Blessing Simpson Madzima

Zimbabwe gathered much hope at independence when Mugabe promised unity, forgiveness and opportunities for every Zimbabwean irrespective of colour, religion or political affiliation.

He preached democracy, Hope and deliverance for our society. The message was emphatic and inspiring to be a Zimbabwean.

We all had hope and some of us never imagined we would get into politics for I was mostly focused in entrepreneurship and investing into my people.
The dynamics and definition of our Hope was changed by the advocation of a One Party State.

We had not really prepared for that for we expected the government to take scrutiny objectively and be prepared to act on some of the important issues to do with the people and our country as a nation. That was the kind of politics that we cherished and hoped to bring unity, cohesion and good governance in developing our country.

Zimbabwe had already started going on a positive developmental path and our currency had remained competitive and strong.

Anywhere that prompted the referendum and the formation of MDC. Concerns were now raised about the land reform and distribution program.

Everything lost the unity, purpose and the interest of our people.

It started to be defined by politicking, racism, nepotism and partisanship which resulted in poor planning and distribution of land. I delve into that history for I believe history can help us sort out what’s happening today, and reassure us that there is reason for hope. This was the birth of tyranny on a restrained mode.

The birth of a credible and genuine opposition with a vision for the people brought a precedence that there is a possibility of change of government, and that fear of losing power through an open vote based on manifestos and hope for deliverance increased the experience of tyranny on a large scale.

I had expected our society to have taken a leaf from different categories of tyrannies that had emerged over the years and were classified and condemned together with other exploitative forms of authority. This should have encouraged us to develop a system of government that would thwart any possibility of tyrant or full scale tyranny by encouraging self governing societies through civic society and other pressure groups.

Our challenge is very complex in that we have a totalitarian type of tyranny involving in genocide against citizens,unleashing the army to brutalise those protesting and abductions to instil fear in every citizen, using some kind of collectivist utopia. The Mnangagwa error has come with shared similar Utopian aims, using the same genocidal means and imperialistic expansion. Our society is now totally traumatised and disconnected.

His tyranny is now being experienced on a large scale than ever imagined. Our society has always been concerned about avoiding tyranny, either from a single politician or a majority mob.

It appears we are now under a typical majority mob tyranny who are disguising as the people’s revolutionaries yet their rule is accompanied by cruelty and hedonism, from Mugabe’s autocratic perversions of Gaddafi.

It would have been better if he was that type of a tyrannical autocrat who want to build large, powerful and prosperous state with some benefits for ordinary people, but he is cruel and punishing more the ordinary people. He doesn’t seem to be a rational actor open to bargain with foreign adversaries for national honour, economic prosperity and infrastructure development. He is only interested in his on influence and prestige.

What we have to understand as a nation and be inspired and given hope is that such demagogical threats to our freedoms have been dealt with before by countries which went through similar challenges and I am convinced that a different way will emerge and we will continue to deal with this threat.

Despite the widespread concerns about the loss of our freedoms, genuine pluralism and loss of our sovereignty to these group mob tyrants and elites, our vulnerability can inspire us by uniting us to be more resisting the extreme reaches of tyranny and repression.

We have to continue to make our voice more multinational and aspiring to supranational authorities such as the United Nations and regional bodies.

We also need to continue advocating for genuine reforms and a working political system that ensures the independence of each branch of government over the others through checks and balances. For this to happen we need patriots with independent minds and interests vested in the people and our country.

Once we establish such a system no one indeed will be able to act on his demagogical inclinations fully for other branches of government will resist resulting in people winning on that principle of self governing.

Firmness and steadiness compounded with clarity and consistency of purpose is needed in this fight. Mnangagwa must be made to understand that he has no claims to his Tyrannical rule for he has no consent of us the governed.

Despite his wish to rule on claims of his liberation war credentials, Mnangagwa must be made to understand that he cannot descend our country into obscurity because of his selfish agenda.

As from the observation of Mnangagwa’s conduct and behaviour, he is capable of continuing to present the gravest challenge to our democracy and our sovereignty.

He appears he doesn’t just want power, riches or national pride for I believe if after the coup had he allowed democracy and the country’s interests to prevail, he would have earned all accolades of Nationalism and Heroism. Now it appears what he wants to force every citizen to submit to him as a master because of his liberation history.
This should not be cause for despair as history of tyranny has always been clear through its eventual defeat.

Tyrants and tyrannies can be frightening from the outside, but are often brittle from within. We just need to persevere and continue revisiting our strategies to ensure pressure is increased at all times.

Our citizens and followers of democracy who are themselves living in fear of the monsters ruling them, are eager to escape.

However, with perseverance and realism, aided and inspired by our history and the determination of our people for a free government, the hope of our democracy to meet that challenge can be instilled again.