Zimbabweans from all walks of life and different political parties gathered in Slough, UK, at the invitation of the MDC UK to demonstrate their repugnance at the Mugabe regime’s misrule.
This came in the wake of a recent “Jobs March” by the MDC T in Harare, Zimbabwe. The theme of the Slough demonstration was “Mugabe must go, to save Zimbabwe!”
Chants of “Mugabe must go, to save Zimbabwe! To save Zimbabwe, Mugabe must go!” reverberated from a packed hall at the Labour offices in the Slough High Street, in Chalvey.
Former MDC Chairman for UK, Ephraim Tapa was one of the main speakers at the event where he stressed the need for unity of all Zimbabweans as they faced the Mugabe regime. He also commemorated the death of Cde Tonderai Ndira, an activist who was abducted and killed by agents of Robert Mugabe on the 14th of May, 2008.
His decomposed body was found with eyes gouged out and tongue cut out. Mr Tapa read a few lines from an article written by Edward Mukuze, a human rights activist and ROHR Southampton branch Vice Chairperson as well as MDC Southampton Information and Publicity Officer. Read Mr Tapa, “They shattered his jaw bones, broke his knuckles to smithereens, shot a bullet through his heart and stabbed him repeatedly as well as battered him with an object, probably a hammer, that left a gaping hole on the back of his head.”
This gesture of unity by Tapa, himself a
former MDC UK Chairperson somewhat demonstrated how far Zimbabweans are prepared to let bygones be bygones in their quest to form a united front aimed at dislodging ZANU PF from power. The following is a video clip of Ephraim Tapa leading the demonstrators in song in Slough.
The MP for Slough, Fiona Mactaggart who was also one of the speakers at the event spoke in solidarity with Zimbabweans displaced by the Mugabe regime and forced to seek asylum in the UK. She spoke of the need for people like herself to ensure that in the campaigns for human rights, the people of Zimbabwe are not forgotten.
She let out that the UK government is “deliberately trying to create what they call a hostile atmosphere in relation to immigration and what that means is that they are effectively making it impossible for Zimbabweans who are here to remain safely. She stressed her frustration at the UK government who are making it impossible for Zimbabweans, who she sees as hard working people, to earn a living in the UK. She said she thinks former colonies of the U.K, need to become mature democracies to enable their citizens to be prosperous and free. “Prosperity and freedom go together”, she said. “The big problem for Zimbabwe is that initially prosperity came without freedom then freedom without prosperity…. and then neither.”
Good attendance of events like this are the beginning of a show of maturity amongst us as Zimbabweans and promise to bring unity against the injustices imposed on us. As a political and human rights activist I say to my fellow Zimbabweans, unity makes strength. Our national flag should unite us all. Simunye! Pamberi nekubatana!
Edward Mukuze writes in his own capacity as a political and human rights activist.