Opinion / Columnist
Mnangagwa can't preach peace when his government is doing exactly the opposite!
01 Aug 2023 at 16:55hrs | Views
It is well and good when the president of a country makes a habit of preaching peace and unity whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself.
Surely, what right-thinking citizen would begrudge such a beautiful message - since peace and unity are the most crucial ingredients and foundation for any society that strives to thrive.
Without this very important aspect, there can never be a country to talk about.
However, merely calling for, and preaching about peace and unity becomes moot, irrelevant and outright disingenuous in the absence of the conducive environment, under which this goal can be attained.
One can not expect peace when he, on the other hand, is busy provoking those around him.
That would be a near impossible proposition.
Let us just imagine this scenario.
Would it have made any sense had, for instance, Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith gone on a peace and unity crusade across the country - yet, the vast majority of the citizenry suffering under unbearable racial suppression and segregation under colonial rule?
Honestly, would he have expected ordinary oppressed Zimbabweans not to revolt, in one way or another, against these injustices - simply because he was repeatedly preaching the gospel of peace and unity?
No matter how people prefer peace and unity, as opposed to conflict and confrontation - nonetheless, there comes a time when the ill-treatment, pain and suffering becomes too much to bear.
This is a message I pray our President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa would appreciate.
There is no denying that his incessant urging for Zimbabweans to remain peaceful and united - especially as the country heads towards the 23rd August harmonized elections - is a most commendable call.
We definitely need, and deserve, peace in Zimbabwe!
Besides, it is common knowledge that the ruling ZANU PF party has been at the forefront of unleashing untold brutality on both known and suspected opposition supporters in almost all previous elections.
This was most evident in the heinous murder of hundreds of ordinary Zimbabweans, with many more losing their limbs - more so, after the 2008 defeat of then president Robert Gabriel Mugabe to the MDC's Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
I will not even mention those who were viciously beaten up, sexually abused, their homes razed to the ground - or abducted, as Itai Dzamara, who was never to be seen again since 2015.
It was the same in the 1980s, when the ZANU PF regime cold-heartedly massacred tens of thousands of innocent unarmed civilians in the Midlands and Matebeleland provinces.
Who would want such horrendous scenes playing out again?
Nonetheless, for genuine peace and unity to prevail there is need for a conducive environment to be created.
To what extent can this peace and unity be expected to last, when the main opposition - representing, on average, half the country's population - is under a relentless onslaught at the hands of the ruling establishment?
Surely, for how long can Zimbabwe enjoy this relatively peaceful atmosphere, when the government has effectively declared war on the CCC?
Most of the main opposition's campaign gatherings are unfairly denied authorization by the police, their candidates recently prevented from contesting elections in a preposterous and questionable court ruling, and some of their leader's (as vice chair Job Sikhala) languishing in jail for over a year without trial.
Who can be blamed for believing that the country was now under Nazi rule, through the flagrant abuse of state institutions - including the media, electoral body, law enforcement, and the judiciary?
At least, during the Rhodesia era, laws - in spite of their oppressive, segregatory and discriminatory nature - were adhered to and implemented as stipulated in the statute books.
For instance, regardless the legitimate cause for independence and emancipation of the subjugated majority - those arrested and jailed were convicted on authentic crimes.
I am quite sure that even Mnangagwa can attested to this fact.
When he was arrested and jailed for ostensibly 'bombing a locomotive' - only to be saved from the gallows due to an age technicality, thanks to Father Emmanuel Ribeiro - was that not a legitimate conviction for a genuine crime?
Actually, even in independent Zimbabwe, if someone was to repeat the same audacious crime - by 'bombing a locomotive' - would he not find himself behind bars?
Yet, what we witness today in this country's landscape is absolutely despicable, deplorable and disgraceful.
Under our own laws, are all political parties not guaranteed the right to assembly, association and participation in the electoral process (sections 58 and 67)?
Are all political parties not entailed access to the state-owned media - both during the 'election season', and at any other time outside this period - in accordance with sections 61 and 155 of the Constitution?
Furthermore, does our Electoral Act not stipulate that a prospective electoral candidate's nomination papers should be accepted even in the event of missing the deadline?
In this regard, the law says, 'Provided that, if at the time a candidate or his or her chief election agent is present in the court and ready to submit a nomination paper in respect of the candidate, the nomination officer shall give him or her an opportunity to do so'.
So, why were the 12 CCC candidates in Bulawayo disqualified by the courts - especially considering that their papers had actually been accepted by the ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission)?
In the case of Sikhala, is it not enshrined in section 50 of our Constitution: 'any person who is arrested must be released unconditionally or on reasonable conditions, pending a charge or trial'?
So why is the CCC being repeatedly denied these fundamental rights?
How can anyone then urge for peace and unity in the country when those in authority are not creating the right conditions for this peace and unity to exist?
In addition, let it be noted that peace does not necessarily mean the absence of violence or war.
Whenever there are injustices perpetrated against another - there can never be said to be peace.
That is why even under our country's domestic violence laws, there are various forms of violence defined - which can range from physical and sexual to emotional and economic.
There is more than one way for one to be violent - and there is also more than one way for peace to be absent.
What we are currently witnessing in Zimbabwe, at the behest of the ZANU PF government, is one of them.
In fact, Zimbabweans owe a huge debt of gratitude to the CCC for remaining calm and retrained under such intense provocation and attacks.
At the end of the day, it becomes empty talk and extremely disingenuous and recklessly for Mnangagwa to preach peace and unity when his government is doing exactly the opposite.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: http://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Surely, what right-thinking citizen would begrudge such a beautiful message - since peace and unity are the most crucial ingredients and foundation for any society that strives to thrive.
Without this very important aspect, there can never be a country to talk about.
However, merely calling for, and preaching about peace and unity becomes moot, irrelevant and outright disingenuous in the absence of the conducive environment, under which this goal can be attained.
One can not expect peace when he, on the other hand, is busy provoking those around him.
That would be a near impossible proposition.
Let us just imagine this scenario.
Would it have made any sense had, for instance, Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith gone on a peace and unity crusade across the country - yet, the vast majority of the citizenry suffering under unbearable racial suppression and segregation under colonial rule?
Honestly, would he have expected ordinary oppressed Zimbabweans not to revolt, in one way or another, against these injustices - simply because he was repeatedly preaching the gospel of peace and unity?
No matter how people prefer peace and unity, as opposed to conflict and confrontation - nonetheless, there comes a time when the ill-treatment, pain and suffering becomes too much to bear.
This is a message I pray our President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa would appreciate.
There is no denying that his incessant urging for Zimbabweans to remain peaceful and united - especially as the country heads towards the 23rd August harmonized elections - is a most commendable call.
We definitely need, and deserve, peace in Zimbabwe!
Besides, it is common knowledge that the ruling ZANU PF party has been at the forefront of unleashing untold brutality on both known and suspected opposition supporters in almost all previous elections.
This was most evident in the heinous murder of hundreds of ordinary Zimbabweans, with many more losing their limbs - more so, after the 2008 defeat of then president Robert Gabriel Mugabe to the MDC's Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
I will not even mention those who were viciously beaten up, sexually abused, their homes razed to the ground - or abducted, as Itai Dzamara, who was never to be seen again since 2015.
It was the same in the 1980s, when the ZANU PF regime cold-heartedly massacred tens of thousands of innocent unarmed civilians in the Midlands and Matebeleland provinces.
Who would want such horrendous scenes playing out again?
Nonetheless, for genuine peace and unity to prevail there is need for a conducive environment to be created.
To what extent can this peace and unity be expected to last, when the main opposition - representing, on average, half the country's population - is under a relentless onslaught at the hands of the ruling establishment?
Surely, for how long can Zimbabwe enjoy this relatively peaceful atmosphere, when the government has effectively declared war on the CCC?
Most of the main opposition's campaign gatherings are unfairly denied authorization by the police, their candidates recently prevented from contesting elections in a preposterous and questionable court ruling, and some of their leader's (as vice chair Job Sikhala) languishing in jail for over a year without trial.
At least, during the Rhodesia era, laws - in spite of their oppressive, segregatory and discriminatory nature - were adhered to and implemented as stipulated in the statute books.
For instance, regardless the legitimate cause for independence and emancipation of the subjugated majority - those arrested and jailed were convicted on authentic crimes.
I am quite sure that even Mnangagwa can attested to this fact.
When he was arrested and jailed for ostensibly 'bombing a locomotive' - only to be saved from the gallows due to an age technicality, thanks to Father Emmanuel Ribeiro - was that not a legitimate conviction for a genuine crime?
Actually, even in independent Zimbabwe, if someone was to repeat the same audacious crime - by 'bombing a locomotive' - would he not find himself behind bars?
Yet, what we witness today in this country's landscape is absolutely despicable, deplorable and disgraceful.
Under our own laws, are all political parties not guaranteed the right to assembly, association and participation in the electoral process (sections 58 and 67)?
Are all political parties not entailed access to the state-owned media - both during the 'election season', and at any other time outside this period - in accordance with sections 61 and 155 of the Constitution?
Furthermore, does our Electoral Act not stipulate that a prospective electoral candidate's nomination papers should be accepted even in the event of missing the deadline?
In this regard, the law says, 'Provided that, if at the time a candidate or his or her chief election agent is present in the court and ready to submit a nomination paper in respect of the candidate, the nomination officer shall give him or her an opportunity to do so'.
So, why were the 12 CCC candidates in Bulawayo disqualified by the courts - especially considering that their papers had actually been accepted by the ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission)?
In the case of Sikhala, is it not enshrined in section 50 of our Constitution: 'any person who is arrested must be released unconditionally or on reasonable conditions, pending a charge or trial'?
So why is the CCC being repeatedly denied these fundamental rights?
How can anyone then urge for peace and unity in the country when those in authority are not creating the right conditions for this peace and unity to exist?
In addition, let it be noted that peace does not necessarily mean the absence of violence or war.
Whenever there are injustices perpetrated against another - there can never be said to be peace.
That is why even under our country's domestic violence laws, there are various forms of violence defined - which can range from physical and sexual to emotional and economic.
There is more than one way for one to be violent - and there is also more than one way for peace to be absent.
What we are currently witnessing in Zimbabwe, at the behest of the ZANU PF government, is one of them.
In fact, Zimbabweans owe a huge debt of gratitude to the CCC for remaining calm and retrained under such intense provocation and attacks.
At the end of the day, it becomes empty talk and extremely disingenuous and recklessly for Mnangagwa to preach peace and unity when his government is doing exactly the opposite.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: http://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
