The birth of a military rule

Did the Chimurenga war gave rise to a command rule? Probably!!! This may not be so obvious as one could argue that the politicians at the time were in charge and were controlling the armed forces. Although the commanders had much say on the decisions made on the "political side" of things. The politician may not have been so much liked then because they looked too clean or smart for the gun. The fight for who controls the army and the I art thou reins in the realm of power was literally in the hands of those who displayed much literacy and eloquence. After all the smart minded ones took advantage of the situation and drive it in their favor for support and leadership. The likes of Chitepo (though not as mongrel as Mugabe) and Mugabe are such examples. But the later seemed to have gained too much comfort in the later years forgetting that he was a leader of the people.

Going back to the election days before independence, the campaign was already tarnished by political violence, a sign that the ballot can not simply decide the future of Zimbabwe. As the majority of the Zimbabweans, especially those who have or had different political views from ZANU PF, can testify that our country has been subjected to increasing military rule and intimidation since then. We got used or rather just pretended as if it did not exist or worse still we equated it to normalcy. Fast forwarding to the prominent peak and most fierce military intervention in the 2008 election. Although Mugabe preached the same rhetoric, -the army belongs to the barracks and must not interfere or take part in the political process-, he himself was politically using the army as a force behind his victories. The year 2008 saw the climax of a politico-militia that tries to dictate who should be in charge. In essence, it was indirectly choosing a leader for us. Deep rooted in politics as we see today, the military commanders further took a decision to install again who they want us to have as leader through a "coup-not a coup" this very past November of 2017. This time under the pretense of what they called "Operation Restore Legacy". Of course, the marches and rise of resilience was supported by the people, as the general populace was just tired of Mugabe and any reason to get rid of him or show their anger was a good trigger for a protest.

Besides, Mugabe had forgotten who were the pillars of his presidency as the sweet first lady charmed him and used his political dirty tactics to try to rise to power. This, as we know, did not go down well with his subordinates. By the time he realized his big mistake, it was too late to forge the relationship. The force this time came in the shadow of an operation to restore order and legacy, and in a bid to remove criminals around Mugabe. Interestingly, one of those eliminated from the picture was Mugabe himself and one might wonder -just wonder, was he a criminal unto himself!. Although, the pressure for him to step down was aggravated by the support of the general populace that indeed and beyond no doubt was tired of the one man fist rule. As if we had had enough, who is now in charge, the military top cohorts and for whose good do we have them their? I leave it to your interpretation.

So will the military rule end, when and how can this be achieved? For a start, it will end but first and foremost, the army commanders must know and understand that any Zimbabwean has the right to run for the presidency, no matter your ethnicity and political party you belong to. It is the people's choice that matters and not war credentials or rank in the army or seniority in ZANU PF party. The army must respect the supreme law of the land, the constitution, and whoever is elected as leader of Zimbabwe will become their Commander-In-Chief. This election period is key to test the waters. If the rule of law and democratization of the electoral platform is put in place, as promised by Mr. Mnangagwa, we could see the birth of a democratic Zimbabwe.

Now, how does the future of our beloved nation look, considering the demise of our democracy hero, Morgan Tsvangirai? Well will the pre- and post- election period continue to be ‘peace, peace, peace… ‘, will the politician continue to preach love and peace and will they unite us beyond our political differences? We have already started to see intra-party violence, which if not contained will spill over to inter-party. Leaders of the political parties, churches, civil societies… have to start now to advocate for peace and respect of one another. One's opinion needs to be respected and not be taken as being an enemy. We need this space of freedom of speech. We have to remember that love comes naturally, more beneficial and comes at no expense than hatred or animosity. We have to drive our democracy forward and be part of the democratic world with an economy that can sustain us. I do wish and urge you all my fellow countrymen to rally behind this motive of unity and let's express our views on leadership through the ballot by voting. Peace be upon you Zimbabwe. God bless you all.