adminalbeit with some panel beating done before the Bill was sent to President Mugabe and his ascent to the document signals a point of departure into what should become a brave new future under a home-grown supreme law.
Ideally, therefore, harmonised elections to usher Zimbabwe into a new era should be held as soon as is legally possible.
Any prolonged delay of the polls will be seen by many as justice denied because Zimbabweans want to do justice to their governance by ridding themselves of the creature called “inclusive Government” which has turned out to be a heavy burden on their backs.
When speaking during the second reading of the Bill in the Senate last Tuesday, Chief Musarurwa said political parties should ensure that elections were held early enough in order for the country to move forward resolutely.
The traditional leaders no doubt echoed the desires of other traditional leaders and the people under their jurisdiction.
Civil servants added their voice to the call for the elections to take place as soon as possible so that a new government addresses their long-standing grievances with one voice as the inclusive Government made up of three political parties appears to be fraught with contradictions that hinder prompt, positive solutions to challenges dogging the Government employees.
At any rate, delayed elections might spell the death of the high enthusiasm among voters to choose a government run by a party whose track record speaks volumes about its capacity to deliver on promises made.
The danger in a prolonged delay of the plebiscite not withstanding any necessary, legal technicalities, is that voter apathy might take a heavy toll on people’s desire to elect people of their choice.
Following the Presidential ascent, the new Constitution will be reconciled with Zimbabwe’s national flag, which can be said to be a mirror image of the aspirations of the people of this country.
The Lancaster House Constitution saw Zimbabweans hamstrung in many ways, such as in the empowerment of women, as well as the empowerment of Zimbabweans as a whole in the use of the land, over which a protracted armed struggle was waged, giving birth to Independence in 1980.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matingenga has said, contrary to assertions by some church-goers, the new Constitution outlaws abortions and homosexuality, menacing social pathologies reflecting decadent values synonymous with Western nations.
But perhaps more importantly for Zimbabweans, the new Constitution will immortalise the land reform programme, which those who gave us the Lancaster House Constitution vehemently opposed, apparently to protect commercial farmers of British stock but the Zanu-PF government defied them, incurring the threat of regime change by appropriating some commercial farms and re-allocating them to our people who needed the land the most, a loud track record for President Mugabe and his party, Zanu-PF.
In essence, the new supreme law will be reconciled, unlike the old one, with Zimbabwe’s national flag which serves, whether some people realise it or not, as a road map for this nation to move into a brave new future with greater security for all.
We are talking here of security in a broader context than that guaranteed by the country’s defence forces, namely the army, the air force and the police.
This more enduring national security should be born out of a multiplication of harvests of peace from the white colour on the flag; from the green colour of the vegetation and agriculture depicted on the flag and the yellow of the country’s abundant mineral wealth, among other stripes marked out in colour on the flag.
The red on the map denotes blood shed by freedom fighters during the liberation war and anyone who flagrantly desecrates that blood by consorting with imperialist forces should be regarded as an enemy of the people and of Zimbabwe’s freedom and sovereignty.
It therefore goes without saying that the new supreme law will be compatible with both the wishes and lives of present day Zimbabweans and elections must take place yesterday for a march into a free, secure and bolder future.
A longer delay in having the elections might result in Machiavellian manoeuvres to buy more time by those ill prepared to contest the election.
Already the Registrar-General’s office is being blamed for a slow pace in registering voters, while people ignore the fact that the office has not been adequately funded to conduct mobile registration exercises across the country.
One wonders if denying Mr Tobaiwa Mudede sufficient money is not a deliberate delaying tactic by some people somewhere to buy time to prepare for the election themselves.
Such scapegoating might lead to violence or election boycotts by those who are not ready to face the electorate and so fear defeat.
Surely, all political parties concerned knew of the elections coming soon after the end of the inclusive Government and must have prepared themselves to face the music.
To conclude, the elections, when finally held, should help voters skim off political dross masquerading as party and soul while acting as Trojan horses bent on dividing our people so that they might get into power through the back door, helped by foreign powers.
Online Reporter
dyton mupawaenda