Zimbabwe and Kenya – the same?
31st of July is going to come and pass but nobody knows what the future holds for Zimbabwe. If one of the contesting parties claims victory in this coming election speculation is high on the fate of the losing candidates and their supporters. As a nation I believe it is high time we go into this election with the mind of a gambler. Win or lose we just have to move on and not to go back to another 2008 era.
My friends in Kenya always tell me that Zimbabwe is like a copy of everything Kenya, and I tried to argue but when I was taken through all the political transitions Kenya went through, and Zimbabwe followed suite I got the picture but I wasn’t convinced on the point of leadership. Kenya was involved in a bloody and disputed election in 2007, which was later, resolved through an inclusive government. A few years later Kenya passed a new constitution and after that they held elections which some may say was peaceful whilst others blamed the invisible hand, which helped propel Uhuru Kenyatta to power. Well I noted the argument on rigging was based on the political affiliation and tribe these two friends of mine belonged to in Kenya. I was told African politics also has roots in tribe and religious beliefs just like what we are experiencing here in Zimbabwe when a running candidate was labeled a tribalist just because he is fighting the injustices people from his region experienced in the past 33 years.
Zimbabweans voted in 2008 and the dispute over the election result brought about the inclusive government and we now wait for elections on the 31st of July under a new charter, which was endorsed earlier this year. The only difference in our transition phase to that of Kenya is in the change of leadership. Just like ZANU-PF which has been in power for the past 33years, Kenya’s Kenya African National Union (KANU) ruled for nearly 40 years since independence and was defeated by the National Rainbow Coalition. If this is the same fate, which is going to face the revolutionary party, then maybe it could be true that were copying everything from Kenya.