Values & Principles
The Zimbabwe Transformative Party advocates a vision for a free social order unblemished by past experiences. To achieve this ZTP members need to understand and promote the values and principles which sustain it.
Freedom
- Freedom is the ability of individuals to speak, choose, act, think and associate independently without externally imposed restraints or coercion.
- It is the collective exercise of the freedoms enshrined in Chapter 4 of the Zimbabwean constitution.
- Freedom drives sovereignty, human progress, self-determination, self autonomy and personal liberty.
- ZTP views freedom as a right and not a privilege granted by government
- ZTP revere freedom of expression, assembly, association and conscience and recognizes that without these the enjoyment of other freedoms is difficult and impossible to defend.
- ZTP will champion freedom and opposes state dominion and limitation of the Bill of Rights
Opportunity
- Opportunity is what gives freedom practical application.
- Opportunity entails that every individual is presented with choices for which a rational decision can be made in order to create a reasonable outcome of the choices which is consistent with democratic principles.
- Opportunities must not be arbitrarily restricted. The ZTP believes the role of its government is to broaden the choices available to citizens be it religiously, socially, culturally or economically.
- Opportunities can only be accorded to all when the existence of differences is acknowledged. This broadens the knowledge base, debate and healthy competition which are all key tenets of modern day democracy.
- ZTP acknowledges that Zimbabwe is made up of a diversity of religions, traditions, cultures and races which must be accorded equal opportunity to strive in a democratic society.
- Pursuant to that, ZTP will promote equal opportunities for all Zimbabweans regardless of religion, race, colour, tribe, status, political affiliation, ethnicity, education, sex, gender, marital status, custom, culture, pregnancy, disability, economic status or whether one is born in or out of wedlock.
- ZTP will strive to accord women and men equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres.
Fairness
- Fairness demands that one be impartial, non discriminatory and just
- Fairness is a restorative principle which allows society to be tolerant of diverging views. Through fairness we understand that personal interests should not be used to override the welfare of others on the the “other side”
- Politically fairness implies that those who emerge victorious in elections should not use their ‘temporary’ upper hand to change rules so as to prevent losers from taking office or influence the society in the future.
- ZTP holds that nobody has monopoly of ideas and the principle of sovereign equality accords all citizens equal rights and opportunities in life
- The ZTP will uphold and advocate for fairness in the Zimbabwean political arena through universal adult suffrage, equality of votes, fair and regular elections, adequate representation of the electorate and orderly transfer of power after elections as well as respect of all political parties.
Transparency
- Transparency exists when the exercise of power and authority is made open to interrogation and public scrutiny.
- Transparency ensures that public office is held at the pleasure of citizens and helps to discourage elitism
- Citizens have a right to public access of information held by the government. This enables the public to hold their elected representatives accountable for the actions and decisions taken on behalf of the citizens
- In closed societies leaders govern with impunity because citizens have limited access to critical information. This hampers citizens from making informed choices and cultivates an environment where mismanagement and corruption is rampant.
- The ZTP will champion transparency and openness in its decisions and conduct bearing in mind that the government is accountable to the citizens of Zimbabwe.
Accountability
- Accountability emphasizes that the government is answerable to the citizens.
- It creates a mutually beneficial relationship between the governed and those entrusted with leadership and governance
- Accountability obligates those entrusted with leadership/governance to discharge their responsibilities and fulfill diligently the objectives which they undertook to achieve under oath.
- On the other hand those governed( the citizens) have not surrendered their absolute rights to the whims of the government but ONLY have delegated the task of governing to elected representatives and citizens wield the power and responsibility to reward or sanction on the basis of how duties are discharged.
- Elected leaders rule with impunity when there is a breakdown of accountability. Such a scenario is dangerous because standards drop resulting in the breakdown between performance rewards and sanction.
- The ZTP thrives to ensure that the social contract between the citizens and their representatives is strengthened through accountability both in the party itself and Zimbabwe at large
- The ZTP will fulfill this by championing evidence based decision making.
- Ideas and positions must be able to stand public scrutiny and modifications in the face of empirical evidence and facts
- To foster accountability in the public domain all appointments into public offices must primarily be based on merit.
- ZTP views principle and evidence as complementary in decision making.
Excellence
- Excellence is the continuous pursuit to do even better even if performing on the best level possible.
- Excellence helps society to shun mediocrity! Pursuing excellence goes beyond seeking mere competence.
- Innovation is an important outcome of the pursuit of excellence and it improves efficiency and effectiveness of leadership and governance.
- Excellence necessitates the valuing of expertise and those with a record of delivering superior outcomes regardless of religion, race, tribe, ethnicity, political affiliation, sex, gender, culture, marital status, disability and economic or social status must be entrusted with public office
- The pursuit of excellence is therefore synonymous with appointing public offices on the basis of merit.
- The ZTP will diligently pursue excellence in its practices and appointments.
Constitutionalism and Rule of Law
- Constitutionalism is the adherence to the powers, limits, rights and duties conferred to the government by the constitution.
- Constitutionalism is therefore a political orientation to constitutional principles chief among them the rule of law, separation of powers, devolution and local governance and separation of party and state.
- Strict adherence to the constitution of Zimbabwe is the pinnacle of progress and economic growth because a mutually shared social contract provides an unshakable foundation and stability upon which all the other facets of society can flourish.
- Constitutionalism allows for taming of political uncertainty arising from electoral outcomes as the rules of engagement remain unchanged.
- Constitutionalism amplifies confidence in both local and global partners, businesses, strategic allies and investors when governments change.
- The principle of separation of party and state is realised when public representatives rise above partisan interests and expand their interests and care to all members of society.
- Constitutionalism also entails that the three pillars of government namely the legislature, judiciary and executive operate as autonomous bodies without any having undue influence on the other.
- Constitutionalism allows for genuine and meaningful devolution of power between different tiers of government as enshrined in section 5 of the Zimbabwean constitution.
- Devolution is a salient principle of governance because it ensures that decisions are brought closer to the local people, communities, businesses and other social spheres they affect.
- As such devolution should fully satisfy its two faces that is authority and funding as there can never be effective authority without requisite resources to exercise it.
- ZTP will therefore adhere to constitutionalism by: (a) Defending the independence of the and integrity of the separate branches of the government.
(b) Championing and defending liberal constitutional democracy
(c)Ensuring that political goals do not obscure or interfere with public duties to all citizens
(d)Ensuring that devolution is fully funded and operational.
Redress
- Redress or national healing seeks to remedy or correct an unfair or unjust situation.
- Today the Zimbabweans society is highly polarized due to past injustices arising from conflict “emanating from, but not limited to,” political violence, systematic marginalization, Gukurahundi issue, forced urban migration(Murambatsvina of 2005), selective application of the law, partisan politics, detentions without trial and general disparities in education and economic opportunities
- The consequences of these injustices remain compounded by poor governance and manifest themselves in high rates of poverty, unemployment and general inequality of opportunities
- Policies which tackle marginalization and inequality such as providing universal education and health care and participation in the economy are the the pillars of the ZTP programme of action.
- So unfathomed is the commitment to redress the past and create an open society for all such that this is part of our vision as the ZTP.
- The ZTP strives to overcome our past misdemeanors and mistakes whether deliberate or unintentional and create a just and equitable future.
- God is LOVE and has taught humanity to forgive one another.
Empathy
- To best represent people one should be sensitive to their circumstances, lived realities and experiences.
- Empathy cannot be enforced but rather it must be authentic
- A government which is not empathetic to its citizens is divorced from its people and breeds resentment, voter apathy and can only thrive on coercion to implement its policies.
- The ZTP will espouse empathy and seeks out representatives who embody this value
Integrity
- Integrity entails that one should have an undivided or unbroken completeness and moral ethics
- A public official should have the highest ethical standards society can expect.
- Similarly a political party should be of virtue and be able to fulfill its promises.
- The tragedy of Zimbabwean politics today is a myriad of unfulfilled promises and hollow propaganda hence the need for a party of integrity.
- The ZTP thrives to live the values and principles professed here and transform the lives of millions of Zimbabweans.