Let me bark at the moon: Pongo

By Brilliant Pongo

Many-a-times you hear our dear brothers and sisters say black people, Africans, cannot lead they are corrupt; they are this; they are that, this in many ways is an example of what oppression has done to some of our black brothers and sisters.

I speak here of Zimbabweans in particular though this affects Africans in general. One then wonders why speaking specifically here are Zimbabwean colleagues so self-deprecating? Could it be that they have been made to feel inferior for so long that for them it is comforting to denigrate their own people.

They indulging in self harm and self hate when in the company of white people in the false hope of being seen as the progressive Africans and their little egos get a boost because (varungu vanondifarira) as they would proudly declare to those who care to listen.

A lot of my Zimbabwean colleagues still suffer from inferiority complex- dare I say -a result of the colonial legacy of denigration and derision passed down from their forefathers who for years thought the Whiteman in our case the Rhodesians had answers to everything and indeed viewed the oppressors as diminutive-gods even the chosen, the natural leaders, (*I will forgive those who grew up mutuma bhoyizi-kaya and got the hand-me-downs from pikinini bhasi mwana wemurungu ayishandirwa nevabereki).

Most of the self-hating Zimbabweans demonise anyone who does not view the Varungu’s as diminutive-gods as redeemers, civilizers of the black African, because you are seen as ‘the enemy’ to progress. For these self-deprecating Zimbabweans progress attached to varungu.

Thus, anyone who chooses to stand up for black empowerment or blasphemous word such as indigenisation, anyone who is supportive of the land reform anyone who refuses to conform to the ideology of the West is the enemy. Excuse me, I choose not to sell my birthright, I for one am a proponent of the land reacquisition programme and I believe that our land is indeed our prosperity, it is our birthright.

Does that mean I am against progress? If by progress you mean me giving up my birthright and reversing the gains of our nation’s independence by giving back land to those who acquired it by force from our forefathers paying nothing for it in the process; giving back land to those whose forefathers discriminated and subjugated my elders, then YES I am against it.

I am against the whole notion that the key to success is in the hands of the Whiteman, a belief sadly held by some Zimbabweans. Yes those who shamelessly proclaim that as black Zimbabweans we cannot run our own affairs, I am against the intellectual bankruptcy that makes some black Zimbabweans believe that only the whites could be great farmers, that only the whites are the divinely appointed pace-setters in economic progress.

Many will argue about the process and methods used to re-posses the land mainly from our erstwhile colonisers and oppressors, and I will be the first to admit that the programme could have been done better, but whatever way those losing the land would have still cried foul and they would have still put up a fight to frustrate the process.

Villagers from my maternal-grandmothers’ village in the Chihundura communal lands who previously had tried to subsist through farming on sandy unfertile soils that had been overused for years, gave me an intrinsic insight into the land reform programme, indeed they  benefited from this government lead programme. Villagers of all political persuasions ‘invaded’ the farm which surrounded their homes, it was the villagers who took Mr. Mayer’s farm this was not lead by war vets.

Mr. Mayer as they called him ‘was evil’ he showed no mercy to those whom he caught trespassing, his workers physically punished those they caught foraging for firewood, they indiscriminately beat up young and old villages and impounded cattle that strayed into Mayer’s part of the land, (Mayer anga asingakwanise kugaranevamwe zvakanaka) he was not a good neighbour. 

Today that farm has been divided and those previously overcrowded villagers who could not grow much on what had now become unfertile soil have bigger and more fertile land on which to farm, their lot as subsistence farmers has been greatly improved. Now why should I be against that? Yes this is not Kondozi farm,  these villagers will probably not export any of their produce, they are after all subsistence farmers but they are nonetheless beneficiaries of the land reform programme, the very examples that you would otherwise not hear about in the western media, the silver lining they forget to mention.

Many today will accuse me of playing the race card, blaming the white man for our inadequacies or better still some will just see a ZANU PF apologist, however, I have developed such a thick skin over the years and have became immune to all that nonsense. The latest development is that, some self appointed watchman has set up a vigil to keep watch and to counteract my views and opinion which he has described as “words of mass deception (WMDs)”.

He also felt obliged to compliment my healthy hair and great eyes, but unfortunately I cannot return the compliment to this faceless watchman as he has not the spin to show his face, but I digress enough about these faceless characters (Tsanga Tutankhamen Shanga, Fortune Tazvida & co) that choose to bark at me.

The hostility displayed by some Zimbabweans in the Diaspora towards those who are sympathetic to Zanu pf, or indeed the Mutambara formation of the MDC should surely be of concern, given that these are the same bunch who purport to be champions of democracy let alone free speech.

They have a propensity to stifle debate by ignoring points of debate and focusing on name calling and mudslinging, most of those from the MDC (T) whom I have come across mainly in the UK seem to claim a ‘monopoly on intelligence and moral judgement’ and in their own deluded way they believe that the pattern and pace for the realisation of growth and prosperity in Zimbabwe is firmly in the hands of the Tsvangirai team.

Being in the Diaspora does not necessarily mean one is supportive of the MDC (T) which seems to be the mistaken view held by some of our brothers and sisters out in foreign lands. The Diaspora is not exclusive territory for the MDC (T), some of us at one point where supportive of the MDC we had hope that this would be the political party that would bring a change not only to the status quo,  but, the whole complexion of the political landscape in our dear Zimbabwe. However, disappointment is what we got more of the same, so naturally you revert to the original.

We can and should support any political views that we so desire as long as it is legal to do so within that part of the world in which you are located. I am not aware of any Zimbabwean political party that has it views banned from the UK or the northern part of the Americas.

So let me bark at the moon.

Brilliant Pongo is a Zimbabwean media studies researcher studying in the UK. He can be contacted at pongobrilliant@talktalk.net

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