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Goliath will definitely fall
Mutsa Murenje
October 03, 2010

We have an opportunity to make Zimbabwe a better nation, a better place for all of us, including Goliath (Robert Mugabe) and his trusty henchmen who are collectively responsible for the current political and economic bog we find ourselves in. Our country-s situation is no doubt analogous to the hopeless condition of the woman in Mark 5:25-34. The woman terribly suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years and many doctors treated her but she never got better. Instead, she got worse all the time notwithstanding the huge sums of money she had used to improve her health. She never lost hope. She had the faith that: "If I just touch his clothes, I will get well" (Mk 5:28). Her faith finally made her well as we hear in verse 34 that Jesus said to her: "My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your trouble".

What makes the above story comparable to our country-s situation is the fact that Zimbabwe has a recent history of social, economic and political violence/bleeding and lacks the institutional structures capable of peacefully resolving internal conflicts. I maintain, as I have argued in the past, that Zimbabwe emits a constant groaning, a cry for redemption and restoration. We are all tired of carrying heavy loads and we now, more than ever before, need the rest promised us by the Saviour in Matthew 11:28.

Life is a huge contradiction, indeed a continual story of shattered dreams and Zimbabwe herself is a perfect example of a living contradiction. I read in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that: "Fast runners do not always win the race, and the brave do not always win the battle. The wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always get rich, and capable people do not always rise to high positions". This is the kind of contradiction that exists in Zimbabwe today and this I have termed a dangerous gap between aspiration and reality. We have, in one way or another, been at the heart of many of the gravest breakdowns of social, economic and political order and tragic human loss in recent history.

But Goliath will fall one day. He may not fall today, he may not fall tomorrow but one day Goliath will fall. David (we all know him!) will fell Goliath and the worst will be over. We will start rebuilding and reconstructing whatever Goliath and his allies have destroyed. Our struggle for freedom from oppression requires that we remain optimistic and positive. Like the woman in the book of Mark, I believe Zimbabweans have the faith that can move Mugabe from power through the ballot as opposed to the bullet, this faith will be exercised in the next election and that is the very reason why I believe Goliath will fall. Goliath will receive a lethal wound and militarism will not save him either. We will defend our electoral gains with the last drop of our blood. We have nothing to fear but fear itself. I for one would want to be physically present to inflict this lethal wound.

The ballot and not the bullet is our preferred fighting method. Goliath has never won a free and fair election and he will never win a free and fair election. No to abuse of the electoral process! Electoral malpractices will be punished in the not-too-distant-future, please be warned. But how are we going to defend our electoral gains should there be an abuse of the electoral process this time around? GOD Himself will intervene like He did in the case of the oppressed Israelites. Pharaoh tried in vain not to let go the Israelites. But Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel and the Cosmic Ruler of the Universe said through the prophet Moses in Exodus 14:13, 14: "Don-t be afraid! Stand your ground, and you will see what the LORD will do to save you today; you will never see these Egyptians again. The LORD will fight for you, and there is no need for you to do anything". Need I say more? Not now, you are adequately answered.

I am particularly concerned about the extent to which political corruption has eroded key institutions of government and society i.e. the quality of public services and utilities, the protection afforded to society by the judiciary and the police, the diversion of national earnings by the ruling elite as well as the use of political violence by the Mugabe regime. A number of people in my present location have been asking if the old man is a military leader. I have repeatedly told them that he happens to be a civilian dictator being backed by the military hence the reference to Zimbabwe as a military junta. I wonder if Mugabe can even operate a gun!

Remember that: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr). And the following happens to be my greatest worry . . . . The Zimbabwean constitution is at variance with democratic norms and practices mainly because constitution making and reconstruction of the colonial state was exclusively closed to a few elite. Indeed, the bulk of our political opinion was patently excluded from constitutional discourse resulting in a top-down process in which constitutional rules failed to reflect Zimbabwean realities, national specificities, and, ipso facto, our historical experiences. Our new constitution, therefore, must reflect local realities and be relevant to the people.

The Lancaster House Constitution is an outcome of political exigency to free ourselves from the grip of colonial control without any proper constitutional discourse. It was and still is a 'power-transfer document-. This obsolete constitution which purports to serve the people has created a very dark and difficult challenge to the postcolonial state. Those who captured the evacuated structures of colonial hegemony made little or no effort to initiate a national debate on the constitution. The constitutional process has been badly manipulated (from the year 1987) and the constitution itself has been used to increase and enhance the power of the president by monopolizing political space. What a contradiction! Is this really what the liberation struggle was all about?

Are we also saying that there could be no Zimbabwe without Robert Mugabe? Is Robert Mugabe synonymous with Zimbabwe? God forbid! Zimbabwe was in existence well before Robert Mugabe was born. I am quite optimistic that we have more capable people who can move Zimbabwe forward. In this regard, our future lies not in Mugabe and the military. I believe the people themselves will choose their preferred leader at the right time. And this won-t be long.

Mugabe has engaged in opportunistic reforms that legitimized his autocratic approach to governance and enhanced his monopoly of allocation of power. The road of the Zimbabwean, therefore, is as long as you make it. Mugabe is generally dictatorial and has made this road unnecessarily long and rocky, with unnecessary stumbling blocks. This is what we are trying to put to an end. We don-t have to be afraid. All we have to do is to stand our ground and tell the dictator that enough is enough. Zvakwana, sokwanele! Paulo Freire writes that: "Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. Freedom is not an ideal located outside of man; nor is it an idea which becomes myth. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion."

Finally, I affirm the indivisibility of Zimbabwe as a nation and her people-s commitment to democracy and the rule of law. In the free Zimbabwe we hope to establish I envision that the people themselves, Parliament, civil society and a vigilant press will be the ultimate defence against what Richard Joseph termed 'prebendal appropriation- or simply put, the exploitation of public offices for private gain. Aluta continua! The struggle continues unabated!

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