A government without representation is nothing but tyranny; I maintain that Zimbabwean government is nothing of a representation of Mthwakazi but a damaging decontextualization of lives of Matabeleland people. Indeed, the reality we need to wake up to is that the Zimbabwean flag is a living memory not of Matabeleland’s independence but a surrender thereof to Harare.
If there is no truer representation of a nation than the people it elects for legislative roles, then we must be a tame, naïve, weak and impressionable nation. Such a description would however, not befitting of the many current and historical gallant fighters for Matabeleland liberty and freedom.
Unfortunately, it is also true that what we have for legislative representation today are wrong representatives who have abandoned their responsibilities to the Matabeleland constituency for short-term personal gains dependent on Harare’s charity. Many have metamorphosed into Harare agents indiscriminately implementing Harare’s socio-political chaos in Matabeleland instead of representing and defending Matabeleland interests from Harare.
We are responsible for the conditions in Matabeleland; to replace the Harare chaos with Matabeleland order, something has got to change in the attitude we bring to local politics. We cannot continue complaining about river pollution, we need to clean it up; Matabeleland politicians need to change their attitude and start to consider what policies Matabeles are prepared to pay for; politicians need to stop imagining and answering their own questions and start listening to and addressing real questions from the Matabeleland public.
The only politics to be embraced should be one that fully involves Matabeleland in all government processes; laws governing us should be the will of our nationals and not the tyrannical demands of Harare. Matabeleland and Mashonaland share a common border and that is about all the two have in common; our legislators must distance Matabeleland from the Harare thuggery confused for politics.
We are seeking the creation of a socio-political space in which people are equal. When I talk of equality, I am not talking about sharing in misery but equality of access to opportunity; I am not talking about taking from the ambitious and hardworking citizens to give to loafers; I have neither a problem with wealth creation nor reservations over ambitious people being paid well for having the right attitude for the fruition of both their creativity and industry. Rather, I am talking about stopping the, now normalized, organized theft from Matabeleland to benefit Harare and a privileged few.
We have talked long enough about the need for liberty and freedom in Matabeleland, now is the time for the next stage, the attainment thereof. There needs to be a seismic shift in internal politics, a shift that will reverberate through Matabeleland and the effect be felt by Harare; we can no longer afford to keep, in legislative positions, individuals who for personal gains can only protect Harare interests in Matabeleland no matter how unjust but will not defend reasonable Matabeleland interests from Harare attacks.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 