ZAPU Secretary General's Christmas Message to party members

So this is Christmas. The season to be jolly! Peace to all men and women of good will. A time to share love all around. Only if this applied to all peoples of the world!

To some it certainly is.

For those enjoying state funded luxuries in the plushest imaginable regions of the world, it certainly is. This after splashing a cool six million dollars to celebrate a much loved daughter's wedding. To those celebrating elevation to pinnacles of state power in grandiose palatial, imposing homes deep in rural lands set against a background of pole and dagga huts, it is. Nauseating opulence in the midst of abject poverty!

But come with me to Musika, to Mbare to Renkini, to Makokoba and indeed to the places where the 95% of fellow Zimbabweans live a life of scavenging for basic needs for survival in the bleakest, harshest of circumstances. This is the landscape of the gross inequalities that our country has become. A one-time caring, united proud nation of people previously known for their genteel self-respecting nature, now reduced this. A den of thieves in which success is predicated only on the openings one can have to STEAL.

Accept it or not, Zimbabwe has been reduced to a banana republic comprising of great many destitute people and beggars through no fault of their own. There is, of course that small minority, who own it all. Those closest to Zim1 being the richest and most powerful. The mega rich saunter or drive in their bullet proofed, gold-plated, state of the art vehicles through potholed streets littered with the rags and meagre possessions of street kids, many of these transforming into dehumanised street adults.

Intermingling with these street people are the masses of street merchants many attempting to eke a living by selling items which often appear as if recovered from some scrap heaps. Anyone who does not see this ticking time bomb in Zimbabwe is not looking closely enough.

This is Zimbabwe, a country where the vast majority do not know the distinction between living and mere existence, a nation which has embraced the creed of survival by any means fair or foul, even though it appears that the fouler the better. To the majority poor and dispossessed the daily grind of eking an existence in the cacophony of hunger, fear and deprivation, low self-worth, the season of Christmas holds no meaning except for its exposing even more their lowly state in the land abundant with riches but which are reserved for the mega rich.

How has it come to this? How will it end?

As we approach Christmas this year our country is engulfed in a shroud of uncertainty brought about by the internal shenanigans in the Zanu party and government. This is the party which authored the miasma of which Zimbabwe is victim. Anyone doubting that Zimbabwe is now a Zanu fiefdom, with all our futures inexorably linked to that party's inane, gravity defying antics has to simply look at the manner by which government ministers responsible for running the country were just cast aside at the whim of just one woman's manufactured stories.

I wonder if many will shed a tear for the Zanu ministers who were so unceremoniously dumped, their careers of plunder and self-gratification cruelly cut short. The victims know more than any of us the Zanu creed of total apathy towards suffering, especially that consequent of their misrule. If they had any decency they would own up to the part they played in devising the oppressive style of governance which has led to so much pain. I, and I am certain many others too, would not give a dime if the irrational, completely apathetic party in government were to press the self-destruct button that would lead to its immediate implosion and total annihilation.

As we approach the end of another miserable year it must surely be time for all of us to again take stock about why we continue to sustain this wretched, evil regime. What other dark chapter does Zanu have to open before we can all shout in unison: Enough is enough? And mean it.

We have endured genocide, ethnic cleansing, barbarity, nepotism, division of a once united nation, all manner of horrific forms of bad governance; the list goes on. Why do we continue to give this party the benefit of doubt that it can transform itself? What is patently obvious is that Zanu will always turn a deaf ear to anyone pleading for fairness, for respect of human dignity. This is not the language that this party will listen to. However, there is no doubt that someday soon, the country will discover the language that will compel the oppressors to hear the groans of the suffering.
I occasionally follow opinions expressed in the plethora of chat platforms now in existence. Apart from offering entertainment these often reveal pearls of wisdom that fill one with hope for the future. There are indeed thinkers, debaters, and strategists in our midst whose talents have been stymied by the oppressive system of governance that Zimbabwe has endured since the country gained independence. The creative intuitions of youth and the daring manner in which they are articulated makes one believe that these young lions will come up with a fail proof strategy for dismantling this horrific and rogue regime.

What perplexes some of us is the often repeated accusations which Zanu levels at opposition parties about their wanting to bring about regime change. Is this party not listening to what most Zimbabweans are saying? Most even voting with their feet! How is the party in government interpreting the great exodus from the country of at least one third of the population? All opposition parties are agreed that it is the Zanu party which has disembowelled our country, dehumanised the citizens and destroyed all fabric of social cohesion. Where then is the element of surprise in the people wishing to see the regime gone? What greater honour could there be than to rid the nation of the party that has brought about such negativity among the citizens?

However it is Christmas after all. What greater miracle of hope could we have than the conception and birth of a new life? And what is more the conception of the baby by the mere word of God. Thus to our beautiful land of plenty, we must strive in expectant hope that sanity will reign someday. That we will one day gain the freedoms and dignity for all that so many strove and died for! That the dark, oppressive veil of evil that has held us bound for so long will be lifted! Perhaps as early as this coming year, 2015!

In the coming year we look forward with much hope to our Congress to usher in a new breed of leaders, who will certainly uplift our Party to a much higher platform from which we will go on to claim victory in 2018. To our very talented youth, please await the baton to be passed on to you. You are the future of our Party and country. I can assure you that no effort has been spared to lay down the solid foundation for you to build on. In ZAPU success comes when we sustain and appreciate each other's efforts.

At Congress when my tour of duty is done I will have no anxiety at all about the future. My Party abounds with talent. Just like we are in the season of the birth of our Lord which marked the salvation of the world, the time of ZAPU to rescue Zimbabwe is here. It is time to celebrate what is to be. The deep gloom we are passing through at the moment is the rite of passage, indeed it is harbinger of the brightest tomorrow.

Wishing all members a Happy Christmas and a most prosperous ZAPU 2015!