Now is the most difficult time of our struggle While it is evident and undeniable that we have entered the danger zone in Zimbabwe; this is neither time to despair nor to doubt the authenticity of our struggle and its ideals. It is time to re-strategize and refocus the machine. Now is the most difficult time of our struggle. Extraordinary measures to maintain our ship steadfast are important overtures. History is full of icons and victories that emerged out of desperate moments. I believe in the party that I voted for on July 31st. I have no regrets about that, and I am ready to defend my vote to the letter and spirit. I also believe that the values and principles of our political competitor will not and cannot take Zimbabwe anywhere. The electoral playing field was nowhere nearer even. It is easier to win an election through manipulation of the electoral process and state institutions. However, it is not easy to put bread and butter in the generality of the populations’ kitchens. It is easy to be sworn in as MP, Councillor and President with the electoral process we have all witnessed. But it will be the impact the next government will make on our roads, clinics, taps, payslips, classrooms, lecture theatres that is critical in the advancement of this country. We are no strangers to living in a crisis environment but I believe our Lord did not make us literate Zimbabweans to suffer. We have learnt a lot from this election, and there are so many things to explore, deplore and correct. As an individual; the values and ethos of a new democratic governance culture reigns supreme in my veins. I am not ashamed to say this even in the face of so called ‘defeat’ which I know that partly it is human manufactured and partly a weakness of all progressive forces within and outside Zimbabwe. I remain committed to the letter and spirit of those values. Those values are the only foundational cornerstones that will set this country on a recovery path. For now the forces of darkness have prevailed over light and progress. That should not deter us fellow Comrades, in 2008 we rounded them up and they conceded defeat. They regrouped and came back through the back door of violence and regional facilitation. Therefore; it remains within our hands to make a comeback. Five years from now there will be another election. People can grow old but our foundational ideas of a society defined by good governance and democracy cannot grow old. It is what we do between now and then that will define our fate. I do not think that we are down and out but the personalisation of state institutions denied us yet another victory. The disappointment It is not only me who is disappointed. Through virtual channels, I see that millions other Zimbabweans feel aggrieved. Grief and disappointment are critical cornerstones of any struggle. The consolidated impact of the two determines action. Over the past weeks, I have met and talked to very angry faces in my motherland. One comrade said in a discussion ‘don’t talk to me; I can do anything with this disappointment’. Disappointment that reaches boiling point is key in stimulating action. I used to read it in history textbooks. It was unimaginable and unrealistic then. The works of Adolf Hitler, Bernito Mussolini and Idi Amin looked fiction and too theoretical in my history lessons in my rural Buhera. It was difficult to comprehend this as one historian writes ‘Mussolini was a dreamer, showman and demagogue’. Now it is realistic in my life, I have seen it happen. I am living in the aftermath of it; which is very uncertain. I talked to my folks in my native Buhera about this election and one Comrade said ‘We voted for them because we were afraid of what they did to us in 2008 after freely expressing our choice’. Indeed it was a protest vote filled with intimidation and haunted by the ghost of the 2008 runoff. The inclusive government was romantic in exorcising this ghost and it worked to the advantage of our competitor. Violence is an important tool in political organisation and reorientation. History and the world is testament to this. We saw this in 2008, violence was unleashed and as we speak we lost dear colleagues. Colleagues that today ‘are not happy where they are because the struggle has regressed’. However, violence is an important tool when it is practised with the blessing of state security machinery. If the opposite is reality, it is a difficult tool to achieve objectives as it may take long with only bloodshed. I expect anything from the so called ‘winners’. I advise them that they can only wish away us at their expense. I advise them not to be emotional in leading this country. We now know what is good and bad in state governance. We know how state finances, healthy systems, education, water and sanitation and power should be managed. I see that this regime took 17 years to rise to power. Theirs was a struggle supported by almost everyone. Today, I am convinced that the ideals and values of our struggle are cast in stone that no one can erase. I see that young people of Zimbabwe are heroes of our struggle. I see that history will be written in our names. I see that we owe this struggle more than the struggle owes us. Over the past weeks, I have received words of hope and courage from colleagues in Africa and the world. I see that Zimbabwe is newsworthy all over the world. I also realised that a lot of people sympathise with the people of Zimbabwe. One of them said ‘in God’s time, dead or alive this regime will go’. Our action or in-action is paramount at this point in time. Above all the late Prof. Makumbe left us some words of wisdom; ‘You can’t displace a fully-fledged dictator with democratic means’. It is at this time that new leaders full of courage and determination emerge. It is also at this time that irrational thinking pays off. It is also this time that pain and suffering is important as compared to short term happiness. Why are we so obedient? Why are we so obedient to the law when key state institutions are so disobedient? What are we in this country? Where are Zimbabweans? Are we really human beings or we are all ‘fake’. Why do we remain so silent even when people are trouncing on our toes? The decision by ZEC to dishonour some fundamental provisions of the Electoral Act is not only weird but a mark of state capture. After the flouting of electoral procedures by ZEC, I retained hope in the justice delivery system. I was shocked by the High Court decision to postpone indefinitely the hearing of the MDC’s bid to get more information from the just ended election. Are we really citizens of this country? We vote and they refuse with the same information about our votes! We thought that they would end up in denying and frustrating the voter registration process. I remain in disbelief that if there is a very clear ‘winner’ like in the July 31st election, election information is still concealed. Public information should not and must not be concealed. Who are you to conceal our information? Your day will surely come and you will taste the medicine. Every dog has its own day. Today you might have your shields but that day you will look for them and not find them. You will fall from grace and you will be a laughing stock in rural dust roads and urban sidewalks. We will wine and dine talking about you. We will tell our children and grandchildren that in former times; public information was concealed with an untouchable electoral body. We will tell them that election information was concealed in a pitch marshalled by the justice delivery system. I see that the justice delivery system has failed to be a neutral referee in our society. I see this as writing an examination and the student not allowed feedback. Postponing a critical court judgement to me is a sign of cowardice. It’s a sign of failing to settle a dispute. It is a sign of not being in control. In short it is a sign of being a placeholder (0). Those positions are not for the faint hearted. Those positions are for men and women of integrity who are ready to serve citizens and not ‘masters’. But why can’t the justice system learn of football referees. When there is an appeal for a penalty. It’s either they give or not give. They take a decision and not postpone indefinitely. Sometimes, it’s very tempting as emotions boil to extreme levels. Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans, 12 973 808 as of 18 August 2012. Why are we treated this way? As there some who are more Zimbabwean than others? In all the societies that have eventually failed, the delivery of a justice system was both a cause and trigger. We wait to see but they have taken us to the extreme limits. Indeed in these difficult times of our struggle for a just, fair and progressive Zimbabwe, I am reminded of Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) in 1858 just before he died, he wrote to his wife: “We will not be replaced, as I often tell myself sadly…We are part…of a world that is passing. An old family, in an old house that belonged to its forefathers, still enclosed and protected by the traditional respect and by memories dear to it and to the surrounding population – these are the remains of a society that is falling into dust and that will soon have left no trace. Happy are those who can tie together in their thoughts the past, the present, and the future! No … (Zimbabwean) of our time has this happiness and already few can even understand it”. The writer Davison Muchadenyika is a post-graduate development management student in Germany.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 00:27:50 +0000
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