Enemies of change have something to hide

Obituaries
The clamour for political change in Zimbabwe is now loud and clear.

The clamour for political change in Zimbabwe is now loud and clear.

Sunday Opinion by Christian Chitaka

However, the remaining and pressing question is whether political power will be peacefully transferred from one hand to the other or from one political party to the other. This note examines some of the outstanding challenges likely to stand in the way of political change.

Among all the factors, fear in its multiple variants seems to be the greatest obstacle to change. Therefore, without conquering fear, the people’s votes on Wednesday will count for nothing.

It is therefore important to unpack the different variations of fear that are likely to stall the transition of power from one hand to another or from one political power to another.

For some time, Zimbabwe has been under the control of an authoritarian regime that survived through embezzlement of state funds and unorthodox acquisition of resources such as minerals, land, property and political power.

Elites from such a regime fear the threat of redistribution of their resources due to democratisation. However, elites who invested in the physical capital rather than in land or oil fear that their resources can be easily damaged through an upsurge of political revolution, like what happened in Tunisia and Libya.

Consequently, this group is more prepared to make concessions and democratise than risk a violent clash with the opposition.

In this regard, those looking forward to removing Zanu PF from power should make deals with those that have invested more in physical capital than those that have invested heavily in diamond fields, gold, and some other irremovable resources. The biggest challenge is that, these people cannot move these resources out of the country.

The only way out for them is to rig the elections and in the worst-case scenario, to die fighting for their looted resources. The new leader and his party should be prepared to deal with such situations in a manner that will benefit them.

One best way is to spare the looters at the time when they are expecting retribution. Revenge or vengeance will not work in Zimbabwe.

Therefore, as political parties are moving towards the election day, their official and unauthorised spokespersons should be very careful of what they say.

Uttering statements such as “we are going to send so and so to The Hague” or “we are going to remove so and so from power”, or “investigate so and so”, will not bring political change.

This is the time for those with the gift of wisdom to speak and not for the clever ones.

This is important because the international media would obviously want to know and disseminate the information on what the winning party is going to do to its adversaries. In short, it is time to exercise temperance and self-restraint. If anything, it is time to preach peaceful co-existence.

For those blocking transition of power because of fear, it is better for them and for their children that they manage change while there is time to negotiate and compromise. Security of resources should be derived from law and a consistent system of governance.

It is crazy to see mortal human beings behave like vampires, arguing that they fear for their children.

The resource curse is another challenge. In most cases, countries with abundant natural resources more often than note fail to democratise. This is mainly because the powerful elites can live off natural resources rather than depend on popular support for tax revenue.

Thus, most Zanu PF leaders and defenders rely much on their ill-gotten resources rather than on popular support. This can also explain why Zanu PF seems to be richer than the country.

There are individuals who also seem to be richer than their own country. As a result, Zanu PF was able to commission and donate various equipment and foodstuffs to a people that had been wallowing in poverty for the past four years.

Illiteracy can be another challenge to democratic transition in Zimbabwe. This is because a poorly educated and illiterate population may elect populist politicians who, sooner rather than later, abandon them. The vaunted high literacy rate is not evenly distributed.

In areas such as Mount Darwin, Bveke, Chitange, Gungwa, Dati and Rushinga, there are multitudes of voters who do not appreciate the voting processes in this country.

Politicians in these areas have been thriving out of the ignorance and fear of these people.

In these areas, only voter education is needed because Zanu PF did nothing since 1980. Roads in those areas are very poor; they rely on mission hospitals and bridges built by the late Ian Smith.