Open Letter to Dr. Ibbo Mandaza

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Dear Dr. Mandaza,

I’ve read your Bulawayo24 column claiming Zimbabwe’s crisis can’t be solved by elections and proposing a National Transitional Authority (NTA) to rule for three to five years. With all due respect, this idea is not just flawed—it’s utterly insane and a direct attack on our democracy. Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution, the supreme law you seem ready to toss aside, guarantees elections every five years as the people’s right to choose their leaders (Section 143). Who are you to say unelected “respected Zimbabweans” should take that power away? Who decides who’s respected? This isn’t renewal—it’s a gambit to silence the people’s voice, and I’m calling it out.

You argue elections are broken, citing a captured judiciary, politicized security forces, and rigged polls. But the constitution already has answers: enforce judicial independence (Section 164), reform the electoral commission (Section 239), and protect free media (Section 61). Suspending elections for years doesn’t fix these—it buries them under an unelected body with no accountability. The constitution doesn’t allow for this NTA nonsense, and you know it. Even if a president is removed, a vice president steps in until the term ends (Section 97)—not some conference-picked elite. Your plan spits on the one day every five years when Zimbabweans, no matter how poor or powerless, get to say, “This is my country.” That’s not a problem—it’s democracy’s heartbeat.

You claim elections deepen divisions, but I say they’re the only way to expose and heal them. Even if cheated, voting teaches us to demand better. Look at Zambia—Hakainde Hichilema won in 2021 because people kept voting, despite flaws (Wikipedia, Zambia President). Here, you want us to stop trying? That’s surrender. And don’t get me started on your “all-stakeholders conference.” Who’s invited? Who’s paying? The constitution says power comes from the ballot, not hotel boardrooms. Your idea smells like the 2017 coup, where elites swapped one boss for another while we watched.

I’ve asked you to my show repeatedly to debate this, and you’ve dodged me. That’s not the courage of a liberation stalwart—it’s the silence of someone who knows their idea won’t hold up. Zimbabweans aren’t fools. We see through plans that give power to a few while we’re told to wait. The 2021 constitutional amendments already weakened our democracy by letting the president appoint vice presidents (Freedom House, 2022). Now you want to pause elections entirely? That’s not bold—it’s reckless.

Elections aren’t perfect, but they’re ours. One day of voting doesn’t cause our crisis—it shows us where to fight. Fix the system, don’t burn it down. Come to my show, Dr. Mandaza. Face me and explain why you’d rob Zimbabweans of their vote. Democracy deserves a fight, not a funeral.

Sincerely,

Devine Mafa

ZEM