adminof their role in the running of the country.
Gone is the notion of sharing power again in the inclusive Government but small parties can taste power by contesting local government elections.
In many countries, small parties have won district, town and city council elections, sometimes with a majority that have allowed them run local government areas on their own.
In the UK, the Liberal Party has been running town and city councils for years until two years ago when they were invited by the Conservative Party to share power with them after no single major party won a majority in the House of Commons.
At least the Liberal Party had the experience of running local government authorities before they entered government at national level.
In France, the system of first running local government authorities before anyone can aspire to run for office at the national level is more developed.
Most of the French presidents have held the position of mayor either in Paris or other big cities.
But, here in Zimbabwe, the aspiring politician wants to run for office at the national level before holding any elective office at the local government level.
Thirty three years after independence, surely an aspiring member of parliament should have held office at the local government level first before putting their names to be considered for national position.
But, my interest is with small opposition parties that should cut their teeth at the local level before presenting themselves as serious contenders for national office.
Those opposition parties that would have run local government authorities can then present themselves to the electorate citing their experience at the local level.
If these opposition parties run down the local authorities, then their claim to high office would be rejected by the electorate.
If a party fails to run a simple town or city council, then its claim to run the country must be suspect.
It is as simple as all that.
In India, the Communist Party has never held any national office but it is running two states, namely, West Bengal and the southern state of Kerala.
The party has been re-elected for several years because it is efficient in running those two states. Even the trade unions are not afraid to go on strike, without any violence because the workers know that the party leaders have the interest of the people in the state at heart.
In South Africa, the Democratic Alliance party led by Helen Zille is running the Western Cape province and some municipalities while the ANC is running the country.
While other states, which are being run by the major political parties are embroiled in corruption allegations, the two communist run states have clean leaders without any blemish but struggling to meet the aspirations of the people.
The same should happen here in Zimbabwe now that there are no more donors willing to bankroll every little politician whose agenda is to oppose the Government.
More so foreign funding of political parties is illegal in terms of the Political Parties Finance Act.
Any politicians worth their salt should now go to the grassroots for funding if the message resonates with the people.
If the people remain tight-fisted with their money, the politician should revert to being just an ordinary voter like all of us and forget about running for any elective office.
Politics at the local level is very exciting where the financial outlay to compete for office is very manageable.
All that is required to run town and city councils is to develop an efficient system of collecting revenue from the residents who are always willing to pay for better service delivery at their door step, such, the collecting of garbage, provision of water and the maintenance of the road network.
If one wants to get into politics, the advice is to start at the local level.
Online Reporter