A severe blow to the solar plexus

Tuesday could well mark a significant point of departure in Zimbabwe’s quest for political maturation.

Designed by the organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration, the code of conduct will hold political parties to account for any violent conduct by their supporters.
While the question of accountability is most welcome as the code encourages political co-existence, the public has been left wondering as to what sanctions will be meted out on a political party, or parties that harbour thugs who terrorise members of different political persuasions.

There is no question about the need for political parties bearing the brunt of their members who are hooligans.
The reason for this is simple.

Political parties are solely responsible for inculcating a high level of political cultural values among their members to respect the right of rival parties to exist in a democratic society such as Zimbabwe.

But if truth be told, effective political communication as an instrument for raising desirable culture on the political arena in Zimbabwe is in a sorry state, if in existence at all, in some political parties.

That is why members of some political organisations operate under the law of the jungle and terrorise opponents to cow them down for holding different political ideologies, thereby besmirching Zimbabwe’s political system, and at worst casting a dark shadow over the conduct of elections.

A mature political system presupposes the existence of mature citizens who subscribe to the view that the benchmark for political superiority is a shining track record of service delivery to the people and not one of brawn over brain.

It is to be hoped therefore that the new code will culture a spirit of peaceful co-existence among different political players in the country so that persuasion, not coersion, becomes a sine-qua-non for political membership recruitment.

Trouble here might well be that some political leaders have no inkling of political dynamics to give them an insight into the best way of recruiting and retaining members but use politics as a gateway to power for power’s sake and not for power as a means of liberating people from the shackles of poverty and into a harmonious rather than a disharmonious society where dog-eat-dog becomes a political norm with the country’s image abroad being soiled.

Thus a strong case exists for leaders of political parties to boast sound academic education with knowledge of political science as a desirable point of strength in leading a political organisation.

While the introduction of the new code of conduct might appear timed to coincide with the forthcoming harmonised elections, it should actually serve as a tool for normative conduct in the politics of Zimbabwe in future at all times.

When sanity prevails in place of force in political engagement in Zimbabwe, a stage will have been reached where political parties will compete for the hearts and minds of followers using track records of their creativity and achievement in the spheres of social and economic development with the best performing party forming the next government and continuing to rule through high performance, only falling by the way side when overrun by a political party with better plans for the continued emancipation of the people.

With such a highly educated population, Zimbabwe deserves to have people of a high academic and political pedigree leading political parties.
Such people are not likely to seek the moral and financial support of foreigners to strengthen their chance of getting into power because they will be well versed about the hegemonic intentions of foreign powers, what with abundant natural resources in Zimbabwe that make some people abroad sleepless.

Above all, the new code of conduct should not be a topic for exclusive discussion by political high ups; on the contrary, its objectives should cascade down to rank — and — file supporters of political parties from whom thugs are often loosed on opponents.

They should be made to realise that not only their organisations will be held responsible for violence but that they will stand condemned and punished themselves for transgressing the code.

It now behooves all political parties to ensure that through education the code of conduct is internalised to become a part of the political life of all party supporters.
If effectively implemented, the ethical code will deal a severe blow to the solar plexus of political hooligans.