Back to Index

Zimbabwe: A nation of cowards
Nobuhle Nyathi
May 18, 2005

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/opinion74.12650.html

THE Zimbabwe Standard’s Woodpecker (15 May) raises some interesting comments about MDC's decision to participate in the just ended parliamentary elections.

The Woodpecker asks: "Why didn't the MDC stick to its guns and announce to the whole world that it would not participate in this charade of an election? Why, for goodness sake, did the MDC legitimise a process it says
it knew was flawed right from the word go? " I find this to be a strange way of reasoning. Let me give you an example of what I mean. The Standard and the Zim Independent opposed AIPPA when it was promulgated. Despite their objections, they went on to apply for accreditation under it. Should we conclude from these happenings that they legitimised AIPPA by agreeing to register under it?

The previous week Woodpecker asked why the MDC chose to take to court cases of only those constituencies they had lost. If the process was rigged, the Woodpecker opined, then surely MDC should contest even the results of the constituencies that they had won. What rank madness is this? Surely if I enter the boxing ring and one of my hands is tied, but I still manage to beat my challenger, I have won inspite of the obstacles thrown my way. My victory does not mean that it was a fair fight. If on the other hand I lose, it is surely largely because my hand is tied.

I however agree with much of the comments in the paper and also on this Website that intimates that the MDC leadership should do more to be in the trenches with the people. I also believe however that we should not absolve each and every one of us for the state that Zimbabwe finds itself in. My distinct impression is that the country has too many analysts and very few people of action. By action I mean people willing to get into the trenches. On the few occasions that mass stayaways have been called, I have had friends phoning me from their work places to ask how the situation is at my workplace. When I tell them that I am at home, they say you are courageous because you are not afraid of the consequences of not turning up for work. My actions have very little to do with bravery, but everything to do with disgust and principle. I am disgusted that my daughter is now expected to join the Border Gezi programme after completing her secondary education if she is to have any hope of being employed in the public service. I am disgusted that a paper (Daily News) that stood up for people's rights was bombed and then eventually shut down without so much as a whimper from the public. No, courage is not the absence of fear, it is doing what is right even in the presence of fear. These same friends would be the first people to buy the Daily News the following day to read how effective the stayaway has been. Then they would celebrate that at least the stayaway has not been a flop!

"The Rhodesian regime was not defeated because of the excellent firepower of the liberation fighters, but because of the willingness of our parents, brothers and sisters to die in large numbers for a just cause"

I am disgusted that intellectual luminaries like Ben Hlatshwayo now depend on Robert Mugabe for their survival, and they express their gratitude by continuously churning out judgements that will not upset the executive. I ask myself if this is the same Hlatshwayo who in years gone by said: "All law-abiding citizens have a duty to disobey unjust laws." I am angry that outstanding political scientists like Jonathan Moyo only understand Zanu PF' s oppressiveness when they have been dropped from this evil party. People like Dumiso Dabengwa who know and understand the evil that this party has become are at this very moment doing all they can to prop it up. Could this be the great Dabengwa who endured years of imprisonment in 'Independent Zimbabwe' with the late Lookout Masuku I wonder?

To be sure there is a lot that the MDC needs to do to force Zanu PF to abandon its wicked ways. But I think we are also part of the problem. We are too relaxed. Even in all this suffering we are comfortably. We listen to the news, read the papers and hope that things will change. All we have is hope. Rather like having unprotected sex and hoping that I won't get pregnant! The Rhodesian regime was not defeated because of the excellent firepower of the liberation fighters. It was not defeated because of the sound policies of the Patriotic Front. It was defeated because of the willingness of our parents, brothers and sisters to die in large numbers for a just cause. They fought and triumphed against a system that took away their rights and treated them like second class citizens in their own country. Make no mistake, we would benefit immensely from an organised opposition party, but that is only part of the problem. The major problem is that we have people who want to be persuaded that they are hungry. People who can't make ends meet but want to be convinced that there are problems in Zimbabwe. People who can't be bothered to protest the daily taking way of their personal freedoms.

At the height of the cash shortage problems two years back I witnessed a tragicomic situation in Harare's First Street outside Beverly Bank. A crowd of about 300 hundred people was refusing to leave the bank until they had withdrawn some money. A police Defender truck with 6 anti-riot policemen came. The police descended on the crowd and started beating up people. People ran like headless chickens and the street kids were having a laugh taunting the people: "Tiza! Tiza mari yako!" (Run! Run away from your money!). In reality that is what was happening -- people were running away from their money. Six policemen were essentially chasing away 300 people. Not with grenades and machineguns, but with baton sticks! 300 people! I think as a people we need to be serious. We need to reach a position first as individuals where we say we will allow things to go this far and no more. You can say whatever you want to say, but the picture of 300 people being chased by six thin and hungry-looking policemen wielding baton sticks is not the stuff from which revolutions are born.

But all hope is not lost, I draw inspiration from Gugulethu Moyo, the indefatigably former Daily News lawyer who refuses to be silenced. I am encouraged by Lovemore Madhuku, Raymond Majongwe and Wellington Chibhebhe for their struggles for workers rights, human decency and freedom. Jenni Williams and the WOZA women are a constant inspiration. I salute the hundreds of workers linked with the Daily News who are now suffering for telling it like it is. Bravo too to workers at Zim Independent, Standard and Fingaz for continuing to write without fear or favour.

Hats of too to the thousands of Zimbabweans standing up for justice whatever their political affiliation. Above all I remember and mourn the thousands of Gukurahundi victims and the hundreds of MDC supporters, some killed, some tortured, some whose houses were burnt and looted for daring to support a party of their choice. Let's keep on knocking; let's refuse to be treated like second-class citizens in our own country. Zimbabwe belongs to all of us. And more importantly, no running away from six baton-wielding policemen!

Nyathi writes from Bulawayo, her e-mail address is: nyathinobuhle@yahoo.co.uk

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