SPEECH BY ZAPU PRESIDENT, DR DUMISO DABENGWA DELIVERED AT THE SAPES TRUST POLICY DIALOGUE FORUM

Ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by thanking SAPES Trust for inviting me to address you today, and thank you also for coming to listen and dialogue on this very important matter of the national question.
If we are to try and answer the question of our discussion, we must first define what the national question is, and whether there is a problem in that regard. The very fact that we are gathered here today to discuss this issue should be indicative to everyone that we do have a nationality issue to be resolved, sadly so many years after our independence. It is no consolation that Zimbabwe is not unique in Africa in this regard; nor is Africa unique with these problems. You only have to mention Rwanda and Bosnia to understand the critical nature of the national question to any nation’s wellbeing.
In my view, the national question that has bothered each one of us is how do we transform Zimbabwe from a pseudo democracy to a real democratic nation state. Yes we achieved independence in 1980, and have held elections whenever they were due since then, though in recent times our elections have dismally failed to satisfy the most generous definition of a free and fair election. In any case, democracy is more than just fulfilling an election calendar once every three years for local government elections, and every five years for national elections. Democracy means individual freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association, press freedom, religious freedom, cultural freedom, freedom from hunger, freedom from poverty, freedom from joblessness, among other key matters. Are we free from these problems that I have just catalogued? I am sure the answer is a definite NO!
How then do we resolve the national question? Some among us naively imagine that replacing current president Robert Mugabe with a younger person will cause all our problems to vanish. I beg to differ. This reminds me of the illusions we had during the war that the moment we overpowered Ian Smith’s regime and put in power a black majority government, our problems would be over. As we know, our problems became worse, depending on which political side you were. Some of us found ourselves locked up in jail even when we had been acquitted by the courts. It is unbelievable that a good 20 000 people were killed for holding different opinions from those in power. Others found themselves running out of the country to be refugees once more, this time running away from a government they risked their lives to put into power.
I am under no illusion this time around that simply changing the colour of the oppressor like we did when we removed Smith and put a black Mugabe in power, or simply replacing an 87-year-old president with a much younger one will do the magic. We need to change the system first and foremost, more than we just need to change the person.
Theoretically, Zimbabwe is on the brink of resolving the national question. Mugabe is on his way out, through electoral defeat or natural causes, whichever comes first. Also, the country is working on the drafting of a new constitution, both of which should give us yet another chance to restart our life as a nation. The dawn of a post-Mugabe era and a new constitution surely are two very important political developments that we must fully utilize to resolve the national question. As for the old man, I presume it is safe to leave him to God who created all of us, and to the voters. He is as good as gone, as far as I can see; unless of course if we the winners of the next election decide to be magnanimous and accommodate him whichever way we deem necessary.
What is of immediate importance to the nation in my view is to impress on the drafters of the new constitution to be as sincere as they can and come up with a 21st century document consistent with other progressive democracies. While there is generally consensus on some issues such as the separation of powers and press freedom for instance, ZAPU is worried that there is indifference and hesitation in some quarters on the critical matter of systems of governance. There is no denying that Zimbabwe is made up of five distinct ethno-ecological regions, namely, Mashonaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Matabeleland and Manicaland, and that these regions are defined by commonalities of language and tribe. For 31 years, the rest of the regions have been prejudiced by being fooled to believe that we are one, when we are many. What is one is the country Zimbabwe, while the citizens belong to many major ethnic groups that have specific and separate anxieties and demands from the national cake. We cannot bury our head in the sand and pretend that all is well when we see and feel that it is not.
ZAPU’s vision is for Zimbabwe to be a democratic nation state, a state that respects, promotes and protects all human rights; that is, economic, social, cultural, religious and political rights, without discrimination of any kind, such as race, ethnicity, language, gender, religion, political affiliation, or any other kind of discrimination. Zimbabwe must be a state that promotes justice and equality between all races and all ethnic groups, a state whose citizens are equal before the law and in terms of opportunities and responsibilities. The citizens must be owners of the state and its supreme authority. I am saddened that currently in Zimbabwe the state owns the citizens and it is the supreme authority of the citizens, yet we say we are a democracy.
Zimbabwe used to be a rainbow nation, but we have since year 2000 been working hard to obliterate the other colours of the rainbow by approaching the land reform as a race issue rather than a national issue. As a result, we have almost uprooted the entire white community in the country. Before that, our state embarked on an exercise during the 1980s that specifically targeted people of a certain ethnic group. ZAPU recognizes that Zimbabwe is a multi-ethnic state. We are not just black and white, Shona and Ndebele. Our society consists of many ethnic groups such as the Karanga, Zezuru, Manyika, Kalanga, Tonga, Nambya, Sotho, Venda, Shangani, Ndau, Xhosa, Korekore, among others. There is no way we can seek to resolve the national question and set up a democratic state without identifying and including all these ethnic groups and according them the same political, cultural, economic and religious rights.
How then do you balance all these interests? ZAPU has got the answer. It lies in our anchor policy of devolution of power from Harare to the regions or provinces. This demand must be implemented under the proposed new constitution. Devolution of power empowers citizens, even those in the periphery to be interested in the issues of government and governance. Currently, it is as if one has to come all the way to Harare to talk to the government because there is no government in the provinces. Government offices manned by “outsider” civil servants and an unelected, and usually unpopular provincial governor are not the government.
Devolution of Power to Provinces guarantees that:

1. Responsibility is divided between various centres to prevent abuse of power by central government;
2. Local needs are more effectively identified and addressed

Our government is too centralized and too controlling, yet very remote from the people to the extent that there is no relationship between the government and the governed. This is wrong and must change.
ZAPU envisages the creation of five regions or provinces, namely, Mashonaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Matabeleland and Manicaland, to be run by elected provincial governments presided over by an elected premier or governor. There must also be regional houses of assembly or parliaments to formulate relevant provincial legislation and supervise government. The provincial governments must be elected through a first-past-the-post system to ensure that the popular party in the region or province presides over its affairs. The national house of assembly and government must be elected using the proportional representation sysyem to ensure that all political or regional interests are catered for and every vote counts towards the composition of the National house of Assembly – ensuring that all opinion in the country will find expression within that national constituent body.
Our vision is that provincial governments must have control over development issues in their areas, and must own and control the natural resources in their areas on behalf of their people. Obviously there must be a formula of how to share the resources between regional and the national government. Provincial governments must also be responsible for the provision of social services such as water, health, and education, leaving central government to run defense, security, international relations, among other matters.
Devolution equals democracy. It provides a more democratic and inclusive governance system and makes citizens active and inclusive participants in the development of their nation. It provides for a framework to fair and equitable distribution of power and resources. The 30 years of centralized governance that we have endured surely should have left us all aware of the bottlenecks it creates by having all affairs solved in Harare, even something that could be resolved by a chief and his council under his traditional indaba tree, or at worst at the regional government offices.
In conclusion, let me emphasize that we would be very far from resolving the national question if we limit our scope to the removal of someone from power and replacing them with someone else, and leave the same system still intact.
Human beings are selfish by nature and will always be tempted to abuse all the power if it was all given to them. Mugabe has ended up like Smith. Surely, the next president will end up like Mugabe if he finds the same system that Mugabe and Smith used still in place. We therefore need to change the system faster than we want to change the person. Trying to continue with the current centralized system of governance is unsustainable and will lead to very serious problems in the near future. This is a matter that requires sincere, open and frank discussion by those who wish to be leaders of this country going forward. In as much as we need to balance inter-party interests, we also need to balance regional interests if we want our nation to remain united and peaceful.
And we have this chance in our hands!!
I thank you.