Mugabe is no longer the problem, Zimbabweans are
By Patson Dzamara
While we bury our poverty stricken selves in trivia that doesn’t amount to a bag of beans, the monster is showing no signs of retreat, remorse or weariness. In its reprobate mode, ZANU PF is willing and prepared to suck our blood to the last drop. To them, its game on. At this rate and if we do not act drastically, we may have to brace ourselves for a much longer ride under the auspices of the monster.
There are two things involved here. Its either ZANU PF has concluded we are a bunch of fools or we are exactly that.
One Kudzai Chipanga has been elaborate and consistent in his shallow remarks regarding what young people in ZANU PF expect from the future for their party, for Robert Mugabe and ultimately the nation. While addressing people at a rally in Marondera yesterday, Chipanga reiterated that Mugabe is an angel.
He said, “There is God in heaven but Gabriel (Mugabe) is his angel on earth and many will be shocked on Judgement Day when they see Mugabe adjudicating who is supposed to get in or go to hell.”
“We want to assure you President Mugabe, you are our life President. Even if you die, we will hold the Politburo at National Heroes’ Acre. We will support you always”, intoned Chipanga.
That most of Mugabe’s minions including Chipanga are logic-impaired and fantasy inebrieted is incontestable and secondary but that we allow their buffoonery to persist is the real issue. For reasons which remain a mystery to me, Zimbabweans sheepishly allow themselves to be dragged into the mud by these thugs.
Of course, that bunch of clueless individuals hallucinates in many unprecedented ways but they also know how to turn their hallucinations into reality. I will not be surprised in the future if indeed those charlatans go to Heroes’ Acre to hold their politburo meetings after Mugabe would have died.
If that happens, I am sure for most of us life will go on as normal. In fact, since we have become a nation of jokers that will be a good moment for comic relief. We will go to town joking about it in our borrowed English accents and it will end there.
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Allow me fellow Zimbabweans to state this fact boldly, standing ready for any rebuttal. How we have responded to our oppression only makes us complicit. By not acting against misrule, bad leadership, corruption, incompetence and every other facet of the system that bedevils us, we have endorsed that same system. We have allowed Robert Mugabe and his gang to play with our lives and those of future generations as yet unborn.
Again, I no longer blame Mugabe or his acolytes, but us collectively. Of course, the author of our problems is none other than Mugabe. He and his prodigious gang have done their part in destroying this country, but we cannot wash our hands of the part we play in allowing them to do so. It is our responsibility to redeem ourselves out of their filthy hands of destruction.
The greatest problem lies with us citizens. We can loudmouth obscenities out of anger waiting for someone to command us to act or to act on our behalf. We broadcast trivia while we whisper real issues. Talking and insulting Mugabe or his entourage of shameless bootlickers in our little corners will not help us in any way.
Maybe we are not ready. In fact we are not yet ready. Yes, we are not ready. We are not ready but time and eternity have kissed, ready and waiting for us. The time is ripe for a revolution. It is on our own heads that we do not seize this moment.
For as long as there are still many of us who will go out and stand in solidarity with a failed regime, coerced or otherwise, we are not ready. For as long as we continue to hashtag in the comfort of our chairs and beds, we are not ready. For as long as we incline towards romancing trivia, such as petty social media fights, we are not ready. For as long as we continue to tear each other up in the name of freedom of expression thereby failing to converge, we are not ready. For as long as we sit and wait, sit and wait, and sit and wait, we are not yet ready.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a nation to retrieve out of the hands of a monster. We must be willing to sacrifice. A new and better Zimbabwe won’t be delivered on a silver platter. It will cost us tears, sweat, blood and even lives.
Beloved Zimbabwe, you are pregnant with promise and a bright future – a better Zimbabwe. But until you are ready to physically dismantle the shackles your abusive husband keeps you in, nothing and no one can rescue you. I hope you realise that the longer you stay in this situation, the more you suffocate your unborn baby. I pray that that unborn baby, that new Zimbabwe that could be, might be born in our lifetime.
A new and better Zimbabwe is possible in our lifetime.
(Patson Dzamara is a leadership coach, author, political activist and analyst based in Zimbabwe).
