subjects controlled by governments due to the hierarchical nature of the region’s politics, which demands obedience.”

Reading a report by the Research and advocacy unit this morning I came across an interesting fact, the most commonly reported perpetrators of political violence are non state actors. It’s not the first time I’ve read or seen this. A mini-documentary about political violence during the 2008 harmonised elections last year featured eminent political scientists stating the same fact.

Considering the long and emotional debates I’ve had with the war vet I am vexed that it’s taken such a long time to hit home. If the most commonly reported perpetrators are non state actors, why do we equate political violence to state sponsored violence? Clearly these are not the same thing. Knowing this, it is not then possible to consider that the State itself has assumed this indictment and so refuses to prosecute rather than risk the appearance of tacit acknowledgement. The fact of who is perpetrating the violence has been conflated with the state’s complicity by not acting to prevent and deter it. In the public and international mind it is the state, or rather the Mugabe regime half of the state, that perpetrates violence, leaving the actual perpetrators, who exploit political tensions to mask their activities, blameless. How do we deal with violence if at the outset we place the entire burden of responsibility on the wrong party?

Below is an email we got from a Kubatana subscriber.

My dream this year is to see a democratic transition in Zimbabwe. I believe as an individual I can contribute towards the realisation of this goal without expecting personal rewards. I want to develop the habit of volunteering towards bettering my family, church and immediate community and society. – Ittai

It’s a new year and it’s that period when people say all kinds of silly things and expect to be taken seriously. From ordinary Jacks to extraordinary Dicks, you hear them mouthing crap and you wonder what inspires this specialisation in crapology. Then you think, maybe they are exhibiting unbound elation that they made into the New Year when other people were not so fortunate. But then, is being alive reason to say silly things? So, imagine the response to the question, “Why are you being silly,” “Because I’m alive!” I am not just talking about the so-called resolutions for the fresh year which history has shown have become fashionable empty proclamations of nonexistent faith, but perhaps importantly I am inevitably referencing the political.

I heard the other day a Zanu PF (who else?) mandarin going on and on about how his party would open up the primary election contests where every Jack and Dick would throw in their hat. He obviously did not include himself, for if he did, it would mean he would also be welcoming challengers within the party to vie for the representation of the rural folk where voters have been taken for granted for 30 something years. But knowing these people and their history of violence where they have indeed become career politicians through means nefarious, the sincerity is suspect as rejection in primary polls automatically means “ABCya” to being part of that plutocracy that knows no shame. So why dice with “economic death” as it were if you can afford not to?

A spook or former spook, whatever his “official” title is, was reported to be challenging a scion of Zimbabwe politics, alleging the nephew of the president had done jack for the people. Predictably, the dreadlocked one struck back with the usual foul language, betraying his aversion for popular democracy. It would be interesting then if the guy fingered for “invading” Kuimba Shiri last year was rejected by the people during the primaries. Would he blame the MDC-T for his loss? He would he blame sanctions? I strongly suspect he would blame it on vote buying, himself knowing only too well of course how this works!

Then I also read the other day another day the MDC-N national organising secretary claiming the MDC-T was bent on turning the city of Bulawayo into some kind of Gehenna, citing policy proclamations by the MDC-T leadership in the city. He proffered all kinds of silly case examples, and I wondered why he was vesting the MDC-T with so much powers, the omnipotency of the gods. It was as if the MDC-T says jump and the people merely ask how high? Surely, does the MDC-T wield that much power over the people of Bulawayo that at the behest of Tabitha Khumalo and others, the city risks being turned into a sinner’s paradise? In any case, all Zimbabwean cities are faced with the same bloody issues whose authors are already known. Yet we have a chap who should know better seeing that he himself has no constituency he represents going on with the crappy political rhetoric “made popular” by such compatriots as Gabriel Chaibva, Jonathan Moyo, Chris Mutsvangwa, Godwin Nguni and many others who have made very self-righteous comments about the PM when they themselves have failed to call Mugabe’s bluff about extra-marital affairs and living with HIV within Zanu PF apparatchiks.

And you can bet your butt that as elections approach, we shall be subjected to even more silly crap from educated men and women in politics. But then hey, politics is by its nature elitist, excluding the voices of the ordinary folks, that’s why we have these petite bourgeoisie intellectuals saying all this kind of nonsense and expecting to be taken seriously.

As it is and as the year 2011 comes to a closure Zimbabwe and its citizens are running the risk of continuing with a political cycle that has become less about the people and more about the people in government. Their disputes and actions have largely been partisan not only on behalf of their political parties but also on behalf of their ‘comfort zones’( to which they have demonstrated an unfortunate sense of entitlement to via their purchase of luxury vehicles, unclear mineral and iron production deals, numerous trips abroad). And as the new year approaches, it is hoped that civil society, members of the public shall at some point begin to hold the inclusive government to account with regards to its performance legitimacy, and not just the politics of elections. – Takura Zhangazha more here

ZZICOMP (ZESN, ZPP and ZLHR Independent Constitution Monitoring Project), a collaborative project between ZESN, ZLHR and ZPP, launched their ‘Final Report: Shadowing the Constitution Outreach Process’. ZZICOMP’s goal is to monitor, observe and report on the work of the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC), the public outreach programme, the work of the Thematic Committees and the Drafting Committee, and the final document produced in order to adjudge how democratic and the transparent the constitution making process is and if it accurately reflects the input of broad and diverse popular participation.

420 mobile monitors who were accredited by COPAC observed 4 533 outreach meetings in the 210 constituencies of the country. The monitors and recorded the proceedings including the atmosphere, pre-meeting events and the view expressed by citizens. The observers reported the efforts made by COPAC teams to remain impartial in the process; however they also observed coaching of the public by political parties. The mobile monitors also reported incidence of violence and intimidation especially in the Mashonaland provinces.

Among the findings in the report:
-There was equal participation in the constitution making process by both men and women
-By the end of the programme a cumulative total of 716 340 participants had been recorded with monthly attendances of 7% in June, 21% in July, 28% in August, 42% in September and 2% in October
-Adults accounted for 79% of the total number of participants
-There was a disturbing dearth of information about the outreach programme in most rural communities. The lack of information was worsened by COPACs tendency to rely on urban-based media to communicate to the public
-Political interference in the COPAC process was omnipresent accounting for 28% of the total number of violations. Observers noted the most common techniques being: chanting of political slogans, singing of political songs, bussing in of participants, organising participants along party lines, using opening prayers to express party positions on the constitution.
-State media coverage on the outreach consultations remained heavily partisan and skewed towards one political party, ZANU PF.

In the report’s conclusion ZZICOMP noted that:

the operational framework for constitutional outreach consultations was inhospitable to open debate. At most meetings in both rural and urban areas, debate was generally subdued, with the outreach process under the control of various political parties. Although MDC-T presence was visible at most venues, overall, ZANU PF appeared to be more dominant and even dictated the content of most proposals.