TRADITIONAL leaders in Zimbabwe have become extensions of the ruling Zanu PF party, if latest utterances by the party are anything to go by.
Zimbabweans who live in areas controlled by traditional leaders are seeing their rights to freely choosing their leaders being taken away by the very people that are supposed to uphold and maintain the law and dignity.
Chiefs in Zimbabwe have always enjoyed an iconic position in the community. They are supposed to be custodians of our heritage and keepers of our traditions.
Constitutionally, they are supposed to uphold the country’s laws and the dignity of their subjects.
However, every election season, they forget their constitutional obligations and dabble in partisan politics, particularly on behalf of the ruling Zanu PF party.
On Wednesday this week, Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa said the traditional leaders had helped chose the party’s candidates for the polls expected in August.
“In some instances, the (Zanu PF) politburo also reserved the right to consult with the local community, including the chiefs, to see whether the candidates who won the primaries can deliver the victory,” Mutsvangwa told journalists.
The public admission simply shows Zanu PF’s disregard for the law in the country. Chapter 15.2 of the Constitution reads: “Traditional leaders must not be members of any political party or in any way participate in partisan politics, act in a partisan manner, further the interests of any political party or cause or violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of any person.”
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Instead of being the embodiment and protectors of the culture and values of the communities that they lead, they have become appendages of the ruling party.
They are showing blatant disregard for the laws of the country for personal aggrandisement, eschewing their neutrality and aligning themselves with a political party.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is obliging their whims and, dare we say it: greed.
Last month, he said the 291 chiefs in the country will get new vehicles. This is in addition to the all-terrain double-cab vehicles the chiefs already received over the past few years from the same leader.
Personal greed has become paramount to this crop of traditional leaders than any respect of the Constitution or their subjects.
It is clear that in pampering traditional leaders, Mnangagwa wants chiefs to be his election agents, to campaign for him in the forthcoming elections.
The chiefs, it seems, will do his bidding and force their subjects to vote for him. That by dabbling in partisan politics means they are violating the Constitution does not seem to bother both Mnangagwa and the chiefs one bit.
And that is not a good sign of things to come.
