Freedom now!

Political power without responsibility and principled leadership and is dangerous. Absolute power corrupts absolutely while absolute poverty disempowers absolutely.

Zimbabwe is poised for fantastic state failure as the international community issues press statements to condemn the deteriorating political conditions which have been characterised by leadership failure and increasing violent protests. If there is any time to intervene, it is now before conditions further deteriorate and yet we are not seeing any sense of urgency with the SADC, the AU or even the UN.

I have said this before that Zanu-PF will not voluntarily reform electoral laws as it will basically be reforming itself out of power. This is a true fact that we cannot ignore. We therefore need to do more to ensure that never gain can Zanu-PF control electoral process and outcomes without consequence.

You see, we have a bunch of incompetent losers who cannot imagine fair electoral competition and the emergence of a new Zimbabwe without them. We have looters, thieves, charlatans and night school law professors who have been masquerading as our liberators and revolutionaries who are protecting the imaginary "gains" of independence. Our country is now worse off than before Zanu-PF came to the scene and Zimbabweans have just had enough.

Any social system that is founded on repression of many and their domination by a few is not sustainable and will collapse in the end. This will happen out of its own self manufactured contradictions. It may look successful and even attractive for a while, but in the end, it invariably atrophies for lack of momentum. It collapses and accelerates into nothingness as we are witnessing.

Despite this, those within Zanu-PF never seem to learn, but continue to aspire to want to dominate and control citizens and pursue self-interest at all costs. This has catapulted them into a self-destructive spiral of greed and lies. The thick layer of lies has become a burden too heavy to bear. In that process, they have become degenerates and despite all the material gain and the façade of success that they may show, they remain in fact terribly unhappy, unfulfilled and lonely. The end has become inevitable as the foundation upon which this regime has been built is crumbling under the sheer weight of deception.  The beginning of the end is here. Thank God.

In 1980, our population was just over 8 million and over 1,2 million people were formally employed in the private sector and by state enterprises or the civil service. Today, 36 years later, out of a population of 14 million only about 400,000 are employed in the formal sector. The informal sector in Zimbabwe is now the main employer with an estimated 2, 5 million street vendors, over 60, 000 people making their living in the transport sector and some 100 000 people making a living from small scale industry. Over 150, 000 women make their living by trading across our borders. These figures clearly indicate failure.

This is not the future we imagined. The future we imagine now can therefore not created by the very same people who have created the circumstances we wish to change.

The Zimbabwe we want to create must have an inclusive economic and social agenda which creates inclusive institutions which can deliver value to all citizens regardless of race, gender or political beliefs. It must be led by new leaders who have a high self-esteem and who do not rule through fear or violence. It must be ruled by leaders who appreciate that their role is that of stewardship and not dictatorship. That is the new leadership we want for our country.

In the Zimbabwe we want, we must continually question our reality. We want leaders who are not arrogant and self-centred, but those who are always learning so that they may understand the problems we face better. Our leaders must also openly admit our problems, clearly define the nature of the problems without shifting blame and then find ways to implement solutions. That is the least we can expect. We cannot have a government that continually denies responsibility in the many mistakes it has made.

This Zimbabwe is possible if we all unite to dismiss the dictator and his cronies who have not only plundered but seriously underdeveloped our country.

Young Zimbabweans don't want to be in the streets protesting and being injured and arrested by the police. Our young graduates don't want to be unemployed and selling air time to make ends meet. Our mothers and sisters don't want to be vendors or cross border traders and our young girls don't want to sell their bodies to feed their families. Our children want to go to school without being worried about school fees. Those who work do not want to be anxious each month whether they will get paid or not. Zimbabweans don't want to have to queue to access their hard earned salaries and be limited how much they can spend.

We do not want ministers and public officials who are corrupt and even boast about it. We do not want a President who has no energy or vision to create the Zimbabwe we want.

The protests we are seeing are trying to deliver this message and yet we continue to see denial and the reframing of a national problem as a problem being fuelled by the West. Nothing can be further from the truth.

This government has turned all progressive Zimbabweans into freedom fighters. This cannot be stopped until we are free from repression, tyranny, state violence, corruption and the incompetence of this government, and Zanu-PF in particular, to create the Zimbabwe we want.

Another Zimbabwe is possible!

-------------
Vince Musewe <vtmusewe@gmail.com