Citizens must plan future post-COVID-19

The Second National Citizens Convention, held in Harare in September 2019, brought together progressive citizens, civil society organizations, residents’ associations, informal workers, students, unions, activists, academics, women’s groups, faith groups, youth formations, artists, and business leaders from across Zimbabwe and the diaspora. Under the theme A Call To Put Citizens, Country And Constitution First In Zimbabwe, the convention called for an inclusive and sustainable economy, governance and politics that places citizens at the centre and a new social contract.

A year later, in November 2020, it is bluntly evident that the country has made no progress towards realising any of these aspirations. Irrespective of the predations of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy is in bad shape and citizens are struggling to meet even the most basic requirements for living; governance and politicians are increasingly dismissive of constitutionalism, relying on presidential decree and coercion and any call for a new social contract is replaced by partisan consultation and pandering to the whims of the elite.

Against this background, citizens came together at the Third National Citizens Convention in November 2020, under the theme, #NoneButOurselves: Reimagining The Future We Want Post- COVID 19.

In a highly-imaginative and inclusive process, the members of the convention reverted to the principles endorsed at the Second Convention. For three days, delegates from across the country, through social media, reviewed progress since the last convention and deliberated on what needs to be done.

The importance of this sustained process cannot be downplayed. Communities, women and youth rarely sit at the high table when a country’s future is being decided, especially so in Zimbabwe where all crises are resolved by elite pacts. However, communities, women and the youth will always be left to bear the burden of bad decisions made by the chosen few. As the National Citizens Convention has repeatedly demonstrated, there is no good reason for the exclusion of the majority of the population in deciding the country’s future. Even under the restrictive conditions of COVID-19, the Citizens Manifesto has demonstrated that it is possible to consult widely and deeply across the country.

As Zimbabwe slides from fragility towards a failed state, the convention call, #NoneButOurselves, is a challenge to take seriously the voices of communities, women and youth in resolving the crises.

The SAPES Trust