Character of the political space in the independence in Zimbabwe is compromised by a convoluted system that withdraws liberties from certain population groups – it is a more repressive environment enabled by a despotic, tribal supremacist State advancing the interests of the ethnic Shona majority but despising and repressing certain population groups.
Ethnic Shona supremacism is a clear and present danger to Matabeleland’s social, cultural, and political influence. ZANU PF is the author of a grotesque political form of barbarism, also fully embraced by mainstream opposition leaders, based purely on the division of people along ethnic lines, minimisation of certain minority population groups, and politicising tribal difference because embracing diversity is seen as politically inconvenient.
In contrast, the desire for connectivity with the leadership remains Matabeleland public’s dream, but it appears an elusive dream never to be attained under the current mainstream political regime.
Dreams of the Matabeleland civilian population are of freedom, liberties, empowerment, and independence; for as long as we live, we want to be armed with our convictions and not surrender them to the power and force of institutions created by people who despise us. Disingenuous leaders who pursue power over service of the public are the cause of Matabeleland’s challenges today.
Mainstream politicians are obsessed with power, but no interest in serving people. We want these leaders to understand that we can no longer be used as accessories in their power grab play; we despise being despised. Communities of Matabeleland cannot be held hostage to the politics of power and be led by people who despise them, and we are at a point where we cannot afford to be fooled.
Slogans and promises of development and change no longer hold sway after decades of false declarations. Equality of citizens and access to opportunity remains a dream so far away from our people’s reality. What we are seeing is an arrogant State that is increasingly and openly marginalising our communities from corridors of power.
These are deliberate actions of a stereotypical, tribalist political regime; throughout decades of Zimbabwe independence, ethnic Shona leaders have demonstrated that they do not only despise people of Matabeleland, but they also believe Ndebele communities are incapable of making basic decisions about their lives.
Even such tasks as choosing our representatives are deemed beyond our comprehension thus, have been turned into a national leadership task rather than being decentralised and delegated to local membership. In Zimbabwean political parlance, ‘national’ is a normalised synonym for Harare and/ or Mashonaland, and this should never be acceptable because of its undesirable implications – the centralisation of power or more aptly, its withdrawal from Matabeleland and transfer to Mashonaland.
No mainstream Zimbabwe political entity is a lesser evil – we believe none is capable to lead us; from ZANU PF to Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), ethnic Shona saturated leadership has shown flagrant disregard of Ndebele people and communities. There is disturbing petulance of party leaders who have adopted top-down bullish decision-making hierarchy and made it near impossible for Matabeleland people and communities to effectively use democratic processes to project themselves.
Leadership of any territory must reflect the social and cultural architecture of the inhabitants, but that is no longer the case in many areas in Matabeleland. Ethnic Shona biased executives are gradually eroding the cultural and linguistic component, among other forms, of our identity; it has become a habit to impose public officials, leadership candidates from outside the region and expect us to vote. This is not our idea of freedom, liberties, and democracy.
Because communities want leaders who can identify with their plight, they are getting frustrated and increasingly pushing back on unilateral choices by party leadership, and instead elect locals. Currently, CCC is grappling with recalls of tens of their parliamentarians and councillors from office by their Matabeleland based Secretary General Sengezo Tshabangu who argues that the party selection process was hijacked or manipulated in favour of party leadership’s close associates, and thus questions the true representativeness of the elected legislators.
Resounding calls from Matabeleland for localisation, freedom and liberties are not borne out of tribalism but because we are convinced of the importance of these elements to us; we believe political freedom and liberties will make possible the only dignified form of our existence, the only form in which we can be fully responsible for ourselves. Whether or not we realise its possibilities depends upon a multitude of factors — and above all on ourselves.
It is the duty of political leaders to ensure equalisation of conditions to promote justice for all. We argue that the Zimbabwe system and institutions are tribal in nature and incapable of meeting the needs of Matabeleland. Communities of Matabeleland are despised by ethnic Shona leaders and their unjust actions are enabled by local sympathisers. We have concluded that anyone who despises us cannot lead us, and we will continue to fight back against locally unfavourable and unilateral decisions taken by Harare based executive. Legitimate calls for a truly local leadership and representation must not be mischaracterised as tribalism or ‘ethnic cleansing’ while allowing free ticket to real tribalists to push a clearly Shona supremacist agenda.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 