Presumptive patriotism reversing the Second Republic image building

The on going assaults on Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) are a regrettable obtaining of the second republic.

Political analyst and free market advocate Rejoice Ngwenya quizzed where the Zimbabwe Republic Police find it in the constitution that the CCC party has to apply to hold a rally. While it is not only abhorrent, the gut reaction to such self defeating practices finds a negative presumptive patriotism. It is sad that while as a country we dearly need a clean image a group of unassuming characters keep reversing the gains we gather up.

With the world awe struck on what is what of the state and the crackdown of the CCC assembling Vice president Constantine Chiwenga drop a massive hullabaloo. He accused the police for over playing their hand in banning CCC rallies.

"The opposition should not blame Zanu PF about the ban of its rallies,"

"It's not our problem, anyone is allowed to campaign. Please, deal with the police, and don't blame anything on the government or Zanu PF because Zanu PF is also applying to the Zimbabwe Republic" said Chiwenga in a quote from Newsday newspaper.

This comes hot on the heels of an onslaught of the opposition CCC at a rally in Kwekwe firstly by Vice president Constantine Chiwenga and the assaults that turned fatal a day after left many questions. It left us questioning. Where are we going? Are we serious about cleaning up our soiled image? Who will we blame this time around?

The Kwekwe incident was a charged and traumatic event we can't sensationalize certain details. It was out there playing with the world watching.

The media, for its part, has been increasingly fixated on the reasoning behind the violent mob attack - and deservedly so - but the problem is that such analysis has led commentators to overlook the most alarming aspect of the calamity: a blind spot in the Zimbabwe's democratic principles.

Individuals within the country's domestic security apparatus have shown they possess some tendency to fall prey to presumptive patriotism - a vulnerability the enemies of democracy well exploit.

Presumptive patriotism - the unquestioned belief that an individual or particular group will behave honorably as a show of patriotism - makes sense if concepts such as honor, fairness, and duty were all uncontested.

However, in the Zimbabwe, these concepts are subject to fierce debate.

Recent discussions concerning duty and privilege have placed a spotlight on what seems to be law enforcement's affinity toward people who are assumed to share common values with many officers.

If people who intend to break the law are perceived to be merely engaging in patriotic acts, it seems, then officers' perception of duty and their ability to conduct a proper threat analysis are changed.

Stated simply, presumptive patriotism clouds their judgment. This might explain why, in many cases of violence initiated ZANU PF members Police officers are derelict in their duty and others even appear congenial toward them.

Some lawmakers come out often times condemning such acts, as well as the ignominious law enforcement response.

However, it is difficult to assess whether those leaders fully recognize the Zimbabwe's true weakness. In most cases the security forces often throw the statement warning that a third force could be seizing the moment and commit atrocities. Yet it is telling that there's choice to deflect toward third force, implicitly suggesting that Zimbabwean citizens could not have seized on the moment. Even though statistical data of violent attacks shows that these maShurugwi are as deadly a threat - if not more so.

Nevertheless, Zimbabwe Republic Police statement reinforces this concept of presumptive patriotism. The statement is dual in meaning one of two ways: Either they legitimately believe the gangs were incapable of committing such acts or, despite knowing the danger posed by the gangs, purposefully chose not to alienate supporters of the party associated. In either case (or some combination of the two), ZRP statement demonstrates a major security blind spot.

There are few things cherished more within Zimbabwean culture than patriotism.

However, as history has shown, it can be extremely personal and emotionally intoxicating - potentially leading to disastrous outcomes or manipulative exploitation.

For evidence of this, one has to look no further than the state, comprising soldiers who proudly proclaimed themselves to be "patriots" all the while waging a bloody war against the poor people seeking the alternative.