Zimbabwe & the Illusion of a New Era
By Kwapi V – There comes a turning point with every nation and civilization where the status quo has to be re-invented; for one society it was at the point when prisoner number 46664 was released from Robben Island and for another it was when a wall that stood between East Berlin and West Berlin was torn down; for a race it was that moment when a man said “I Have a Dream” and for a way of life it was when an openly gay man was elected into public office in the state of California. The precipice is that point at which we as individuals and a society have to change for the better or condemn ourselves to a tumultuous existence; its that defining moment when right stands up to all that is wrong and when what is just stands its ground against all that is unjust.
And that is where Zimbabwe finds itself, the Precipice, the point at which we can evolve for the greater good or condemn ourselves to the same cycle of misery that gave us Gukurahundi, the “Unity” government of 1987 (the beast we fight today), POSA, Murambatsvina, armed youth militias, Marange Diamond Mine atrocities and so on. We are a nation held captive by a monster that continues to reshape and re-invent itself. Indeed, those that have betrayed the very virtues and morals that define us as a noble nation still cling to power while the innocent find themselves clinging to the illusion of a new era. We are a nation that clamours for justice but yet we are governed by the unjust; a people that are in desperate need of hope but yet their reality points to more misery and hopelessness; it points to torture and abductions that are still a part of Zimbabwe today as they were before a unity agreement; a reality that points to corruption and the fall of the seemingly incorruptible; a reality that points to a gross disregard of human rights and civil liberties; a reality that finds violent Militias still active and mob justice still a part of day to day life as the innocent are forced to cower in the shadows cast by the vicious and heartless.
The Precipice is when you stop settling for the convenient answers given to you by the status quo and you start asking them the inconvenient questions; its that moment when you realize you also have a roll to play regardless of how small or large it may be; its when you realize that this change does not come through violence because it makes us no better than they are but rather it comes through an unwavering commitment to every that is good and righteous; its that moment when you have to ask yourself “how can Zimbabwe get better when some of those who assigned themselves the task of repairing it are in actuality the ones who made it worse?”
