ED Mnangagwa: The inauguration of a trans-political democracy
THE citizens are tired of waiting for V11 evidence which has not been displayed by the young man from Chiwara, kwaGutu — who lost dismally in Ward 23, which is his home village.
We cannot rely on suspicion, superstition and speculation held by threats of “exposing” Zec.
With each passing day, their supporters are growing weary of the confusion and the widening cracks in the discorded camp.
In just a minute, we get daily dosages of a petition pleading for the now famous V11 forms that are missing from one who is a lawyer, to be fed “fake” news that they have all the evidence from one who was expelled from a college in Bulawayo in 2000.
Gore rino, iro rino!, tichadzidza zvakawanda (we shall learn many things). The election made sure to leave us with many lessons: V11, V23, V-what what, polling agent, sub-sub section, foreign observer, verification and all the nitty gritty electoral jargon. Nevertheless, they seem to be far from proving what they say they can. In Ndebele, amaV11 lawo ngamajuba kaNowa.
Beyond the marauding jargon, this election has left one permanent lesson; Zimbabwe is a shared space that is open for business. It goes beyond politics, which many want to use as an excuse to overlook the permanent interests of the nation.
The drama never ceases, as some “drama queens” are pulling stunts to court attention — last kicks of a dying horse. With all the drama that surrounds the post-election period, we should never lose sight of the bigger picture and the bigger man.
With or without the drama, the Second Republic is upon us and it demands all hands on deck. Regardless of all the quandary characterizing the post-election period we still refer to the one common cause for this friction: the zest for leading Zimbabwe into a new epoch.
What Zanu-PF and MDC have been competing for all along is to manage the national aspirations; think of equal opportunities for all, think of devolution, think of affordable or even free education, think of responsible exploitation of our natural resources, all this needs a tried and tested manager and 30 July decided that.
The end of the 2018 harmonised elections coincide with what many take to be a new democratic wave, what many Zimbabweans marched for in the November smooth transition of power which withered the inconsequential history of Zimbabwe, a history founded on dismemberment and dislocation for the many who belong to the Republic.
In our usual highly pensive discussions focusing on the “dead” republic, Tedious Ncube reminded me to write that; for many Zimbabweans the epoch of a semi-anarchy, individualism and a fractured civic-authority relationship had become synonym to a bygone era, it had been displaced by changed conditions and eclipsed by better ideas.
It did not take long for President E D Mnangagwa through his message of peace, reconciliation, re-engagement and economic recovery, to charm citizens who hold the prerogative to delegate public officials.
The re-birth of ED Mnangagwa on July 30 2018 therefore renews interest in the future of Zimbabwe and its relevance in transforming the lives of the general citizenry.
Flowing from this new interest, popular and political representations of the President elect and his legacy as a liberationist in Zimbabwe have been deliberately assorted and perhaps even more polarised by some rogue elements that are not against the persona of President Mnangagwa but rather the democratic system he is doctoring.
It is against this background that this week I sought to offer more analytical clarity on the figure of President ED Mnangagwa beyond and across the political narrative, which has characterised the discussions of the 2018 harmonised elections outcome. Of necessity is the need to outline that the task that befalls the President elect is to become a unifier and a nation builder, a gesture he has repeatedly conveyed throughout his campaign and that of his party Zanu-PF.
As many Zimbabweans anticipate the ceremonial inauguration of ED Mnangagwa, the integral meaning of the ceremony should not be taken lightly at the expense of the weight of the ritual as such publishing the ceremony as a mere gathering to dance and abstractly listen to the President taking an oath. The inauguration of ED Mnangagwa although it surrounds the general definition of a ceremony, in Zimbabwe it should go beyond the political and respond to outstanding national questions like disunity, economic dilapidation and the divisive polarities that govern social cohesion.
To Zimbabwe, the inauguration of President ED Mnangagwa must be perceived as an entry into a new era, particularly where citizens simultaneously take an oath to co-operate and incessantly pursue the interests of the republic.
Against a strong history of disunity that is framed along political contradictions, Zimbabwe should actively transcend these artificial markings and focus on the outstanding exigencies for national development which many are howling for.
To this day, Cde ED has proven to be a transpolitical figure that embodies the fundamentals of what Zimbabwe needs today.
He has become a representation of the interest of the republic beyond and across politics, as such qualifying him as a transpolitical figure who does not only carry the mandate to lead the nation politically but to also ensure the conservation of the core pillars of Zimbabwe that were born of the new dispensation.
Beyond the figure of Cde ED as the President of the second Republic, he is also a representation of the colossal task that defines the future of Zimbabwe. He transcends the general administrative responsibility, to represent a new type of governance founded on economic patriotism and national unity.
As an administrative figure, the President elect captures the fundamentals of good governance as evidenced by his commitment to curb corruption through strengthening and materialising anti-corruption efforts. For Zimbabwe, corruption had become an internal organ of the system, the creation of “secret and sacred” cows in the words of Cde ED Mnangagwa had dilapidated any prospects of functionality for the public sector.
Against this realisation, the new dispensation has laid a foundation for the development of a new culture, an attitude founded on honest public sector accounting that demands accountability, transparency and service delivery.
It is not a secret that Zimbabwe in its long history of corruption has developed a culture of suspicion.
The centrality of President ED Mnangagwa in castigating the culture of suspicion that has re-affirmed Cde Mnangagwa’s commitment to the launch of a new culture in the polity.
In his re-engagement policy he went beyond the given to tackle the transactional affairs of the republic that were even previously condemned by the international community, in his able leadership, the new dispensation has uncovered the disingenuous elements within and outside the state, that have persistently haunted the republic.
Against this background, Zimbabwe is anticipating for the inauguration of a new culture, a culture that has been elected by the majority who were charmed by the underpinnings of Cde ED’s innuendos during his campaign trail.
Zimbabwe is ready to unlock the transpolitical interests of the republic; it is no longer time for politics but rather an epoch to focus on the interests of the polity beyond and across politics.