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Zimbabweans must take to the streets to express themselves
I have always envied the people power that toppled a government in the Philippines.
The protests were “fueled by a resistance and opposition of years of corrupt governance by Ferdinand Marcos, and they occurred from February 22 to 25 in 1986”, when Marcos fled the presidential Palace and conceded to Corazon Aquino as President of the Philippines.
Military and religious leaders also took part in those nonviolent and prayerful mass street demonstrations.
And Marcos, the seasoned dictator of decades, was forced to flee his homeland and to take refuge in the United States.
In 2003, after a rigged election, the people of the Republic of Georgia toppled their president through the “Revolution of Roses”, when in mid-November, just after the November 2 elections, massive anti-governmental demonstrations started in the central streets of Tbilisi, spreading to all major cities and towns of Georgia, shouting and chanting “Kmara!” (Enough!). And it soon involved almost all major cities and towns of Georgia.
Apart from demonstrations undertaken by the persevering women of WOZA, it has been a long while since Zimbabweans took to the streets to highlight and to bring attention to issues they wanted the government to take note of.
For years, street demonstrations were the preserve of unruly and half-drunk ZANU-PF youths.
This was so because as Robert Mugabe’s popularity waned, he resorted to lies and propaganda to prop himself up.
This included publishing and broadcasting lies to the people of Zimbabwe. Those with opposing opinions or views were muzzled and were not given any coverage.
Thus, street demonstrations, which people once used with considerable effect, were banned. Mugabe went as far as giving the police the power to sanction demonstrations, a very silly thing in that if people wanted to demonstrate against the police, they would have to go to the same police to ask for permission to demonstrate against them.
Apart from that, asking police for permission to demonstrate gave the police the responsibility to control democratic behavior.
It was just another way for Mugabe to oppress the people and of denying them their right to free association and expression.
Memories of a beaten up Tsvangirai and police brutally assaulting demonstrators on the streets of Harare are still fresh in our minds.
Events in Zimbabwe in the last couple of weeks have re-ignited some hope in me in that the people are now clearly fed up with ZANU-PF, the police and the lies put out by government controlled media.
Their fear of live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas is slowly diminishing; the people are testing the waters, as it were.
I was thus encouraged when MDC youths threw caution to the wind and descended onto the streets of Harare demanding justice.
A few weeks earlier, half-drunk ZANU-PF youths had also marched in Harare and, as usual, were threatening violence against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, accusing him of having caused the imposition of sanctions against Mugabe and his corrupt lieutenants.
They gave Tsvangirai a month to have the sanctions lifted and also demanded the removal of the MDC leadership.
Threats of violence and the combative attitude displayed by the ZANU-PF youths were not lost on the nation. It was not a demonstration; they were just spoiling for a fight.
So I was very encouraged when MDC youths “retaliated” and thronged the streets of Harare in an unprecedented show of defiance, conviction and determination to demand several things of the government.
They demanded “the arrest and prosecution of ZANU-PF thugs who perpetrated acts of violence, murder, rape and arson in the run up to the 2008 elections” and presented their petition to Sekai Holland, one of the National Healing Ministers and a senior member in Tsvangirai’s party.
Interestingly, part of the petition also demanded that the National Healing organ ‘begin in earnest to undertake its constitutional responsibility of undertaking programmes that include issues of transitional justice to promote national healing and reconciliation.’
This, undoubtedly, is a terrible indictment, not only on the ministry but also on all the parties of government who seem to have gone to sleep on the issue of national healing.
It can be rightly said that this ministry has done absolutely nothing to promote national healing and yet state-sponsored violence appears to be on the increase as we talk of elections again.
Not to be outdone by ZANU-PF youths in the issuance of ultimatums, the MDC youths’ petition also gave an ultimatum of the 15th April, by which time they say “all those who perpetrated election related violence should be arrested”.
They demanded an end to political violence, which appears to be slowly picking up pace as we approach the next edition of national elections.
It was a good effort and one that should be used often as it keeps both the people and the government on their toes.
Such demonstrations are important because they are for the people and by the people. The demands made affect us all, regardless of political affiliation.
Bishop Sebastian Bakare’s surprise at the lack of Christian solidarity in the face of the persecution of Anglicans is a stark reminder to us all that when we voice our concerns and speak out, we are not doing it on our behalf but on behalf of all others as well.
There is absolutely no reason why we should bury our heads in the sand and pretend that freedoms taken away from an MDC supporter does not affect a ZANU-PF supporter.
Whether we like it or not, we are in this together. Demonstrations are a very necessary way of putting our views across and I hope we continue to use them.
The separate demonstrations by both the ZANU-PF and MDC youths are a welcome undertaking and should be encouraged.
As if that was not enough, victims of political violence in Masvingo “have vowed to continue with a proposed march demanding compensation from the inclusive government after an earlier attempt was banned by the police”.
The police, again, interfered with people’s rights.
The job of the police is to provide protection and security as people express themselves; it is not for the police to decided what the citizens should do or say, or not do or not say.
I am galvanized by the determination of those who feel wronged and ignored when they come together and demonstrate to their government, expressing their displeasure in not being attended to.
“We have suffered enough and no one is going to stop us from marching,” a spokesperson of the group said. “We are not going to engage in any form of violence but we want to bring this to the attention of the government.”
But because most of the victims of violence are mainly MDC supporters, police in Masvingo reacted angrily to the proposed march and vowed to crush it.
“We are going to descend heavily on anyone who breaks the law,” said a police spokesperson in the province. “If they defy our order then we have no option but to deal with them,” he said
The police in Zimbabwe do not know that they work for the people not for a political party, but all that will change soon.
The heart of the matter is that the right to organize public demonstrations is paramount and the timing of these demonstrations could not have been any better since we are now faced with a sleepy government that cares more about how they appear in the mirror than worry about the state of the nation.
These demonstrations guarantee freedom of expression, especially for those who are hardly listened to by the powers that be.
There should not be any conflict between free expression and public order as the Zimbabwe Republic Police erroneously claim.
Public demonstrations are part of a democratic society and, hopefully, the courage will remain with the people.
Only the people can liberate themselves.
What do you think?
Send me your comments on tano@swradioafrica.com
It is a very encouraging sign to see Zimbabweans coming out on the streets to express themselves. Public demonstrations are people participating in the direction they want their country to take because often, governments forget their mandates and start taking people for granted.
Public demonstrations are collective actions that are non-violent and which do not threaten public order.
Among our essential human rights, which Mugabe must restore without any further delay, is the right of peaceful assembly and public protest.
The police must be present only to ensure that we enjoy our freedoms not to bring messages of violence from Robert Mugabe who has always managed to provoke peaceful demonstrations into violent confrontations.
That time has passed.
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Thursday, March 25, 2010
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Writing from Tbilisi
Great discussion of taking to the streets. I am writing from Tbilisi, Georgia about what happened here in 2003. It was as you described it, but I would like to mention several things that were done in the days weeks and months before the government resigned.
The first was that the population designed several ways to let people know that the opposition was in the majority, a big majority. This encouraged the sympathizers sitting at home that the opposition were the overwhelming majority. Using chalk on walls and streets, agreeing to honk car horns at a designated time during the presidents speech, anything to illustrate numbers to everybody.
The second was that family by family, everybody with the opposition told family members with the police, security, military and youth groups not to obey orders to fire into crowds, and break up demonstrations. Nobody was threatened, but were encouraged to be on the right side of history.
And finally, it was peaceful and the leadership said that over and over again.
Strength and discipline to the people of Zimbabwe, we wish you success in getting your country, your economy, and your streets back.
Mark Mullen
Tbilisi
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