I could never have agreed more with my fellow comrade.... When rats unanimously agree to honour the cat For the past two days the social media has been abuzz with strident voices from civil society and pro-democratic forces venting shock, disbelief, anger and consternation at Zimrights for awarding Joseph Chinotimba with the People’s Choice award on its third edition of the Community Human Rights defender Awards. We are being told Chinotimba won the award after a process that was independent and transparent and the online voting platform was open to every Zimbabwean. I then took my time to locate the logic behind this charade and came to the conclusion that the award has succeeded in sending a clear signal that even murderers can be rewarded. It will take the last level of amnesia in the minds of the organizers of the event as well as the voters to forget that Joseph Chinotimba has been involved in cases of human rights violations that does not warrant an award but a long jail sentence. Those who defend this award risk being subjected to perennial public ridicule by the progressive members of the civil society most of whom have been on the bitter receiving end in their fight for the rule of law and defence of civic liberties. If this result came after a process that was independent and transparent as we are being made to believe by Zimrights, then as rational Zimbabweans we must begin to lose faith and confidence in this thing called voting, whether it is voting for the Community Human Rights defenders or voting for public office bearers because it produces unintended results. The recent act by Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) can only be compared to an absurd situation where a group of rats agree to award a cat for its prowess and distinguished valor in fighting hunger by eating rats. Whether the intention is to show respect to the rat or to be strategic in approach, there will be no difference as the consequence of such an act is always disastrous. The cat will not stop eating the rats because that’s its staple food. Editor by writing this letter l don’t intend to join the bandwagon of my fellow Zimbabweans who have condemned the award but would like to go a step further by advising Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) to withdraw the award as a matter of principle and an honour to those who have suffered at the hands of the award winner in Glen Norah after being accused of supporting the opposition as well as countless others who interacted with the self-styled commander-in-chief of the land invasions. This will also go a long way in protecting the integrity of Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) and the Community Human Rights defenders awards considering that we will have the fourth edition of the same event next year. By Simbarashe Moyo- Human Rights Activist and Defender
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 14:58:22 +0000
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