A new Christmas: New politics, a relief for Zim

Micheal Mhlanga

CHRISTMAS is a day of celebration, often accompanied by the bonus frenzy, new clothes for the infants, scrumptious dishes; menus only served once a year and a time to reconnect and recollect with family. It surely cannot be anything else than that even in the challenging times Zimbabwe has gone through for the past two decades

With all the good and sour memories of past festivities, this surely is a Christmas to remember. This is a different Christmas to Zimbabweans and its friends across the globe. Different in leadership, politics and the overall atmosphere.

To the Zimbabweans at home, especially those who reared against the odds pushing them to desert the land, let this Christmas be the most memorable and take time tomorrow to celebrate your bravery, patriotism and undaunted passion for this beloved land. Merry Christmas to you all!

The Bible and the new Zimbabwe

I learnt at a primary school whose motto was “To the few who did much”. One thing we were taught is that heroes are very few yet their contribution is immense. We were taught as young boys that the number of passionate thinkers and dynamos does not matter, but it is the amount of action which should always count. I relived my primary school motto when I took time to reflect on what the Bible narrates about the advent and nativity of Christ in collocation with Zimbabwe in 2018.

When we celebrate the birth of Christ tomorrow, coincidentally we will be celebrating the birth of a new Zimbabwe under a rejuvenated revolutionary culture. Symbiotically, Christ was born to save the world from its abominable sin and his birth has been consistently and constantly celebrated to remember how he represents a new religious order and our reconnection with God the father. Every year, when the Christian world relives the humble birth of the Nazarene in a stable after numerous disappointments by inn keepers, we instead celebrate that the sheep and cow were blessed to be the first to lay their eyes on the world’s blessing.

We choose not to revoke the inn keepers, we lay less focus on the conditions of a normal birth place, but out of a misfortunate circumstance we find glory. It is the birth of Christ which matters, the fulfilment of God’s promise to his people that he shall send a Messiah, bigger than Elijah, more alive than Melchizedek and specifically destined than Moses. It is that memory and lesson about Jesus Christ we celebrate yearly and we have connected it to our economic incentive-bonus, that which fully defines Christmas.

Likewise, Zimbabwe has a new President, new politics and the social atmosphere is different this year. It is the presence of the new President which gives us hope that our economic fortunes are guaranteed. What makes him different is his approach to politics which has given new face to the body politic. For 37 years, Zimbabweans had despaired politics. Many had lost hope in a possible prosperous future which they invested so much in. The political DNA was marred with corruption, hatred clothed in tribalism, regionalism, racism and factionalism.

The intentions of the liberation struggle had slowly been buried in narcistic politics which fledged all bodies of corporate and social diagrams. The once biggest question on land, the land question had been shabbily responded to and the principle of re-distributing it had lost its purpose.

With a host of problems and blemishes on our country, the world was not friendly to us, neither were we to ourselves. It is among us that some decided to butter their bread by becoming enemies of the masses. They befriended our foes, called for sanctions and subjected us to a decade long of uncertainty where our lives and off-springs to come were in limbo. We reached the apex of political desperation and up, rose the economic predatory on each other.

We began to care less about our own kith and kin. Surely there was no saviour to redeem us, the Saviour present then seemed to serve the crude selfish politics which gulped many and fed on the misery of the multitude. Surely had that gone beyond today, the tears of many who lost their patriotic loved ones since 1890 would have haunted us forever.

Little did many know that like the symbolic celebration of redemption every 25th of the 12th Gregorian month, we shall be jointly celebrating the emergence of one Emmerson whose name in German means brave and powerful. To say so much but in few words, His Excellency President E.D Mnangagwa redeemed Zimbabweans from a bog of poor politics, rampaging economy and without saying so much, spit a glue of unity across the nation. For some time now Zimbabweans have collectively looked forward to a better Zimbabwe and celebrated the same President.

The President and new things
As I said above, Christmas often comes with new things, this Christmas also brings in new overtures. Firstly, the inauguration of His Excellency President E.D Mnangagwa disparaged partisan politics in national events. For the first time in a long period we saw opposition players celebrating with everyone. We hear banning of party regalia at national events and the banishing or denigrating rants. They admitted his brightness in public administration until they missed it two weeks back when they sold out the will of the people by calling for sanctions — What a shame!

The new President ushered us into new politics — politics of governance not sloganeering. For a long time nationalistic politics has always been marketed by slogans, chants and heckles. We understand this from the traditional script of activities where the African person loved singing and dancing to induct him or herself into the mood of action. Morale was boosted by song and dance to which Alec Pongweni in 1982 acknowledges as “Songs that won the liberation”. It is the likes of Zanla Chimurenga Choir, Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo and Ambuya Stella Chiweshe to mention but a few who fought the struggle through the radio and Mgagao Camp choral invigorating the spirit of the liberation struggle through chants and slogans.

These were imported past independence and they shaped our politics.

We can’t forget the famous “Hondo yeminda” volumes which featured many of our artistes past and present, we surely can’t overlook how politics was once lodged in the narratives pregnant in Tambaoga’s songs and surely Mbare Chimurenga Choir cannot be forgotten in the grand representation of post millennium politics in Zimbabwe.

These all played a major role in affirming the role of melody in uplifting the spirit of our liberation legacy. Among the good and not so good political commentary music, then came slogan which focused on individuals and characterised many of the revolutionary party gatherings — we call them the “pasi nanhingi” discords.

It was a new political feel at the just ended Zanu-PF Extraordinary Congress where the New President did not waste time on chants and idolatry but instead immediately shifted politics to direct effective governance and re-ordering the party. Systematically and instantly Zanu-PF led Zimbabwe’s politics back to “Nzira dzemasoja”.

Much to the startle of many opposition politicians whose career was bent on chants about former President Robert Mugabe, huge cabinet, poor service delivery and unemployment, their job was left dangling. What now, now that politics is no longer of passive and miniature chants, rants and slogans?

This calls for a deep introspection of political clothing for opposition politics who were not ready for such effective politics — the centre has found itself, the periphery is stealthy fading-opposition has less time to re-think their politics.

I would spend so much space directing you to new things we have so far seen in less than a month, but the motive of this article is to invite you to celebrate this Christmas because it is so much different from last year’s.

The same time last year our optimism was very fragile. We were dealing with a lot of less governance and more politics yet this year it is the other way round after an inspiring State of the Nation Address which spoke directly to the hopeful Zimbabwean who has been a resident of poverty for too long. It was an address which repositioned the citizen to the client and the Government to the employee — that is true democracy and it’s something new this Christmas. So, when you put on something new, remember that it’s not only clothes that are, but your country is too: Keep it clean.

@mhlanga_micheal