Those who oppose Mugabe must be captured and beaten: a rejoinder

In the history of the country the liberation struggle has been personalized to the extent it has lost purpose, meaning and impact. Bearing in mind that the struggle was to liberate Zimbabweans in speech, association, political choice and uplift national interest, Zunu has not only failed but distorted these values painfully in an ugly form despicable that youth have no clue what the liberation struggles really stood for.

I quote for those who may not have had the time or appetite to read from the Bulawayo24news of 16 April 2017: "MASHONALAND Central Provincial Affairs Minister Martin Dinha recently made an interesting suggestion that rebellious 1970s liberation war fighters must be captured, stripped and taken to army barracks where they would be thoroughly beaten as punishment for opposing President Robert Mugabe."

Consider this statement to imply to any Zimbabwean without the categorization that is being implied to 1970s freedom fighters only. If by rebellion is meant any who talks against Mugabe rule then who has not rebelled actually. Rural peasants have been jailed and beaten fro using the name and manners of Mugabe in scolding children unruly. Urban dwellers have been arrested for talking strongly against Mugabe in the bus. None of open minded Zimbabweans has been left not bruised by the dictatorial acts of the youth brigade and secret police in Zimbabwe.

Apart from being extremely provocative, this is a statement of ignorance far divorced from the constitution and simple rubrics of Rule of Law. Many would regard this with contempt but then in a democracy, which is what we want Zimbabwe to be, people need rise as individuals through power of the pen and opposition in criticising and opposing such sentiments ever being made public. Such statement only helps endorse the road Zanu has travelled so far. With little intelligence people are beginning to show how they have been bred into Zanu all these years.

I take great issues, not with the speaker of the words, assuming he is a naïve Zanu cadre brought on the worst literature of propaganda to bulldoze politics into fear so that people will either vote for Zanu or stay away from voting from fear of Zanu abuse. Zanu abuse of the common people existed from its inception and was tolerated as a means of overcoming and drowning any political opposition so Zanu will be the only political organ in the country. If anybody doubted it before, reading Martin Dinha statement makes obvious a strategy mysteriously coined as progressive the whole duration of the armed struggle.

Seeing how the road of Zanu is littered with blood, however you look at it, it causes concern that even after many years of trying to refine Zanu, we have new born and relatively new in the party wanting to be heroes sacrificing public interest for the wrong ideology in a political organization and in order to hero worship individuals. It is common knowledge that corruption is the lead philosophy in Zanu today and manifestation such as heard from Dhina, among others, highlight the death of a political organization were opposition politics worthy their names. This is a statement that is deserving of public marching in streets because it just and endorsement of what has and is taking place in the politics of the country.

Now if people meant to be trained professionally such as lawyers become forefront runners on discrediting human rights how genuine and reliable is the training Zimbabwe is generally chaining out under Zanu factually speaking?  The same newspaper and I quote the answer given by Dhina when he was asked to explain: "You should not take that seriously; it was a light-hearted talk meant to captivate the crowd."

Let's examine that seriously in the context of its short and long term implications. Short term it endorses the history of an organization that for thirty years has ‘killed' any opposition politically by falsely accusing and making charge in court of law successfully as a conspiracy of the ruling government. People have disappeared and the government has always dissociated itself with such events even though in majority cases figures have pointed to government agents being the sole perpetrators of human abducting and killing as a toll to pacify political opposition from being serious to up rise. Long term it points to the nascent and sacrosanct Zanu policy to grow her influence through fear by abusing of humans and denying their freedoms.

I hope I am proved wrong and that there will continue to be write ups that reference to this article and its bad taste to the country's efforts to restore democracy. Opposition politics stand as a sour thumb in failing the crusading of strong views against such nak_ed abuse of freedom by people supposedly rulers in the country's governance system.

The response to this article points to the political fatigue the public has attained and its very uncaring behaviour to injurious statements to any country's development. There can never be political stability when a country encourages nak_ed breach to the constitution of the country and getting away without reprimand from either his party or government machinery assuming the two are different.

Freedoms ought to be guaranteed unconditionally, rule of law ought be taken seriously and every body of the government exercise it with extreme caution and in compliance of the laws of the land. 2018 elections cannot be expected to be free or fair when such remarks are coming not from the Chinotimbas of our society but from the supposedly elite of our community. Inevitably corruption is driving the politics and everything that threatens status qoe. A serious conversation at al levels of the government and community needs ensue as preliminary arise and claim freedom from tyrants now or forever keep your peace in pieces.