No sympathy for Mutasa et al

via No sympathy for Mutasa et al – The Zimbabwean 21 January 2015

Kahlil Gibran reminds us in his book The Prophet that we must first destroy the throne we have created in our heart for tyrants, before we can be free from them.

In my opinion Didymus Mutasa et al made Mugabe a little god in their hearts and created a throne for him – yet today they condemn the power they willingly gave to him and expect us to sympathise with them. That disrespects our intellect.

The greed for power and privilege by the likes of Mutasa has surely been at the expense of the ideals of the liberation struggle. It is not out of principle that they now condemn Zanu (PF) but out of sheer self-interest. Genuine war veterans who joined the struggle for the good of Zimbabweans know that these ideals have been sabotaged by the acts of Mutasa and his cronies since independence in 1980. They must now swallow the bitter pill of their complicity in propping up a dictator and not expect us to commiserate with their selfish intentions.

Mutasa and co are now crying for internal democracy within Zanu (PF) simply because they have been expelled or side-lined. If they were still in their positions, there is no doubt they would have kept quiet as they have done for the last 35 years, pretending that all is well.

My message to Mutasa and all those that have suddenly seen the evil in Zanu (PF) is this” You all accepted to be underlings to Mugabe and you dared not challenge him over the years because you are cowards and you were enjoying the vile comforts of tyranny. Rightly so, Mugabe has now acted like the little god you made him and there is no one else to blame.”

Those inside the party, and especially those in the politburo, have been complicit in the destruction of economic value and livelihoods for a vast number of Zimbabweans as they stood behind destructive party policies bragging that Mugabe is the son of God and is supreme.

Comrade Mutasa, the tears you shed today have been shed by many for many years, while others have died in pursuit of the freedom promised but never delivered by Zanu (PF) since 1980.

When opposition political parties faced violence and death of their members, your silence was deafening and today you want us to believe that you believe that you are a true democrat who has been wronged and thrown off the Zanu (PF) gravy train. We are not stupid.

If the truth be said, Zanu (PF) stopped being democratic in 1975 with the assassination of Herbert Chitepo. Because today the likes of Mutasa have tasted their own medicine, they want us to believe that they stand for democracy, free speech and for one man one vote yet they have denied millions of Zimbabweans the same rights.

Let it be clear to all thrown out of the party that we young progressive Zimbabweans who want change have no sympathy for your fate, nor can we ever support your efforts to bounce back and occupy public office. You have shown us that you do not serve the interest of the masses but only your own.

When Tsvangirai appealed to the SADC for intervention, he was called a crybaby by people like Didymus – who must now run to the very same SADC claiming that there is no democracy within Zanu (PF) as if that is something new. How ironic.

Throughout the years, the party leadership condemned and demonised progressive democratic forces fighting for the democratic change Mutasa now seeks. They conveniently ignored our pleas for freedom and branded us agents of the West seeking regime change.

Of course I am delighted that they now realise that the system from which they have benefited is undemocratic and has only survived through rigging elections and controlling the outcomes as it did at the recent congress. The so-called vanguard revolutionary party has only survived to this day because of violence, intimidation cheating and the abuse of state resources.

I would have actually expected Mutasa to first apologise to all Zimbabweans and not just Zanu (PF) members for the crimes committed under his watch and the violence meted out to our citizens because they seek to be free from a dictatorship that he now condemns as undemocratic.

Comrade Mutasa, you owe our Ndebele brothers and sisters an apology for Gukurahundi crimes against humanity. You owe those who suffered under Muramabtsvina an apology. You owe those whose land was forcibly taken without compensation. You owe the millions of Zimbabweans who have had to leave their motherland an apology.

Only when you have done that can we consider forgiving you – but be assured that we will never afford you another opportunity to ever again occupy public office. We have learnt our bitter lessons.

– Vince Musewe is an economist and author based in Harare. You can contact him at vtmusewe@gmail.com