What independence? - Zapu Belfast Demo

Zapu will hold a demonstration to protest against the continued oppression of  Zimbabweans by the current Zanu-pf led government. This will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 18 April 2016. The Zapu Belfast branch will be supported by the Zapu Europe province as the Belfast branch will lead a coalition of Zimbabwean political activists who have agreed to share the stage with Zapu.

Their key theme is the recognition that while Zimbabwe itself is a free country since 1980, the people of Zimbabwe have never tasted true freedom.The only notable change is the colour and ethnicity of the oppressor. Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the new Ian Douglas Smith. Soon after attaining political independence in 1980, the Mugabe-led regime immediately set upon its citizens whom it perceived to be enemies of the new republic. From day one Zanu-pf made it clear that different political opinions would not be tolerated in the new state.  

Supporting any political party other than Zanu-pf would be dealt with head on using the state machinery if need be. Opposition party  supporters have continued to be subjected to inhuman torture, harassment, arbitrary arrests, being maimed, killed or made to disappear without trace, never to be seen alive again. This culminated in the mass killings of about 20 000 Zapu supporters between 1982 to 1987. Although it is largely accepted that this persecution was carried out at a small scale in all areas of Zimbabwe, it remains undisputed that it was perpetrated at a grand scale in Matebeleland and Midlands. In this part of the country every man, woman, dog or structure was fair game. Woo unto you if you happened to speak IsiNdebele or any of the local languages in this region because you had to be automatically labelled a Zapu supporter and, therefore, an enemy deserving to be killed. By 1987 the once mighty Zapu democratic institution had succumbed to its knees as they could not bear to witness further massacre of innocent and unarmed civilians. Such was the state of affairs which led to the Zapu leadership being frogmarched to sign the useless 1987 Unity Accord. To this day, opposition supporters are still being subjected to the same harassment and torture cited above. Zapu Belfast asks: where is Itai Dzamara? This is the independence we are supposed to celebrate. To say thank you Zimbabwe for killing our families and to say thank you for a direct assault on our culture by forcing all of us to communicate in the new oppressor's language.

No freedom of association. No freedom of speech or expression. No respect for basic human rights. No rule of law. A collapsing economy. Ever rising unemployment. A failing health system. Dilapidated and failing schools. No social care worth talking about. And look at the state of the roads.

Is this the independence for which our people sacrificed life and limb for? To watch our children die from hunger and disease as a result of crazy economic policies. To watch every able-bodied Zimbabwean troop out of the country one by one in fear for their lives or to seek just green pastures, not greener pastures (sic).  To watch our once proud fellow citizens reduced to paupers, beggars and asylum seekers in far far lands. This is not independence. Zapu Belfast says no to celebrating a false political and economic independence and they choose to side with their fellow Zimbabweans, the majority that have little or nothing to celebrate. The struggle for independence from Zanu-pf and its corrupt practices is on course. Victory is certain. One way or the other.