Politicians, in particular, seem to be seized with two things only: the constitutional referendum and the elections. This is disturbing because we feel that the issue of reforms is just as essential. In fact, common sense tells us that it would be futile to conduct elections without properly reforming a number of sectors.
Readers will recall that Zimbabweans have for years urged reforms in the following sectors: media, electoral institutions and the security sector. It does not make sense to hope for free and fair elections if the media is not adequately reformed.
Despite the presence of private and independent print media, the airwaves are still monopolised by outlets that are either clearly partisan or run by people whose sympathies lie with one party—Zanu (PF). No community radio station has been granted a licence.
A cursory survey of the state-controlled broadcast media makes the familiar but disturbing revelation that while Zanu (PF) enjoys all the space in the sun, any dissenting voices – including the GNU partners, are rarely covered and, when they are, consistently portrayed in a bad light. The official print media is culpable of the same offence, while the private media still has the Sword of Damocles hanging over it through explicit and implicit threats.
Similarly, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Registrar General’s offices do not provide an even playing field. There are on-going complaints that ZEC is still stuffed with partisan personnel biased against political parties other than Zanu (PF), while the RG’s office continues to be accused of frustrating potential voters likely to vote for other parties and dillydallying with the sanitization of the voters’ roll.
As some observers have already pointed out, a hard core within the security sector, fearing the eventualities of a Zanu (PF) loss in this year’s poll, would throw spanners into the power transfer process in the event that their party is beaten.
Some might say reforms will follow the referendum. This sounds lame, because the dates that are already being peddled for the elections are too near to allow sustainable reforms to be introduced.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga
What most Zimbabweans and that includes PM Tsvangirai and his MDC friend who should know better but do not is that a yes vote in the referendum will kill all hope of even getting any reforms implemented in the future!