Succession politics and state administration in Africa: the case of Zimbabwe.

The research probes the impact of succession politics on state administration in Africa, Zimbabwe as a case study. Power transition in any political landscape promotes the regeneration and configuration of the political architecture and the functionality of the administrative apparatus of the state. Government performance may thus be viewed as a result of political processes and dynamics that influence governance in a polity. Political succession determines the composition of administrative organs of the state and many political leaders wish to work with administrative apparatus, which are compatible with their ideological orientation. Regular transfer of executive power is the major test of stability, legitimacy and maturity of a nation’s political system, but in Zimbabwe, political leaders have shown a consistent trajectory of violating or amending state and party constitutions to prolong their stay in power (Constitutional coup or a third term tragedy). This has been compelled by ruthless silencing of dissent by suffocating political activism culminating in strong personalities and weak institutions. Succession politics in Zimbabwe resembles executive dominance, egocentrism, excessive appointing powers which are compounded by lack of institutional framework for succession. This undermines the professional independence of the bureaucracy, which in turn inhibits the pursuit of sound governance. Therefore, passing the baton to the next leader has been a challenge; resulting in the personalization of, governments and political parties by leaders. While constitutions provide for elective congress for purposes of electing party leadership and/ or renewing their mandates, there is strong literature pointing to the capture of representative institutions such as Parliaments through strong normative values by leaders. This erodes the role of Parliaments or congresses as a democratic institution, as leaders have used it to “endorse” themselves. The research examines the influence of succession politics on state administration, especially on how the institution of the state and party politics in Zimbabwe conflate with the public administration system leading to state malfunction. This research adopts a qualitative research design that provides an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations on political succession and state administration in Zimbabwe. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, complemented by document review and analyzed through thematic content analysis. The study found out that, despite the existence of the legal frameworks that promote seamless power transition, political, societal and historical factors exacerbate Zimbabwe’s succession dilemma. Colonial legacy, societal laxity, the military factor, capture of state institutions by the political elite, lack of a retirement institutional mechanism, the principle of sovereignty and politicization of the succession process were found as the major hindrances to Zimbabwe’s succession trajectory. It recommends broad based and genuine civil service, electoral, security and political (politics with ethics and values) reforms to dismantle the current legacy imbedded in the political system.Thesis (PhD) (Public Administration) -- University of Fort Hare, 202