"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******************
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