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A Ndebele President in Zimbabwe? You bet!
By
Daniel Fortune Molokele
LAST week the New
Zimbabwe.com editor Mduduzi
Mathuthu sought to open a national debate on the implications of the
historic victory by Barack Obama in the 2008 US Presidential elections.
In particular he sought to ascertain if there was indeed a glass ceiling
against non-Shona citizens to ascend the highest political office in
the land via a popular vote.
The question at hand is whether or not Zimbabweans are now ready to
elect a person regardless of their ethnic background?
I would like to strongly contend that most Zimbabweans are more than
ready to elect anyone who qualifies to be the President of our beautiful
country.
There
is no such thing as a glass ceiling against any citizen who is Ndebele
or from any other minority group at all. Contrary to popular assumption
and even perception, the Zimbabwean voters are certainly more than capable
of voting beyond ethnic boundaries if called upon by the persuasion
of political suitability and merit.
Yes, historically and presently so, the national political landscape
has largely been dominated by the majority Shona ethnic group. That
is a fact that may prove difficult to challenge.
A lot of analysts will point out to the fact that the political careers
of the likes of the late Joshua Nkomo, Gibson Sibanda and now Thokozani
Khupe clearly give credence to the axiomatic belief that non-Shonas
are destined to be perennial bridesmaids in Zimbabweans politics.
It is a known fact that the highest level that non-Shona politicians
have achieved so far has been that of Deputy or Vice President. It is
indeed common cause that a lot of people believe that Nkomo as 'Father
Zimbabwe' lost out to Robert Mugabe largely due to the latter's skilful
manipulation of the ethnic sentiment in the largely Shona electorate.
That is a point that cannot be challenged outside scientific research
but the jury is still out as to whether it indeed has empirical substantiation
whatsoever.
It is my strong contention that the issue of ethnicity in Zimbabwean
politics is largely overrated. I am not denying that desperate politicians
have always used and continue to use the ethnic card to further their
own personal ambitions. However, to argue that once a person is seen
as a non-Shona they automatically get ruled out of the Zimbabwean presidential
race is a complete fallacy that should not be promoted in the national
discourse.
Yes it may be harder for a non-Shona to be elected as the President
of Zimbabwe but the bottom line is that it is definitely possible.
All we need is a skilful person who will ignore all the popular myths
about tribalism and insist on going the extra mile just like Obama did
in the US elections.
If that person is able to package and market their political vision
so well, then even the majority Shona electorate will be left with no
other option except to rally behind that non-Shona candidate.
That person can be anyone who dares to go beyond the initial scepticism
with a smile like Obama did and wow the largely Shona electorate with
his charisma and visionary idealism.
It’s not a question of whether Zimbabweans can elect a non-Shona
President or not; it is actually a matter of when the country will duly
elect its first minority ethnic person to be the holder of the highest
office in the land.
It is only a matter of time!
Daniel Molokele
is a Zimbabwean Human Rights Lawyer. He can be contacted on e-mail:
zimvirtualnation@yahoo.com
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