Brace up for 2010

MDC Secretary General Hon Tendai Biti must push Senator Sekai Holland and the underperforming Giles Mutseyekwa at Home Affairs to buck up their ideas and drive crucial initiatives in their prtfolios

It is heartening to hear that the MDC has resolved to prioritise the fight against endemic corruption, revision of the constitution and compensation of victims of the impunity that has engulfed the country over the past decade to help expedite national healing and reconciliation as well as resolution of the outstanding GPA issues.

These are indeed crucial areas that have been neglected for too long and just their mention in the priority list is an encouraging sign that must be supported by all forward thinking citizens.

But judging by the reaction from Zanu PF it will by no means be a walk in the park for the MDC to be able to tackle these issues and achieve a positive result.

Zanu PF Deputy Spokesman Ephraim Masawi has reiterated the senile line there are no remaining outstanding issues from the GPA other than Western targeted sanctions, which he said the MDC must work to have lifted.

He added that “the question of replacing Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, as demanded by the Tsvangirai MDC, is not on the table” setting the stage for acrimony in resolution of outstanding GPA issues that will pre-occupy the coalition parties and may very well derail focus on the other issues targeted by the MDC.

The long overdue serious attention to curtailment of endemic corruption may also suffer if the Zanu PF reactions to preliminary attempts to rein in corruption are anything to go by.

First Zanu PF insisted and got on immunity against prosecution for the State sanctioned corruption in the Reserve Bank Act which has set a very dangerous precedent in the fight against corruption.

Undaunted the MDC has decided to lead by example by suspending its Chitungwiza and UK and Ireland Provincial Executives over allegations of fiduciary impropriety and corrupt tendencies.

If the hope is that such exemplary behavior will be replicated in government then the hopes are totally misplaced.

Be that as it may the Party must be applauded for walking the anti-corruption talk within its structures and must be encouraged to do everything possible to secure Zanu PF and MDC-M cooperation in that direction.

The negative reaction to the headcount audit in the Civil Service and more alarmingly in the Police force where in a bid to cover up previous misconduct civilian workers are reportedly being issued force numbers must be seriously viewed as the tonic of what to expect in any anti-corruption crusade mulled by the MDC.

The critical first step in the anti-corruption drive is for the party to introduce stringent and tacit anti-corruption legislation in Parliament.

Being a judicial tool such legislation would under normal circumstances been ideally steered through Parliament by the Minister of Justice aided by the Attorney General’s office.

But in the odd reality obtaining in the country where the AG and Justice Minister are at the centre of initiatives to persecute rather than prosecute felons it would be foolhardy to expect such irresponsible officials to even think along institution of anti-corruption measures let alone craft legislation in that regard.

It may rest on the Home Affairs Ministry to craft such legislation as corruption is a preoccupation of that Ministry and with a delinquent Justice Ministry unprepared to lead the drive the Home Affairs Ministry must step in and show the leadership that is so lacking in this regard.

The MDC has had enough time to study and come to conclusions as to what is needed to move the Constitution revision agenda forward.

The Constitution reform process has a critical bearing on the speed at which the democratization process moves.

There are several parties in the coalition government that are aware of their diminished chances of winning credible elections in the country and the MDC must never take its partners in government for granted in terms of the extent to which they will go to try and delay or even savage the constitution reform agenda.

The foreclosure of the coalition government hinges on the conclusion of the Constitution reform process and much as there is need for total involvement of the citizens in the process if there is continued threats of boycotting the process from the Civil Society groupings the process must still proceed and produce a flawed but improved Constitution to the heavily patched up Lancaster House document.

If need be the process can be revisited with Civil Society co-operation once it has produced a document that can adequately manage the democratization process and ensured the holding of credible elections in our country.

In tandem with the Constitution reform process the MDC must never forget to introduce amendments or even repeal repressive pieces of legislation such as the Electoral Act, AIPPA and the Law Codification Act that muzzle freedoms of
association and speech as well as disenfranchises many citizens.

There is need for the Voters’ Roll to be thoroughly cleansed of the ghost voters and the sooner this is done the better.

Finally resolution of the emotional victims of impunity compensation to stimulate national reconciliation and healing is an imperative that can no longer be left in the backwaters of politicking in the country.

The compensation must extent to all victims of political impunity including the deposed farmers, Murambatsvina victims, Gukurahundi and Perm victims as well as the victims of the sham Presidential runoff elections and other political events in the past.

The cost of such a mammoth exercise are not by any means small but compensation need not be in monetary terms.

In many cases a government apology for excesses and a token payment will suffice if accompanied with guarantees that impunity will be dealt with severely by law enforcers and those guarantees are upheld thereafter.