Freedom Lies Ahead

Freedom Lies Ahead

By Dumisani O. Nkomo

As Zimbabwe celebrates 31 years of Independence it is important for us to ask ourselves some important questions as we continue our journey towards freedom .The most important question to ask ourselves is whether we are actually independent .Are actually free or did we replace a repressive white colonial system with a repressive black government ?The very fact that we cannot enjoy the freedom that so many ZIPRA and ZANLA combatants fought for and died for is testimony to this .

Did  Ziyaphapha Moyo and Josiah Magama Tongogara fight and die for worshippers  in Harare to be tear gassed at  prayer services for victims of violence ?Did Leopold Takawira and Samuel Parirenyatwa die for a black government to arrest priests and pastors  in Lupane for daring to speak the truth about Gukurahundi  and the June 2008 violence ? .Did Alfred Nikita Mangena and Edson Sithole die for a black government ,led by black people to arrest people for talking about national healing and human rights? .Did Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Robert  Gabriel Mugabe spend ten years in jail in order for a black government to displace thousands of black people under Operation Murambatsvina ?Did William Ndangana   and  Swazini Ndlovu  fight for a black government to slaughter twenty thousand blacks in Matabeleland after independence ? Who detained ZIPRA commanders ,Dumiso Dabengwa and Mafela Masuku  for four years after a competent court of law dropped   charges against them and acquitted them ?It was not the racist and fascist white government of Ian Smith ,it was a black government  and for that ,after independence .Look  Out Masuka led the armed struggle from the front and survived it .He did not die after years of detention by a white government but he died of brain hemorrhage  after years of illegal detention at the hands of a black government

Moses Mzila Ndlovu  ,co minister of Natioanl Healing, Integration and Reconciliation was recently arrested for addressing an unauthorized meeting in Lupane .Moses Mzila Ndlovu is a veteran of the Zimbabwean armed struggle and fought  for the liberation of this country .Today he languishes in the cells of a black government whose right to rule he fought for many years .

 Akim Ndlovu ,Teurai Ropa Nongo aka Joice Mujuru ,Rex Nhongo[Solomon Mujuru] and Amos Jack Ngwenya fought for black majority rule yet  in June 2008 Thousands of M.D.C activists were beaten and tortured for exercising their right to belong to an alternative political party of their choice .Josiah Chinamano ,Joseph Msika and Oppah Muchinguri did not fight for everybody to become members of their party but for every Zimbabwean to choose which political party they want to belong to without fear or  favor .

Herbert Chitepo and Nkomo declared during the struggle that the war was not against the whites but against an oppressive system .Almost fifty years later Morgan Tsvangirai Welshman Ncube ,Dumiso Dabengwa ,Lovemore Maduku and hundreds of other activists are still fighting against  a system that criminalizes freedom of expression and association .

The very people that set us free have become our oppressors ,they have inherited the same colonial system that Ian Smith used to ban political activities and to suppress free speech .They believe that the fact that they fought for the country gives them title deeds to the country .The colonialists invented oppression in Zimbabwe ,but ZANU PF has perfected it, all in the name of defending the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation .

Zimbabwe does not belong to ZANU P.F ,Zimbabwe does not belong to M.D.C T or  M.D.C or ZAPU . Zimbabwe belongs to all the people who live in it Ndebele ,Shona ,Nambya ,White or Black .This country is too great to be monopolized by one political party ,tribe or race .There is no virtue in replacing white repression with black repression .POSA ,AIPPA and other repressive laws are as evil as the Law and Order Act which the colonialists used to repress black nationalism .The oppressors think that oppression is okay  as long as it is practiced by a black government .We as Zimbabweans say no to this .Oppression is oppression regardless of the colour of the oppressor and regardless of the colour of the prison bars .Even if the bars in prison are made of gold it does not justify arbitrary arrests and oppression .

The law may not be on our side but justice is and justice cannot be trampled upon forever because God is on the side of the oppressed and the weak .Unjust laws will not live forever neither can dictatorships as we have seen in North Africa .We do not seek revenge but justice .Freedom can no longer be delayed by arbitrary arrests ,selective application  of the law and suppressing the freedoms of the people .Freedom cannot be contained by the walls of Chikurubi or Khami  Maximum Prisons .Freedom cannot be stopped by unjust laws and disruption of meetings held by civic groups .

As Joshua Nkomo wrote in his autobiography “Freedom lies ahead “in spite of the turbulence and hardships of the moment  .Freedom not just for the oppressed but also for the oppressor . Nelson  Mandela noted that the oppressor also  needs to be set free .The oppressor needs to be set free from fear ,the naked fear that grips and stalks him day and night .

The show of force ,the arrests of activists , banning of meetings  ,the violence, the heavy presence of armed police men ,the disruption   of meetings and deployment of State agents at  every public gathering is not a show of strength, it is a show of weakness and fear .Yes our oppressor need to be set free .The securocrats that are now running the country ,from the police to the army need to be set free from fear of the people .I know that freedom lies ahead , I know that freedom will come in our lifetime .Freedom in our land is an idea whose time has come and “nothing can stop an idea whose time has come” .We are not driven by hatred ,but a love of our country , a love for liberty , a love for a better tomorrow ,a better Zimbabwe .

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free .”

Mayibuye iZimbabwe

Dumisani O Nkomo  is an activist and opinion leader .He can be contacted on dumisani.nkomo@gmail.com