Clive Malunga: Raising my voice and funds for a new revolution in Zimbabwe

The ruling elite in Zimbabwe’s political landscape consists of a syndicate with no national vision. They are a bunch of clueless leaders, which the generality of the population has totally lost faith in.

We cannot look up to them for anything. It is with that in mind that I now call upon learned and fearless youths to take the responsibility to lead Zimbabwean people to a better future.

The winds of change are already blowing across the African continent. In West Africa youthful leaders in the form of Commandante Cde President Captain Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso, Commandante Cde President Colonel Assimi Goita of Mali and Cde President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal have swept aside the old guard and are putting in place people-centred policies that will take their countries to another level in terms of development.

Their examples and the terrible state of our economy should prompt our youth to reject old fashioned politics (and politicians) and challenge the status quo’s divisive and retrogressive policies.

Only a united patriotic people will halt the decay caused by a leadership who employ state institutions which ought to serve the people to instead intimidate and harass people.

The police, army and the judiciary have all been politicised and captured by a few individuals who want to safeguard their thievery of the national purse and conceal their illicit deals in national resources such as minerals.

Many Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora are ready to support any political entity whose philosophy would be to make Zimbabwe livable and great again.

Former fighters could contribute to the rescue of the situation by either supporting a political party which has people at heart or forming their own party, a liberation movement party.

Ex-ZIPRA and ex- ZANLA fighters can join hands and form a strong political party, which in my opinion can be called ZIZA (for ZIPRA-ZANLA). They already have a relationship with the masses born out of the liberation war and are experienced in the art of mass mobilisation.

Their party can easily command a huge following and take power from those who have betrayed the ideals of the liberation struggle.

I’m ready as a citizen to join any new political party which has a good vision and empathise with the people of our beloved country. My heart bleeds profusely when I see former freedom fighters languishing in abject poverty. Most of them either died as destitutes or are leading miserable lives.

They have been relegated to the status of beggars and their hardship is beyond measure in the land they sacrificed to liberate. Even on independence days or other national functions, former combatants are not recognised.

Those in power view them as an eyesore or an inconvenience. Rather, the president and his cabal surround themselves with con men and thugs who masquerade as business people. The ruling elite wants former freedom fighters to beg them for crumbs that fall off their tables or perish. The respect that they deserve has been obliterated. You need to belong to the bootlicker’s club or else you are an object not worthy of noticing.

There are many stories about the suffering of former freedom fighters in Zimbabwe, but at this juncture, let me write about Comrade Takauya Netsoka. Comrade Takauya Netsoka, popularly known as Cde Tsoka during the liberation struggle, is now destitute.

Cde Tsoka was born in 1962 under Chief Chikowore village in Rusape. His real name is. Charles Mangani. He joined the liberation struggle in 1977. He joined the liberation struggle because he and his friends suffered constant beatings by the brutal Rhodesian forces who had a military base near their village.

When he crossed into Mozambique, he first stayed at a place called Maroro. He received his military training at Tembwe. Fellow comrades he remembers from the same base are Cde Agri Chaminuka and Cde Tambaoga.

He specialised in an anti-aircraft machine gun commonly called anti-air. He operated in the Chaminuka sector. He was a section commander and his detachment commander was Cde Muchiwanepi.

Cde Tsoka operated in the Mount Darwin area with Cdes Gono, Nhamo, Mbumburu, Zvenyika, Neto and Shamwari Yeropa. He also operated in Mary Mount, Rushinga, Gwanyanya and Matope.

When the war ended, he stayed at Mary Mount Assembly Point, where the base commander was Cde Perence Shiri deputised by Cde Joboringo.

In 1980, Cde Tsoka was integrated into the Zimbabwe National Army, 2-3 Battalion. He later transferred to the Presidential Guard, State House, Harare. He resigned from the army in 2003.

His worst memory of the liberation struggle is when he was given clothes which had been poisoned by the Rhodesian Army. He miraculously survived the ordeal, but he is still suffering from the effects of the poison..

Cde Tsoka cried when I met him at Harare Showgrounds. I was on my way to the gym. He is now a destitute if I’m to be blunt. He says he is living each day as it comes. He no longer has any dreams about anything good in this life.

Cde Tsoka is married with 4 children and his in-laws are looking after his family. He survives by cutting firewood for restaurant owners at the Showgrounds.

He has no fixed abode. He used to sleep in a showgrounds toilet until retired Lt Colonel Moyo gave him a small tent that he now lives in.

Comrade Tsoka used to have dreams, like any other normal human being. He dreamt of sending his kids to good schools, owning a nice house and living a decent life in a liberated Zimbabwe.

However, all those dreams have just disappeared. He lives a miserable life, surviving on donations from well-wishers, in addition to his meagre earnings from the menial jobs he does from time to time. Comrade Tsoka is currently getting a paltry pension, which is barely enough to sustain him and his family.

How many of our liberation war heroes are in the same predicament or worse situations than Cde Tsoka? Many. Their worth and value disappeared into thin air with the attainment of independence. Freedom fighters have been abandoned by the government.

Personally, I have stopped listening to promises which never materialize. I have plan B. It is better to die with your dignity intact than to be stripped of your liberation war hero status.

Sacrificing one’s life to free the masses was no easy task. It required courage and determination. We got inspiration from our great great-grandparents who had resisted imperialism against all odds.

I invite war veterans to stop complaining and start acting to find a way out of our predicament. We must join hands and work to fulfill the promises we gave to our masses.

Let’s go back to the people where we belong. The people are waiting for our call. People are tired of empty rhetoric and are desperately in need of change. Zimbabwe desperately needs a new leader who is prepared to lead the masses (and not just his family) to prosperity.

Last year, I campaigned for Nelson Chamisa through writing newspaper articles and music jingles. I didn’t attend any of his rallies because I was not quite sure how the other members of his party would view my presence.

Of course, I also communicated with President Chamisa through WhatsApp and calls. I really wanted him to win the presidential election. When the election outcome was not satisfactory, it was a very bad day for many Zimbabweans.

In 2025, I plan to tour East Asia. I have a huge fan base in that part of the world. I intend to raise huge sums of money through musical shows.

I’m ready to work for my country by investing proceeds from my international tours into supporting a very strong alternative to ZANU (PF). Since 2022 I introduced myself to Zimbabweans on my blog.

I want the people of Zimbabwe to know who I am and my political aims. The country now needs a strong leader with good leadership qualities and we are ready to support.

I want to contribute to changing the narrative about Zimbabwe in particular and Africa in general. We cannot afford to watch as the majority of citizens are downtrodden by politicians who use poverty as a weapon to keep people under their control.

In the past, I managed to raise some substantial amounts of money to run the Jenaguru Musical Festivals, fund the reburial of former combatants and pay school fees for many children.

I am committed to raising funds to finance the processes of the change that we want. We need to raise a lot of money to get power.