Zimbabwe @ 37 : A post mortem

In the spring of 401 BC some 10 000 Greek soldiers joined Cyrus punitive expedition as mercenaries to fight the Persian King Ataxerxes his brother. Early in the fight Cyrus was killed and the Greeks found themselves in a particularly perilous situation, for one their paymaster was dead and secondly they had no real cause left and their supplies were fast running out. With dwindling supplies the soldiers started arguing amongst themselves, forming little groups and sending unsanctioned emissaries' to the Persians.

In the meantime the delighted Persians were taking out the Greeks cornered in a valley close to Babylon one at a time at the same time pretending to be sympathetic to their plight. The Persians kept picking out the Greeks and beheading them while the Greeks continued to argue amongst themselves, getting drunk on occasion and fighting amongst themselves.

One night one of the Generals Xenophone had a dream in which he saw the imminent massacre of the Greek Soldiers. In that dream death was staring them in the face. He suddenly realised that death was right in front of them and yet they lay on their bellies moaning, despairing and arguing. The problem thought Xenophone was in their heads, fighting for money rather than a purpose, unable to distinguish between friend and foe, they had gotten lost.

The story of the cornered Greek soldiers and the lessons it gives has never been so relevant in the present day politics of Zimbabwe.  Zimbabwe is a country that has in over 37 years become worse than in racist predecessor Rhodesia. The Zimbabwean people and opposition politicians find themselves besieged by a belligerent, violent regime that has lost its relevance and yet the opposition is in disarray, arguing and quarrelling amongst themselves just like the Greek Mercenaries.

Thus said, the 18th of April 2017 was Zimbabwe's 37th independence anniversary, a day that is supposed to be a time for celebrating our freedom from white minority rule, monopolisation of national resources by a tiny minority, racism, bondage and bigotry has ultimately become a damning mirror of the same ills that steered so many freedom fighters to take up arms and fight. What is disappointing though is what the Zimbabweans have allowed to happen over the years, a complete devastation of a rather promising country, capture of a whole people by a rogue regime bent on nothing but self-preservation in the name of a wobbly cause.

What is also disappointing is the self-inflicted chaos within the opposition, a poorly defined cause that has nurtured mercenary activities within its ranks and resulted in numerous splits. The target of this article is the latter group who for a time gave the majority of our people a home to express themselves, their aspirations and organisation to retake the country to its former course. This lack of direction and a cause of great majesty that is compelling enough for people to even sacrifice arm and limb confronting the evil right in front of them is muffled in all sorts of noises .

As the story of the Greek soldiers above illustrates this not the first time a people have themselves scattered while death stares them in the face. Challenges might come but what is important is the resolve of the victims to stand up for true freedom. The time has come for all actors ; political, business and the ordinary people to see that their decimation is at the horizon and if they do not go back to the cause, the same cause that drove thousands to take up arms, the same cause that drove millions to demand opposition to the ruling agenda they indeed will perish. They need to realise that the regime continues to pick out one at a time, killing their spirits and sowing division and yet the opposition forces continue in their limbo, divided and submerged in self-interests. They now need to re articulate that same cause before it's too late, before the ruling regime recreates a narrative that will bury the opposition for ever; they need to reignite the passion, the spirit that once engulfed the majority of the people and created a movement that was determined to see a better country. The dire situation is still there Zimbabwe has never been at its worst with a dying economy that is threatening to take everyone back to before the industrial revolution.

Be it as it may we must leave room for hope that our long running struggle for a better Zimbabwe could be coming to an end. Recent moves by the opposition towards building a formidable coalition to challenge the Mugabe regime in 2018 could be a sign that better times could be in the horizon. Let us embrace this historic opportunity with vigour, for the death ground is before us and the time to act is now.

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Nkululeko Masuku is a Zimbabwean public policy expert based in Johannesburg South Africa and he can be contacted at sizema77@gmail.com