By Job ‘Wiwa’ Sikhala
I have received a number of inquiries from countless members of the press, colleagues, sympathisers and friends about my attitude towards my indictment for trial from 27 January to 30 2020 at the Masvingo High Court on subversion charges.
Some of the concerns are genuine whilst some are bordering on the fear of the unknown. Firstly, I would like to say that I am not bothered at all about this process. In authoritarian and tyrannical systems that are founded on abuse of the rule of law and constitutionalism, it is common.
There is nothing to be surprised about because our regime like its other sister regimes of the past, that is, the Apartheid SA regime, Idi Amin administration, Mobutu Sese Seko’s autocracy, Sani Abacha’s dictatorship they try to survive through the use of various institutions of the State to thwart any form of imaginary or real threat to their grip of power.
The use of the judiciary for purposes of settling political queries has never been a sustainable strategy in several jurisdictions including our own during the period of Ian Douglas Smith.
Command Justice is only applied by individuals who lack confidence on how to manage the state of affairs. Since the coup in November 2017, we noticed excessive use of military and police power to abuse citizens of our country. We witnessed dragnet arrests of citizens who committed no offense.
We know through my network that Emmerson Mnangagwa is such a wicked man who sometimes directly phones Public Prosecutors and Magistrates to act as per his instructions. On my case, I don’t care. Phone whoever is going to preside over it and instruct what you want.
I will not lose a glimpse of sleep. Dictators do as they please, so be it. Why should people bother themselves about someone who has an appetite for injustice, cruelty, wickedness and frowns on anything that does not go his own way.
There are many people who have political disputes with Emmerson Mnangagwa who are currently suffering in prison without any crime they committed. Dickson Mafios, of the famous “tinokutendai President nokutitandanisira Dambudzo, Dambudziko, Border Jumper”, is currently under incarceration at Chikurubi Maximum Prison on false allegations if inciting public violence in Bindura during the January 2019 citizens protests, when in actual fact he was at his farm. The allegations being he went to his farm to hide away from his role of incitement which he did the previous day.
Even those who encourage cowardice from me, my message should be heard loud and clear, I will never ever leave my country because of the wicked regime of Emmerson Mnangagwa. Africa is still where it is today because good men and women were cowed out of their countries by the evil ones, leaving them to destroy their country to Stone Age.
Good men and women kept quiet when their countries were going the drain. Silence has been the greatest commodity dictators reaped from their shaken subjects.
People became prisoners in the country of birth. They allowed themselves to be abused in silence. Cowardice is their refugee. On 13 January 2003, I was heavily tortured and left for dead but the mind to play coward never visited me and it will never visit me.
On whether I have got confidence on our judiciary to dispense justice in conformity with the tenets of the rule of law, we leave issues of prophesying to those who have been given such gifts by God.
I am an officer of the Court. I have appeared before a number of judicial officers both in the lower Courts and in the Superior Courts. I have never encountered a miscarriage of justice on all the matters I appeared before the Courts.
The only threat to the rule of law and constitutionalism in Zimbabwe is this wicked character who tries to manipulate the institutions of the State to suit his interests. He might as he successfully did on Dickson Mafios’ case to throttle whoever will handle my case to acquire his desired result.
But this will not discomfort me at all. Results of fighting an evil and wicked character is that, the wicked one plans to fix while the victim will be in search of a competent administration of justice. The wicked one applies manipulation, coercion, overt and covert threats, barbarism and transparent stupidity while the victim will wait for the truth to manifest itself.
It is not the end of the world after all. The determination of a few souls to see a just society and a free country where citizens will celebrate their creation and creative can not be defeated by evil. No matter how much arm twisting tactics are employed, the day shall come.
Even Mugabe died not believing that he was gone. He could not swallow nor contain it. Bitterness was born out of refusing to accept the reality of life.
Zimbabwe will remain after all of us are gone and the true foundation of a happy future is not built on the grounds of oppressing others but on the basis of knowing and realizing that people are the appropriators of this beautiful country called Zimbabwe.
Job Wiwa Sikhala is the National Vice Chairman of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
