Be the change you want to see: Murenje
By Mutsa Murenje in Nairobi Kenya
Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states in no uncertain terms that: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
From the foregoing article, it can be noted that all human beings have intrinsic value and a right to well-being, self-fulfillment and to as much control over their own lives as is consistent with the rights of others. This is a fundamental lesson that anybody who wants to see change in his/her society must learn. Knowledge after all is power and information is liberating.
As Kofi Annan puts it: “Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family”. This has to be ostensibly because the Preamble of the aforementioned Declaration also states explicitly that …”recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. But why should we be talking about human dignity and human rights? What is the relationship between these? Are they really important and if so, to what extent? Mine is an unwavering attention to the innate dignity of every man and woman.
This is largely a result of the fact that reference to human dignity remains to me the foundation and goal of the responsibility to protect. By talking about human dignity, we are in essence telling ourselves that we are all basically alike. We are all human beings regardless of our differences in language, clothing, the food we eat et cetera. These to me are just but cosmetic or superficial differences. That is on the surface. We remain the same human beings and that is what binds us to each other.
That is what makes it increasingly possible for us to understand each other and to develop friendship and closeness. We are gregarious by disposition. We eschew loneliness and the tendency is to seek company. We need to help each other when we have difficulties. The truth is that we are dependent on each other in so many ways. We can no longer live in isolated communities and ignore what is happening outside those communities. We can no longer lead an austere and ascetic sort of lifestyle like a hermit.
And with regards the issue of human rights, these are basic standards without which we cannot live in dignity as human beings. They are based on the natural law inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilisations. They are universal and so is the human person, the subject of those rights. Promotion of human rights, therefore, remains the most effectual strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security.
From a more analytical perspective, it can be argued that respect for human rights is principally rooted in unchanging justice. It is because of this that human rights, then, must be respected as an expression of justice, and not merely because they are enforceable through the will of the legislators. Human dignity and human rights intertwine. There is a permanent and intricate bond between them and they are as inseparable as fingers on a human hand. Human dignity grants human rights. Human rights are meant to protect the inherent dignity of the human person. One cannot do without the other.
These are very important to each one of us because they remind us that all men are born equal and have the same soul as any other. It is by making reference to these that we come to the realisation that every State’s primary duty is to protect its own population from grave and sustained/flagrant violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made. It is because of the inherent equality of all men that we as Zimbabweans fight the doctrine of superiority which our leaders arrogate to themselves. For we all know, don’t we, that it is one’s duty to hold any public office to which he/she may be elected by popular vote in the State of which he/she is a national.
Because I want to be the change that I want to see in the world, I consider it, like Mahatma Gandhi himself, unmanly for any person to claim superiority over a fellow-being. In my opinion, anybody who claims superiority naturally forfeits his claim to be called a man. Who are you Mr. President to tell the world that it’s only God who can remove you from power when the people have spoken through the ballot (peacefully) and not the bullet (violently) that your time is up? Are you not in your wisdom or lack of it claiming superiority over all of us?
Why should you wait for God when He has spoken through His people? Why can’t you be defeated in an election when you are just like all of us? Is your dignity different from that of all of us? Do you have your own set of rights? Aren’t all of us born free and equal in dignity and rights? Why should we behave in this manner? Is this really what you people fought for? I am simply asking because the Yoruba of Nigeria assert that: “The one who asks questions will never be lost”. I never partook in the war that brought ‘independence’ to Zimbabwe and I don’t think that all those who did participate were fighting for this hell that we have been experiencing all these years. This is not the change that people fought for.
I want all of us to be the change that we would want to see in Zimbabwe. I will say myself time without number that democracy as it is at present understood and practiced is a monstrous parody of the original, but in order to demolish this distortion let us not seek to demolish the original. For we are essentially the same human beings who are seeking happiness and trying to avoid suffering. In the words of Dalai Lama, it is this realisation that makes possible “…the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood; a warm feeling of love and compassion for others”. After all, selfish pursuit of interests, without caring about the needs of others, may not only end up harming others but also ourselves (targeted sanctions?).
I made reference to freedom, justice and peace in my preamble and I said these can only be realized through recognition of the inherent dignity of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. This is what I want to see in Zimbabwe, the region and the world at large. Am I not passionate about making a difference not only in Zimbabwe but also in the region and world at large? I want to see lasting peace in my society and this is only possible where human rights are respected, where people are fed and where individuals and nations are free. We want true peace with ourselves (mental peace) and with the world around us.
Each of us has a role to play in creating a society in which respect and care for others, based on empathy, are given top priority. Reason, courage, determination and the indefatigable/inextinguishable desire for freedom will ultimately win and this is what gives me the hope that one day Zimbabweans will once more be free.
In conclusion, “Leaders must dream of changing the world. They must have an inspired vision of the changes they want to make and be prepared to consecrate all their energy to that purpose. A capacity to communicate their objectives is indispensable to sustain the enthusiasm of their collaborators and their perseverance in action” (The Right Honourable Jeanne Sauve, Opening Speech to the National Conference for Young Leaders, June 2-8, 1991). I was in Grade 2 in 1991!!! I rest my case and I put it to you.
