What are your expectations of the 2018 Election?

Zimbabwe's fast growing political party sector

Zimbabweans must gear up for a prolonged struggle..2018 is not a game changer

I decided to cut my planned six month field assessment trip to Zimbabwe after coming face to face with some of the complex challenges faced by ordinary citizens and the generality of the Zimbabwean population struggling in various sectors of our society.
Besides having a taster of what one can expect when they return home I also needed some time to reflect on my political pursuits in Zimbabwe and the work I'm involved in with individuals from diverse professionals working and resident in South Africa from motherland. 

Nathan meeting Zimbabweans on the ground

As a new political party it's unfortunate that our entry has also been over shadowed by the break away formations from MDC-T and Zanu PF who naturally have the advantage of being known political brands and as such have somehow been able to dominate our public information sources. 

The increase in the number of new political formations has also put a dent in our chances of sharing our vision and principles more effectively as a credible alternative to the current political environment. A new national chorus by some Zimbabweans dismissing our entry as that of 'splitting votes' or being agents of the regime has become the propaganda tool to try promote the relevance of the so called 'Big tent' as larger opposition party supporters wanting their party to stay relevant in spite of a visible track record of failing to remove Zanu PF and some of their officials being caught up in corruption scandals at local government levels.

Rural Water Community Investment Partnership

During my trip I also approached a number of Zimbabwe based business owners to share our vision and try and entice them to fund our activities.Though most of them showed admiration for our principles and vision they were quick to come up with reason why it would be a risk for them to invest in our political party. Most hid behind the psychologically induced fear of being vindicated by the current system for opposing them and rather suggested that we explore  marriages of convenience (Coalitions) with those they saw as more established players in the arena. 


A lack of a more modernised Political party funding Act is one of the reasons the political playing field will remain dominated by a few political parties. The invisibility of most new parties is because they are not as well resourced to reach out to Zimbabweans across the country as the older and more established political entities. That is something that will take a radical shift in policy and attitudes if ever new ideas are to rise in our current political environment.

Luveve Community Under 14 Team

My trip was not just focused on my political goals but I also got a chance to visit some of my community investment projects that I initiated last year, the first done with the partnership of family members resident and working in the Diaspora working with those on the ground in Rural Zimbabwe to drill and install solar power pump that would benefit the whole village. The second was a piggery project that I am working on nearer to the city centre in partnership with a young aspiring businessman and the third and final a Community organisation that I am helping set-up for my target constituency in Luveve with focus on Youth activities. I facilitated the donation of football kits for an under 14 team and are still to distribute some board games to youth clubs and old people's homes. These are just extensions of work in philanthropy and business that I have always pursued.

I do appreciate that politics is indeed about numbers but let's not forget that the so called 'Big Parties' were also small parties at some point and not brush every new entity with the same brush. I do appreciate the need for unity of purpose but it is something that needs to be negotiated based on all sides seeing value in each other and not as a means to secure individual position and advantage in any such partnership. I never chose to become a politician, it's something that was persuaded into by fellow citizens and something that I personally felt should be supported by strong institutional foundations.

#ThisFlag Campaign

I personally welcome the emergence of social movements like #ThisFlag campaign and others to try and empower citizen's with knowledge about their rights to hold leaders accountable for their actions and decisions. I do hope that they will play a significant role in voter education not because we have an upcoming election but because it is an important pursuit in ensuring citizens have access to information that can help us shape our society and elect more responsible leaders into office.

FJCZ Cardboard Campaign

This is one reason you will note that Freedom Justice Coalition Zimbabwe Party campaigns are more focused on sharing our principles and values more than the party presidents image to the general public. The personalisation of political parties so they are branded around individual leaders is part reason we have not had many political parties with leadership renewal. I believe if there was leadership renewal from our liberation political parties we would not have so many break away factions and new political parties in Zimbabwe. 

With leadership renewal new ideas can be born helping create an environment that promotes shared responsibility in terms of working to accomplish key national objectives beyond partisan based politics.

It's important for citizens to register and vote in 2018

I am yet to see a political entity that transforms it's election promises to visible outcomes that change the lives of a greater number of people. 

I have had a few citizens asking me why is your party not part of CODE or NERA or any of the current planned coalitions. Well first it's not my personal property and in democracy there are certain processes that need to followed in order to arrive at a collective agreement. Second we are still busy with our political structuring exercise which will end when we hold our first Elective Congress and nominate and elect party officials that will represent the party in 2018 elections. It therefore does not make any sense to negotiate with any party for any coalition without first having a political structure with democratically elected candidates at party level. Last the decision to enter into any coalitions will be decided by our members at our elective congress though our doors will remain open to those who see value in our party being party any coalition arrangement as we progress.

Meeting our members in Cape Town

As a citizen what do you expect from an election victory, what do you expect from your Ward councillor, your Member of Parliament, your President? Are their promises realistic or just lucrative sounding statements that give you hope that they will deliver on those promises? How many chances are you willing to give someone that never fulfills your promise?

As I see it our political environment is based on a culture of entitlement and hero worshiping individual leaders, until we appreciate the importance of building strong institutions over strong individuals we may remain with the same culture of recycling and reshuffling the same political players who belong to the same school of thought in terms of defining a way forward for our beloved nation. I will continue my journey into politics and do what ever I can with the time and resources at my disposal. Building an effective and results oriented team to accomplish our collective objectives is one of my greatest challenges as an aspiring leader. 

I hope time will help us leave good visible examples for future generations.

Transformative Politics: Freedom Justice Coalition Zimbabwe Party

We have many who are skeptical about the increase in political party formations in Zimbabwe and the first thing they ask is “what is different about your party from other political parties?” I think it’s important for us to clarify one very important fact about Freedom Justice Coalition Zimbabwe party, that is it was formed in August 2010 and shared its principles of TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, INCLUSIVITY, SERVITUDE and RESPECT from that year on wards. From that point on wards, some of those same principles have now been embraced and shared by all other new political formations that are now also claiming they want to embrace the same values. This is a clear indicator that the ideas FJCZ brings to Zimbabwe’s socio-economic and political environment are admired not only by citizens but new political parties across the political divide.

Unlike most opposition parties in Zimbabwe, Freedom Justice Coalition Zimbabwe party distinguishes its self by being a progressive party versus the opposition approach that focuses on opposing everything that the current Zanu PF led government is doing rather than offering competitive alternative solutions that citizens can begin to appreciate now rather than when the party wins’ power through general elections. We are not saying that we will not highlight the wrongs by the Zanu PF led government but do so by also offering alternative practical deliverable’s.

Freedom Justice Coalition Zimbabwe party’s Community Investment Partnerships is a revolutionary concept that seeks to empower communities by linking them to potential investors be it Zimbabwe Diaspora professionals or any other investor seeking to pursue sustainable business activities in Zimbabwe. We believe as a party we must be able to attract investment that has a direct positive impact on communities’ moving away from the culture of dependency on government and NGO’s for solutions to the challenges faced by our people. Just like our principles and values have been embraced by many other political parties, we would like to encourage them to also embrace this revolutionary concept that we believe is a good blue print for the whole of Africa and the world.

Our own interim President Nathan Banana (visit his Face Book Page) has already successfully implemented this concept in his rural homestead through coordinating investment capital with members of his family resident in the diaspora working with those on the ground in Zimbabwe to drill a bore hole and install a solar powered pump that now supply water to the whole village. The project will create employment through a planned rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation technics.

What Zimbabwe needs right now is not so much just a change in political leadership alone but a change in people’s way of thinking (mind-sets), and that requires a political party that brings new ideas that are not just policy positions but are transformed to visible outcomes that add value to national development. We believe Zimbabweans need to rise above partisan politics and work together for a greater good of our people and nation beyond party politics. We do not believe that being an opposition party is an excuse to oppose for the sake of being seen to be in disagreement with a sitting government.

Let’s not gamble with the lives of our people by supporting political labels that are failing to transform people’s lives now, but embrace a new kind of leadership that believes in transformation based on bringing on board visible alternatives. We are not saying this will be an easy alternative but a working alternative that will transform our nation to its greatness once again.

Together we can build one great nation.

“Tisu vanhu vacho! Yithi abantu bakhona! We are the people!

FreedomJustice Coalition Zimbabwe Media & Information Department.(Email:info@freedomjusticecoalitionzimbabwe.org)

Building Strong Political Institutions

Zimbabwe Parliament Building

"My journey into politics has presented me with various challenges, some that are beyond my control and I believe require individuals to embrace changed mindsets, for without embracing a new way of thinking our expectations will remain framed around the same tried, tested and failed political culture of campaign promises that are never transformed to visible outcomes." 

The general expectation by the ordinary citizen when presented with a new political entity and leadership is to find it in a perfectly functional condition with clearly articulated strategies and transparent structures. However being a new entity usually means that may not always be the actual case as building political structures requires certain democratic principles to be embraced for the purposes of transparency and accountability.

In order to achieve a reasonable standard of democratic compliance a new political entity must ensure they recruit a team of individuals with certain competency levels. Competency is in most cases associated with individual's levels of literacy, education and experience. However most ordinary citizens join political parties as volunteers unlike when one seeks to paid employment and has to present their C.V to be considered for an interview for the advertised role.

Joining a political party does not demand that one has any special qualities to be accepted as a member, in most political institutions participation is measured based on ones passion and commitment, however that alone presents it's own complex challenges unless the political entity has the time and resources to provide training and mentoring of it's team members into their chosen roles of responsibility. The main challenge in building the necessary competence levels of political entities in Zimbabwe is the lack of free training opportunities to offer learning opportunities that can enhance the knowledge and skills needed by aspiring leaders to understand their roles and responsibilities in order to be effective representatives in their target communities.

The lack of a fair political party funding policy, the lack of a legislated political party registration system that can act as a guide and validation body for the authentication of political parties in Zimbabwe has left citizens exposed to the risk of joining bogus political parties led by opportunist individuals that are most likely to pursue their personal interests rather than the interests of members and target communities that they intend to serve. I guess some may ask how can you tell the difference between a bogus party and a sincere political entity?

Well for starters surely any authentic entity should have a physical address that they use as their offices, a website that shares information about their party's policies and leadership, a bank account opened in the name of the political party and traceable references from other public institutions that can also act as validation agents. Currently it seems validation is based on media publicity and keeping up appearances with more established political entities who have participated in general elections and may have parliamentary representation.

There is not much that we see being shared by some political parties in terms of community development initiatives like fundraising for building of clinics, schools or even helping with renovations of some of the now dilapidated public service buildings like community halls. Important lessons could be learnt from earlier examples from the late father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo who inspired the use of demobilisation funds to create income generating cooperatives for Ex-ZIPRA freedom fighters and the late former President Canaan Banana who donated his farm by converting it to an Agricultural College in Marondera.

Why should opposition politics be mainly focused on public demonstrations and protest action when there are so many other critical issues affecting society like the shortage of water in most parts of the country, the shortage of medical equipment in most of our old health institutions, etc. etc.? Are we going to focus on only highlighting the failures of the Zanu PF government without offering practical competitive alternatives? Is the sole aim of opposition political parties to remove Zanu PF from government or should they also be partners in seeking solutions to the development of Zimbabwe?

I know the common argument by opposition that they need power in order to implement their election promises but I do not believe that should limit what they can do to contribute to change in Zimbabwe. We do not need to always have funding to bring change but can act as a bridge to facilitate community investment partnerships with potential investors. It can be as simple as sign posting members of the public to lucrative opportunities be it learning, business or any other than can help enhance the quality of life.

So what progressive role should opposition parties play in defining Zimbabwe's future? Should sole focus be on opposing current government policies and calling for demonstration and protest action against their retrogressive policies and decisions or should all this also be complemented by introducing alternative practical examples that work to improve the lives of citizens whilst fighting for changes in policy positions?

Political parties are not government institutions that have access to tax and other public generated revenue to deliver a high standard of public services but entities that can only survive through donations received from general public well wishers and sympathetic investors who see value in the policy positions proposed by the political parties. Working for a political party is mainly a voluntary role that in most cases is not bound by time but requires one to be discipled in terms of having the ability to work as part of a collective group seeking to accomplish common objectives.

"Communication, effort and consistency are the key elements for any successful political campaign."~ Nathan Banana

Keeping up Appearances vs Offering Alternative working Solutions

I think the pursuit of popularity in politics can easily make one loose focus of the their ultimate objective which is to serve and bring in new ideas that can improve people's lives. Perhaps the question is why do individuals choose to become politicians? What does it entail to be a politician?

I have on many occasion been told by different individuals that I am not visible and that means my message will not reach every Zimbabwean. If I want to be considered as a national leader i should do more to spread my message on a national scale.

I have however made it clear from the word go that my entry point is Luveve Constituency which is where I am trying to focus my current strategies in terms of working with members of that constituency in various ways, not just to highlight what everyone already knows but to also explore solutions in consultation with various stake holders in the community.  It's a process to leadership not a destination to a position of leadership.

I do appreciate the fact that Freedom Justice Coalition Zimbabwe Political Party is a national institution that I have been elected as it's Interim President and I am trying to balance my efforts with both roles based on the commitment levels of current leaders of the party and the availability of resources to manage a national campaign.

I think it's not secret that most political environments do not have a level playing field in terms of access to campaign resources. The challenge is we do not have any transparency in terms of funding of political parties, anyone irrespective of their background and source of funds can donate campaign funds to any candidate they favour to win the elections. 

Our local media also seems to ride on the popularity brand to sell their papers and do little justice to the new unknown entities whose views are suppressed based on the notion their brands are unknown and therefore will not attract readers to buy their papers and visit their websites. Perhaps they subconsciously promote the recycling of the same names in our politics without realising the impact of their actions, though some argue it's because those names have the resource capacity to spend on endless public events.

There is a different view of politics in Zimbabwe that seems to only see value in aspiring leaders only if they are willing to make great sacrifice like getting arrested for confronting the government, keeping up public appearances through demonstrations and protests demanding answers from government which I do appreciate are all democratic rights. 

How about changing that narrative of demanding answers to offering working alternative examples? Most opposition parties argue there is little they can do to offer alternatives as they do not have the power in terms of authority to do so. So what happens in local government levels where some representatives belong to opposition political parties, is that not the first level to show what one can do before they are government? 

Surely these political parties have a network of affiliated Business who can also channel investment to their target constituencies, should the burden of developing our country only be blamed on a sitting government or should we all seek different ways to offer more competitive alternatives.

I think whilst we demand answers we should also be working towards offering and implementing alternatives that can be good examples of development. The elected MP's should do their jobs of fighting for policy changes that can help make such alternatives become a reality, that includes a more intense legal battle to fight corruption and ensure more transparent policies are put in place to hold officials accountable to the electorate. 

We can't afford to continue with this us and them stance when we are all Zimbabweans who probably have far more in common than that which we differentiate ourselves with...just saying..