Mnangagwa regime has brought pain and suffering to the people of Zimbabwe

By Tafadzwa Chivaura

Zimbabweans are always haunted by emotionally touching and sad memories of corruption, abductions, forced disappearances, torture, sexual abuse – only to mention just a few.

Instead of having a government that jealously protects its citizens and respects the country’s constitution; abduction cases and illegal arrests continue to happen in Zimbabwe and this has proved that Zanu PF is the real enemy of the people.

The Zanu PF government is the major cause of the political and economic instability in Zimbabwe, and if the people of Zimbabwe allow Zanu PF to continue rigging elections and to keep on unconstitutionally holding onto power, more and more disasters will occur.

The current political situation has shown the Emmerson Mnangagwa regime launching a crackdown on its political opponents and all those who speak against their misrule, and they are using a strategy of persecution by prosecution. This shows that the majority of Zimbabweans are still far from enjoying the fruits of the liberation struggle.

If history serves us well; the war of the liberation struggle was fought as a way of ending the injustices by the Rhodesian government, and on 18 April 1980 the black majority became free from the political, social, and economic bondage.

Zimbabweans celebrated the birth of “democracy” after so many years of untold suffering under the hands of the brutal Ian Smith regime.

But if the truth is to be told; if we compare the atrocities and injustices that happened before and after independence, we could see that the attainment of independence in Zimbabwe was just changing of the country’s keys from the Rhodesian oppressors to the Zanu PF oppressors.

Zimbabweans have endured so much pain and suffering under the repressive administration of Zanu PF. Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF colleagues have turned the so-called revolutionary party into a group of monsters that suppress its own kith and kin.

Zanu PF completely lost its credibility a long time ago and the people of Zimbabwe are always confronted with painful memories of abductions and torture.

This has left me with a question, “When will the persecution of innocent citizens in Zimbabwe end?” Zanu PF has caused so much hate amongst citizens and the hatred is going to take time for our nation to be healed.

When people are still haunted by the memories of gukurahundi atrocities, we still continue seeing the Zanu PF regime using the state security apparatus to abduct and torture activists who speak against any mismanagement of the state affairs.

Zanu PF always uses the machinations of violence, death threats, and intimidation of anyone who stands up against the injustices happening in the country.

A case in point is that in the last few months, we witnessed the Deputy Minister of Defence – Victor Matemadanda; and the Zanu PF Secretary for Legal Affairs – Patrick Chinamasa issuing threatening statements that any demonstrations against the government will be met with full resistance with whatever means possible. The threatening statements issued by these Zanu PF lunatics is an attack on the citizenry’s freedom as enshrined in Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The egregious crimes against humanity by the Zanu PF regime are still on the increase and the citizens are always living in fear of the unknown. According to Section 59 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe; every person has the right to demonstrate and to present petitions, but these rights must be exercised peacefully.

What then surprises is that; everytime when citizens want to enjoy their rights to peacefully demonstrate against the injustices and incompetence of the government, Zanu PF always issues some threatening statements to them.

From the time when Emmerson Mnangagwa grabbed power from the late despot Robert Gabriel Mugabe with the help of the military, the political and economic situation in the country continued to deteriorate.

In the past months, a wave of abductions took place in which the police mounted roadblocks in the city centres and targeted people who participated in the demonstrations. There are also other cases in which the security forces went on to arrest the demonstrators at their homes.

The targeted demonstrators were then forcibly taken from the police stations by the suspected security agents to far away locations, where they were severely tortured and then dumped in the bush.

Currently, we are witnessing the continued persecution of the investigative journalist and anti-corruption campaigner – Hopewell Chin’ono for speaking out against corruption. This is a clear case that shows the symbol of a return to oppression.

The abuse of the judicial system by the Zanu PF regime to end dissent shows that the Emmerson Mnangagwa administration has no people at heart. Instead of the courts to handle cases with responsibility, integrity, and independence; the judges are now doing their work with fear of being labelled anti-government sympathisers.

The fear induced upon the judges by Zanu PF has made Zimbabwe to go through 40 years of political turmoil, manipulation and division. The judicial system is being abused by Zanu PF so as to continue with their thievery of the state resources.

During the Robert Mugabe – era; people used to think that it was Mugabe alone who gave orders for people to be abducted and tortured, but the current acts of extreme cruelty by the state security apparatus have proved that Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa was fully behind all the atrocities that happened in Zimbabwe. He is a heartless dictator and is the one who is also responsible for all the abductions and forced disappearances that are currently occurring in our country.

The people of Zimbabwe have now realised that the so-called independence is just a figment of imagination, because Zanu PF continues to use the same dictatorial systems and tactics that were used by the Ian Smith regime.

The only difference is that the Ian Smith regime was not as corrupt as the Zanu PF regime. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and his cabal continue to use the repressive systems so that they continue holding onto power and also protect their ill-gotten wealth.

As Zimbabweans we should always remember an African Proverb that says, “When spiders unite, they can tie up a lion.” This means that if the people of Zimbabwe come together and fight for one common cause, it will be easy to defeat Zanu PF.

Zimbabwe now needs brave men and women who do not only feel afraid, but those who conquer the fear. Every citizen should be involved in the struggle against tyranny.

Forty years of untold suffering is not a joke. We have suffered enough and it’s now time to get united and defeat Zanu PF. Enough is enough, Zanu PF Must Go!

Tafadzwa Chivaura (MSc Applied Meteorology) – is the MDC Alliance UK and Ireland Provincial Youth Treasurer. He is also a member of the MDC Alliance National Youth Council. You can follow him on twitter: @tafadzwachivau1.