Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) A traumatised generation

A traumatised generation
by Panyika Anselm Karimanzira
20/04/2010 00:00:00

FORa people that had endured over a century of oppressive and discriminatory imperialist colonial rule, the lowering of the Union Jack and, in its place, the raising of the Zimbabwe flag at Rufaro Stadium on April 18, 1980, was an enduring symbolic occasion for celebration.

Generations of black Zimbabweans had been oppressed and denied basic human rights and freedoms for about three decades, counting from the day, in 1890, that The Pioneer Column set foot in what was later to be called Southern Rhodesia.

Imperialist colonial rule was imposed on the hapless people of Zimbabwe and endured right through a number of colonialist eras, notably Southern Rhodesia, Federation of Rhodesia & Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Rhodesia post UDI and Zimbabwe Rhodesia.

During those eras, oppression and discrimination was institutionalised, legislated and dire. The black majority endured oppressive, degrading and almost sub-human treatment from self appointed supremacist white settler rulers. This ill treatment was to lead to rebellions which were brutally quashed by the better equipped settlers.

African Nationalism was to follow and this ultimately evolved into the protracted guerilla war of liberation, variously referred to as The Second Chimurenga. Ultimately, pressure was brought to bear on Ian Smith’s regime until he agreed to sit down and negotiate the orderly hand-over of power to the black majority at the Lancaster House Conference in 1979. The process culminated in the independence celebrations of April 18, 1980.

We need to understand what it is that we were fighting for all those years and what it is that we expected from black majority rule, in order to fully appreciate the euphoria of our celebrations of April 18, 1980.

The constitutions of both ZANU and ZAPU, the organisations that led the liberation war effort were very clear about our expectations. These could be summarised as;- land (to the extent that it is the base resource on which all other factors of production are based), equal access to all other resources, universal suffrage (one man one vote), equality before the law, justice, peace, democracy and respect of human rights.

One can be excused for thinking that these expectations were premised on the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It just seems so natural that humanity should crave and strive for equality, justice and peace regardless of ethnicity or race.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




What was to follow after those first celebrations was an enduring 30-year nightmare from which we hope to wake up one day. From as early as circa 1981, following the Entumbane and associated Matabeleland and Midlands disturbances, brutal repression and intolerance by a black “majority” government reared its ugly head. This was to be followed by a five-or-so-year siege of Matabeleland by the ad hoc Five Brigade, ZanuPF Youth Brigade and CIO.

Whilst this was happening, the press was not only gagged, but literally barred from following the atrocious events taking place in Matabeleland. Over 20,000 of our fellow unarmed innocent civilian citizens were killed, genocide style.

It then became clear that the new black government was more intolerant to divergent views and more ruthless than the previous white regimes. The Zanu PF led government set out to impose a one party state on Zimbabwe. They decided that they alone had the right to rule Zimbabwe and the people had to be forced, violently if need be, to accept their ideals.

A new social order was imposed upon the people of Zimbabwe. There was a suffusion of Zanu PF’s system of patronage, corruption and violence. One could be excused for thinking that Zimbabwe was “Animal Farm”. All sorts of leagues, committees, movements, brigades were set up by all sorts of comrades with the ultimate aim of indoctrinating the masses. Over the years, the ideals that we fought for were changed.

Some people became more equal than others. Universal suffrage assumed a whole new meaning. It now meant one of two things. Either that a person was being watched while casting their vote, or where it was deemed not expedient to watch a person vote, ten or more ballots in favour of Zanu PF were stuffed for every person that could not be watched. The vote was even extended to the dead in some instances and even in death, our dear departed’s votes were always in favour of Zanu PF.

Freedom of speech now meant that one was indeed free to speak BUT if what they spoke was deemed to be against the government, one lost their freedom immediately thereafter, sometimes for indefinite periods of time. All sorts of conditions became attached to all our rights and freedoms. Our basic human rights became conditional to being seen to be partisan to Zanu PF.

Effectively, we even lost our right to elect a government of our own choice. Whenever people fought for that right, they risked losing even more rights in the process, not least, the right to life. Every election was time for intimidation, physical torture, displacement and even death for those who dared openly campaign for the opposition.

Sad as it may sound, reality is such that the people of Zimbabwe have been made to chase illusions by Robert Mugabe over the past three decades. So much has been forced down their throats. Here are some of the illusions, in brief;-

Timely Elections
The Zanu PF government has held timely elections, without fail, according to the constitution. The trick though lay in the fact that the process was fraught with bias and irregularities. The process was just a formality. The result was always pre-determined. The notion of one man one vote lost its meaning and purpose. What good is it to hold regular elections when the process is rigged and the results are predetermined?

Freedom (s)
Despite the government boasting that we were and are a free people, reality is that one is never free to exercise their rights to freedom of speech, association, worship etc. You have to watch over your shoulder whenever you want to say something that is against the government.

Every other person has been enlisted to spy against fellow citizens. You cannot trust even your own siblings. One has to toe the Zanu PF line in whatever endeavour in order to be said to be free. What good is it, then, to be told that you are free when you can only be free if you are doing things after a predetermined fashion?

Land
This is an emotive issue indeed, but for all the hullabaloo that comes with it, hands up all those who legally own the land that was allocated to them under the land redistribution exercise. Do you hold title to that land? Can you use it as collateral to secure loans from financial institutions? Do you have security of tenure?

Justice
When the law is applied selectively, as is the case in Zimbabwe, what we end up with is a society in which there is no justice. A society is probably better off without written laws than with written laws that are applied selectively. Laws have been broken willy-nilly by selected individuals and the government has turned a blind eye. People are literally getting away with murder on a regular basis. On the other hand, some laws are tailor-made, in haste, to punish certain individuals and / or certain sections of society.

I could go on and on about democracy, peace, equality etc. but the point is, nothing is as it is said to be by Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF. Our country is in tatters. We have a traumatised generation to contend with. The hate that has been repeatedly preached to our people in general, and our youth in particular, the atrocities that they were made to commit and the general state of displacement of our people have left their mark on our society.

The psychological damage is immeasurable and dire. These are some of the downstream consequences of Mugabe’s reckless policies and ruthless oppressive rule.

Oppression is really painful to the oppressed regardless of victims’ race and regardless of whether oppressor is black or white. Sometimes it is even better to be oppressed by someone other than of your own race. At least the oppressor is distinct in that case and there is less deception then.

There is not much benefit that has accrued to the average person in Zimbabwe from black rule since 1980. The subsisting political dispensation only benefited and continues to benefit a chosen few. Simply put, we are not a free people.

If my interpretation of the definition of the word “independent” (“free from the control of others“) is correct, then the majority of Zimbabweans are not independent either. True independence and real freedom remain elusive. We are not there yet. We have more reason to worry than to celebrate. We are being governed by one of the worst dictators the world has ever known.

To celebrate “independence”, would be like celebrating bondage, institutionalised physical and psychological repression, family breakdowns resulting from members of the same family living in different parts of the world, murders etc..

We should look forward to the day when we shall have genuine cause for genuine celebration.

That day is not April 18.

Labels: INDEPENDENCE, LIBERATION, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 2:44 AM