With the Organ on National Healing having achieved very little, Zimbabweans are heading towards elections with the memory of the 2008 run-off still fresh in their minds.
No national healing
National healing has not been able to spread to grassroots level where most of the atrocities occurred. Rather, the process has been limited to politicians, some of whom are the alleged perpetrators of the 2008 election violence in which the MDC-T claims it lost about 200 of its supporters.
Zimbabweans are scared by the fact that some of the perpetrators of violence have not been brought to book and are still roaming the streets.
The Southern African Development Community is on record saying Zimbabwe should implement a roadmap to free and fair elections before the country goes to the polls.
Principals in the Inclusive Government have affirmed their commitment to violence-free elections but the people are doubtful. There are also reservations that Mugabe and Zanu (PF) are not sincere in calling for peace and tolerance ahead of elections with analysts saying the party has a history of preaching harmony and practicing the opposite behind closed doors.
No guarantees
Political analyst, Alexander Rusero, said that so far, there was no guarantee that the next polls would be violence-free.
“Even if there are mechanisms to curb violence, it’s not a guarantee that there will be no violence,” said Rusero.
He added that the new constitution was not enough to end political violence.
“I think the election needs more of a roadmap than these constitutional measures because a roadmap will have guarantors like the African Union and SADC,” he said.
Another political analyst, Eldred Masunungure, expressed doubt over whether calls for peace would be embraced in the forthcoming polls. “When it comes to eradicating violence, we have to look at two things: the legal framework and the implementation. The legal framework is more in place with the Amendment of the Electoral Act and the new constitution.
“We have a legal and constitutional framework conducive for relatively free and fair elections but it is on the implementation part that I have doubts about,” said Masunungure.
Zanu (PF) willingness
MDC-T spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, said: “Ending political violence depends on the willingness of Mugabe as a person and Zanu (PF) as a party”.
The deputy spokesperson of the MDC led by Welshman Ncube, Kurauone Chihwayi, said Zimbabwe was yet to conclude the road map to free and fair elections as stipulated by SADC, hence the possibility of violence in the forthcoming polls still remains.
“The problem is that we haven’t implemented the road map in full. The issue of security sector reform still remains outstanding. So we cannot claim we will have a fair playing field when someone is holding on to the police, the army and even the public media,” he said.
However, another political analyst, Charity Manyeruke, said: “If you look at the past months, there has been a lot of work done to discourage violence. The Organ on National Healing has been emphasizing non-violence and JOMIC has been dealing with cases of violence as well.”
Post published in: News