Bill was introduced to amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Reconstruction Act (ZDERA), which was passed in 2001 in response to the Fast Track Land Reform Programme and the human rights violations that accompanied the politics of that period. The new bill clearly set out the preconditions for the lifting of the targeted measures against the ZanuPF regime and these related, in particular, to electoral reforms for the 2018 elections. More particularly, the bill stipulated the need for reforms in the following areas: the release of a biometric voter registration roll in both paper and digital form that could be endorsed by all registered political parties; an independent electoral management body nominated by the political parties represented in the Parliament of Zimbabwe; that the Defence Forces stay out of the electoral process as mandated by the Zimbabwe Constitution and remain non-partisan in the process; international observers from the US, AU, SADC and the EU be permitted to observe the entire electoral process preceding, on, and following the voting day; candidates be allowed free, full and equal access to the state media; and the civil society groups be allowed to carry out voter and civic education and to monitor the entire electoral process.116 These conditions largely
The new regime branded the new era the ‘New Dispensation’, whose mantra was, ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’. President Mnangagwa identified the economy as his major focus given its neglect under Mugabe. In this regard, the emphasis would be on agriculture as the mainstay, wth an ‘investment-led economic recovery’ that focused on job-creation.
followed the recommendations made by MDC Alliance member Tendai Biti in his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa in December 2017, which in turn, merely reiterated demands voiced by the political and civic opposition since the early 2000s.117
Mnangagwa’s attempt at renewal: The transition national economy November 2017-July 2018 In his first presidential address, Mnangagwa pledged that his administration would carry out various economic stabilisation measures, including promoting a market economy, ensuring the safety of foreign investment, and compensation for white farmers who lost their land in the Fast Track Land Resettlement Programme within the terms provided by the constitution. Mnangagwa also stressed the importance of unity and reviving the economy. He implored all party cadres to ‘now think, sleep, dream and walk productivity’. He further warned his party that: We will not be able to accomplish much for as long as our sense of party work remains hidebound in the template of looking at Zanu-PF as about politics, politics, politics. No more! It’s politics and economics! Let us recognise that the best emerge from the marketplace where livelihoods are made. Productivity at all levels must be religiously encouraged’.118 The new regime branded the new era the ‘New Dispensation’, whose mantra was, ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’. President Mnangagwa identified the economy as his major focus given its neglect under Mugabe. In this regard, the emphasis would be on agriculture as the mainstay, wth an ‘investment-led economic recovery’ that focused on job-creation. Foreign direct investment would be attracted to help address high levels of unemployment and transform the economy. In the national budget statement presented to parliament on
116 US Senate, 2018 117 Biti, 2017 118
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Herald, 2017b
CASE STUDY: NAVIGATING TURBULENCE IN ZIMBABWE
