Analysis: Does Zimbabwe need a Government In Exile?

The idea of A Government In Exile maybe a timely initiative, looking at the political scenario in the country at the moment. But first let’s see what that Government entails…..

A Government in Exile is a set of associative leaders who were compelled to leave the country by the incumbent government but these leaders do not recognize the current government’s legitimacy and hence they try to govern from afar.

In the past week, the social media streets were abuzz about Hopewell Chin’ono insinuating about the formation of a Government in Exile. Chin’ono has since refuted claims that he ever hinted about forming such a thing with some suggesting that he is just trying to be more careful with words. But why would one think of forming a Government in Exile?

The political atmosphere in Zimbabwe is not as ripe as the one needed for a peaceful transition of power and a lot of politically woke citizens have echoed these sentiments. This has been worsened by the habit of legitimizing sham elections and filling the streets with the army.

Many if not all, witnessed a grievous tendency by the ruling party, to bypass electoral processes to their favour. Zimbabweans went to vote on the 23rd of August 2023 and a new strategy to fuel voter apathy was seen at play on that day. One might wonder why ballot papers were delivered late in various parts of Harare and early in Uzumba.

This was a ploy to lessen the number of voters in Opposition strongholds. Despite the Opposition and other stakeholders making efforts to get the voter’s roll from the electoral body, the attempts hit a brickwall.

What this means is; the electorate is losing confidence in the electoral system, every five years, brick by brick. This only work in Zanupf’s favour makes way to the rise of legitimacy questions. Nobody leads a country forward like a legitimate President.

Not to say the incumbent is not legitimate but the process which led to his inauguration leaves a lot to be desired. In that case, one might say, why not drum up for support and start something to maintain a claim to rightful leadership and governance.

Considering the 2023 SADC Observer Mission Report, the election didn’t meet the standards of a free and fair election, hence the legitimacy questions. This can give way to the idea of a Government In Exile as to purpose of preserving legitimacy.

But apart from just claiming to be the rightful leadership of the country, there’s more the GIE that can have positive impacts. We have had issues of isolation from international gatherings especially those gatherings which offer real chances of genuine engagement.

The narrative needs to be reshaped and improved so that investors need to know that Zimbabwe is actually open for business. But why can’t the incumbent government do that? Its likely that there was a sort of dishonesty in the Open For Business mantra by the current government.

This is where the Government in Exile might chip in and represent the nation with utmost, genuine interests. Honestly acting as an official representative internationally, engaging with other governments and organisations will see this isolation melting away.

This can be achieved only if the GIE provide alternative governance to the incumbent’s, showcasing the ability to adminster the country.

For long, Zimbabwe record of human rights abuse has been increasing overtime. The government which is accused of sponsoring this violence refuses any involvement terming the cases “staged” for international sympathy.

The Zim Bulletin understands that though the government may have no hand in this, there’s a shona term which says “hapana utsi hunobuda pasina moto”, meaning in every little case raised, there’s a little bit of truth in it if investigated. But who is responsible for the disappearance of Itai Dzamara? Is it the staged? If there’s no willingness to come clean about such issues then it implies little or no willingness to stop enforcing disappearances of people seen as threats to the state.

This can be the role of the Government in Exile to internationally advocate for the observation of human rights and the country’s concerns and needs to ensure the nation’s voice is heard.

It turns out that the current government is quite not in touch with reality hence the indifference to betterment the plight of its citizenry, as it claims that it was voted for. Nobody knows where the money used to buy vehicles for chiefs came from as it was never on the national budget.

Does it mean Chiefs have to get cars after every 5 years yet deep down in Mushayavanhu in Gutu people walk for 15 kilometres to go to the hospital? To make matters worse. That 15km away hospital doesn’t have a single working ambulance. These are the issues that the Government in Exile has to address to protect the national interests rather than minority priorities.

Countless roles can be played by the Government in Exile which may include the paving of a way, awaiting a peaceful transition of power from the current government.

In a country like Zimbabwe where people are hopeless and have less confidence in the institutions manned by the current government, a government in Exile can play the role of a symbol of national identity, resistance and hope.

So the Government in Exile needs to boost the morale of the citizenry so that they keep looking forward and yearning for a better government. Other roles like planning for the country’s rehabilitation in the post-authoritarian era are what the GIE can do.

Everybody now knows that Hopewell Chin’ono’s claim that the opposition is “dead as a dodo” now makes sense since the controversial takeover by Ncube and his cabal. This means the incumbent government has no one challenging it nor holding it to account.

We have seen ZACC unearthing serious money laundering schemes and corruption in government corridors and yet no Opposition voice has been heard lambasting these shenanigans except for a few who are now not in Parliament.

This alone can give reasons for the emergence of the the Government in Exile to coordinate the Opposition, in this case, to replace the opposition and unite the people for the same cause and lead the challenging of the current ruling authorities.

But who can form a Government In Exile? A Government in Exile can be formed by:

● Movements or organizations or coalitions which constitute a significant portion of the population, for example; opposition parties, civil society groups, or ethnic/religious communities.

● Entities recognized by the international community as the legitimate representative of a country or people.

● High-ranking officials who once were in the government before it was overthrown or met an unfortunate collapse. Last but not least👇

● Legitimate leaders who might have been driven out of the country or compelled to go into exile. Not just leaders but democratically elected people who once held a leadership office or had a legitimate right to power/ office.

Based on the above assessment, a Government in Exile is necessary to address issues affecting our motherland but, who will step up? Ngatimirei tione.