We refuse to claim our freedom back

By Farai Mbira

Freedom is a right which we cannot beg for and every generation has a right to determine its destiny. We are not free because President Robert Mugabe has taken our freedom away, but because we have refused to take it back.

We are all heavy laden with this monstrous evil regime which has destroyed our future and reduced us to slaves in our own country. If we don’t take our freedom back, Mugabe and his Zanu PF will never free us. Zanu PF removed Smith so that they could do with us and our national resources as they please.

At Zimbabweans United for Democracy (ZUNDE) we are talking about national freedom and not the type of freedom we have seen from Zanu PF. National freedom is about the individual, the families, the social group and the national institutions ability to shape and make decisions about their future without undue restriction from selfish interests.

For the leader it is not the freedom to do as you please but the responsibility to ensure freedom across all its layers. ZUNDE offers that freedom is FAIR – fair, accountable, inclusive and respectful.

I would rather, though, we are hopeful than feel defeated. It is unfortunate that we have wearied ourselves more than Mugabe. Our hope has been destroyed by the naïve claim that there was no other way than to unite with Mugabe for 5 years.

Now the proponents of this cyclic slavery are requesting that we turn the same wheel again. My message is that it should not be so. We have to turn a new wheel and in a different spin. We don’t need a bigger tent nor a renewal or recycle of the same failed strategy.

I grew up in a time when oppression was evil, even if you oppressed yourself. We grew up in a time where it was clear that the oppressor had no interest in our freedom; that he can never be part of the solution to our freedom. I was only in Form One, when I met simple boys declaring that we could free ourselves.

It was daring but with time it was successful. We won our first step to freedom in 1980 thanks to these simple young men and women who believed that we are our own liberators. It was not easy. There were always those that opposed radical freedom who thought and argued that the Queen and Smith would give us dignified freedom consisting of protective occupation and restrained freedom.

Dictatorship in Zimbabwe anchors on people who prefer dictatorship for protection. This group will stick to Mugabe because his dictatorship allows them to do whatever they wish. They fear nothing and no one except Mugabe.

This is the inner circle of Zanu PF. In the inner circle is also the ultra-pro-dictatorship type who loves it so much that they want to succeed Mugabe and perfect the dictatorship even further. To them it’s all about power and wealth. To them people are disposable slaves and cheap labour.

Zanu PF will never change; they would rather die in their trenches than share freedom and lose their power and ill-gotten wealth. Freedom from a dictator like Mugabe has to be radical if it is to be of any effect. Mugabe, Mnangagwa or Mujuru can never be transformed into statesmen nor can their military dogs of war guarantee true freedom. A defective opposition pretender cannot simply be renewed into a democrat.

A cynical change in the Zanu PF inner circle is the emergence of a group that believes in pragmatic dictatorship and is prepared even to use the naïve elements in the opposition to prolong it. These elements have made money and love it more than power. Their fear of democracy is only as they perceive it to threaten their wealth. These people don’t care what democracy is or not and can even tolerate it if they can make more money.

Just as the Mugabe, Mujuru nor Mnangagwa camps can’t give freedom, the warring factions in the opposition, unless they change, will not deliver it either. They have become an image of Zanu PF. These warring opposition factions are similarly divided between profiteers and power mongers.

The rival factions are busy negotiating and counter negotiating among themselves so much that now it’s an animal farm situation where there is no longer any visible difference between the oppressor and the freedom fighter. The GNU has made them lovers and admirers that only death will part them.

Zimbabwe’s democratic struggle has been poisoned by opposition elements who believe only in conferred freedom. They believe there is no need to fight for democracy. They shun as violent those that fought for independence.

They declare that they shall not march over dead bodies to State House. They are so naïve to believe that one day Mugabe will see reason. They argue that freedom is conferred by a magnanimous king or providence. They argue that Mugabe is part of the solution as he is supposed to confer freedom on them.

ZUNDE is a fresh start, a renewed commitment and doctrine based on the premise that we are our own liberators. It is a bridge from the courage of our forefathers who faced imperialism with spears to our new generation who have been disappointed by the slumber on duty by their contemporary leaders.

We have united all our warriors and freedom fighters from our ancestors, our liberation struggle and our contemporary activists. We have taken over the freedom train from false prophets and the evil oligarchy to our generation. We shall not beg Mugabe to give us freedom. The people are by creation free and are sovereign in deciding their future.

In claiming our freedom we shall remain honest and clean. We shall be kind to our people and will hurt no one. We shall not sacrifice our youths for nothing. We shall not use them as bargaining chips nor cannon fodder. We shall be disciplined and professional.

We shall not wantonly destroy property. We shall not grab from John to give to Jack. We shall pay for what we use and shall not rob our people. We shall unite our people and not divide them; there is only one Zimbabwe for all of us. We shall not allow corruption, personalisation, greed and name calling to draw us back. We will not succumb to fear as it will only pull us back – hence FEAR IS NOT AN OPTION.

At ZUNDE we do not sell membership. You are already a member if you love freedom. So come on board. Don’t be sacrificed for popularity, join us where you will count.

Join winners and we shall rejoice when we get there and with joy we shall shout Sifikile thina! Again I say we are not free because Mugabe has taken our freedom away, but because we have refused to take it back!

ZUNDE Information & Publicity. Visit us at www.zunde.org or email [email protected].