One key problem is that the political parties provide services and support to get their candidates elected. So anyone elected owes allegiance to their political party, which naturally expects all it’s elected members to support it’s larger goals. In all of this, the voters’ specific goal comes a poor second.
The answer is to provide non-party candidates with the services and support they need to get started, perhaps get elected (the voters will decide). In this way, they will owe allegiance to no one but the voter. In this way the voter will get – and can and should demand – the goal, i.e. the service delivery for which they were voting.
I am not concerned with ‘splitting’ the vote. At this level, and in Harare, that is not a concern. The objective is to get councillors elected who are accountable to the voters, and nobody else, and who have no other agenda (e.g. seeking power) other than providing a service. The independent councillors who are elected in this way will recognise that they are elected to the City of Harare, to represent the people who pay in to that organisation via rates and use the roads, clinics, water and so on provided by the City. They expect their representatives to represent them in such a way that the service they are paying for is provided. The tools the representatives may be expected to use include transparency and dialogue between the organisation and the electorate.
To assist towards this, I am opening up an email dialogue to discuss, link-up, and provide where possible, people and resources. This ‘Friendship’ will link those willing to run, those willing to devote resources and the voters.
The Friendship will seek to put together a discussion and assistance group.
– Discussion, mainly by email, will allow everyone to ‘talk’. How it will function must vary. Initially, a centre point that all can use to talk about issues, problems, future happenings. There will be one point (myself) to maintain the database. And to monitor the discussion and ‘thread’ it. It is difficult, as this is NOT an organisation, but must be organised!
– A fund might be set up to assist with the production of election materials – flyers, posters, etc. There is no deposit required for council elections (unlike national government elections). However interested people will need funding for costs if they are to have a chance. It must all be open and transparent, rules will need to be set (such as no disbursement of cash, only payment of prior approved bills, etc)
– a database of ‘experts’ to inform and be informed about specific issues. E.g, accountants to convert the budget into English. Water engineers to educate about sewerage, reticulation and supply problems. Doctors to talk about general health. Road engineers to talk about potholes. Environmentalists to talk about the environment.
It must be remembered, this is a Friendship, not a political party. There is no resulting allegiance, except to the electorate. And those elected would be expected to communicate with their voters (after the elections) using newsletters, interviews, regular meetings, and an open office to provide information from the City of Harare to the electorate.
To fulfil the objective, friends need to provide information on the elections. The bureaucracy – the voter’s roll, nomination procedure, electoral administration, nominations court, and legislation/legal information.
The campaign – flyers, publicity, newspapers, radio, TV, conduct of meetings, discussion on the issues.
Post-elections, to get people involved (especially people with skills) in city issues. Suggest solutions to problems (infrastructure, budget, accounts, communications), promote/prioritise, channel development/new works and resources. – Michael Laban was elected as councillor for Harare’s Ward 7 in 2002.
Want to get involved?
Contact: mlaban86@gmail.com
Tel 333312, or 0772 320754 (but this is not a verbal linkage, things need to be written down).
Post published in: Africa News