it was during this period that Zimbabwe emerged as a highly valued and wellregarded participant in peacekeeping missions around the world. Finally one should
note that no parliamentary or public debate took place on fundamental issues of
security sector governance and policy on the basis of the 1987 Unity Accords.
Other opportunities for transformation of the security sector might have been
occasioned by the 2002 constitutional referendum process and although some
might argue that this issue was an element in the rejection of the proposed
constitution, no changes subsequently took place. Thereafter the elections of 2008
and the subsequent SADC mediation process leading to the establishment of the
Government of National Unity (GNU) provided a major opportunity to address
security sector governance issues. But neither the mediation process itself, nor the
GNU implementation, addressed these issues as the parties to the GNU held widely
contested and partisan views on security sector governance and failed to agree on a
common approach. On its part SADC was clearly unwilling to press the issue in such
circumstances.
As previously detailed above, Zimbabwe also missed the continental dialogue on
security sector governance and subsequent adoption of an African Union policy as a
result of the ‘regime change’ threat and for much the same reasons as had prevented
the GNU from productively addressing the issues.
Having reviewed the missed opportunities it is necessary to ask whether we have in
fact transformed the inherited Rhodesian security sector policies in a fundamental
and people-oriented manner and if not, how we might actually move towards a
serious national dialogue and process in order to do so.
To illustrate this point in a relatively uncontroversial manner let me assess the
transformation of border management as an example.
Colonial border management policy was designed and implemented to manage and
facilitate migrant labour, to supervise and facilitate trade for capitalist industry and
commerce and to secure the physical borders and prevent either free movement of
communities, as had been possible in pre-colonial times, or criminal activities or
threats. What has changed? Specifically what has changed for communities divided
by artificial colonial borders or for market women who seek to move goods across
the Limpopo River in order to feed their families? Surely a free and independent
Zimbabwe could have a more people-oriented border management policy.
Finally and on a more controversial note, let me simply repeat my characterization
of the freedom component of the liberation struggle objectives I outlined earlier:
“Freedom from racial oppression and discrimination; from arbitrary arrest;
from persecution; freedom of expression and of course more broadly
freedom to till the land, to send children to affordable schools and to have
access to the resources and opportunities only available to a minority
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