Political power contestations in Zimbabwe: A critical historical review of ‘Jecharism’ in Zimbabwe’s political space.

by Dr Divane Nzima (Humanities)

Friday 30 Jul 2021, 12:00 → 14:00 Africa/Johannesburg

Zimbabwe has had a long history of socio-economic and political turmoil that has seen the near collapse of the economy. Since independence in 1980, the economy has been on a downward spiral struggling to attract confidence from local and international investors. Political sabotage by way of economic sanctions from the West, poor governance and rampant corruption that has collapsed private and public institutions have largely been blamed. This paper applies a critical historical approach to trace the nature and methods of power contestations in Zimbabwe. In doing so we have argued that the politics of deliberate systematic sabotage which in contemporary Zimbabwe has been dubbed ‘kudira jecha’ or Jecharism [deliberate sabotage] has been going on for a very long time. While this is often associated with opposition party politics, we argue that throughout history in Zimbabwe, these detrimental methods have been employed by both those in power and the opposition. As a result, we conclude that Jecharism is a politics that negates the interests of the people and the country in favour of politicians’ own self interests of consolidating their hold on power or their ambition to hold power. As such in the case of Zimbabwe, there has never been any benefit that the masses have gained from Jecharism, it has only served to perpetuate economic misfortunes for the country and continued suffering for the masses. Therefore, in order for Zimbabwe to move forward, there is a need for politicians to rethink and revise their strategies. Everyone has to agree that the current system that is in place has failed to bring any positive developments for the country and it is unlikely to do so in the near future. Continuing in this path where self-interest precedes what is best for the country will only result in perpetual conflict and suffering.