The Nation Building Series: An Introduction

The Nation Building Series: An Introduction

October 12th, 2016 Words by Tendai Murisa

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| Politics

The year 2016 has been a year of protests, both globally and locally. We have seen both peaceful and violent protests, bringing back the discussion on what our democracy means, questioning its core values and more importantly, asking how we change the system when it is broken. From Collin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem, to the #feesmustfall marches and the #thisflag movement, all these protests succeeded in beginning a conversation about transformation within their respective societies. Though they are all still subjects of major debate and dissonance, their respective communities are now engaged in crucial and critical discussions about what is not working and how it can be fixed. For Zimbabwe, #thisflag succeeded in raising the questions surrounding citizen participation and responsibility – challenging both the state and the citizen. As our previous blogs on the subject have highlighted, there are lessons to be learnt from that moment, and whether the movement continues or not (now that Pastor Evan has left the country), the conversation has begun, and we continue to look to the future.

We believe that now and again a people, a civilization or a nation has to examine the path they are on and ask certain questions – such as where are we going? what are we doing about it? and above all what can we as a generation do to recover from the decades of economic decline and political polarization. It is also important to note that we are all susceptible to losing the plot once in a while, and Zimbabwe definitely needs to have such a conversation. Rather than ascribing blame, we need to frame the discussion around principles or ways of doing things that will take us forward. In the course of writing what is turning out to be a very popular text, ‘Beyond the Crises: Zimbabwe’s Prospects for Transformation’, we were careful not to act as if we were gazing at a crystal ball or had suddenly become prophets (I must admit however that the lure of such powers is attractive at times such as these) – but we tried our level best to use objective research methodologies to determine the trends that Zimbabwe would have to deal with.

Today we are a nation at crossroads and in need of a conversation with one another especially those that we disagree  with. We do not need to rehash the crises that we are in the midst of, except to reiterate the fact that we are failing on many fronts. In another blog article we counted at least 25 protests between January 1 and July 4, 2016 – surely something is not right. Economically, we have more companies closing down than opening and many of our young graduates have no hope of securing decent employment; we have surrendered social service delivery to the UN agencies; politically we are at each other’s throats and seem to think that a punitive legislative framework will fix our failures.

Maybe we can agree on one thing – we are all concerned about Zimbabwe. Others have framed this concern as ‘national interest’. But national interest may mean different things to the various categories of Zimbabweans and we will not dare to define what it should be but instead insist on the need to have a conversation on the subject.
For us the process starts off with revisiting the founding vision – what did we have in mind when we engaged in the process of decolonization. Again, that could be subject to different interpretations, but maybe we could reach consensus on a set of values/principles that surrounded decolonization and this time build upon them to revive the nation-building project. Maybe we can start off with our constitution as a place where we can have a clearer sense of the aspirations of
Zimbabweans. Section 8 of the 2013 Constitution states that the constitution was designed to ensure the happiness, prosperity and fulfillment of all citizens. It states:

1. The objectives set out in this Chapter guide the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level in formulating and implementing laws and policy decisions that will lead to the establishment, enhancement and promotion of a sustainable, just, free and democratic society in which people enjoy prosperous, happy and fulfilling lives.
2. Regard must be had to the objectives set out in this Chapter when interpreting the State’s obligations under this Constitution and any other law.

It is with this appreciation that we propose in this instance to sustain dialogue over the seven principles which we think if well-defined and applied can (i) improve the quality of the discourse on Zimbabwe’s transition and (ii) provide a basis for planning Zimbabwe’s future. We take due recognition that we are going through the second birth pangs and in this instance we have to ensure that we give birth to a nation that we are all proud of and have a real stake in. The different forms of protest (inclusive of mass stay-always, labour strikes & critical writing) will potentially yield a different kind of Zimbabwe but the challenge is what will happen next? Are we only interested in changing the face of the ruling elite or do we want broader systemic change? We therefore propose a renewed focus on nation building! We have identified seven values/principles and these are equity, justice, democracy, inclusion, diversity, opportunity and tolerance. We think that these are potentially central to a comprehensive project of nation building and ensuring the core principles of our constitution.

The Series:

Each of these 7 values was selected because they potentially reflect the hopes and aspirations that we all hold, and they embody the aspiration for social cohesion.

The journey to recovery for Zimbabwe will be a long one, and whatever the results of these protests may be, there is a lot of work required to re-build Zimbabwe. The goals of inclusion and equity, tolerance or even justice are big ones which many might argue are unattainable. Advanced democracies are still battling with these issues today as is evidenced by the global spread of the Black Lives Matter movements or the recent fame of Thomas Piketty’s book on global inequality – ‘Capital in the 21^st Century’. Our disillusionment with ideas such as trickledown economics or the ability of the market to self-regulate have led to a re-engineering of our values as a society. We have begun to re-evaluate our standing in relation to key values, and that applies globally.

Our objective is to ensure that as we evolve and grow as a society we do so in line with these fundamental ideals. Just as Section 8 of the Zimbabwean Constitution instructs, we are to read into any situation and pass a decision that ensures the “establishment, enhancement and promotion of a sustainable, just, free and democratic society in which people enjoy prosperous, happy and fulfilling lives.”

If we are going to build the Zimbabwe we want, we need to ensure that we build on principles/ values/ fundamental truths that will outlive us and which can transcend our present reality. Should the racial balances shift and global warming turn the country to a dessert wasteland, should world peace become a reality or the United States of Africa be formed, these principles must still hold true. Whatever we are building now, we are building for our children’s children, and the generations that will come after.