When it comes to our rights Mr. President, I refuse to be silenced!
Cease the reign of terror
You were appointed to serve the nation.
Instead you caged the nation.
Decades long you fed us stories
Buttering us like toast.
The age of endurance is behind the times,
We are grey with pain and fury.
Don’t sit and wait to be discarded
Like a sprat in a pickle jug.
Tread on the noble heels of Mandela
The first ambassador of freedom
To liberate an entire race
Caught amid a storm with zero humidity.
I had not been born when Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain but I can vividly remember stories of events that marked independence celebrations in Zimbabwe. These were stories of jubilation, anticipation and reconciliation. You marked the peak of these celebrations as you Mr. President, Prime Minister then, stood before the entire nation to say:
“If yesterday I fought you as an enemy, you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself. If yesterday you hated me, today you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me and me to you. The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten.”
To the majority of Zimbabweans, this served as a landmark of a new era and a new life for the independent nation of Zimbabwe. It made me think that we Zimbabweans are one of the most civilized races of mankind, a people of a magnificent culture and principles. Today I strongly object the civilization of some of my people especially you. As I write, I can foretell the rebuke of this article by you and your faction. However, I will not be intimidated. I write not to please but to be heard. I certainly know that the truth will set free not only me, but the entire downtrodden people of Zimbabwe.
Daily I have questions, questions, questions and not a single answer. These are questions directed at you Mr. President. To begin with, where is the “same national interest, loyalty and rights” you promised in your Politics of Reconciliation back in 1980? Where is “the love” that you once said bound you to those you once fought as enemies? Sir, have you surely forgiven and forgotten or you are just a preacher fulfilling your duty to deliver?
Your brutal and illegal seizure of land in 2000 has shown the worst case of racism at international level next to the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Considering that oral and written history has shown that not all whites fought against blacks during the liberation struggle and vice-versa, what therefore makes black Zimbabweans much more sons of the soil than those whites who fought on their side? Is it therefore by right or race that one can claim ownership over land in Zimbabwe today?
In April 1997 you decided to compensate your faction of war veterans with a cash value of ZW$50 000. What a mockery to the real heroes of this land? I am talking of citizens who lost their lives. Of course, there were foreigners too! Did you pay them? What happened to their reward? Mr. President, I am sure as I speak, you can feel the wrath of the soil you are stepping on.
From the look of things, our forfeited independence did not bring a considerable change to the rights and lives of many Zimbabwean especially women. The majority of Zimbabweans still lack protection from the law. They cannot to live peacefully in their own country; hence they are birds in flight seeking refuge in foreign lands. Isn’t this the same country they fought to liberate?
Have you forgotten that women fought the liberation struggle alongside men in their various roles as mothers, teachers, nurses, cooks, porters, soldiers and several others? For these uncountable contributions, don’t they also deserve recognition as freedom fighters? If they do, why are women of Zimbabwe to this day, landless, defenseless, silenced and battered with a cane in broad daylight like children?
If both men and women fought the liberation struggle with the equivalent objective to reclaim their land, what entitles Zimbabwean men today to acquire and possess the same land that women don’t have?
Gary Magadzire, former President of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union pointed out in 1997 that, “There would be no agriculture without women. The role of women in this country is paramount and is the central pin to agricultural development.” I am certain if you had listened to these wise words, no stomach would be empty in Zimbabwe today. Frankly, your brutal acquisition of land coupled with its current uneven distribution has not made you different from the settlers you fought against.
To add to the plight of women in this country is that regardless of input, field and expertise their roles are continuously regarded secondary to those played by men. This can be clearly traced back to the liberation struggle in which women, despite their vital role as the backbone of the liberation struggle remained voiceless, marginalized and confined to the rear of the armed forces. As a result they were deprived of promotion and presence in the liberation army’s hierarchy to this day. Are you sure all these women fought the war to earn you and your fellow bothers better jobs than theirs? Your current treatment of women in respect to their rights is a makeup of the genuine history of the liberation struggle.
Mr. President, look at Zimbabwe today. You have turned the entire country into a field of repression and violence. The streets have become fields of bloodshed, constant shooting and beating. Health, education and the quality of life have deteriorated immeasurably. Nationwide there is so much fear and restlessness that even a cripple would feel the urge to flee from this new dimension of the colonization of one native by the other. If you and your counterparts fought the liberation struggle with a cause, what has become of this noble cause? Did you fight to build or destroy Zimbabwe? What therefore are you doing to build this nation? Surely, it strikes me to the bone to realize that the turmoil of my people is your lullaby.
To the majority of Zimbabweans, it remains a heart breaking encounter to accept that while our independence has been not more than a few minutes of glory, the brutal and illegal acquisition of land by a minority under the guise of the majority remains a humiliating reduction in the dignity of the current government.
(2007) MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE PEOPLE OF
Merry Christmas to the People of Zimbabwe
Those living in and outside Zimbabwe
Those buried within and beyond the borders of Zimbabwe
Dear Zimbabweans, a Merry Christmas to you all!
Let's celebrate Christmas from all corners of the world
At home, in exile, on the streets, in churches, in prisons,
Under the trees, above the clouds, over the seas - wherever we are!
We are one nation - let's celebrate Christmas!
Christmas is a time of love, joy, peace and harmony among men.
It's time to celebrate, acknowledge and welcome the Son of Man among men.
It's a time to forgive, make friends with enemies and live as neighbours.
Let's forgive all the wrong done and let only God be the judge.
Let's welcome and receive the Lord Jesus Christ into our lives.
Let's listen to Him and believe in none other than The One sent from above.
Let's take all our burdens and worries to Him for
This nation he loves and surely will never fail!
It is by the will of God that Zimbabwe was liberated from Rhodesia
Again, by His and only His Will, Zimbabwe will be liberated
From the selfish grasp and the ruthless claws of greedy politicians
For the benefit of all the people of this nation.
It goes by saying, "United we stand, divided we fall."
Let's rise, join hands and liberate Zimbabwe
Not for ZANU PF, not for MDC - but for the people of this nation.
Black, white or coloured - We are all Zimbabweans.
Dear Zimbabweans, Merry Christmas to you all.
At home and in exile, Zimbabwe remains our country
It is our home, where all our hearts lie.
Black, white or coloured. We are all Zimbabweans.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!