Calling on all pro-democracy activists to unite and stand up

By Farai Mbira

Good day my fellow countrymen and countrywomen.

Zimbabweans United for Democracy (ZUNDE) is calling on all progressive Zimbabweans; individuals, genuine freedom fighters and veterans and all pro-democracy groups, both at home and scattered in the diaspora, to reflect on our current predicament, take notice of the ZUNDE freedom train and join us in moving our country forward.

The entire nation is disappointed because we have been betrayed by those that claimed to have liberated us. We cannot mourn forever, the period of mourning is over and it’s now time to pick ourselves up and do something to rekindle our dream for freedom.

ZUNDE sympathises with the people and commend them for their patience which has now been stretched to the limit. We cannot continue in endless and fruitless dialogues and expect our people to continue believing in what did not work. We must chart a new path in which what WE DO determines the outcome.

My heart bleeds with anguish as I ponder and look at our situation; beholding hardworking citizens struggling and the country crumbling due to causes we are all aware of. We all know that Zanu PF has taken us all hostages in its quest to retain power at all costs. We can’t let Zanu PF continue to treat us worse than animals. We want a new government that cares and respect its people.

My heart bleeds to see a whole young generation having their future stolen by Zanu PF while we, their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters are immobilised by fear and suspicion.

Our children expect their parents and elder siblings to act and protect their vulnerable future from this evil, sick, old, tired, dying and clueless Zanu PF.  Zanu PF is an evil, corrupt and carnivorous dragon that eats even its very own (just take a walk at Heroes Acre and see for yourself).

Zimbabwe is burning and is on the verge of a catastrophe. Zanu PF, the architects of our suffering, are fiddling and taking the crisis for a circus show. ZANU PF used to blame Tendai Biti and now they have directed their aim at one of their own, Chinamasa.

Zanu PF belongs in the psychiatric ward and we can’t trust them, even a minute, with our future. Even their own national hero Chenjerai Hunzvi declared the majority of them more than 100% mentally and emotionally dysfunctional! Surely Zanu PF is a joke run by ghosts and can never be part of the solution or future of Zimbabwe.

As concerned citizens we cannot remain bystanders and pretend that all is well or that luck will be on our side sooner or later. ZUNDE is calling on all progressive pro-democracy activists and groups to reflect on the dire situation facing Zimbabwe and join ZUNDE on this irreversible path to real change and freedom.

Promises being made by people who dismally failed during the now defunct GNU cannot be relied on any more. It’s time we stand up for our country and our future and say NO to Zanu PF dictatorship and the false prophets experimenting with our patience. I have stood up, ZUNDE has stood up and it’s now also your turn to stand up.

We have a predatory state that is using fear to suppress its citizens. We have state institutions that have succumbed to the dictatorship instead of serving the people. The whole service delivery system has collapsed and citizens have to bribe the government officials to do their job. Imagine bribing someone to do the job that s/he is employed to do! What a sham of a state of affairs.

Recently a budget was made in which the President was allocated 5 times the amount allocated to health and education. Such inconsiderate budget allocations have literally sent our hospitals to the deathbed.  Fellow citizens, we now have a regime that has no care even for its sick. We have to act.

In Zanu PF we have a pack of old wolves who don’t mind destroying the flock and the paddock. Zimbabweans, we must draw the line and say to Zanu PF “Not Any Further”, “maita zvakwana” and “from here we will take over”.

By continuing to support Zanu PF you are simply digging graves for yourself and your loved ones. By succumbing to Zanu PF intimidation, you can only save a few dollars but will destroy your entire future, including even the very farm you are sitting on. By joining the ZUNDE train you gain everything; your future and even whatever you have achieved so far.

ZUNDE is calling on the workers to reflect on their fight for a living wage. Since the colonial 1890 workers have been demanding a living wage and it has been denied them up to now. At the moment Zanu PF won’t even give the workers what they promised them before the recent stolen elections. During the GNU even those that were supposed to represent the workers were surprisingly quiet.

It’s time for workers to demand fairness and not promises, to receive respect for their support and votes and not endless meetings with perennial failures. As workers we can strike but if they don’t listen, we must take this initiative and join ZUNDE. Don’t be intimidated into throwing away your future and that of your loved ones.

ZUNDE sympathise and support the workers in their demands for improved working conditions. A government that is prepared to pay millions to Malema and Nikuv but would not do the same to their own workers is one not worth anybody’s support.

Some are earning $230,000 per month when government can’t afford to pay civil servants $500! The people have only read and heard about Chiyadzwa diamond fields but have not seen even a cent of it. The longer we let Zanu PF in charge the more they will destroy our beloved country. We cannot afford that any more.

Students you are the future. ZUNDE urges you to reflect on your future prospects. You are our brains and we look up to you for innovation and better ways of removing this dictatorship. If you remain in the classrooms and don’t act for your future, you will graduate only to sell juice-cards or run a stall at a flea market. We are looking for your energy and fearlessness to march the nation to freedom. Raise your hand and join us on our brave march to freedom.

ZUNDE extends the same call to the business community. As business people you are trained to spot opportunities even miles away. Under ZUNDE, Zimbabwe will be once more open for business – not bribery and corruption, but less government control and more room to manoeuvre. ZUNDE is open to your ideas and we need your input to influence policy formulation.

If you and your business want to be around in 2 years, put your weight behind ZUNDE. We were told to restrain ourselves to give a “soft landing” to the economy but alas it was only Zanu PF that experienced it – we all had a hard landing on 31 July 2013. ZUNDE is the exit strategy you need.

Each new day brings a greater burden; more oppression, more rules and more of bribes at police roadblocks and more nocturnal raids by state agents. Instead of supporting local business, they choose to buy obsolete weapons from China. Join ZUNDE to put an end to all this madness.

We call upon our security forces to take time to reflect. A soldier is not just the uniform but the cause for putting on the uniform. Professional soldiers are different from terrorists and armed robbers in that they protect and not harm innocent citizens for simply making a different choice in the ballot box.

Examine your heart young soldier; ask your mother, sister or even girlfriend whether your cause is moral. ZUNDE’s call is that you resolve to be an honourable soldier, police officer or state agent. How do you know that the person you are being asked to harm is not your relative. Your Zanu PF bosses don’t care; their only relatives are power, diamonds and Nikuv.

ZUNDE is making a special call to all genuine war veterans. We fought for this country and not just a few of us. We never would have left the country and bore arms for this corrupt dictatorship being championed by the current Zanu PF leadership.

Our sacrifices and legacy have been tainted and shamed by these greedy people running Zanu PF.  Whenever we remember those that died we boil inside the guts with that kind of pain that only those that went through it can feel. ZUNDE is the only vehicle and chance to redeem our legacy and honour our friends who died fighting for freedom.

Remember my dear comrade; could all the suffering we went through be all for nothing? NO. We know what we fought for and it’s definitely not this corruption! Let’s join ZUNDE and finish the liberation struggle with honour and dignity. As before, we are not fighting individuals but an evil system.

I also call upon our judiciary to reflect on their track record. I have observed that our judiciary has not changed at all on their fundamental calling of protecting freedoms and human rights. They jailed our ancestors for wanting to be free, they jailed our freedom fighters for fighting racism and today they are still jailing people for desiring to be free.

The true wages of a judge is not a farm but a free society where justice and the rule of law prevail. During this period of national reflection, we call upon the judges to follow their conscience and calling and do the right thing.

People of Zimbabwe the hour for collective action has come. The hour of our liberation is now before our nation collapses into a heap of ruins. We have this last opportunity to decide if our country remains with the dogs or we reclaim it for our collective good.

We must act, we must come together and with our meagre resources, pull together and we will surely be free. Take time to spread this message, every contribution matters, no matter how small.

Zimbabwe is our motherland, united we can make it.

Kuti ZUNDE ndiko kuti Zimbabwe!!

Ukuthi ZUNDE yikho ukuthi Zimbabwe!! 

May God bless our country and give us strength. Please visit www.zunde.org and decide how you can participate or contribute.

Farai Mbira, ZUNDE President (Interim)