Elections and the spectacle of illiteracy.

“As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it has been acquired, the second-best recourse is to limit its scope.” Alberto Manguel.

This statement speaks truth to what obtains in Zimbabwe each time there is an election.

The right to vote is one of the most cherished rights of citizenship in any democracy and it’s the basis of any governing power.

It is a fundamental political right. Democracy postulates enlightenment, hence illiteracy is a menace. Democracy assumes that there is a high degree of political awareness and free will purpose and choice.

Zimbabwe, is envied by many as the beacon of Africa when it comes to literacy levels. It has the highest literacy level in Africa. It only pains the heart when it comes to election time that this literacy level dramatically drops to unprecedented levels.

The number of assisted voters based on illiteracy does not do justice to the revered record and statistics which the country holds.

The fact that the illiteracy is so conspicuous during an election makes it suspicious. It is of the same rose smelling differently on different days. Is it a case of the politically timid or the ones drenched and dripping in political fear seeking shelter in the cocoon of illiteracy to the extent of being helped and automatically exonerated from reprisal if the election outcome favors the other side of the divide? Democracy abhors coercion.

It is disheartening looking at the numbers insightfully. It is no longer an interesting dilemma for the supposed illiterate but genuinely a political and social crisis. Democracy and illiteracy cannot co-exist. A glance at the Bikita West by-election numbers of the assisted voters, will immediately dismantle your confidence in the statistics that we are top notch in Africa on literacy.

Besides infringing on the right to vote, illiteracy curtails the free exchange of views and informed choices which enables real democracy. When the illiteracy trajectory extends into the polling booth it automatically threatens this indispensable right. There seems to be a durable institutionalized fear mentality among rural electorate to the extent of declaring themselves illiterate and in that process, relinquish their fundamental right to choose as it may not be exercised the same way they would have done if not assisted by someone.

The fact that ZANU PF won the by election by a landslide margin shows that the economic situation of a country is not a determining factor in elections. The electorate are at the mercy of vicious poverty which is strangling their hopes of a better future. The government is not making it any better.

As the year 2017 inches away towards 2018, no one would want to think of the year 2008. Everyone’s prayer should be asking the almighty God for absolute tolerance in the country. Tolerance of others opinions is essential in a democracy. Dogmatism, suppression of dissent and intolerance are eternal enemies of democracy and peace.

Voltaire in his famous letter to Rousseau, said “I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it”. That’s the hallmark of democracy.

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