By Professor Mufaro Gunduza
All human beings, Chamisa, included have faults and inherent weaknesses as Mavedzenge outlined. At the same time in a shipwreck, for instance, human ingenuity dictates that any piano top floating your way can become a fortuitous life preserver, yet under normal circumstances if we want to design life savers we won’t consider piano tops in the equation! In the current scenario, despite Chamisa’s seemingly horrible sins of omission and commission, he appears to be the fortuitous piano top to certain sections of the electorate judging by his surprising victories in by-elections.
Mavedzenge is worried that the absence of formal structures negates the concept of democracy and good governance, where decisions are a product of robust engagement and consensus. It appears to me that Chamisa could be the proverbial gambler who knows what to throw away and what to keep in his political gamesmanship, thereby keeping his competitors miserably and desperately guessing in terms of his next move. He has given up conventional, predictable and orthodox politics and has gone guerrilla to inflict massive surprises and confusion.
Gabriel Manyati examines Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 through the lens of political science, arguing that President Emmerson Mnangagwa's latest reforms are less about governance than the enduring logic of political survival.
On the 18th anniversary of Zimbabwe's disputed 27 June 2008 presidential run-off, Luke Tamborinyoka recounts his imprisonment, remembers victims of political violence and argues that CAB3 represents a new chapter in what he describes as state-sponsored attacks on democracy.
Self-imposed opposition leader in Parliament Sengezo Tshabangu has called for Zimbabwe to abolish by-elections between general elections, arguing that political parties should simply nominate replacements, as the Senate approved Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3).
South Africa has ordered police to act decisively against threats, violence and hate speech linked to planned anti-immigration protests on June 30, warning that anyone inciting attacks on foreign nationals will face criminal prosecution.
