“The first step, therefore, is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and, therefore, letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth.”
Column by Vince Musewe
That was Steve Biko in 1978; in this case he was speaking of black consciousness and the need to stand against white supremacy in South Africa.
If I took that background away, and told you that; this was in Zimbabwe in 2013, I am sure you would believe me.
So, in fact, nothing has changed because in Zimbabwe other black men, and not the whites this time, are the architects of that very system that people like Biko and many others fought against and died defending.
As the momentum towards change in Zimbabwe gathers strength, I wonder whether we are aware of how profound this year can be in the history of Africa; for once, Africans can stop being complicit in the crime of allowing themselves to be misused and, therefore, letting evil reign supreme in the country of their birth. It has happened elsewhere and it can also happen here.
I consider it advantageous that opposition political parties have come together with regard to the establishment of the desired conditions for democratic, free and fair elections. I think I also understand Professor Lovemore Madhuku’s disposition on the matter. I think it is correct that foreigners must not be seen to undermine the rule of law as articulated by Arthur Mutambara.
What, however, astounds me, is the ruling itself. We have had a dictatorship here in Zimbabwe and the Supreme Court never sat to insist that the Executive adhere to the Constitution when it came to human rights, access to information and freedom of speech. Suddenly now, it has applied its mind on issues of rights, but only as far as elections are concerned.
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There are other issues pending I hear, but I think that the ruling undermines the spirit of democracy and the right of every eligible voter to participate in elections. It undermines the greater good and surely it must be challenged.
I suspect we shall see such a case coming soon. Maybe to add to it, we should also file a case with the Supreme Court with regard to the army, police and other civil servants being partisan and abusing State resources to campaign for Zanu PF, thereby prejudicing or undermining free and fair elections. To it we can add the issues around media and freedom of speech and we shall be back to square one.
We should also file a case of the undermining of free and fair elections by the Meikles Group and demand that they also donate cars to all opposition parties as they did to Zanu PF. After all, the Constitution requires this, as has been reported that an opposition party is suing the government with regard to their right to election funding.
Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made (Immanuel Kant) and we, as a country, once again are proving to the world that we are incapable of dealing with our own housekeeping matters, intelligent as we are claimed to be.
The gathering of political opposition parties certainly creates a new dimension and a new possibility for all of us. I hope that this continues until final victory.
However, the devil has many schemes and he is working through some of us, to try and deny us the freedom we truly deserve.
Let us all as Zimbabweans kneel down each morning and each night and pray so that finally, we can be delivered out of this Egypt.
Vince Musewe is an economist based in Harare. You may contact him on [email protected]
