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Dabengwa and Zapu are for and with the people…

02 Nov 2017 at 07:41hrs | Views
As the harmonised general elections in Zimbabwe approach, many political dramas are being staged. Some are probably attempts to solve the crisis in our country while others are obvious political jokes. For political opportunists, these are days to make money out of the political situation in Zimbabwe hence,the endless bickering within the political organizations, without exception.

 The answer is within the people of Zimbabwe themselves. It is them, and only them, who have the power to bring a solution to this crisis. In 1961 the people of Zimbabwe formed a political party and called it Zimbabwe African People's Union. This was because the people of Zimbabwe who were Africans were at the receiving end of racial oppression politically and economically. The leadership of this organization put the needs of the people first. The party formed an army and called it the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army.

I remember two songs that the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army sang, one in iSiNdebele "Abantu beZimbabwe bahluphekile….Vukani madoda siyelwela ilizwe lethu". Another very painful one that I have never ceased to sing in ChiShona was "Tinofa tichienda kuZimbabwe……..nesimba redu riri mu Vanhu nesimba redu riiri muVanhu"……. Heavily armed, well trained and hardened guerrillas like the current Zapu President Dumiso Dabengwa sang these songs. Yes, Dumiso Dabengwa did not just command from the rear. He did not just train and then go for farther academic education abroad. He trained and entered the battle field and fought alongside the people of Zimbabwe, men and women, against the then mighty Rhodesian and South African forces.

It is this strong conviction that the people of Zimbabwe are far more important than individuals that has always guided Dr. Dumiso Dabengwa throughout. Yes, their lives are much more important than his very political party even if the party sacrificed other lives to free everyone. Under the leadership of Joshua Nkomo, he refused to impose his party on the people militarily despite the obvious capability to do so. Together with many Zapu cadres they firmly believed that the training they underwent together with its pains and sufferings, and the weapons that they had acquired, were never to be used on the people of Zimbabwe by their fellow Zimbabweans.

Today, many people describe this as a very 'naive' move by the then Zapu leadership because over 30,000 Zimbabweans were butchered by their fellow country men. Up to today people live in fear of being kidnapped or just arrested willy-nilly like Itai Dzamara who was kidnapped in broad day light only a few years ago and has never been seen. Such has been life since 1980 for the people of Zimbabwe.

Dr. Dumiso Dabengwa and the party he leads today, Zapu, are a testimony that political independence does not mean freedom and democracy. It does not usher in economic development. It does not automatically guarantee peace, but it can be a vicious change that turns hope and dreams for a bright future to some painful despair and a horrific endless nightmare.

There are coalitions and rumours of some being planned. One way or the other one finds himself here and there and for Dr. Dabengwa he is reported being left out from that one or being invited to just join this one. There are arguments that he is from a minority tribe for instance, so he cant just be at the top. There is an opportunistic one saying that he was in Mugabe's government so he is disturbing those who must take over from Mugabe. Then the funniest one is from some expelled ZanuPF members who even refer to him as "our leader". Interestingly these individuals claim to be still in ZanuPF and D D is the President of Zapu. He represents a political voice and direction with the conviction that it is the best one for the people of Zimbabwe. It is therefore absurd to call him anything else.

The people of Zimbabwe must not be confused by whatever Dr. Dabengwa himself has not said. The Zapu of today carries the same values it identified in 1961 and its power will always be from the people themselves. At a given time people get hoodwinked by tribalism, lies, bribery and empty promises but as they all see now these lead to self destruction. Our dear Zimbabwe that gallant fighters like Samuel Munodawafa, one of Zapu's departed revolutionaries from Masvingo, sacrificed for ,is a disgrace today. If the people continue choosing as they did in 1980 or if they don't resolve as a people to confront the evil in our land, definitely no one will. Political dramas will persist. Other nations will continue to laugh at us. In fact it is bound to worsen as we can all see. Dumiso Dabengwa said this in July 2016.

Dr. Dumiso Dabengwa and his party Zapu, are with and for the people of Zimbawe despite the agonies that they have endured. Brutal murder, detention without trial, kidnappings and tribal blackmail have not broken or diverted the ever growing zeal to deliver freedom, democracy, peace and individual rights to the people of Zimbabwe. These are the fundamental requirements for any socio-economic development. It is therefore, imperative that coalitions be based on the people's struggle to genuinely free themselves from the current state capture by one family and all the other evils related to it such as the terrible polarisation of our society and the state sponsored corruption.

Source - Mkhululi Zulu
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