Cornelius Takawira : Correspondent

IN my last instalment I wrote about how public utterances and lack of cohesion risked destroying Zanu-PF’s integrity. This week I would like to talk about how the 2008 violence template is now being used by MDC-T and other opposition political parties to cause anarchy and mayhem in Zimbabwe I do not want to propose and limit Zimbabweans to notions which are articulated in spoken or written words. In this article I am concerned with basic political ideas in our contemporary Zimbabwe and with the vocabulary in which the political ideas are expressed by Zimbabweans. National consciousness when deeply felt includes an awareness of respecting other human beings and their right to live peacefully. Violence and rabid demonstrations, undertaken for whatever reason do not have a place in civilised and democratic societies.

Zimbabweans, therefore, regardless of their political alignment, must understand the concept which is perhaps particularly vital for an understanding of modes of reasoning in politics is the respect for human life.

The questions that have often been asked by right-minded African politicians are: Now that the colonial master has been politically defeated who is going to keep peace in Africa? What is it that makes the former coloniser motivated to see democracy and rule of law though ethical lenses which he failed to employ during colonial rule? Does violence have a place in a democracy? When shall Africa learn to understand and practise its own democracy?

The current spate of opposition violence in Zimbabwe seems to suggest an adoption of an anti-democracy practice that seeks to destroy the vibrancy of our nation state, sovereignty, peace and stability. In a democracy it is strongly believed that a weakness of those in power is strength of those wanting to be in power after the conduct of a general election.

Never have we heard that violence and rabid demonstrations are a vehicle to a democratic transition. The Western democratic systems, such as those in America and Europe that some African politicians emulated, exploit heavily on the weakness of those in power which those wanting to be voted in power effectively use in their campaign trails so as to be voted into office.

So ethical it is practised there and yet here in Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, embassies of the former colonial masters encourage mayhem in order to effect regime change. Unfortunately, our politicians, mainly those that are not in power pride in becoming usable tools of violence and regime change. The story of crisis after crisis engineered by the West continually rears its ugly head in most African states such as the Congo, Somalia and South Sudan, just to mention a few.

Imagine the crisis in Senegal, Mali, Ivory Cost, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso all engineered by France, Britain and the USA. What is an African? Why the mystique of attachment to a continent? How does it affect African behaviour in international politics after independence?

Western political interference in the Congo, Zimbabwe and South Sudan exhibits a hidden Western hand of destabilisation. Is there a difference between using African stooges to interfere in African politics protecting Western interests and using of white mercenaries for regime change in these countries?

In the context of African nationalistic sensibilities the problem of identity is intimately related to the moral notion of human dignity. Honestly, how dignified is a demonstration, especially when it turns violent and causes wanton destruction of infrastructure and endangers human life? This culture of destroying property under the guise of reacting to alleged police heavy-handedness is nonsensical and demonic. It is as unAfrican as it is ungodly.

It is important for those engaged in these wanton demonstrations to note that when a man seeks his own identity he is seeking those qualities which distinguish him from other men but when he is concerned with asserting his human dignity he is referring to those qualities which he shares with others. Thus dignity and identity remain wedded together at the centre of African culture and behaviour.

In the disturbances that occurred in Harare in the last two weeks we are told demonstrators reacted angrily after being provoked by the police. Sadly, these assertions continue to be uttered by learned politicians such as Advocate Nelson Chamisa and Douglas Mwonzora. What then defies legal logic is for these politicians evidently advancing political interests, to lie through the altar of their teeth saying the protestors were provoked by the police.

If indeed these were peaceful demonstrations why burn shops and loot food items of innocent business people who are merely trying to make a living? If such violence is caused by the police where do such peaceful demonstrations get stones and catapults in the streets of Harare that are tarred?

Chamisa, Elias Mudzuri, Jealousy Mawarire and Didymus Mutasa should stop defending what is indefensible. Streets in Harare cannot suddenly grow stones and brick rubbles just because protestors have been provoked by the police. Why should people going on a peaceful demonstration carry bags and offensive weapons with them?

Where in law is it written that if you are provoked or hit by police or any other citizen one must necessarily destroy property causing mayhem, looting and harassing old women selling vegetables in order to bring livelihoods to their families? Honestly, where is the connection here between police provocation and protestors reacting violently by destroying property and looting shops?

Is this what Chamisa, Mudzuri, Mwonzora, Didymus Mutasa and Western embassies are defending as freedom of expression, human rights and ethical reaction by peaceful protestors? Are the protestors reacting peacefully by setting ablaze tyres, puncturing wheels and stoning innocent people’s cars? Is this what the MDC-T VPs (Chamisa and Mudzuri) bragged about in The Standard newspaper saying protests were unstoppable? Is this what these newly appointed MDC-T VPs say is a sign of them being ready to govern? What nonsense is this which they think they can get away with murder?

If any political party wishes to get into power I humbly advise them to capitalise on the weakness of those in power and craft sensible manifestos that appeal to the electorate. Tendai Biti was right when he observed that Zanu-PF had a clear message during election 2013 which appealed to the electorate. He never said Zanu-PF engaged in violence, No! President Mugabe, like him or hate him, was correct when he said, ’’where is your starting point from the ashes? So burn me and I will burn you. What politics is that?’’

It is important for politicians to take advantage of weakness of those in power without engaging in violence in order to maintain peace and stability. Violence, like sanctions, is a strategy of economic destruction.

I, therefore, call on Zimbabweans to shun violence. It is important to be dignified than to be rogue. I also call upon fellow war veterans to desist from inflammatory language that defies the eight points of attention.

Discipline, discipline and discipline is the virtue of good behaviour. This must be the guiding principle for every Zimbabwean – war veterans, youths, politicians, corporate leaders and so on. Zimbabwe is bigger than an institution inside it. So let’s guard its vibrancy jealously! Icho!

Cornelius Takawira is a living legend of the Revolution whose Chimurenga name was Ridzai Gidi.

 

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