Chamisa’s Agenda 2020 address to the nation

4. Electoral Agenda

Over the years, our elections have been a bloody affair. But for us, life is more precious than politics, blood is more precious than power. No drop of blood must be lost on account of politics or elections in Zimbabwe.

As you all know, we have had a number of by elections which have been manipulated to produce a predetermined outcome.

It’s a myth that the cheating Zanu PF wins and is popular in the rural areas. What is fact is that Zanu PF cheats more in the rural areas using intimidation, fear, disinformation and food as political weapons. We must stop the cheating.

There must be a link between the delimitation process and census data to ensure transparently and a level playing field to avoid gerrymandering or manipulation of boundaries.

The Zimbabwe electoral commission must be revamped and have professional secretaries who are independent before and non-partisan.

We want a raft of electoral reforms in line with the recommendations of the International election observer mission reports as detailed in our RELOAD document we recently launched in 2019.

We are going to launch our alternative electoral bill detailing the reforms Zimbabweans are demanding. This bill is ready and has already been finalized by our elections department.

5. Governance Agenda: Re-imagining the State

The security of persons and national peace are very important to us. We take note of the lawlessness seeping through society through the activities of state protected machete gangs. No amount of propaganda can change the fact that these gangs are as a result of the lawlessness and selective application of the law that has been taken over the country.

The individuals concerned are well known in their communities. The shops and factories manufacturing the machetes and other instruments of destruction that they are using are well known. Under these circumstances, it beholds reason why they are not being brought to account.

We place the birth and origin of these machete yielding characters squarely at the doors of the elites in violent ZanuPF functionaries who in any event are the holders of the gold claims that these groups were originally created to defend.

There is a need to inquire on the circumstances of how they were born and created as well as to compensate the victims including families that have lost their loved ones. This is why, we propose the setting up of a judicial commission of inquiry into this issue as a matter of urgency.

Security services

Let me be categoric about the security services, a new government that I will lead will not temper with the military or security services, they are not the problem. We will avail the right politics and a conducive environment for our men and women in uniform to shine and excel, a task which they know best.

A legitimate Government will have no need to use the security services against its own citizens.

Our military and security services should be well fed and resourced, it is cruel to neglect the welfare of our defenders of the nation.

Ensuring the independence of institutions is a must in creating the Zimbabwe we want. At the present moment our institutions are crippled by a lack of budgetary support and excessive executive interference.

State capture has eroded most of our institutions. We therefore put firmly the proposal that the independence of institutions in Zimbabwe must be at the fore of any progressive reform agenda.

In this respect, the following Chapter 12 institutions must be prioritised: The Zimbabwe Media Commission, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. These play a key role in safeguarding our democracy.

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