D.Tinashe Hofisi: Reflections

Former President Robert Mugabe and Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirayi   This article analyzes the removal of Robert Mugabe in the context of the strength of the opposition, suggesting a correlation between a severely weakened opposition and the removal of the nonagenarian dictator. It builds on previous writings which assert that Robert Mugabe’s incumbency aided the opposition’s messaging and recruitment. This article argues the converse; that a strong opposition was central to Robert Mugabe’s claim for perpetual legitimacy as the vanguard of the struggle against neo-colonialism and imperialism. Without a vibrant personification of the abstracts he purported to defend his party and country against, the stage was set for creation of the critical consensus necessary for his ouster.   In this analysis, strength of the opposition is measured on three bases: its representation in arms of the state (political representation), its internal cohesion (operation a...

Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirayi and Former President Robert Mugabe  Robert Mugabe’s resignation as President of Zimbabwe on 21 November 2017 signaled the end of more than just his own era in politics. It cast a grave shadow and ominous portent for the viability of opposition politics in general, and that of the MDC-T and its leader in particular. Robbed of the main subject of its critique and model for antithesis, the MDC-T finds itself trapped by the decades’ long portrayal of their leader as the only viable alternative to Robert Mugabe.  From its formation, the MDC has been the putative anti-Mugabe political outfit; setting itself apart as the institution with the capacity to translate the national anti-Mugabe sentiment into significant electoral outcomes. Two slogans anchored its anti-establishment rhetoric; the official ‘ chinja maitiro/guqula izenzo’  or ‘ change your ways/behaviour’  as well as the unofficial but catchier ‘ M...

In this blog post, I analyse Marc Faber’s racist remarks from a Zimbabwean post-colonial perspective and explain  why there is  tacit local acceptance of his racist premise. Hong Kong based Swiss financier Marc Faber In October 2017, it was reported that a Hong Kong based Swiss financier published a claim that American success was due to the racial superiority of its occupiers: Thank God white people populated America, and not the blacks. Otherwise, the U.S. would look like Zimbabwe [1] This is consistent with white supremacists’ fixation with the economic deterioration in Zimbabwe as evidence that black people are inherently unfit to govern. [2] It also explains why the American responsible for the Charleston Church shooting Dylann Roof, who himself had never been to Zimbabwe, was pictured donning both the colonial era flags of Zimbabwe and South Africa. [3] Yet the underlying claim of supremacy of white, and white colonial, rule seems to be a shared sent...

This blog post analyses the claims by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development regarding the effectiveness of parliamentarians and participation in the constitution making process. Zimbabwean Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Patrick Chinamasa On 28 September 2017, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Patrick Chinamasa, restated his claim that the membership of the Zimbabwean legislature is an undue burden on the country's wage bill. [1]   The Parliament of Zimbabwe has 350 members representing an estimated population of 14 million people.  The Finance Minister was stressing the need to reduce the national wage bill and in so doing, made the point that the structure of parliament is unsustainable given the limited State resources. [2]   One could have mistaken the Finance Minister to be reading from paragraph 10 of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)’s ‘ take charge’ talking points to reject t...

Procession of Judges led by Chief Justice Chidyausiku (as he then was) This article was published in the Zimbabwe Electronic Law Journal (Volume I) 2016 on 1 April 2017 and is available at  http://www.zimlii.org/zw/journal/%5Bnode%3Afield_jpubdate%3Acustom%3AY/zimbabwe-electronic-law-journal-vol-i-2016#_A_critical_legal Introduction This article provides an overview of the tangled political machinations that have taken place in relation to the appointment of a new Chief Justice of the Republic of Zimbabwe. It draws from comments made by various organizations and individuals and compares the mooted constitutional amendment bill with regional and international standards. The most senior member of the judiciary, the Chief Justice, must be appointed purely on merit and this appointment must not be influenced by political considerations. It is therefore highly regrettable that there appear to have been political manipulation to try to influence this process. This coul...