Back to Index

Remembering the active role we played during the liberation struggle, as the Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe (SCMZ) we join the whole nation in remembering the 18th of April as the National Independence Day.

Acknowledging, the significance of 18 April 1980 as the day that Zimbabweans were liberated from colonial bondage and realizing that in 1980 Zimbabweans were celebrating freedom from poverty, arbitrary arrest, racism and above all they were celebrating the right to choose leaders of their choice. Observing that a popular election (of one man one vote) was central to the celebrations in 1980 we categorically state the following:

• The governance and legitimacy crisis that Zimbabwe is faced with today is far from what the people of Zimbabwe were celebrating in 1980
• There is nothing to celebrate from the economic collapse that our nation is faced with now
• There is nothing to celebrate from a basket case which Zimbabwe is now in when in 1980 Zimbabwe was the bread basket of Africa
• There is nothing to celebrate from a man made collapse in the education and health delivery system
• There is nothing to celebrate from the deployment of military personnel, war veterans and youth militias to harass and brutalize civilians for voting political leaders of their choice
• There is nothing to celebrate when the state is presiding over the victimization of student activists
• There is nothing to celebrate when the state manipulates and subverts the people's will by interfering in the announcement of the March 29 Presidential election results. This is a clear negation of the one man one vote principle.
• Above all the nation can not celebrate the de facto military coup which Mugabe and his illegitimate service chiefs have imposed on Zimbabweans
• There is no difference whatsoever between the conduct of Ian Smith and Robert Mugabe in their oppression of Zimbabweans and in their insatiable appetite to go against the will of the people

SCMZ urges all Zimbabweans to continue with the fight for genuine independence and freedom. The international community and the locals should all unite in prayer and action to pressure Robert Mugabe to respect the will of the people, that of a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning. The people spoke on March 29 and their voices should be respected.

In all this people should remember that, "the Lord shall surely restore what the locust had eaten", Joel 2 vs 25.

Visit the SCMZ fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP