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Collen Mharadzano Correspondent
Having done my post-graduate studies specialising in the domain of peace and conflict resolution, the pervasive thread in that speciality is the flexibility of conflict in its ability to either be a vehicle for positive transformation or doom.

Conflict has since time immemorial been a ubiquitous neutral phenomenon which can be a causative agent for either positivity or negativity.

Zimbabwe finds itself at a critical juncture, where a new paradigm has to be defined in our quest to achieve multi-faceted growth.

It is either we allow hooligans and hoodlums to carve a new path which will certainly lead to inevitable doom for the nation, or we collectively format a new era where only the best of practically implementable ideas rule the roost, with our finest brains being paraded.

The Second Republic had already exhibited enough zeal and zest by opening up the platform for all with the positive energy for their nation to operate unperturbed. All hitherto restricted spaces were opened up, ready for tapping by those with requisite skills which can enhance the livelihoods of the populace.

All that which a responsible government ought to do in the modern era is being done, and signs of the listening mode of this New Dispensation are ubiquitous.

Even the Fourth Estate, which has always been in the trenches for want of a conducive operating environment, have had their concerns addressed through an assortment of legislative instruments. The Second Republic’s preoccupation with the people’s aspirations has then set the tone for a Zimbabwe we all want.

Having alluded earlier to the power of conflict in either being a catalyst of peace and development or being the much-dreaded source of misery for the nation, the latter has been the preoccupation of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the MDC-Alliance, which has the violence and confrontational approach as its distinguishing feature.

It’s sad that a party which purports to be an alternative to the ruling party has firmly entrenched voodoo beliefs which are alien to modern espoused traits of governance.

Barbarism and anarchism which the MDC-Alliance is pursuing are archaic practices which will leave even 16th century politicians wondering as to the sanity of their proponents.

Where has their sanity hibernated as they continue to live and dream violence whenever they face the media?

This violent attribute is an anathema to Zimbabwe’s avowed culture of tolerance and peace.

One would be tempted to ventilate the source of the MDC-Alliance’s violence demon. It is an adopted streak which its chequers have devised for them, all in the vain hope of instilling fear into the people to toe their retrogressive political discourse.

The MDC-Alliance wants to be a law unto themselves, rendering the country an untamed jungle where all and sundry have disregard for the laws of the land.

How a whole party, which has at least average lawyers whom one would be tempted to believe have the basic of appreciation of the law continue to behave and trudge a strange political path boggles the mind?

The actions of defiance to the August 16, 2019 ruling by an esteemed court which upheld the prohibition order by the police is another ample demonstration of that party’s disdain for the rule of law.

It was a deliberate manoeuvre which was intended to feed into the MDC-Alliance’s narrative of a brutal security sector, a scenario which would have salivated their foreign handlers who are still bitter with the already successfully completed land reform. The MDC-Alliance are unrelenting in their bid to paint a negative picture of a fictitious country in turmoil as evidenced by their application for demonstrations in major cities.

With Zimbabweans seized with creating their own wealth and eking out their own destinies, these intended violent demonstrations will be monumental failures.

Instead of applying negative energy in activities detrimental to the nation, the MDC-Alliance has an opportunity to join other political parties who are already engaged in the POLAD initiative, a locally brewed politically sound platform which has become an oasis of generic ideas with potential to change the nation’s political, social and economic fortunes.

The recent aggravated plummeting of the MDC-Alliance’s political fortunes in its former fortresses bears testimony to the electorate’s heightened consciousness of their political environment. Its loss in Ward 28 Cowdray Park to ZANU-PF in Bulawayo and the wrestling of Nyanga Ward 26 by the ruling party is a sign of its waning political fortunes.

The trend is to continue given its intransigence to all values that define Zimbabwe as a nation.

Violence is a recipe for dysfunctionality in any society. It has long been embraced by wild animals as an instinct to resolve grievances, with all human beings taking aboard the tried and tested virtues of peace, love and harmony.

Zimbabwe needs all its people together bonded by one totem, that of its sacred national anthem as it resolves all quagmires confronting it.

Having a politician hoodwinking the weak and the vulnerable through sponsoring beer binges as has become synonymous with some opposition elements, and that needs to be legally nipped in the bud.

Zimbabweans have become wiser electorally as they have consistently and persistently rejected agents of foreign interests in their political arena.

Definitely, some political outfits risk extinction as shown by the recent results of by-elections in Lupane East and Nyanga if they continue in their chosen path of self-destruction.

Zimbabwe’s democracy can only continue to flourish and blossom if its political entities deliberately chose peace and harmony as the starting point to political discourse. Any deviation from this route can only be egoistic and anti-people.

Zimbabwe cannot be home to such retrogressive elements, rather the conditions are ripe to engender the nation to the envisioned upper middle income economy.

Collen Mharadzano is a Nyanga-based political commentator