POV: The real threat to democracy in Zimbabwe is not realizing the role that is being played by judicial capture in destabilizing politics.
Zimbabwe is currently going through one of its most difficult political periods where a contested version of the rule of law is presiding over the rule of the people. The current rule of law is evidently not the rule of the people because the current electoral law has not been fully aligned to the country’s 2013 constitution. Activists and civil society collectives over the years have pushed for the revision of the Electoral Act of 2004 with very few strides shown in the amendment that was published July 2023 just before the elections. An interesting development in actions towards electoral reforms has been seen through the formation of the National Electoral Reforms Agenda (NERA), which is a coalition of 25 political parties advocating for electoral reforms in the country considering its history of disputed elections. Even after realizing that there are gaps in the Electoral Act, Zimbabwe is gearing to hold a second by-election in February preceding the August 2023 election. These by-elections are a result of the CCC political party recalling its parliamentarians and councilors over reasons yet to be explored by political analysts. The judicial system is, unfortunately, at the center of these developments using the current Electoral Act.
“Judicial capture must not be understood only as being limited to being captured by the legislature or the executive. Judiciary can actually be captured by any political ideology where they then see themselves as an extension of the political ideology,” Effie Ncube
https://cite.org.zw/there-is-sufficient-judicial-capture-in-zim/
It is key to note that one of the main arguments towards electoral reforms has been the need to regulate political party conduct considering that Zimbabwe has a strong history of people voting along political party lines. When the country gained its independence, there were only two political parties Zanu and Zapu, the Unity Accord of 1987 saw the assimilation of Zapu and Zimbabwe became a one-party state till the advent of the MDC in 1999. Moving to the 2000s we saw more parties coming to the playing ground, we saw the revival of Zapu and the MDC crack into may other parties up to the advent of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) in the year 2022. People then voted along the CCC and Zanu PF lines in the 2023 elections, with the CCC claiming victory in major metropolitan areas while Zanu had the overall victory, which is also disputed, much like the results of the 2018 elections. When the results of the 2018 elections were disputed, the opposition took the matter to the courts without success. A lot can be unpacked from this history but let’s just jump to explore what is currently going on.
Post 2018 elections, we saw the leader of an MDC faction Douglas Mwonzora recalling candidates from parliament and council because they were elected by his political party but were no longer members of the party. Using the same approach and through courts Sengezo Tshabangu appointed himself as CCC’s interim secretary and started recalling parliamentarians and councilors that had been elected by the people in August 2023 harmonized elections. Using the same Electoral Act, the courts were quick to make a ruling for the December 2023 and February 2024 By-Elections. Though members of the same political party contested this decision, their case was overruled.
These changes are troubling not only because they threaten citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed rights but also because they jeopardize democracy and community development in general. Most of Zimbabwe’s current issues are a result of the lack of representation of key groups such as the youth and women. Towards the August 2023 elections, under the same Electoral Act, the nomination of candidates was very difficult for these key populations. Filing for nomination in itself was expensive for one to run for elections as an independent candidate, most had to align themselves with political parties in order for them be on the ballot box. Regardless of this and other challenges, young people and women managed to get nominated, to run for elections and be voted for. At this point it is key to note that not only members of their political parties voted for them, rather those who are not affiliated to party politics voted for them as well. The majority of these young people that won elections were recalled and not permitted by the courts to run again during the by-election because of party politics.
Among those recalled are more than 20 members of the Youth and Women’s Quota for Proportional Representation (PR). Casualties also include young changemakers such as Lovemore Maiko who was the Mayor of Chitungwidza and Shantiel Chiwara who was Masvingo’s young female Mayor. While the youth and women’s movements were celebrating strides in their activism work, politics within the judicial system had other plans. This put behind the nation’s plans to empower women and youth and insulted the two movements that are key to the nation’s democracy and development. There is a pressing need to further analyze the effects of the recalls on women and youth looking at the provisions of the constitution and other national policies. Most importantly, urgent action should be taken to place women and youth at the center of Electoral Reforms.
Qhawekazi's Diary 