In Zimbabwe, as in many African countries, land remains a basic strategic asset for those who live in the rural areas. Particularly, for those people in customary tenured areas, access to land is negotiated through identity. Most Zimbabweans either live or have land rights in customary tenure areas. Here, land is not a commodity that can be traded nor is it regarded as an individual asset. Disputes related to access, ownership and use of customary tenure land are handled in traditional courts presided over by chiefs and their subordinate structures. Those who dwell in customary tenure areas have no direct relationship with civil courts, where private property disputes are resolved, but instead, must go through the traditional courts. In one of my earlier publications, I have argued that the involvement of traditional courts in customary land tenure issues is the hallmark of classical citizenship. While I continue to proffer this argument in the current study, the study also illustrates how traditional authority has, over the years become an appendage of the state through strategic measures which include salaries for chiefs, vehicles, rural electrification, and power that comes with being entrusted with the role of distributing subsidies. Additionally, the exclusion of customary tenure areas from formal financial services means that households are at the mercy of government led subsidies which are steeped within the political interests of the ruling party ZANU-PF. In many cases, government subsidies end up being used as incentive to support the incumbent party. In such instances, elected officeholders take the lead in the distribution of these subsidies. The relationship between land tenure and democracy is perhaps the most compelling for reforms, but rarely discussed. In this study I expand on my previous interventions by arguing that the ways in which land is held in customary tenure areas and the existing subsidy regimes have played a critical role in restricting rural residents’ autonomy to make autonomous political choices. I further argue that the autonomy to choose is mostly compromised in contexts where access to productive resources such as land, markets, mechanical, financial, and physical capital are negotiated through subservience to traditional authorities who are politically affiliated.
{"title":"Exploring the Tenure - Democracy Nexus on Customary Land Right Holders","authors":"Tendai Murisa","doi":"10.59186/si.ry9fbpgu","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.59186/si.ry9fbpgu","url":null,"abstract":"In Zimbabwe, as in many African countries, land remains a basic strategic asset for those who live in the rural areas. Particularly, for those people in customary tenured areas, access to land is negotiated through identity. Most Zimbabweans either live or have land rights in customary tenure areas. Here, land is not a commodity that can be traded nor is it regarded as an individual asset. Disputes related to access, ownership and use of customary tenure land are handled in traditional courts presided over by chiefs and their subordinate structures. Those who dwell in customary tenure areas have no direct relationship with civil courts, where private property disputes are resolved, but instead, must go through the traditional courts. In one of my earlier publications, I have argued that the involvement of traditional courts in customary land tenure issues is the hallmark of classical citizenship. While I continue to proffer this argument in the current study, the study also illustrates how traditional authority has, over the years become an appendage of the state through strategic measures which include salaries for chiefs, vehicles, rural electrification, and power that comes with being entrusted with the role of distributing subsidies. Additionally, the exclusion of customary tenure areas from formal financial services means that households are at the mercy of government led subsidies which are steeped within the political interests of the ruling party ZANU-PF. In many cases, government subsidies end up being used as incentive to support the incumbent party. In such instances, elected officeholders take the lead in the distribution of these subsidies. The relationship between land tenure and democracy is perhaps the most compelling for reforms, but rarely discussed. In this study I expand on my previous interventions by arguing that the ways in which land is held in customary tenure areas and the existing subsidy regimes have played a critical role in restricting rural residents’ autonomy to make autonomous political choices. I further argue that the autonomy to choose is mostly compromised in contexts where access to productive resources such as land, markets, mechanical, financial, and physical capital are negotiated through subservience to traditional authorities who are politically affiliated.","PeriodicalId":234127,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Inclusive Societies","volume":"80 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124764292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The real effectiveness of foreign aid or overseas development assistance is evident in the improvement of the livelihoods of the recipients for the better. There have been numerous debates and discussions around the extent to which foreign aid brings about true development for countries in the global south. In the case of Zimbabwe, foreign aid and its reduction have been linked to the political standoff between the country and the west, particularly after the implementation of the controversial land reform program. Coupled with a protracted economic crisis that has stretched for over 20 years, the expectation was for the country to completely collapse. However, this has not been the case. Citizens found ways or alternatives to continue with their lives and develop mechanisms of resilience and solidarity that allowed them to keep on going even amid the political and economic crises of the last 22 years. How did they do this and what role can this play in advancing a more inclusive society and approach to development This paper explores this question.
{"title":"New Citizen Forms of Solidarity in Zimbabwe’s Crisis-Stricken Context","authors":"Eddah Jowah, B. Moyo","doi":"10.59186/si.jioxbwyh","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.59186/si.jioxbwyh","url":null,"abstract":"The real effectiveness of foreign aid or overseas development assistance is evident in the improvement of the livelihoods of the recipients for the better. There have been numerous debates and discussions around the extent to which foreign aid brings about true development for countries in the global south. In the case of Zimbabwe, foreign aid and its reduction have been linked to the political standoff between the country and the west, particularly after the implementation of the controversial land reform program. Coupled with a protracted economic crisis that has stretched for over 20 years, the expectation was for the country to completely collapse. However, this has not been the case. Citizens found ways or alternatives to continue with their lives and develop mechanisms of resilience and solidarity that allowed them to keep on going even amid the political and economic crises of the last 22 years. How did they do this and what role can this play in advancing a more inclusive society and approach to development This paper explores this question.","PeriodicalId":234127,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Inclusive Societies","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132283561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Current political inclusion studies focus on creating inclusive policies and platforms that aim to support the political inclusion of marginalised people. Although it is known that the socio political urban governance landscape can impact on real-life experiences of people living in contexts where civic space is politicised, this can be overlooked when exploring and implementing political inclusion policies. This paper addresses an important gap in the literature by exploring the contextual drivers of political inclusion, and exclusion, of citizens in local governance processes and platforms in Zimbabwe. The paper combined informal conversations with a review and analysis of secondary and primary data sources on political inclusion. The data elicited were analysed to construct key themes. The findings were interpreted through a lens of political inclusion and demonstrated how the socio-political local governance environment both enabled and inhibited political inclusion. Based on these findings, the paper offers recommendations for practitioners, researchers and policy makers wishing to promote political inclusion in local governance.
{"title":"Political Inclusion in Local Governance Processes in Zimbabwe: A Contextual Analysis","authors":"Delta Sivalo","doi":"10.59186/si.m7uxm0ui","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.59186/si.m7uxm0ui","url":null,"abstract":"Current political inclusion studies focus on creating inclusive policies and platforms that aim to support the political inclusion of marginalised people. Although it is known that the socio political urban governance landscape can impact on real-life experiences of people living in contexts where civic space is politicised, this can be overlooked when exploring and implementing political inclusion policies. This paper addresses an important gap in the literature by exploring the contextual drivers of political inclusion, and exclusion, of citizens in local governance processes and platforms in Zimbabwe. The paper combined informal conversations with a review and analysis of secondary and primary data sources on political inclusion. The data elicited were analysed to construct key themes. The findings were interpreted through a lens of political inclusion and demonstrated how the socio-political local governance environment both enabled and inhibited political inclusion. Based on these findings, the paper offers recommendations for practitioners, researchers and policy makers wishing to promote political inclusion in local governance.","PeriodicalId":234127,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Inclusive Societies","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130177127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The purpose of the study is to investigate the successes, gaps, limitations and failures of initiatives to improve financial inclusion in Zimbabwe and their potential impact on achieving citizen-centred inclusive socio-economic development. Our study contributes to the limited knowledge on financial inclusion in Zimbabwe by presenting findings from a 2021 study on the financial inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe. The study’s findings are complimented by a review of other citizen-focused studies on financial inclusion in Zimbabwe. Key findings from this study include notable effort by the supporting system to improve the policy environment, improved access to financial services for women and integration of digital technologies to enhance financial inclusion. However, the empirical evidence from the enterprises indicates continued challenges in both the demand and supply sides and also shows how these are caused by the complex nuances of operating in Zimbabwe, which require urgent attention. The study identifies the current limited commitment by political stakeholders to articulate deliberate policies and programmes that support citizen-centred financial inclusion as a major challenge. We propose a framework for relevant conceptualisation of financial inclusion which involves a deliberate process of citizen engagement in co-designing and co-creating intervention and impact measurement strategies that are responsive to the lived circumstances of the citizens and enterprise.
{"title":"Financial Inclusion in Zimbabwe: Re-imagining Prospects for Inclusive Stakeholder Involvement and National Development","authors":"Tendai Chikweche, Belinda Chaora, R. Cross","doi":"10.59186/si.7gsfpxq0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.59186/si.7gsfpxq0","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of the study is to investigate the successes, gaps, limitations and failures of initiatives to improve financial inclusion in Zimbabwe and their potential impact on achieving citizen-centred inclusive socio-economic development. Our study contributes to the limited knowledge on financial inclusion in Zimbabwe by presenting findings from a 2021 study on the financial inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe. The study’s findings are complimented by a review of other citizen-focused studies on financial inclusion in Zimbabwe. Key findings from this study include notable effort by the supporting system to improve the policy environment, improved access to financial services for women and integration of digital technologies to enhance financial inclusion. However, the empirical evidence from the enterprises indicates continued challenges in both the demand and supply sides and also shows how these are caused by the complex nuances of operating in Zimbabwe, which require urgent attention. The study identifies the current limited commitment by political stakeholders to articulate deliberate policies and programmes that support citizen-centred financial inclusion as a major challenge. We propose a framework for relevant conceptualisation of financial inclusion which involves a deliberate process of citizen engagement in co-designing and co-creating intervention and impact measurement strategies that are responsive to the lived circumstances of the citizens and enterprise.","PeriodicalId":234127,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Inclusive Societies","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131185435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article analyses Zimbabwe’s existing governance politics, specifically focusing on the politics of policy making. We argue that the existing form of governance politics in Zimbabwe is characterised by the vertical modality of rule whereby policies are crafted unilaterally at the apex of the party state with little or no input from affected stakeholders – including ordinary citizens - and then fed to citizens who are therefore treated as dispensable policy takers. We further argue that the current forms of politics and policymaking are similarly exclusionary in nature, relying on centralised governance approaches where the central government and the ruling party unilaterally make governance decisions and formulate policy without consulting citizens and other key stakeholders. Finally, we propose the adoption of a ‘distributed problem-solving model’ which acknowledges and prioritises the unique needs and interests of different social groups in governance and policy making.
{"title":"An Analysis of the Existing Form of Governance Politics in Zimbabwe and Proposals for a New Kind of Policymaking","authors":"E. Masunungure, Hardlife Zvoushe","doi":"10.59186/si.yifw6fns","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.59186/si.yifw6fns","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses Zimbabwe’s existing governance politics, specifically focusing on the politics of policy making. We argue that the existing form of governance politics in Zimbabwe is characterised by the vertical modality of rule whereby policies are crafted unilaterally at the apex of the party state with little or no input from affected stakeholders – including ordinary citizens - and then fed to citizens who are therefore treated as dispensable policy takers. We further argue that the current forms of politics and policymaking are similarly exclusionary in nature, relying on centralised governance approaches where the central government and the ruling party unilaterally make governance decisions and formulate policy without consulting citizens and other key stakeholders. Finally, we propose the adoption of a ‘distributed problem-solving model’ which acknowledges and prioritises the unique needs and interests of different social groups in governance and policy making.","PeriodicalId":234127,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Inclusive Societies","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134218096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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