By Charles T.M.J. Dube

IN the last few weeks I have been up and about the national agenda and the right mindset that could be in line with our own sum bonum (total good) as Zimbabweans.
I also talked to possibilities of the national agenda being crowded out by the occupation of our minds with things that do not matter at the expense of the real issues that move us forward.
Zimbabweans are a pretty homogeneous people.
It is our common agenda that should bind us together as nationals and never this ‘zero sum’ game I once wrote about.
We share common opportunities and threats as a people and those should unite us.
There are those following the parallel agenda, occupying or vying for positions, who will appeal to these tags for their own selfish agendas.
Those pursuing parallel agendas will be found at family, village, district, provincial, national or even international levels.
It is therefore critical that we be able to evaluate the inferences of those attempting to influence us in this or that direction to see if they are pulling us towards our common good or their selfish ends.
This is just as true of politics, religion or business.
A thief, corrupt person or murderer will still remain so whether he belongs to my party, dialect grouping, village or region.
So are the nation builders.
Thus, those who love their country and are nation builders must seek and find each other no matter the identity they have assumed or prescribed.
We should therefore not just support an idea for who is behind it, but for what it is worth.
That is not to say that we should not see through possible ulterior motives for those behind an idea.
We should certainly be as wise as a serpent and as humble as a dove in our decision making matrix.
Next year we are going to be faced with elections.
I cannot be immune from the goings on as it would seem to be the game in town these days, even though I would still maintain that should not distract us
from the major task at hand, which is to build our nation and work at removing the obstacles to our development as a nation.
I have argued before that removing these obstacles and/or engaging in activities that build our nation is itself an enterprise that not only earns whatever actor income and livelihood but should also leave a legacy for posterity.
My point here is that election fever should not detract us from our own individual or national responsibilities.
At the national level, we must also watch out for the dangers of engaging in unsustainable programmes just to win the vote.
I can see somebody saying how can you do good things just because elections are just around the corner.
There is certainly nothing wrong with that as long as the people benefit.
If we can have good roads and clean running water because of elections, I will not cry foul myself.
To me, motives do not matter, but results do.
As long as we are in the right direction, as Oliver Mtukudzi sings.
We are certainly going to be bombarded with a lot of mudslinging in the run-up to the elections, with some true and some well-packaged lies, especially with the IT revolution around us.
Tichahwirira for the next couple of months, but zvimwe muite muchisefa (We are going to be told lots of stuff, but be discerning).
Is it those with resources we are going to see becoming our representatives or those with the best capacity to deliver?
Is the electioneering game about how much campaign resources you have, or how much of the goodies you are able to distribute and to whom, or what you know and what you can do for the people?
Then the parties are going to be holding primaries or coming up with some formulas to determine who should represent them in which constituencies.
People are already strategising on who to bring into their corners.
There is a lot of intrigue going on.
My question though, to those who would want to represent us at local authority and national level, is on their motive in deciding to represent the people.
Is it because they have a passion for the people and want to serve them or because they have realised there is power that comes from occupying an elective office from which they also want to benefit?
Some people who lost the last primaries in their parties have for the past five years been working on undoing whatever gains the incumbent brought to the contested constituency in a game of counters.
Even at the national level, some opposition MPs have been working against whatever good idea comes from the ruling party.
This kind of scenario I have termed, ‘reducing politics to a zero sum game’ where it gets reduced to competing individual interest (and never party) at party level or competing partisan interest at national level.
Our politics should coalesce towards goals and objectives and at the end, unites us in common purpose.
That is when our politics becomes mature and goal-driven more than party or self-driven.
And you as a voter, who will you vote for and why?
As long as your motive for voting is more driven by the broader picture than who buys you drinks more frequently, then we are on the same wavelength.
I will recommend that the reader takes a cue from Paul when he writes in Phil 2.3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your interests, but also to the interests of others.”