‘How long are Zimbabweans going to suffer in silence?’ – Clive Malunga

Zanu-PF war veteran and legendary musician Clive Malunga has slammed his party for orchestrating human rights abuses before he posed a question, “how long are Zimbabweans going to suffer in silence?”

Malunga, who holds a diploma in Marketing from the London Centre of Marketing (LCM) and in 2012 a business degree with the same institution, believes that his party is letting Zimbabwe down in terms of socio-economic development and democracy.

He argues that the principles of the liberation struggle are being ignored by the Zanu-PF regime led by Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“Fear induced by the state is detrimental or harmful to the masses’ psyche. People are made to behave in a way that is abnormal. Because they are not allowed to freely express themselves, they tend to recoil into their cocoons and build up a lot of emotional pressure. Those that fail to live by the draconian rules are punished, labeled traitors and treated as outcasts.

“Voices of reason have been silenced through intimidation, harassment, coercion or death or amputation of one’s arms (“short sleeve or long sleeve”). National security apparatus sometimes behaves like ISIS or Al-Qaeda fundamentalists,” Malunga wrote in his latest article published on clivemalunga.co.zw.

“Fear has killed the souls of many Zimbabweans. People have given up hope of having a good life. We are forced to accept misery as normal. Zimbabweans in their huge numbers cannot freely breathe because every breath is controlled by the state.

“When government agents confiscate a poor vendor’s wares, the miserable vendor will have to scrounge around to find new wares.

“He or she cannot complain about his/her stolen wares because there is nowhere to complain. The whole system is organized to blackmail and extort from the poor. These brutal tactics of containing the citizens are not only evil but also an affront to people’s constitutional rights.”

The award winning Zimbabwean musician who rose to prominence in the New Millennium with hits such as ‘Rudhiya’ and ‘Nesango’, further stated that Zimbabweans long for a better life but they are being suppressed by the regime.

He asked: “How long are Zimbabweans going to suffer in silence? All Zimbabweans from all walks of life dream of a happy and prosperous lifestyle. We all need love from all those whom we choose to lead us. In return we want to love our leaders by showing respect for all the good they will be doing for the nation.

“We want to pray for our leaders to live long and get wisdom from God. We want to move together as a nation, with no one being left behind. We want to feel proud to be Zimbabweans.

“We need to talk freely about how Zimbabwe can be developed. Party politics must not hinder the development of our country. What should matter most is the well-being of all citizens of Zimbabwe. When leadership stifles debate meant to find a way forward, then we must all know that we are going nowhere.

“We have great minds in this country. Let’s allow debate as one family to find solutions to our challenges. No man is an island.”

The ‘Zambuko’ chanter said the challenges facing Zimbabwe are rekindling the bad experience he had under the white minority regime before independence.

“Our current challenges often make my mind wander into the past. Zimbabweans had a lot of problems to deal with during the Rhodesian era. We suffered under colonial rule. We were humiliated and dehumanised at all levels. We were seen as third class citizens of the country.

“The white community reduced blacks to nothing other than slaves. For no reason one could be tortured, jailed, killed, maimed or publicly flogged. You could not move from one town to another without a pass. The oppression was so severe that it later gave birth to uprisings.

“The blacks had to revolt against the system. The black majority could not stomach the humiliation any longer,” Malunga said.