By Robert Sigauke- Zimbabwe celebrated National Unity Day a few days ago, commemorating the historic unification of former liberation war movements PF ZAPU and ZANU into what we know as Zanu PF today.

The historical importance of this event is two legged, firstly that it ended the disturbances in the Midlands and Matebeleland regions between 1983-1987 and secondly it had bound the two former liberation movements into one united front for joint thrusts towards national development.

Before then, PF Zapu had accused Robert Mugabe and his party of embarking on a mission to decimate Zapu which had been taken to represent and drive a tribal agenda favouring the non-Shona tribes in the Mid-South-Westerly regions of Zimbabwe.

Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo being referred to as father Zimbabwe is aptly befitting. From his days in the railway trade unionism, to the formation of the ANC, it is widely accepted that he was the father of the modern nationalism in Zimbabwe.

ZANU itself was a product of tribal fault-lines cracking within the then rank and file of ZAPU, having been dissatisfied with the leadership of Joshua Nkomo. By default or design, the fallout took a tribal end and this was to define the nationalist project and politics until today.

Despite sharing the same nationalist aspirations against the Rhodesian regime, there were little or no attempts to unite the two liberation movements. ZIPA was one such attempt were the military wings of these two movements made an attempt to forge an alliance on the battle field, but this was short-lived and only until the Lancaster House negotiations could another notable united front be seen.

There are records further, which indicate that Joshua Nkomo would favour the involvement of Robert Mugabe where it needed be, at one point directing that “bring that bright young man Robert” to be included in a negotiating delegation. Joshua Nkomo would later agree to the unity negotiating table to put a stop to the disturbances of 1983-1987. This was the legacy of the towering man, who passed away in 1999.

May his dear soul rest in peace, and may his legacy of unity, equality and freedom of the peoples live on. May his legacy of shunning toxic and evil politics of tribe be never be forgotten, politics of violence against minorities. May his legacy live on.

A good number of indications show that Mugabe had plotted the creation of a one party state system since the early 80s and even in years shortly before that. It had its own benefits for the party and Mugabe, who thought it easier to deal with internal opposition only than having sleepless nights over another opposition outside or partly within government. Reports suggest the Matebeleland disturbances were prepared for as early as 1981, so there are indeed gray areas in the conspiracy surrounding the arms cache found on the Zapu controlled properties, but that is another story.

The might and force used by Mugabe’s government against 50 or so dissidents, having collateral damages of 20 000 unarmed Ndebele civilians was not proportional, unless one had set eyes towards total decimation of the party and the majority ethnic group behind it. The Unity Accord of 1987 was subsequently signed which almost effectively resulted in the creation of a de facto one party state.

Edgar Tekere’s protests against rampant government corruption led to him being expelled from the Zanu PF party and he under ZUM, challenged Mugabe in the 1990 elections. In his own success Tekere blocked Mugabe’s near complete creation of a one party state in Zimbabwe.

Said Tekere,

“A one-party state was never one of the founding principles of ZANU-PF and experience in Africa has shown that it brought the evils of nepotism, corruption and inefficiency.” Tekere argued that the revolution was losing its way and moral compass, a reconfiguration within the echelons of power and government system was needed.

This is a government that had recently been riled by the 1988 Willowgate scandal. So popular was Tekere’s opposition to Mugabe at the time that he snatched an impressive vote count of 16% in the presidential and 20% of the parliamentary vote count.

ZUM too had violence meted against its members, some murdered by political thugs. In June 2011, Edgar Tekere, the gallant son of the soil passed on. His contribution to the liberation struggle and democracy in Zimbabwe will forever be cherished.

There has never been an opposition political party that has shaken a ZANU PF government to the core, even handing it its first poll defeat since majority rule, than the MDC under Tsvangirai. There has not been an opposition political party in Zimbabwe that has given ZANU PF sleepless nights for over two decades straight, waking it from the slumber and comfort of incumbency.

The reason for this is simple, the MDC’s is a people’s struggle, the concerns are real issues of the peoples in Zimbabwe. The leadership of the MDC are coming and going, the struggle is on a continuous path, the people’s spirit carries this revolution.

The democratic revolution is kept alive and relevant by the meting of violence against opposition members during elections, which is reminiscent of the Matebeleland atrocities albeit on a smaller scale.

It is a democratic disservice to be on a wanton warpath of arresting opposition leaders motivated by political scores. It is not true that ZANU PF’s own are not involved in much worse corruption, and the few arrests we see are stage managed where bail is granted without hassle.

The only real arrest against a ZANU cadre is where there has been a fallout, Mary Chiwenga for example. We never saw another Chris Kuruneri, only him. Khupe’s MDC is favoured with certain rights which same are denied to the MDC Alliance. Recently we witnessed a large gathering of Khupe’s congress at HICC against COVID regulations which are read when other opposition parties need to hold their gatherings.

State resources are at Khupe’s disposal to give their faction an upper hand against the MDC Alliance. We saw the prompt dispatch of the police to aid the claiming of Harvest House. The only reason why the airwaves are being opened quite recently is because citizen journalism is now rampant over Youtube and other platforms, it is therefore a losing battle to shut the airwaves.

It is these things which keep the democratic revolution alive and well to see another dispensation pass by and still remain relevant.

History has it, that such people’s revolutions, sooner or later, always prevail.

Robert Sigauke is a Legal Manager and Political Commentator. He writes in his personal capacity from Johannesburg. You can reach him at [email protected]