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Bringing down dictatorship, thinking in other terms
Promise Mkwananzi
November 01, 2010
1. Revisiting Effective Strategies
It is almost naïve in Zimbabwe now to talk about mass political
defiance. I can understand why this is the case. But for my naiveté,
I shall proceed to assess the possibilities of revisiting that strategy.
My hope is to provide a typology with which the people can confront
the dictatorship with minimal possible loss of life and other causalities.
By no means is this an easy task, but it must be accomplished because
of the belief that people must not be subjugated by such regimes.
I have had occasion to be at the forefront of confronting dictatorship,
and I am well aware of the loss of lives, torture, and destruction
of property that comes with such a process. I know people who have
died, or whose relatives were killed or who survived the brutality
that sustains the dictatorship today. I draw my inspiration from
the amazing sense of courage and resilience which the people of
Zimbabwe have shown over the years, and the knowledge, through reading
and hearing stories from other countries that it is possible to
dismantle a dictatorship and establish democratic rule. I am not
competent to prescribe ways and means to achieve this but it is
my hope that this article will contribute to the great question
of the day in our country at present: How to bring back the power
of the people to have leaders of their choice? This has been an
absent phenomenon in Zimbabwe for a long time; it cannot be allowed
to continue unchallenged.
2. Bracing
for the Tough Times Ahead
I am well aware, from experience and stories from other countries
that have confronted dictatorships that oftentimes the odds are
against those fighting for freedom. In most, if not all cases, people
find themselves confronting dangerously armed and vicious regimes.
In the specific case of Zimbabwe, I remember vividly, the mass stay-aways,
strikes of the late 90s, the defiance actions of the early 2000s,
including the historic no vote against the constitutional referendum,
the final push and the horrors of march 11 2007. I remember, even
more compassionately, individuals, whose lives were sacrificed,
including during the 27 June election façade, and more recently
the loss of human life in the COPAC process. Many more losses, pains,
deprivations and intimidation of various kinds and dimensions have
been suffered by each and every one of us (Zimbabweans opposed to
Mugabe Regime) in varying dimensions and contexts. These events
have been historic in our country, yet they have not earned us the
freedom that we yearn for. Mugabe remains seemingly firm in his
position. Indeed such realities can sometimes invoke feelings of
despair and loss of hope. They might even lead to fatigue and fragmentation
of the movement. Sadly, this is usually the aim of the dictator
which people fighting bondage must at all times endeavor to prevent.
For example, you may have wondered why authoritarian regimes torture
people when it has been shown that tortured people usually become
more resolved in fighting the system. Authoritarian regimes use
torture not to deter its victim but the would-be activists and other
activists who have themselves not been tortured but have heard of
and now see the possibility and prospects of being tortured themselves.
All these are tried and tested tactics which dictators (including
Mugabe) use the world over to disrupt opposition actions. The forthcoming
2011 general elections will be fiercely fought, this is exacerbated
by the fact that ZANU PF may lose and still refuse to give up power
after all. In this scenario, many more lives will be lost-and yet
again, if we are not careful, freedom will not be achieved. Increasingly,
people may see no need to further sacrifice their lives for a cause
of this nature. It is in this context that I make my submissions
for a change of strategy and tactics. It has become eminent to realize
the opponent for what he is-a brutal dictator-who will not implement
a single reform outlined in the GPA.
It is indeed wise to realize sooner rather than later that and to
prepare to fight the next election under the overarching framework
of an unfair election rooted in the repressive legislative context
of POSA,
AIPPA
etc. Above all, to recognize that this election can still be won
in spite of violence and intimidation-what cannot and will not be
achieved is transfer of power-which is where a call upon all Zimbabweans
to join the army and reclaim their sovereignty from Robert Mugabe
and his vampires emanates from.
3. No
International Assistance in Sight
Before I go into the details of my proposed strategies, I wish to
discuss briefly why Zimbabweans must not bank on international actors
and why these will not come to rescue Zimbabwe. When people feel
so hopeless about their own fate, it is sometimes, a somewhat safe
haven to console themselves by saying that SADC/AU/US/EU will intervene.
Some may even contemplate guerilla warfare, after learning of the
insurmountable force of power which the regime enjoys in and through
qausi-military juntas, youth militias, Jabulani Sibandas, Joseph
Chinotimbas etc. in addition, the regime might still enjoy artificial
support through rent seeking, patrimonialism, kickbacks and cuts-all
of which in one way or the other maintain the regime intently in
control. A few reasons show why foreign intervention remains a remote
prospect 1. States are rational actors who are always calculating
maximizing gains and minimizing losses-in such a scenario, foreign
states might implicitly prop the errant regime in order to gain
socio-economic and even political advantages. This is especially
so when the country are neighbors. 2. Foreign countries usually
tend to intervene only when the local movement has shaken the foundations
of the dictatorship and exposed it for what it is. The guerilla
warfare option is not an option because it usually results in further
loss of life than even the ones perpetrated by the brutal regime,
it usually lasts very long and hardly ever leads to democratic rule
e.g. Savimbi, Ngunda etc. the long term effects of this option are
as too ghastly to contemplate as those a coup-they will not lead
to democracy, in fact might lead to more dictatorship. Having ruled
out the above and briefly explained why these would not be viable
options, I now turn to discuss some of the tactics which we as Zimbabweans
ought to think about in our protracted endeavor to re-liberate our
country from our erstwhile liberators-an ironic paradox indeed.
4. Confronting
Reality in the Eye
The challenge of bringing down a dictatorship such as the one we
have in Zimbabwe is rooted in the following approach. All the courageous
peoples throughout the world who have decimated despotic rule through
non-violent actions seem to have employed, at least at one stage
or the other, some if not all of the following tactics. There is
need to strengthen the local people in their confidence and conviction
that it can be done. I discuss this in much detail in my other article
"Combating Political Violence Through Establishing, Enhancing
and Supporting Communal Defense Mechanisms and Rapid Response Units
for the Vulnerable Communities in Zimbabwe: A Food for Thought for
the Upcoming 2011 General Elections" (Forthcoming). The social
movements and groups need to be strengthened and to work together
for a common goal. This includes putting aside selfish, parochial
and shortsighted ambitions for a greater good, by and through rallying
behind the candidate with the greatest chances of winning. This
must be anchored by a powerful resistance force-implemented on the
basis of a very good plan. Charles Stewart Panel once bellowed at
a worker`s rally in 1879:
"It is
no use relying on [SADC, AU etc] . . . you must only rely upon your
own determination. Help yourselves by standing together. Strengthen
those amongst yourselves who are weak. Band yourselves together,
organize yourselves, and you must win!!!"
This is the challenge that Zimbabweans are today being called upon
to embrace and accomplish in 2011. A strong, robust and vibrant
internal force, supported by outsiders where possible-vested with
discipline and courage should be able to eventually shake the pinnacles
of Robert Mugabe`s dictatorship. Once this is achieved, a basis
for foreign intervention will have been created. The GPA will not
deliver any of its promises, elections are likely to go ahead with
POSA, AIPPA still in place, intimidation and violence will not relent.
The task might seem too ghastly to contemplate-but Robert Mugabe
has given us no other choice. If we are not prepared to win elections
under these conditions and through some of the strategies I have
outlined above, then what is the point of going into an election
through which you can never take power even if you win it. There
is need for further deliberative engagement.
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