"I can understand now why our countrymen took up arms against us. And if these actions and attitudes and forms of selective ignorance displayed by my tribe once caused blood and fire to spread across the land called Rhodesia, what will these same actions and attitudes and forms of selective ignorance produce in this land called Zimbabwe?" quaintly asked write Bruce Moore-King in his 1988 book, White Man Black War. This is an excellent book sparkling with the right stuff set out by an ex-soldier who switches sides and exposes the viciousness of the liberation war and underpinning ideology of white supremacy.
Few are probably more aware of that than our war veterans and servicemen, that the 11th and 12th of August are very important days on our nation's calendar. The same might be said of the 'ruling' party; whose ruthless campaign and brutal control over people fueled so much fear that led to seclusion, vulnerability and hatred. Suddenly these important dates have been reduced to nothing. Heroes and Armed Forces days may possibly never recover their reputation and purpose after all these years of military repression and midwifery of the most brutal forms of coercion.
And to say the least, these scars and wounds need mending in the interest of reconciliation and nation building. My appeal does not mean loyalty to government. Neither do I mean to join the soppy chorus of calls for burden of proof as in criminal law where they preserve the presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. My moral conviction emanates from philosophical enquiry which shows that the dangers of rejecting the status quo, if it is in fact true, are far greater than those of accepting if they are false. If we don't act on them and they are true, serious consequences will follow. Let's not allow history to sadly repeat itself.
We can't go without mentioning Mugabe's admitted 'error' of sending the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade to slaughter thousands of civilians (estimated to be 20,000) during the Matebeleland unrest in the 1980's. As in many other parts of the country, the military has methodically carried out those wicked assassinations of opposition, inflicted villainous human rights violations with deliberate intent of terrorising people. This has been their modus operandi since independence. Sometimes, of course, our government gives the impression of being unconcerned with the spirit of Joshua Nkomo, even though without his persuasion and insistence, Zimbabwe would not be where it is today. In fact, until late in 1963, Nkomo counted among his disciples Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole.
Or one may question whether there is justification for our armed forces to shamefully prop up evil and undemocratic regimes across Africa. Is their current support of tyrant Gadaffi against his own people, or their military intervention in 1997 Congo, good for any of us?
It is hard for me to articulate sufficiently my contempt for our armed forces and their leadership. I was a Rio Tinto Foundation scholar in 1997 when military helicopters invaded Chitungwiza airspace and bombarded us with teargas, on the ground soldiers were beating up children and women indiscriminately. During the strikes by trade unions, civil servants and students in 1989, for negative socio-economic developments and corruption by government officials, Mugabe unleashed his vicious army who, with such venomous glee, suppressed the people's voice.
Today we are told of human rights abuses and shooting of illegal miners from helicopter gunships in the Chiadzwa diamond fields in Marange. Not to mention the infamous farm invasions. What is surprising is that if you look at any of the list of the many things that have been going terribly wrong since independence in Zimbabwe, you will find that "military" or "war veterans" tops the list.
To my mind, it is important that we point to these defects, point to their errors and nobody ever went bankrupt condemning wrong doing. Consider the evilness of the late General Vitalis Zvinavashe. He went on to build a school in Tynwald, named it after himself. His idea was to leave a lasting legacy and convey a holy image but to us we remember him for all the wrongs he did to many innocent Zimbabweans during his time at the helm of our armed forces. Obviously it isn't possible for General Chiwenga and his men to do this forever. So they too need an extreme makeover as a choice rather than a strategic piecemeal change.
I say this for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I am thinking of the eternal flame of the Unknown Soldier and my respect for the heroes of our revolutions. Thirdly, both the military and people need each other. Not only because of the 1980's deployment of Zimbabwean troops to defend our economic interests at the Beira Corridor railroad in Mozambique following violent threats from South Africa and Renamo's declaration of war on us. I was a pupil at Shingayi primary school in Chiredzi then, but I remember Sekuru Manenji a former teacher in Chikombedzi narrating his ordeal and how the Matsangas (Renamo fighters operating in Zimbabwe then) were terrorising them.
We can also draw lessons from our war of liberation. Mao Tse-tung was famously notorious for his 'great famine' of the 1959-1962 re-education camps and the invasion of Tibet. But his ideology is credited for what we are today. In the 1970's our fighters adopted Mao's philosophy of "guerillas swimming like fish in water of people". Military success then had been a result of mutual trust and cooperation between magandanga and povho. It was through integration that the Mujibas and Zvimbwidos would spy for, cook for and provide the much needed morale boost for the comrades. It was through this very same great wartime Maoist organisation that political ideas were shared and spread. Ian Smith was prepared to kill but our people were prepared to pay the ultimate price for our freedom. My question then is; if our people were prepared to stand by and die with our fighters, why can't the soldiers and veterans stand and fight for the people now?
Finally, the military, indeed like most people everywhere, want to do the right thing. I believe they could and should be good. They should not be confused about what the good thing is because it is obvious to them as it is to us; their purpose is not being partisan but standing with the people and defending our borders. Lacking tht, we are poised to see conflict between ethics and greedy.
So given the institutions in which these important days are embedded, the challenge is for the war veterans and the servicemen to learn and see some change in the tide and opportunity in a surge of event, not only in Zimbabwe but beyond. They need to have a clear purpose. These landmark events should accommodate the mainstream and, most importantly, appeal to those who had either given up or never respected the significance of our history from the 1896 uprising, the Land Apportionment Act 1930, Land Husbandry Act 1951, Nationalism of the 1940's, Constitutionalism of the 50's to at least the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979.
But sadly this history has rarely been studied by those who aim to lead us or serve in our armed forces. I can now see why Plato (427-327 BC) in his Republic wanted philosopher-Kings to rule society. He saw education and political participation as key to society and even said "that the penalty that good men pay for not being in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves". I know our democrats and libertarians will scream at hearing this, but surely basic understanding of politics and history is not bad either. However, the fact that this vital knowledge has not reached many does not mean we cannot all benefitting from acquiring this wisdom now.
Veterans, Servicemen and Politicians should not ignore people and head for their celebrations without the nation's support. The povho will turn off their TV sets at home and boycott the proceedings but in the absence of an alternative, we are punishing the spirit of that Unknown Soldier and many who choose to do the right thing and stand with the people. Lenin (1879-1924) puts it best; "that the people cannot go on being ruled in the old way and that the rulers cannot go on ruling in the old way". For I and others like me see compromise and change as necessary, otherwise 'selective ignorance' remains a parable of our times.
***I write in memory of Takawira Shumba Mafukidze & Venia M. Zvaipa******************
Sunday 31 July 2011
Tuesday 5 July 2011
I put it to you, my fellow Zimbabweans, that grown up politics need to move beyond Heroes and Herods.
Sometimes, of course, our politicians pretend to ignore the definition of a hero; a man who is idealized for possessing superior qualities in any field. More than thirty years since the fall of Rhodesia, Zimbabwe's ruling government has still not learned that the war that brought us independence was not fought by ZANU (PF) alone. Robert Mugabe and his Politburo have had their own version of good hero, bad hero. So now we know. The latest edition to the long list of national heroes, Edgar Tekere who once played the hard man, was too courageous, too brilliant, principled, charming and a true comrade.
Did I neglect to mention that the former Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) leader was a womaniser, murderer and too controversial? It's because that's not the Zimbabwe way. You see, these fine words about heroism in our context are lost and argued ad hominem when the possibility of a heroic individual hostile to Mugabe and his party being dead is faced. And yet we repeatedly told that a liberation war credentials is the only criterion for granting such honour: hence it is worth our support.
There is, in short, very little that is actually startling in ZANU (PF) now: the same old witnesses who never paint a true portrait of what happened during the war, What we know is no less important for our judgement of course. THe late Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole of ZANU (Ndonga) and Maurice Nyagumbo were both former members of ZAPU before switching sides. Nyagumbo committed suicide to save his face from corruption uncovered in the Willogate scandal and was subsequently granted national hero status in 1989. Sithole was never recognised at death. Instead, despite his poor health, Mugabe 'fabricated treason charges' against him and continued his assault until he secured a conviction. Tekere on the other hand in 1989 accused Mugabe of corruption, then expelled from ZANU (PF) and a year later formed ZUM. He then went on to form an alliance with the much hated Bishop Abel Muzorewa in 1994 after failing to unseat Mugabe in the previous election.
Given their known contribution to our nation, Sithole and Muzorewa are not the only victims of this sinister ploy by the Politburo. There are many other independent and opposition politicians in Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who bravely fought for our independence, endured apartheid at its worst submissively and suffered brutality like any other Zimbabwean but ZANU (PF) takes a dim view of bad heroes and heroines. There are many great sportsmen, talented artists and scientists who have done our country proud and made great contributions to our nation, but politicians are wrong to ignore their heroism because they did not support ZANU (PF) or did not fight in a war. Even when marriages break up it doesn't stop people from reflecting on the good times they have had together. What worries me is that my country will remain divided on this thorny issue until the Politburo abandons its one sided policy of unconditional appointments for its loyalists to this tax payer-funded facility. In any fair way, ordinary citizens must decide who they want there.
Grown up politics is what ZANU (PF) need to move beyond and indeed reading some of Aristotle's work may be worthwhile. For Aristotle (384-322 BC), the Greek philosopher paid attention and more respect to tutor Plato: the purpose of politics is not only to ease economic exchange and provide for the common defense; it is also to encourage good character and form good citizens.
Our economy has been losing momentum since independence. In an age of austerity, where even the world's great economies are struggling, I must admit that the cost of maintaining such a luxury has become more expensive to service. We should not overlook the fact that every child born since 1980 owes a lifelong financial debt to the war of independence. In her book The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein describes a long time South African antiapartheid activist, Rassool Snyman, as saying "They never freed us. They only took the chain from around our neck and put it on our ankles". Snyman was pointing to ANC's failure to implement the promises synthesized in 1955's Freedom Charter. I am afraid to say Zimbabwe and its 'born free' are in no better position.
My current frustration is that our politicians see liberation as a gift to the nation or a self-achievement. They view public funds as their personal wealth. What we owe the heroes of this bygone struggle is a moral debt and no reparation should be made for civic virtue. It is therefore unfitting that a country struggling with its economy should continue to pay hefty pensions, increasing wealth without end to a few war veterans while they plot their next evil deed. It is unfitting that those very same thugs who have chained democracy and wreaked a ruthless terror on innocent citizens continue to have huge pay cheques, even in death for their surviving families. More worryingly, all paid for by their victims.
What is fitting is that these so-called 'heroes' should be taxed on death or during their lifetime and pay for the upkeep of 'their shrine', their own estates. There should be no question of who is liable because they know each other; it's only a matter of who the heavens call first. They have stripped the country of its assets and looted from the poor. ZANU (PF) like the ANC broke with the past as Francis Fukuyama put in his End of History and The Last Man, abandoned their Lenin-Marxist ideologies that they were always supposed to be for. It is indescribably dreadful how they have already undermined freedom rather than increasing it, by turning civic duty in to tradable goods as argued by Rousseau in The Social Contract (1762). Their widows and children are equally rich and should not be looked after at the tax payer's expense. I am convinced of this, given our scarce resources, deal with this obvious injustice.
If this proves painfully inadequate and in case the insane, greedy, shameless ZANU (PF) Politburo refuse to pay for their resting place, certainly I call all Zimbabweans to push for reforms that could eventually shut down that shrine. My understanding of social reality is; there is nothing wrong with burying them at one of their multiple farms as my family lay at rest at Mawire village in Buthera. After all, there are many forgotten heroes scattered across Mozambique and Zambia who never made it back home. Otherwise, funds saved from this misadventure could be put to better public services and free the children of Zimbabwe of unnecessary debt.
The heroes acre has been unpopular with many Zimbabweans for obvious reasons. It has failed to serve its purpose. Instead of uniting us, it has further infuriated apartheid: "apartness" in independent Zimbabwe. It will be an understatement to suggest that I see our politicians like George Orwell's pigs in Animal Farm, and endorsement of an earlier column by Dr Alex Magaisa on NewZimbabwe.com. Each time I reflect on Harare's Warren Park Hill, I see a monumental blunder. You decide!
Did I neglect to mention that the former Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM) leader was a womaniser, murderer and too controversial? It's because that's not the Zimbabwe way. You see, these fine words about heroism in our context are lost and argued ad hominem when the possibility of a heroic individual hostile to Mugabe and his party being dead is faced. And yet we repeatedly told that a liberation war credentials is the only criterion for granting such honour: hence it is worth our support.
There is, in short, very little that is actually startling in ZANU (PF) now: the same old witnesses who never paint a true portrait of what happened during the war, What we know is no less important for our judgement of course. THe late Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole of ZANU (Ndonga) and Maurice Nyagumbo were both former members of ZAPU before switching sides. Nyagumbo committed suicide to save his face from corruption uncovered in the Willogate scandal and was subsequently granted national hero status in 1989. Sithole was never recognised at death. Instead, despite his poor health, Mugabe 'fabricated treason charges' against him and continued his assault until he secured a conviction. Tekere on the other hand in 1989 accused Mugabe of corruption, then expelled from ZANU (PF) and a year later formed ZUM. He then went on to form an alliance with the much hated Bishop Abel Muzorewa in 1994 after failing to unseat Mugabe in the previous election.
Given their known contribution to our nation, Sithole and Muzorewa are not the only victims of this sinister ploy by the Politburo. There are many other independent and opposition politicians in Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who bravely fought for our independence, endured apartheid at its worst submissively and suffered brutality like any other Zimbabwean but ZANU (PF) takes a dim view of bad heroes and heroines. There are many great sportsmen, talented artists and scientists who have done our country proud and made great contributions to our nation, but politicians are wrong to ignore their heroism because they did not support ZANU (PF) or did not fight in a war. Even when marriages break up it doesn't stop people from reflecting on the good times they have had together. What worries me is that my country will remain divided on this thorny issue until the Politburo abandons its one sided policy of unconditional appointments for its loyalists to this tax payer-funded facility. In any fair way, ordinary citizens must decide who they want there.
Grown up politics is what ZANU (PF) need to move beyond and indeed reading some of Aristotle's work may be worthwhile. For Aristotle (384-322 BC), the Greek philosopher paid attention and more respect to tutor Plato: the purpose of politics is not only to ease economic exchange and provide for the common defense; it is also to encourage good character and form good citizens.
Our economy has been losing momentum since independence. In an age of austerity, where even the world's great economies are struggling, I must admit that the cost of maintaining such a luxury has become more expensive to service. We should not overlook the fact that every child born since 1980 owes a lifelong financial debt to the war of independence. In her book The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein describes a long time South African antiapartheid activist, Rassool Snyman, as saying "They never freed us. They only took the chain from around our neck and put it on our ankles". Snyman was pointing to ANC's failure to implement the promises synthesized in 1955's Freedom Charter. I am afraid to say Zimbabwe and its 'born free' are in no better position.
My current frustration is that our politicians see liberation as a gift to the nation or a self-achievement. They view public funds as their personal wealth. What we owe the heroes of this bygone struggle is a moral debt and no reparation should be made for civic virtue. It is therefore unfitting that a country struggling with its economy should continue to pay hefty pensions, increasing wealth without end to a few war veterans while they plot their next evil deed. It is unfitting that those very same thugs who have chained democracy and wreaked a ruthless terror on innocent citizens continue to have huge pay cheques, even in death for their surviving families. More worryingly, all paid for by their victims.
What is fitting is that these so-called 'heroes' should be taxed on death or during their lifetime and pay for the upkeep of 'their shrine', their own estates. There should be no question of who is liable because they know each other; it's only a matter of who the heavens call first. They have stripped the country of its assets and looted from the poor. ZANU (PF) like the ANC broke with the past as Francis Fukuyama put in his End of History and The Last Man, abandoned their Lenin-Marxist ideologies that they were always supposed to be for. It is indescribably dreadful how they have already undermined freedom rather than increasing it, by turning civic duty in to tradable goods as argued by Rousseau in The Social Contract (1762). Their widows and children are equally rich and should not be looked after at the tax payer's expense. I am convinced of this, given our scarce resources, deal with this obvious injustice.
If this proves painfully inadequate and in case the insane, greedy, shameless ZANU (PF) Politburo refuse to pay for their resting place, certainly I call all Zimbabweans to push for reforms that could eventually shut down that shrine. My understanding of social reality is; there is nothing wrong with burying them at one of their multiple farms as my family lay at rest at Mawire village in Buthera. After all, there are many forgotten heroes scattered across Mozambique and Zambia who never made it back home. Otherwise, funds saved from this misadventure could be put to better public services and free the children of Zimbabwe of unnecessary debt.
The heroes acre has been unpopular with many Zimbabweans for obvious reasons. It has failed to serve its purpose. Instead of uniting us, it has further infuriated apartheid: "apartness" in independent Zimbabwe. It will be an understatement to suggest that I see our politicians like George Orwell's pigs in Animal Farm, and endorsement of an earlier column by Dr Alex Magaisa on NewZimbabwe.com. Each time I reflect on Harare's Warren Park Hill, I see a monumental blunder. You decide!
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