By Alice Majola| In this piece, I will try to channel the speech made by His Majesty Emperor Selassie of Ethiopia to the League of Nations many moons ago in 1936. The following is the iconic segment of Emperor Selassie’s speech:
“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war. And until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained… now everywhere is war.”
The speech was so iconic in its honesty about the struggles of dark skinned peoples of the world that it inspired Bob Marley to turn it into a song which he called ‘War’. Here is my version of it which I have edited to address the problems in Zimbabwe:
“Until the philosophy which holds that Zanu leadership and their friends are superior and above the law while the rest of us are inferior and subjected to intentional misinterpretations of the same law, is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, there will be resentment towards Zanu pf. And until there is no longer vote rigging, corruption, and state violence against political opposition and the general public, until the political affiliation of a person has no significance in their chances of living a decent life in Zimbabwe. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to every Zimbabwean regardless of wealth, war veteran credentials, presence of disability, tribe or location, there will be resentment towards Zanu pf. And until that day, the dream of democracy, prosperity and being the bread basket of Africa will remain but a fleeting illusion to be that will never be attained, which is why there is resentment towards Zanu”
Personally, I will always measure the success and fairness of a Zimbabwean government on the basis of what it will do to help the many women who have to carry their little babies on their backs everyday, walking long distances while hoisting large weights on their heads so they can try to sell a bit of fruit and vegetables in the hot and sometimes cold and dusty streets of Zimbabwe. These women sometimes sit for 15 hours a day waiting hopefully for the next customer, who on some days will not emerge because of the dire economic situation in the country which has resulted in many Zimbabweans ‘living without’. Sometimes these women make as little as 5RTGs in one day which can’t afford to pay for the baby’s milk. They are part of the most marginalised people in Zimbabwean society. The morality and uprightness of a government is measured by how it treats the most vulnerable members of society.
Like I said, the needs of these women and their babies is the yard stick by which I judge the robustness and success of a Zimbabwean government. So here is my yardstick in which I will use elements of Selassie’s League of Nations speech:
“Until these women and their babies do not have to go through this suffering and humiliation, I will always resent this corrupt Zanu pf government. Until these mothers are given help by the state in the welfare of their children, I will always resent Zanu pf. Until these mothers are able to earn enough money to live a decent life from the difficult jobs they do, I will always resent Zanu pf. Until these mothers and their babies do not have to pay money to receive hospital treatment and don’t have to pay school fees for their children up to A level, I will always resent Zanu pf. Until they have a viable option to earn a living, I will continue to resent Zanu pf”