Thinking of Roy Bennett today
I wonder if Roy could ever have imagined in those heady days of victory what he, his family and his constituents would endure at the hands of an vengeful, violent and vicious zanupf government in the four years that would follow? Could he have ever imagined that he'd be spending the next election day in a filthy jail cell - incarcerated outside a court of law - for a trivial trivial 'crime'?
Today must be so hard for him: the painful memories, the horrendous injustice, being isolated from the country on a day like this, and he must be torn with anxiety over not knowing how Heather, his wife, is faring in her fight to stand in his place today and make sure that the will of the people is preserved in Chimanimani.
It takes an extraordinary person to stand up to Mugabe and his government of thugs. Roy has done so time and time again. And the people of Chimanimani have stood alongside him through it all. We and the world need to step forward and protect our heros when they are hunted and hurt. Because without people as extraordinary as Roy, the rest of us don't stand a chance; neither does democracy. Roy and Heather Bennett's story is a profound example of what fighting for justice and freedom is really all about.
The world is watching today. We know in Zimbabwe that when the buzz is over the world's attention drifts very quickly onto new stories in different parts of the world, and that we are suddenly in the dark and forgotten all over again. If the unthinkable (predictable) happens, and zanu steals yet another election from the people, please don't shrug your shoulders and move on. Please don't forget about Roy. Please read his story and join us in the fight for his freedom.