Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabweans should know that independence never guarantees freedom
16 Aug 2024 at 16:19hrs | Views
This is a truth that has seemingly been lost on many people.
For some strange reason, we appear to believe that the attainment of political independence by a country automatically translates into freedom for the nation's citizenry.
There can never be anything further from the truth.
Tragically, this is the erroneous thinking that has undoubtedly deceived many people in Zimbabwe.
When we won our political independence from colonial rule on 18th April 1980, we somehow believed that this also signalled the advent of freedom for ordinary Zimbabweans.
Is that not why our fathers and mothers were so ecstatic and filled with overwhelming hope for a 'free Zimbabwe' as they excitedly celebrated the dawn of a new era in an independent country?
I remember my own father, who was a ZANU PF official, travelling all the way from our hometown Redcliff to the then Salisbury (now Harare) to join thousands other Zimbabweans at Rufaro Stadium.
We were all optimistic of a 'new Zimbabwe' where we would be finally free to enjoy our inalienable rights - and not be treated as second-class citizens.
This optimism was understandable but sadly misplaced.
Even our esteemed nationalist leader, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, had to learn the hard way - after he and his ZAPU party colleagues were savagely hounded, persecuted, and over 20,000 innocent unarmed civilians massacred by the post-colonial regime.
That is why he eventually wrote, in his autobiography: The hardest lesson of my life has come to me late. It is that a nation can win freedom without its people becoming free.
That is why, today, 44 years after that momentous occasion in 1980, Zimbabweans are still being jailed for standing up against those in power and merely exercising what should be their inalienable rights.
In fact, these are not simply our inalienable rights but constitutional rights - which are written, in black and white, in the country's supreme law.
Is that not why over a hundred human rights defenders and opposition activists have been arrested in the past two months alone in Zimbabwe for only daring to exercise their rights to assembly, association, and peacefully demonstrate?
Where is Jameson Timba and the 78 opposition supporters, Namatai Kwekweza, Robson Chere, Vusumuzi Moyo, and Samuel Gwenzi right now?
Over the years, we have also witnessed gruesome scenes of ordinary citizens being beaten up and even killed for merely supporting the opposition.
Were hundreds of people not murdered in 2008 and hundreds more had their hands hacked off for ostensibly 'voting the wrong way' after 'independent' Zimbabwe's founding father Robert Gabriel Mugabe lost elections to the opposition's Morgan Richard Tsvangirai?
Were opposition activists and human rights defenders - such as Itai Dzamara, Patrick Nyabanyama, Paul Chizuze, war veteran Mison Sibanda, Rashiwe Guzha, and many others - not abducted and never to be seen again?
Yet, we have those - the ruling clique - who can not stop reminding us that they are the ones who 'brought democracy to Zimbabwe'!
Democracy, my foot!
Is that what democracy looks like to those in power in Zimbabwe?
Do they even know the meaning of the word?
However, we should not be particularly surprised that our political independence from colonial rule did not result in the freedom of the people of Zimbabwe.
This is because these are two very different things.
A country's independence and its people's freedom are not mutually inclusive.
In other words, just because a country attained its freedom from colonial rule does not necessarily translate into the citizenry's freedom from repression.
There is always a need for a second or even third revolution - whereby ordinary citizens fight for their own emancipation even if the country itself may already be free from colonial bandage.
This is a global phenomenon.
Let me give a simple but common example.
The USA attained its independence from Britain on 4th July 1776 - which was marked by the revolutionary war fought between 19th April 1775 and 3rd September 1783.
However, amidst all the joy and celebrations of a USA finally free from colonial oppression, the American people themselves were not free.
For starters, slavery was still legalized, meaning that the predominantly black population of the USA was not free.
In fact, several American founding fathers actually owned slaves - despite their talk for liberty and equality.
George Washington owned around 120 slaves at Mount Vernon, James Madison had around 100 slaves at Montpelier, and Thomas Jefferson possessed over 600 slaves throughout his life, despite his contradictory views on slavery.
The list is endless, including: James Monroe, Patrick Henry, John Jay, George Mason, and George Wythe.
Similarly, in spite of US independence, American women did not have the right to vote until the 19th (Constitutional) Amendment in 1920 - 144 years after independence.
As much as Americans may have claimed to have attained their independence from Britain - after a gruelling revolutionary war - there was clearly still a need for another revolution for the people's freedom.
That is why there was an American Civil War - which took place from 12th April 1861 to 9th April 1865 - whose main objective was the abolition of slavery.
Indeed, after the victory of the anti-slavery Union Army over the pro-slavery Confederates, the despicable practice was finally abolished in the USA.
This was a good 89 years after the country attained its independence from Britain!
Nonetheless, this victory did not mean American blacks now enjoyed equal rights.
Far from it!
There were still Jim Crow laws, which legalized racial segregation - whereby, blacks and whites could not attend the same schools, eat at the same places, live in the same residential areas, and even fight in the same army.
Another revolution was required.
Only after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s - led by people like Martin Luther King Jnr and Malcom X - was racial segregation finally removed through the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965).
This was another 189 years after the USA gained her independence from Britain!
Even today, 248 years later, the Black Lives Matter Movement is still clamouring for black rights.
Need I say more?
This is a lesson the people of Zimbabwe urgently need to learn.
The notion of a country's independence from colonial rule automatically translating into the people's freedom is nothing more than a huge fallacy.
We have been experiencing this painful reality at the hands of our repressive post-colonial regime for the past 44 years.
No one can honestly deny that the people of Zimbabwe are not yet free.
As with the Americans, we have to engage in more revolutions for us to finally enjoy the fruits of our independence.
Let me hasten to make it clear that these revolutions do not need to be violent.
We can learn from the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
If the people of Zimbabwe continue in this illusion of independence bringing freedom, then we will never be free.
● 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: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
For some strange reason, we appear to believe that the attainment of political independence by a country automatically translates into freedom for the nation's citizenry.
There can never be anything further from the truth.
Tragically, this is the erroneous thinking that has undoubtedly deceived many people in Zimbabwe.
When we won our political independence from colonial rule on 18th April 1980, we somehow believed that this also signalled the advent of freedom for ordinary Zimbabweans.
Is that not why our fathers and mothers were so ecstatic and filled with overwhelming hope for a 'free Zimbabwe' as they excitedly celebrated the dawn of a new era in an independent country?
I remember my own father, who was a ZANU PF official, travelling all the way from our hometown Redcliff to the then Salisbury (now Harare) to join thousands other Zimbabweans at Rufaro Stadium.
We were all optimistic of a 'new Zimbabwe' where we would be finally free to enjoy our inalienable rights - and not be treated as second-class citizens.
This optimism was understandable but sadly misplaced.
Even our esteemed nationalist leader, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, had to learn the hard way - after he and his ZAPU party colleagues were savagely hounded, persecuted, and over 20,000 innocent unarmed civilians massacred by the post-colonial regime.
That is why he eventually wrote, in his autobiography: The hardest lesson of my life has come to me late. It is that a nation can win freedom without its people becoming free.
That is why, today, 44 years after that momentous occasion in 1980, Zimbabweans are still being jailed for standing up against those in power and merely exercising what should be their inalienable rights.
In fact, these are not simply our inalienable rights but constitutional rights - which are written, in black and white, in the country's supreme law.
Is that not why over a hundred human rights defenders and opposition activists have been arrested in the past two months alone in Zimbabwe for only daring to exercise their rights to assembly, association, and peacefully demonstrate?
Where is Jameson Timba and the 78 opposition supporters, Namatai Kwekweza, Robson Chere, Vusumuzi Moyo, and Samuel Gwenzi right now?
Over the years, we have also witnessed gruesome scenes of ordinary citizens being beaten up and even killed for merely supporting the opposition.
Were hundreds of people not murdered in 2008 and hundreds more had their hands hacked off for ostensibly 'voting the wrong way' after 'independent' Zimbabwe's founding father Robert Gabriel Mugabe lost elections to the opposition's Morgan Richard Tsvangirai?
Were opposition activists and human rights defenders - such as Itai Dzamara, Patrick Nyabanyama, Paul Chizuze, war veteran Mison Sibanda, Rashiwe Guzha, and many others - not abducted and never to be seen again?
Yet, we have those - the ruling clique - who can not stop reminding us that they are the ones who 'brought democracy to Zimbabwe'!
Democracy, my foot!
Is that what democracy looks like to those in power in Zimbabwe?
Do they even know the meaning of the word?
However, we should not be particularly surprised that our political independence from colonial rule did not result in the freedom of the people of Zimbabwe.
This is because these are two very different things.
A country's independence and its people's freedom are not mutually inclusive.
In other words, just because a country attained its freedom from colonial rule does not necessarily translate into the citizenry's freedom from repression.
There is always a need for a second or even third revolution - whereby ordinary citizens fight for their own emancipation even if the country itself may already be free from colonial bandage.
This is a global phenomenon.
The USA attained its independence from Britain on 4th July 1776 - which was marked by the revolutionary war fought between 19th April 1775 and 3rd September 1783.
However, amidst all the joy and celebrations of a USA finally free from colonial oppression, the American people themselves were not free.
For starters, slavery was still legalized, meaning that the predominantly black population of the USA was not free.
In fact, several American founding fathers actually owned slaves - despite their talk for liberty and equality.
George Washington owned around 120 slaves at Mount Vernon, James Madison had around 100 slaves at Montpelier, and Thomas Jefferson possessed over 600 slaves throughout his life, despite his contradictory views on slavery.
The list is endless, including: James Monroe, Patrick Henry, John Jay, George Mason, and George Wythe.
Similarly, in spite of US independence, American women did not have the right to vote until the 19th (Constitutional) Amendment in 1920 - 144 years after independence.
As much as Americans may have claimed to have attained their independence from Britain - after a gruelling revolutionary war - there was clearly still a need for another revolution for the people's freedom.
That is why there was an American Civil War - which took place from 12th April 1861 to 9th April 1865 - whose main objective was the abolition of slavery.
Indeed, after the victory of the anti-slavery Union Army over the pro-slavery Confederates, the despicable practice was finally abolished in the USA.
This was a good 89 years after the country attained its independence from Britain!
Nonetheless, this victory did not mean American blacks now enjoyed equal rights.
Far from it!
There were still Jim Crow laws, which legalized racial segregation - whereby, blacks and whites could not attend the same schools, eat at the same places, live in the same residential areas, and even fight in the same army.
Another revolution was required.
Only after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s - led by people like Martin Luther King Jnr and Malcom X - was racial segregation finally removed through the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965).
This was another 189 years after the USA gained her independence from Britain!
Even today, 248 years later, the Black Lives Matter Movement is still clamouring for black rights.
Need I say more?
This is a lesson the people of Zimbabwe urgently need to learn.
The notion of a country's independence from colonial rule automatically translating into the people's freedom is nothing more than a huge fallacy.
We have been experiencing this painful reality at the hands of our repressive post-colonial regime for the past 44 years.
No one can honestly deny that the people of Zimbabwe are not yet free.
As with the Americans, we have to engage in more revolutions for us to finally enjoy the fruits of our independence.
Let me hasten to make it clear that these revolutions do not need to be violent.
We can learn from the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
If the people of Zimbabwe continue in this illusion of independence bringing freedom, then we will never be free.
● 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: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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