Meet 2028 presidential aspirant Arthur Gwagwa

Oscar J Jeke

Zim Now Reporter

Rising from Chivhu is a gem glad with confidence and courage, ready to wrestle and tussle for a platform that many dare not engage.

Arthur Gwagwa, born in the 70s, has his eye on modernising Zimbabwe through facets that arrange societal values to form a well-ordered society that accommodates and centralise basic fundamentals of accountability perpetrated through incorporating modern technology.

Son to a former Churchhill Boys High teacher and water engineer, he graduated as a lawyer, now studying towards a PhD in Philosophy in the Netherlands, Gwagwa holds a vessel of experience, most specifically through working with and around many democracies in the world.

“Those who know me could never doubt God’s call on my life. Genuine change in a country takes a generation (40-50 years).”

Gwagwa believes the time for him to rise to the occasion is ripe, while saying that the goal is not about becoming the president but rather prioritise the process that shifts the country towards progress.

“This can only be done by having a formidable opposition to the current government, not even so much about taking away power but tabling alternative ideas that will jog them out of their complacency.”

He does not subscribe to politics of big names, especially prevailing in the current political ground, he sees this type of politics moving away from the basics, simple politics of idea implementation to benefit the country rather than the asymmetrical positions, we currently find ourselves in.

On accomplishing his dream of becoming president, Gwagwa does not mince words, he sees the current leadership in their twilight years thus there is need for a new crop, that takes over, a crop of leaders born without war credentials or entitlement to the position but based on merit and hard work.

“The current government’s life span ends with the leaders who engaged in the war of liberation. For all their faults, we must respect them as they have earned the credentials to lead,” says Gwagwa as he hints at letting the old age enjoy and hold on as long as they can with an impending decline on the horizon, while he acknowledges efforts and sacrifices of the current crop of leaders, he feels more can and will be done if like minds are arraigned.

But believes as the end draws near for the liberation war credentialed leaders, there is need to treat the new crop of leaders as peers that consent to criticism, informed decisions and allowing democracy to take its course, “That is the generation of our peers and the generation we will challenge.

“It’s easy to challenge someone your age because you went to school with them, you sat at the same desk and you can say, ‘Hey Buddy you are wrong,’ which is something that might appear disrespectful to our president’s age group.”

With an appeal to the Zimbabwean electorate, the lawyer and soon to be professor wants to start preparing for what he sees as the inevitable, however he leaves the powers to decide whether to be part of a political system or not in the hands of his supporters. He lets the people to decide if they want to navigate political change through his vision or choose to stick to the usual option

Gwagwa is a firm believer in incorporating feminism into society whereby he advocates for equal opportunities for girls that are disadvantaged. He helped the Obamas in launching YALI in Washington, America, while also coming up with his own scholarship program that specifically targets girls to ensure they remain in school with all necessities provided.

His idea of leading Zimbabwe is based on courage, orderly society where basic infrastructure works, the incorporation of digitalized public services that stop and identify leaks in the system. He believes it is much easier to track how and where funds have been directed using data analytics.

“The current chaos is caused by a lack of clear digital audit trails not just at central but local government levels where a house can be sold to ten people,” he advocates for a well orderly society that targets low hanging fruits and areas that can have high visibility to the youth given that they are the most impressionable.

The idea to raise the bar of aspiration through functioning systems drives him to prepare for the presidency come 2028 election.