Opinion / Columnist
Not even ZANU PF late presidents are laid at the national heroes acre!
18 Nov 2021 at 18:25hrs | Views
The first ZANU president, Ndabaningi Sithole, was deposed by Robert Gabriel Mugabe (who had been the party's secretary general) in 1975 - in an internal coup, whose constitutionality was questionable.
He was subsequently described as a cowardly traitor, vilified, and persecuted for the rest of his life - and, was never buried at the national heroes acre after his death on 12 December 2000.
His usurper, Mugabe - who managed to hold on to power, through instilling fear, a culture of divisiveness, and cold-blooded ruthlessness - was also eventually ousted in a military coup d'etat in November 2017.
He, too, was not buried at the national shrine, having died a very bitter man on 6 September 2019 - describing his betrayers within his own party (led by his long-time protege, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, and defence forces commander, Constantino Chiwenga) as his tormentors, and refusing them to 'pontificate' over his burial.
And yet, in all this humiliating mayhem, power-struggles, and greed - the ruling ZANU PF party wants to be taken seriously as a modern-day institution that can be entrusted with this country's democratic trajectory, and development!
Surely, how can a country that wants to be regarded with some dignified measure of seriousness - both on the local and global stages - be presided over by a political party that has never experienced the joys of a smooth democratic transfer of power, in its unenviable fifty-eight (58) year-long existence?
How can a party - which loves touting itself as liberation struggle icons, and revolutionaries - be taken seriously when not even one of its late former presidents is laid at the country's grand burial place of the 'heroes of heroes'?
Is it, then, particularly surprising when none of the country's elections - since the attainment of political independence from Britain on the midnight of 17 April 1980 - have ever been roundly accepted as free, fair, and credible?
Is it, then, any wonder why the only known change of the country's head of state, over the past forty-one (41) years, has been through a military coup d'etat?
As a matter of fact, is it not the greatest embarrassment of all time that, the only times this country witnessed any smooth democratic transfer of power was under colonial Rhodesia - when white settler administrations freely, fairly, and credibly exchanged reins amongst themselves, without any disputes, violence, or vote rigging?
Yet, black majority rule has only ushered in black oppressors - whose only ability is to brutalize, repress, and steal from fellow black citizens.
Zimbabwe has been in the wrong hands for far too long - and, the time for this country to be counted amongst civilized nations of the world is overdue.
As citizens of this great nation, we can no longer lamely sit-by and watch, whilst our country is made a laughing stock of the world.
We have Zimbabweans in all four corners of the globe, and we all know the unbearable shame of being regarded as a backward and primitive people - who, not only have no grasp of democratic tenets, but have also dismally failed to govern ourselves.
We are even despised for merely being in those foreign lands.
For how long are we to allow this rot and filth to continue in Zimbabwe?
What more proof do we need to finally admit that these shameless people in power do not care about us, have ruined our lives, and are a danger to us, our children, and their future?
In fact, ZANU PF is a danger to ZANU PF - as history has shown that not even its own leaders are safe from their own fellow colleagues.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, author, and political commentator. Please feel free to contact him on WhatsApp/Call: +263715667700 / +263782283975, or Calls Only: +263788897936 / +263733399640, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com
He was subsequently described as a cowardly traitor, vilified, and persecuted for the rest of his life - and, was never buried at the national heroes acre after his death on 12 December 2000.
His usurper, Mugabe - who managed to hold on to power, through instilling fear, a culture of divisiveness, and cold-blooded ruthlessness - was also eventually ousted in a military coup d'etat in November 2017.
He, too, was not buried at the national shrine, having died a very bitter man on 6 September 2019 - describing his betrayers within his own party (led by his long-time protege, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, and defence forces commander, Constantino Chiwenga) as his tormentors, and refusing them to 'pontificate' over his burial.
And yet, in all this humiliating mayhem, power-struggles, and greed - the ruling ZANU PF party wants to be taken seriously as a modern-day institution that can be entrusted with this country's democratic trajectory, and development!
Surely, how can a country that wants to be regarded with some dignified measure of seriousness - both on the local and global stages - be presided over by a political party that has never experienced the joys of a smooth democratic transfer of power, in its unenviable fifty-eight (58) year-long existence?
How can a party - which loves touting itself as liberation struggle icons, and revolutionaries - be taken seriously when not even one of its late former presidents is laid at the country's grand burial place of the 'heroes of heroes'?
Is it, then, particularly surprising when none of the country's elections - since the attainment of political independence from Britain on the midnight of 17 April 1980 - have ever been roundly accepted as free, fair, and credible?
Is it, then, any wonder why the only known change of the country's head of state, over the past forty-one (41) years, has been through a military coup d'etat?
Yet, black majority rule has only ushered in black oppressors - whose only ability is to brutalize, repress, and steal from fellow black citizens.
Zimbabwe has been in the wrong hands for far too long - and, the time for this country to be counted amongst civilized nations of the world is overdue.
As citizens of this great nation, we can no longer lamely sit-by and watch, whilst our country is made a laughing stock of the world.
We have Zimbabweans in all four corners of the globe, and we all know the unbearable shame of being regarded as a backward and primitive people - who, not only have no grasp of democratic tenets, but have also dismally failed to govern ourselves.
We are even despised for merely being in those foreign lands.
For how long are we to allow this rot and filth to continue in Zimbabwe?
What more proof do we need to finally admit that these shameless people in power do not care about us, have ruined our lives, and are a danger to us, our children, and their future?
In fact, ZANU PF is a danger to ZANU PF - as history has shown that not even its own leaders are safe from their own fellow colleagues.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, author, and political commentator. Please feel free to contact him on WhatsApp/Call: +263715667700 / +263782283975, or Calls Only: +263788897936 / +263733399640, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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