TellZim Reporter
Following a viral campaign, HowFar that saw powerful government officials responding to citizens’ pertinent questions regarding public funds management as well as accountability on 2018 election promises, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) has launched HowFar 2.0 After4.
The HowFar 2.0 After4 campaign, launched on March 17 2022, like its first phase will take the engagement of public office holders to another level as citizens continue to ask questions, four years after 2018 elections were made.
Giving a key note address during the launch in Harare today (March 17), ZIMCODD Executive Director Janet Zhou said government has a mandate to be accountable to citizens on how public resources must be managed.
“The launch of the HowFar 2.0 After4 is not just for nostalgic purposes where we reminisce on the problems of Zimbabwe, talk about initial HowFar campaign launched on 3 September 2021 and then we go home.
“We want to reflect, contribute and pass on more building blocks of rebuilding this beautiful country. We have heard before, ‘nyika inovakwa nevene vayo. Ilizwe liyakwa ngabantu bayo’. This should give everyone a sense of duty, belonging, ownership and responsibility to make Zimbabwe a great, prosperous and a resilient nation positioned to tackle the disruptions caused by modernity, by pandemics, by climate change and the different policy disruptions that may come,” Zhou said.
Various Civil Society actors who participated in the first phase of the HowFar campaign also spoke at the launch highlighting the importance of having platforms of engagement between public office bearers and citizens to track progress and action on people’s rights.
ZimRights Director Dzikamai Bere buttressed that going into the HowFar 2.0 After4, they are not only demanding answers but also actions towards remedying issues that bedevil the country.
“The promises that have been made, coupled with the constitutional obligations for public leadership demand not only answers but also action. We used to demand more than action, for we have seen a tendency for non-progressive action. We must demand for progressive action,” Bere said.
Since its launch in September last year, the HowFar campaign has seen powerful actors in civil society demanding for public funds accountability, which saw Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana being drawn into answering some of the questions raised during the campaign on 2018 election promises.
Government also responded by launching its own campaigns, the ‘#SoFar’, ‘#Nyikainovakwanevenevayo’ and ‘#TrustED’ campaigns among others.
Some HowFar billboards that had been erected in various cities across the country were also defaced, with the one in Masvingo being uprooted completely.
The HowFar 2.0 After4 campaign will likely bring momentum in the continuous demand for information by citizens from public officials, information that is normally withheld despite citizens’ entitlement to it.
