I accept the existence of misfortune but no one has limitless misfortune; at some point, one must look at himself in the mirror and change a thing or two; most problems we face are not a creation of extra-terrestrial beings, they have their root in our actions and inactions, decisions and indecisions.
We have finally come to the realisation that we are not getting anywhere by blaming ZANU PF for our circumstances. Something needs to be done, mindsets must change, and only we can do it, no one will give us a free ride.
We must now accept we are what we are today because of what we have put in; the sooner we accept that it is of our own doing that we have yet to hit the heights of what we could be, the better the way forward.
There is no better time, this is the right time to accept that we are equally responsible for our success and our failure and, with that in mind our work ethic must reflect that responsibility. The Mthwakazi movement can no longer use ZANU PF to excuse its own shortcomings; the movement must take its responsibility to build Matabeleland’s political capital more serious.
The Mthwakazi movement has tasked itself with delivering freedom and liberty for the people; the movement needs to justify its ideological choices and clearly define how it will use the power entrusted to it by the people; in short, give us reason to believe you are different and better.
A voice of caution to our leadership! The movement’s objective must not simply be seeking to replace ZANU PF but the creation of a system and institutions responsive to our needs; as the public, we want to rid ourselves of ZANU PF and the current Zimbabwean union system and institutions in its entirety.
We want to put to a halt, remove and replace the unjust systems that, by default, allow for the transfer of wealth and power from ethnic minorities, from low and middle classes to the ethnic majority group and the wealthy. Both front and centre of our political strategy must be inclusion and tolerance; we are a diverse nation, we want to ensure all Matabeleland citizens are treated equal.
We therefore, today challenge and demystify the popular, but toxic, ‘wisdom’ of some Mthwakazi freedom movement groups that our liberty and freedom will somehow be secured by the indiscriminate and forced deportation of ethnic Shona people from the Matabeleland geographic space.
Holding hostage some ethnic groups and targeting certain communities for political abuse is moral depravity. We resist and reject such small-mindedness; if any individual or community within Mthwakazi is not free, everyone else’s freedom is compromised. Our leadership needs to learn to use and align itself with the changes in the region’s political morality; many of these changes impact our politics and how we respond to issues.
Experience teaches us that political leaders who show an uncanny willingness to disregard human rights of some population groups for political expediency pose equal risk to everyone in the longer term; they cannot be trusted with upholding the rights of anyone they disagree with; our individual rights should be protected and never be on condition of political allegiance. We want to be respected for being human beings, not because of our ethnic background.
Forget the tribal gibberish, all we need are responsive institutions for it is the right system and institutions and, not the ‘right’ tribe that would be fundamental for holding future governments to account. Our desire and focus must be to limit the power of the state, maintain clear boundaries of powers and institute the doctrine of checks and balances to combat the unwanted accumulation of power in any one individual that leads to godly claims.
No matter how much effort we put, self-pity, complaining and blaming everyone are not a good political foundation. Each time we point a finger at someone, three conspicuously point back at us. Our circumstances are not entirely a product of someone else but a dire lack of vision and desire to break free. I am not suggesting we are comfortable slaves of the ZANU PF system and institutions; we are not, but we are certainly not fighting hard enough to set ourselves free, and no one will give us anything for free.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 