To say I was shocked would be an understatement.
I was dumbfounded. In fact, I was filled with indescribable revulsion!
I came across a video of an address by an unnamed ruling ZANU PF official to a group of rural villagers.
In his little speech, he glorified President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa as a hero for being elected the chairman of the SADC (Southern African Development Community).
He disingenuously portrayed this as some form of electoral victory over other regional leaders.
As a matter of fact, in his unrestrained excitement, he went to great lengths trying to convince these poor villagers that from the 17th August 2024 – when Zimbabwe assumes the SADC chairmanship – Mnangagwa would have some authority and power over other regional leaders.
In other words, the ZANU PF official wanted everyone listening to believe that Mnangagwa would be in the mould of a ‘president of all southern African presidents’!
I was floored!
Tragically, such brazen deception and blatant lies are, by far, not an isolated incident.
One just needs to turn onto the state-controlled broadcaster ZBC to see the depths to which those in power in Zimbabwe are prepared to sink.
There are now endless jingles praising Mnangagwa for assuming the SADC chairmanship.
As with the repulsive lies spewed by the ZANU PF official, the jingles, by various local musicians, are clearly designed to create a false impression and understanding of the SADC chairmanship.
The lies are quite frankly shameless and disgusting – and a huge embarrassment for Zimbabwe.
Let me set the record straight – hopefully, once and for all.
For starters, Mnangagwa was NEVER elected as the chairman of the SADC.
Zimbabwe, as a country and member state of the SADC, was the one ‘elected’ as chairman.
The chairman of the SADC is ‘elected’ by the organization’s member states during the annual SADC Summit.
Here is how the process typically works.
The position of the SADC chair rotates annually among the member states.
This means that each member state has the opportunity to chair the organization over time.
In other words, chairmanship is not bestowed as recognition for phenomenon leadership.
It is rotated amongst all member states.
Even had Satan himself been the president of Zimbabwe, he (or the country) would have still assumed the chair when its turn arrived.
The ‘election’ takes place during the annual SADC Summit, where the heads of state and government of the member countries meet to discuss regional issues.
The ‘election’ is usually based on consensus among the member states rather than a competitive vote.
In other words, the ‘election’ is more of a ‘selection’ – as there is no voting between competing countries, such that there is a winner or loser.
This ‘election’ process is not in the same format as the one where, for instance, Mnangagwa competes against Nelson Chamisa.
The member state ‘elected’ to the chairmanship is generally the country next in line based on the rotational schedule.
As such, the country that becomes the SADC chair is never chosen on merit or any other criteria – but purely on a rotational basis.
This rotational system ensures that all member states have an equal opportunity to influence the direction and focus of the organization over time.
Last year, when Zimbabwe became the vice chairman of SADC, it automatically meant that this year, the country would take over the chairmanship.
There was never any competition with any other country.
Let us look at the second lie: that Mnangagwa now has some authority over the whole southern African region, as some sort of ‘president of presidents’.
By assuming the SADC chairmanship, Mnangagwa (or, more accurately, Zimbabwe) does not hold any authority or power over other regional countries.
The chair serves a one-year term, from one SADC Summit to the next.
During their tenure, the chairman is merely responsible for hosting the Summit and other key meetings and for guiding the agenda and priorities of SADC.
That’s it!
As can be clearly seen, the chairman’s primary function is exactly as the title denotes… to simply chair meetings and guide the agenda (which is generally a collective process).
This is exactly what Mnangagwa will be doing on 17th August.
This position does not come with any other significant authority.
It is not as if Mnangagwa, as the SADC chairman, will now be giving orders to South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa or Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema, for instance.
In fact, this lack of real authority on the part of the SADC chairman speaks to the broader lack of authority of the entire SADC as an institution.
That is why – even after a damning report by the SEOM (SADC Election Observer Mission) on Zimbabwe’s 2023 shambolic elections – the body did absolutely nothing.
This is because the organization is merely a talk shop with no real authority or power over any member state – even when flagged by the regional body’s own organs, as the SEOM, for conducting elections that fall short of regional principles and guidelines governing democratic elections.
No wonder why the report on Zimbabwe is now gathering dust at the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana.
In simpler terms, SADC is a toothless bulldog.
Zimbabwe’s chairmanship will just be ceremonial.
This is because SADC heads of state do not want or are rather afraid of a powerful SADC.
Most of the regional leaders are fully aware that they are far from being democratic.
As such, they will never want any supra state entity that will hold them to account for any misgovernance and violation of human rights or democratic tenets.
When the regional body experimented with an organ that had real teeth – the SADC Tribunal – this did not end well.
The SADC Tribunal was eventually disbanded in 2011 after the regional court held that the Zimbabwean government’s land seizures in the early 2000s violated the rule of law.
As such, SADC heads of state are more than comfortable with a useless organization.
How can the chairman of a toothless organization then have teeth?
Mnangagwa’s role for the next one year will be to merely call for and chair meetings – just as the chair of your local neighbourhood watch committee!
In conclusion, I urge ZANU PF and the Mnangagwa government to stop lying to the people of Zimbabwe over this SADC issue.
They are not only embarrassing themselves but also their own leader, Mnangagwa, and the country as a whole.
We all know that Mnangagwa has failed to achieve anything of substance during his tenure as the President of Zimbabwe.
However, that should not be a reason for lying over this assumption of the SADC chair by Zimbabwe.
It is clear that they want to finally give Mnangagwa the accomplishment that has eluded him all this time.
● Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: [email protected], or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
