Matabeleland sees freedom in Zimbabwe as a fudge

Gukurahundi atrocities in Matabeleland are an important reminder of the dangers of unethical politics of hate. The 1980s, and counting, experience of watching the promise of freedom and equality tempered with by violent Shona supremacists in government informs our ideological stance.

Independence Day was supposed to mark the eradication of colonial pillars of inequality and subjugation and fulfilment of the promise of a brighter future. What we got instead, was a hideous political system whose background was tribalism and tribe was to become important in decisions on how communities were treated. The system exists to advantage ethnic Shona people and benefits anti-egalitarian actors with no interest in true freedom and equality.

That fact has led to a policy of malign neglect and the constant erosion of rights of people of Matabeleland and other minority population groups. With the uncanny backing of the first-past-the-post voting system, the tyranny of the majority and subjugation of minorities reigns.

Unfortunate as it sounds, Matabeleland is now resigned to the fact tribal equality is an elusive dream never to be achieved in Zimbabwe, and that by constantly aiming for a status that is unattainable in an unprincipled, unethical, and tribalized political climate, we face frustration and despair.

However, this must not be misconstrued as us giving up on what is a legitimate fight for human rights and advising passive despair. In contrast, we hold true the view that the constant striving for freedom and upholding of our human rights is of itself a worthy cause.

And we will keep going. We are clear that the struggle for freedom will be a manifestation of our ability to continually adapt and adjust to keep resisting oppression, even if that oppression is never overcome. We will never allow political decadence a comfort zone in our orbit; we will ensure that authors and executioners of injustice never know peace.

Far from giving up, people of Matabeleland must maintain the struggle against tribalism, or else the erosion of their freedoms and fundamental rights will become even worse than they are now.

There is a solution; principled men and women must come out and not only be seen but heard; we must acknowledge the problem of the foundations of mainstream politics of Zimbabwe and be objective in how we apportion blame and responsibility for the current political inclinations.

Let us be clear, the battle of our generation is no longer ZANU PF versus the opposition or left versus right. The choice is democracy or dictatorship. We have talked the former but constantly practised the latter; there is a choice to be made by all regardless of tribe.

Zimbabwe holds regular elections, but the election process is marred by irregularities, including violence and/ or threats of violence and outright falsification of results. Elections are a mere façade meant to buy international credibility for what is, in form and principle, an authoritarian state controlled by ethnic Shona nationalists grossly intolerant to contradiction.

Rule by conquest and suppression of human rights of certain communities is no distinction but a disgrace.

We must exploit the window of opportunity, no matter how small, provided by the flawed election processes. Let us invest in technologies to create relevant political content for the Matabeleland constituency. This is about the targeted use of a mixture of social media and legacy campaign mechanisms, e.g., podcasts, Telegram, WhatsApp, YouTube channels, posters, public meetings, blogs and door-to-door contact to advance localist talking points.

Taking politics down to the average person will be crucial in our attempts to reshape, market, and control the local narrative. And ideological localisation polity remains the best bet for our social, economic, and political empowerment.

Political pragmatism is required to control the narrative and not be on the defensive. Avoiding grievance politics is an important step. Mainstream politics must not be allowed to control our messaging. We are not in competition with mainstream politics but in the service of our people.

Let us stop responding and defending ourselves against the degenerate mainstream politics of Zimbabwe and proactively transform our ideological conceptualisation to concrete reality in key areas of Matabeleland empowerment, e.g., land use decision-making process.

We need to build a resilient, inclusive, and dynamic Matabeleland focused political organisation whose priority would be to instigate organic growth by planting the seed for strong, transparent local governance structures that reflect the social, economic, and political diversity and versatility of the region.

A free press, and freedom and equal rights for all citizens are pivotal to the interests of Zimbabwe’s socioeconomic and political resilience and growth and the reason the war of independence was fought. If Zimbabwe is to truly represent an egalitarian society and protect all its people from consequences of political malfeasance, we must build systems and structures that do not just protect dominant population groups but fully honour the principle that all people are created equal.