A presentation to the Zimbabwe National
Agreement Platform (ZiNAP)
Thursday 17 September 2015, ZCTUHead Office, Gorlon House, Harare
By Takura Zhangazha
Cde Chairperson,
Thank you for inviting me to be
part of these deliberations and to share a few thoughts on the participation of
the Church (in its broadest sense) and secular civil society in Zimbabwe in our
country’s national development agenda and processes. I have deliberately referred to secular civil
society because in my view, the Church
is also occupying that broader space we refer to as ‘civil society’. Both by way of existence and action.
However defining these two
important aspects of Zimbabwe’s social, cultural and political landscape is not
very difficult.
Also, separating them by way of
intrinsic shared common and even transcendental good is harder. This is because the church and secular civil
society are structured to serve a broader public good.
Albeit in different ways, but in the final analysis, with an intention
to best advance humanity and the societies it exists in for the good of
all.
In Zimbabwe’s particular context,
the Church has always worked closely with secular civil society to ensure that
social and economic justice for all are achieved. Such collaboration predates independence with
the Church in its various forms also informing not only the value systems of liberation
struggles but also technical capacities through providing education and
employment for those that would become nationalist leaders and enhancers of
democratic governance and universal suffrage.
In the aftermath of our national independence
this tradition would be continued both at national and community levels with
the intention of ensuring that the ideals of not only our national liberation
struggle but the universal common good of mankind are successfully
realized.
More recently in the last two
decades, the church and secular civil society have sought to complement each
other’s efforts through working together toward a national push for democratic
and people driven constitutional reform, dealing with various humanitarian
crisis as they occurred and trying to provide common platforms of establishing
a new shared vision for a democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe. This is
evidenced by the Church’s the Zimbabwe We Want declaration, various ecumenical/pastoral
letters to government and worshipers, and
its participation in other processes that would help establish common positions
with secular civil society.
The more recent case was that of the
Save Zimbabwe Campaign of 2007. Such efforts have had their incremental
successes and arguably helped lead to the establishment of an inclusive
government after direct mediation by the regional body, SADC.
Where we fast forward to 2015 and
Zimbabwe’s contemporary political economy and social circumstances, there is
again evident need to continue the path of complimentarity between the work of
the Church and secular civil society.
This as it relates to the advancement of human rights, social and
economic justice as well as the building of a democratic national value system
as it relates to posterity or the passing on of democratic knowledge from one
generation to the next.
The realistic baseline that this
new common ground can be founded on is the new constitution and its incremental
advances in relation to human rights, the rule of law and the doctrine of the
separation of powers, inclusive of decentralization of power. Moreso, after a controversial but widely
accepted constitutional reform process in which components of the Church and
secular civil society played an active if not directly supportive role.
It is in this context that the
church and secular civil society must work together. But in doing so there must be caution over an
over-emphasis on legality, wherein the pursuit of good governance as we all
know is not limited to the court rooms but must be part of a holistic and
shared value system based on democratic principles.
So, as the title of this
presentation suggests, there is need for a new trajectory in the developmental
process and collaborations between the church and secular civil society
organizations. That essentially means
that there is need to take stock, re-evaluate established common principles
from the past and apply them organically to our contemporary national context
and in response to what the Church and secular CSOs know to be at the hearts and minds of the people of
Zimbabwe.
And an honest assessment will
inform us that the primary concern of most Zimbabweans in the immediate, short
term and long term is the state of the national economy. There may be political blame games as to who
is responsible for the economic crisis that we are faced with but that
invariably remains the forte of those that contest for political office.
It is the role of the Church and
secular civil society in relation to the national economy and its value system
that is perhaps most important today in Zimbabwe.
I say this because in relation to
democratic values as they concern good governance, free and fair elections, rule
of law and gender equality, common values and principles have been established
in key consensus documents such as the ‘Zimbabwe We Want’, ‘Beyond ESAP and the
Zimbabwe Peoples Charter documents. Where there has been a lack of emphasis, at
least consistently so, has been the
arena of our common vision of the national economy in a holistic people driven context.
So if one wants to establish a new
trajectory to the role of the church and secular civil society collaboration
going forward, it is of paramount importance that there be a concerted attempt
to find common ground on values and principles that both feel should inform the
national economy. This in a people
centered and driven process that will at least help set broad civil society
parameters beyond the narrower narratives of functioning to challenge
government actions without setting out ideals and values to measure such
actions against.
In conclusion therefore, Cde Chair,
if we would like a new common trajectory
between the church and secular civil society there must be common values and
principles established around the lived realities of Zimbabwe’s citizens. Particularly where such values outline not
only ideal but pragmatic solutions as to how there is an intention on the part
of stakeholders to get the economy out of the morass of poverty, lack of
opportunity and the fear over our children’s future. All of which currently negatively
instruct our economic livelihood landscape.
Ends//
*Takura Zhangazha spoke here in his
personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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