Godlyconstitutionzimbabwe

Godly Model to Political Governance

2010-08-11T08:29:00.001+02:00

Godly model on political governance.

One of the constitution making talking points relates to the system of governance that Zimbabwe should adopt. In this write up, want to share thoughts on a Godly model to political governance as an alternative to the theories that have been put forward in constitutional discussions.

Students of law, political science, and related disciplines are used to such terms as democracy, good governance, constitutionalism, rule of law, separation of powers and many other a terms, the definition and meaning of which is remotely agreed. Such terms however always find prominence when it comes to issues of governance, especially political governance. They all have origin in political theories on governance, traceable to many centuries back but popularized in the last few centuries during the American and French Revolutions. These lofty terms and principles have of late been widely accepted, albeit wrongly I will argue, as the panacea to the ills of tyrannical and unjust governments, as well as a ticket to a prosperous political society.

Looking at a principle or theory of governance that is Godly, it is said, and correctly so, that at creation, God ordained or sanctioned three institutions, namely; government [rulership and dominion]; marriage [family and pro creation]; and work [business, entrepreneurship, commerce].

In drafting the constitution, I propose a system of governance that is Godly, based on a Godly model, a constitution that also recognize and protect the institutions of marriage and work (business or entrepreneurship). In this article, I will address the concept of political governance viewed from a Godly perspective, and in subsequent posts, I will address the place of business and marriage in a Constitution.

The relevant portion of the bible that speaks of governance goes as follows;
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Genesis 1:26, 28.

There can be of course different ways of reading and interpreting this portion of the bible and I do not wish to prescribe a formula, but it is clear that at creation, God gave dominion of the earth to man. A careful reading also shows that man was not given authority over other man but over the earth. Man was not even given dominion over the woman, his wife! It is clear therefore that all people are in the sight of God equal. Dominion and rulership over the earth is a gift God gave to and a blessing He pronounced over man.

Government means rulership, dominion, authority, and power over something or someone. As indicated earlier, the original intent of God was to give man and his posterity rulership, dominion, power, and authority over the earth and its resources, and not over each other.

However, as the biblical account shows, and as has been preached over and over again, man sinned. He moved out of the track God intended him to walk in and all hell broke loose. No reason why we have all the evil vices around the world; corruption, killing, immorality, and all other forms of evil. Now the answer to good governance is not in democracy or its affiliates but in the model that God gives us.

The question that arises then is; what is God’s perspective on governance, the institution of government, and the foundation upon which such a government should stand? In other words, what is this model of governance that God has given us? It is clear that at the ultimate level, God has given all authority over both man and the earth to Jesus Christ, the best model of good governance and leadership there can be.

Those with a little of history background may have read of Napoleon Bonaparte, a great military general and Emperor of 19th century France who conquered almost the whole of Europe during his time. Having been declined an answer to the question, "Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?”, this is what Napoleon is reported to have said;

"Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man.... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me.... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts.... Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is accountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ."

I do not intend to preach on this platform but the point is that Jesus is the ultimate perfect and complete model of leadership there can be. Since he has made an open invitation to the whole world to embrace his kingdom and message, it would be inappropriate to impose his approach on the people unless they are ready to willingly embrace and take it up. However, at the natural level, upon which this write up draws inspiration, God has ordained the institution of government, with authority. In the book of Romans 13, it says that there is no authority except that which God has established and everyone must therefore submit himself to the governing authorities. The bible actually says that the authorities that exist have been established by God and he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

It does not mean however that God, having established the institution of government, with authority over people and resources, expect such governments to abuse or misuse the authority. Not at all! God does not condone at all the abuse or misuse of power. But the question still remains; What is God’s expectation of leaders, be it a President, MP, Judge, a Police Officer, Manager, Parent, or any other person in a position of authority?

It is clear that God expects of those who are in leadership to serve the people. The clear example of leadership that God gives us is the imagery of a shepherd of the sheep, with David and Jesus Christ as ring examples. The imagery of a shepherd and sheep is used to portray the nature of the relationship between the leader and those led, and the responsibilities thereof. As God spoke of David; I have found in you a man after my own heart, and, 'You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler. A shepherd protects the sheep, tenders them, lead and guide them, ensure that they have good green pasture to graze on and clean water to drink. To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

Bringing it closer to the constitution making process currently going on in the country, what Godly model of political governance can we embrace? As a starting point, leadership means service; you lead to serve those led. A leader, whether President, Minister, Judge, Commissioner, and any other leader whose office is created by the constitution or in terms of a provision contemplated by the constitution is there to serve the people. He or She is a caretaker of resources on behalf of the people, a shepherd of the people, with people always coming first. He is there to lead people in right doing and justice, in truth and love, with the best interests of the people always coming first. A leader is one who is prepared to sacrifice self interest for a cause greater than himself, and in this case, the people. He is ready to sacrifice himself for the good of the people. He does not load it over the people, but lead by example. When leadership is viewed from such an angle, the love for office becomes a love to serve, to sacrifice, to humble oneself, to love the people, a love for justice, for truth, for righteousness, the privileges and kudos going with such leadership and office being only by-products and secondary.

A leader is one who superintends over the affairs of those under him, not because he must, but because he is willing; not for the status that goes with the office, but out of eagerness to serve; not in order to boss around those who are being led, but to be an example of what is good and desirable.

Constitutional debate approached from that perspective takes a different dimension. It must be noted that every position of leadership inherently carries with it authority, otherwise without authority there is no leadership. The secret to good governance will not therefore be only the reduction and spreading of executive power, but also defining in detail how such power should be exercised. The constitution becomes a document that disciplines leaders in their exercise of authority.

Campaign and aspiration for political office and leadership must shift from desirability for the privileges that goes with such office, to the readiness to live by the standards expected of one who occupies such an office. The standards must be set out in the constitution; the discipline must be stipulated by the constitution, with dire political and legal consequences attached to non compliance.

Very soon I shall post a draft Constitution that captures in a legal way suitable for a Constitution the issues addressed in this and other posts.

muchanyereibarnabas@gmail.com

Godly Model to Constitution Making In Zimbabwe

2010-08-10T15:40:00.002+02:00

In creating this blog and publishing posts on the blog, I have two things in mind. I intend to set out my views from a Godly perspective in this and many other posts on the constitution making process currently underway in Zimbabwe. Secondly, I want to set in motion a discussion on what other people say about what must be included in the constitution, and whether in particular the Godly modelled constitution that I will advocate for is good for the country.

Zimbabweans have for the second time in 11 years embarked on a public, nationwide gathering of people's views for the purposes of making a constitution. The first attempt in 1999-2000, for various reasons, resulted in the rejection in a national referendum of a draft constitution that was put to the people.

There have been some misgivings with the current process from various sectors, as was the case with 1999-2000 process, the main objection being the modus operandi used to come up with the constitution. The main borne of contention is that the current process will not result in a genuine, people owned constitution because the current process is not people driven and democratic.

No matter the shortcomings or otherwise with the current process, it is vital for us as Zimbabweans to engage in an open and public discussion on the process of coming up with a constitution, and the contents thereof suitable and relevant for Zimbabwe, given its unique history, circumstances, and a number of other factors.

I personally take the stand that Zimbabwe and its people must come up with a Godly constitution. It is only when we have a Godly constitution on paper that we can at least start talking about the direction that we as a country must take as we move forward. If we get our foundation wrong, then whatever we build on that foundation is destined to collapse. It may take many years, decades, or even centuries before what we have built on collapses, but it will not last. We therefore need to build on some enduring and lasting foundation; something better than human wisdom and intellect, something better than the decision of the majority, but one that is true, secure, enduring, and timeless.

A constitution is a supreme legal document that defines how a country should be governed. It is a framework document that defines in detail, or gives guidelines, on how a people, confined to a defined geographical territory, should be governed. It creates offices and institutions, and defines and regulates their powers and functions. It creates rights and obligations for individuals and how they are to be administered.

Whichever angle one approaches the subject matter of constitution making from, the history of constitutionalism is found in the expression that executive power concentrated in the hands of a human being or a few individuals or single office is most likely to be abused, and therefore the exercise of such power must be regulated, spread out, and shared. This explains the world over, the prevalence a States founded on three pronged pillars made up of the Executive consisting of the Presidency and/or Prime Minister and the government, the Legislature consisting of Parliament responsible for making laws, and the Judiciary made up of courts responsible for interpreting the law.

Most governments all over the world, although having some unique features peculiar to their situation, have a system of governance structured along the lines stated above. It is believed that with strong institutions of these three pillars of the State, there will be checks and balances, and therefore enabling good governance, respect for human rights, promotion of democracy, resulting in prosperity, success, and peace.

In this write up, l intend to acknowledge that within the context of politics or governance issues, concentrated power in the hands of a human being or a group of individuals is subject to abuse and/or misuse. But I acknowledge this not as an absolute truth. The evidence however for the inclination by those with concentrated power to abuse it is clear in the history of arguably all nations, even those with fancied democracies.

Human history is awash with accounts of abuse of power by people in positions of authority. This history of violence and abuse is not attached to political life only, but to every aspect of human life that involves conferment of power on an individual or group of people. This conferment of power can be a natural act, voluntary act, or by way of some legal mechanism that regulates the conferment of such power.

Examples of instances where power conferred to an individual or individuals has been abused and misused include marriage relationships, corporate and government institutions

History is rampant with cases of abuse of power in any set up or scenario where power is not only concentrated, but given to an individual or group of people over either other people or over resources. For example, political power has been abused both in communal societies as well as the most fancied democracies. Whether its war crimes, genocides, holocausts, apartheid, colonialism, or mass killings of other people, it all boils down to abuse of power or authority. Whether the system of governance is based on communalism, capitalism, socialism, communism, or any other “ism” you can think of, there has been abuse. Even in so-called democracies, where there is rule of law, there are always avenues for abuse. Take for instance the concept of rule of law in a political system. A harsh law can be put in place by which a society must be governed. If that harsh law is strictly applied, that will not result in the rule of law but tyranny.

The point that comes out of this is that, beyond the written law, there must be a standard by which the desirability and fairness of that law is made and judged. There are also many reported financial abuses of power, massive corruptions, and poor judgment, and other shortcomings by presidents and leaders in the most highly regarded democratic societies.

The problem of abuse of power is not only remarkable in political circles. In any other instances where power is bestowed to a person or group of people, there have been reports of abuse. Companies, corporate institutions, and organisations have collapsed because of abuse or misuse of power by those in authority, because of poor administration, poor management, poor insight, poor judgement or poor governance. Families have collapsed, torn apart, and suffered because of abuse or misuse of power.

Either way, the effects of abused or misused power are horrendous. Millions of lives have been lost, hopes have been shattered, and many people’s lives have been made miserable, through or by the abuse of power and authority. The consequences of abused power are clearly noticeable, both at family, community, national, and international level.

Accordingly, it is my conclusion that power, however defined, and at whatever level, brings with it on the part of the person in whom it is vested the temptation to abuse or misuse it. I am not saying power is inevitably and exclusively subject to abuse, but the inclination by and temptation to human beings to abuse the power is highly irresistible, if not inevitable.

In reaching this conclusion, I wish to posit and suggest that, in the process of constitution discussion and debate, as well as the constitution making and drafting itself, people have to be careful in what they consider as the important issues to be covered in a constitution. As l have indicated before, human beings are prone, once in power, to abuse or misuse that power. There must be therefore values, standards, and considerations that transcend the written document called the Constitution. These must go beyond the written letter of the Constitution; they are the spirit of the Constitution.

When one therefore looks at constitution making process and the product that comes out of it, there is need for a lot of wisdom to identify the important issues a constitution must cover, how they must be crafted, foresight into their implications, their durability and sustainability, among many other considerations. It is not just about presidential terms, not just about personalities, not just about a party position, but much more than that. A constitution in a sense defines a national vision, it defines the culture and values of a country, it is the lifeblood of a country; and accordingly, must be well thought about, well drafted, and well received. In this vein one cabinet minister in the Government of Zimbabwe made this remark in a presentation at a Christian Opinion Leaders function recently as follows; "In conclusion, let us remind ourselves that we are in the throes of making a historic constitution for the nation. Our Christian opinion leaders have a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to influence the course of history. Do not be silent. You were brought into leadership for such a time as this. It is a deliberate set up. Endeavour to entrench Godly values into the constitution. What legacy are we going to bequeath to future generations?"

Indeed we are in the throes of making a historic constitution, an opportunity given us to influence the course of history, a deliberate set up, and a timely occasion for the present generation to influence our posterity after us. It is important that we engage in discussion to come up with a constitution that entrenches values that serves not only our present generation, but those to come, ad infinitum. We must come up with a document that future generations will look at with pride and say; this is what our forefathers bequeathed to us; a Godly constitution; a Godly heritage and culture; and a Godly inheritance.

I invite you; Now is the time, Now is the opportunity to stand up for God and make everything count for His kingdom, including the constitution of Zimbabwe.

Contact me at muchanyereibarnabas@gmail.com