Stop the blame game Mr Mnangagwa

By Amen Mpofu

Six people were killed by soldiers on the 1st of August 2018. One woman who worked for the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) was one of the victims. She was buried recently in Harare. This was indeed tragic news for Zimbabwe as the leaders sought to break away from the previous years of dictatorship and oppression under the rule of Mr. Robert Mugabe.

The deliberate killing of innocent civilians should have led to the resignation of president Emmerson Mnangagwa, and his Vice president, Constantino Chiwenga because they are directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of these six people.

They are in charge as leaders and therefore the blame lays squarely on them. As incumbent presidents, the army is in their control. And to make things worse, the former is in charge of Security while the latter is Minister of Defence. The two of them cannot absolve themselves of the killings, beatings and harassment of citizens by the soldiers.

In addition, they claim to be Christians and even president ED was quoting the Bible during the elections. Professing to be a Christian makes you accountable to the highest authority; the authority of God. In God’s eyes, life is valuable and precious. He gives and takes it back and therefore no one has a right to take anyone’s life under the circumstances that happened in Harare.

This was first degree murder.

To make matters worse, the two presidents did not condemn the killings of the innocent civilians but instead they quickly blamed the MDC Alliance for provoking the soldiers. The opposition became a scapegoat for their dereliction of duty. This must be not tolerated.

The two presidents are squarely to blame and therefore they are the killers. They wield military power and as a result, they are the ones who unleashed their trigger happy soldiers on harmless civilians.

Oppression is a sign that the oppressor is a weak leader who is intolerant of divergent views. It also indicates that the leader employs force and in this case, through the gun, to make people like, follow and vote for them. Since the two presidents profess to be Christians, they must know that force is unchristian; it is actually devilish.

You can’t claim to be a follower of God when you infringe on His gift of freedom of choice that He has given to every human being. God doesn’t use force to make us worship Him but rather draws us to Him through the love that He demonstrated on the Cross of Calvary. His love allows anyone to choose and do what they want. However, He makes us aware of the consequences of our actions.

Force and oppression are weapons of the devil and those who use them are possessed by his spirit. God and the devil are not partners in crime and they represent two diametrically opposite forces; the force of good and evil respectively. God has one character; love is the foundation of His government and it is the law that governs the whole universe.

So, to employ force and oppression is an infringement on the freedom of conscience. It is my God-given right to choose with whom I want to associate, speak, and vote for. No one even the two presidents and their trigger happy soldiers have a right to deny me this right.

I am responsible for my own actions and am accountable, first, to God and then to the government of the day. I am a free being and therefore government leaders should protect my freedom of choice. Any leader who wants my vote should use persuasion that must appeal to my intellect, ideas, dreams, wishes and ambitions. I must choose to follow them willingly and voluntarily.

My choice for them should not be coerced through the gun and other subtle ways like giving me parcels of food and the overt threat of denying me certain privileges. They should not take advantage of my poverty, misfortune or weaknesses to propel themselves into power. Using and manipulating my hunger is daylight robbery. And those who employ these means are evil- minded, murderers, selfish and partners with the devil, who thrives on our fallen human nature.

I am a thinking being and therefore I can tell what is right and bad for me. No one must decide for me. No leader should get into power by riding on oppression and force. It’s fiendish. Period!

People should be allowed to say what they want without trampling on others’ concerns. For any nation to thrive, people must be left alone to make their own decision as far as voting is concerned. Leaders should not behave as if they own us. Actually, human beings were not created to rule each other.

We were given animals to rule over. This is because we’re equal before God. However, God established leadership so that there’s order in society. Leaders are not rulers but should be servants to those they lead. The use of the gun and oppression makes our leaders rulers and dictators and this is the reason many African countries are struggling economically.

The use of force and oppression leads to any angry and bitter nation. People, for example, are angry with ED and Chiwenga for the deaths and for not condemning the soldiers. Their being silent shows that they’re guilty.

You can’t continue oppressing people without eventually reaping a bumper harvest of civil unrest. This is based on a simple Biblical principle: you reap what you sow. Sow violence, reap violence. It’s as simple as ABC. People should not be taken for granted. Their patience is limited. No to force and oppression.

STOP IT MR. PRESIDENT

The author Amen Mpofu can be reached on [email protected]