adminAs progressive Zimbabweans we have the indubitable right to refute being victims of force and injustices. We will never capitulate before the Western draconian political and economic regime change machinations.
The Zimbabwean security men and women are our fathers and mothers, our brothers and our sisters, the embodiment of our society. Demonise them or hate them but they will remain resolute and continue to defend our liberation gains because this has and continues to be their responsibility. It cannot be refuted that the illegal economic sanctions are nothing but a sentence or a diabolical whiplash that the US and European Union capitalist club imposed on Zimbabwe for demanding the fruits of its own vineyard.
Anyone who dreams of demonising the security sector’s place on the Zimbabwean political landscape is not only waiting for a train that will never arrive but is standing at the wrong station altogether for they will not succeed.
The Zimbabwean security sector is a key institution with regard to national development and we cannot afford being passive observers in the face of the neo-imperialist onslaught against our revered security establishment. Panganai Kahuni in one of his contributions opined ‘‘the military of any state must be strong for it to be able to defend and protect its nation-state. It is, therefore, imperative that when a nation crafts a national security strategy and its national vision, it must rely on the security sector input. It is also important that any national economic strategy must factor in issues to do with national security.’’
Kahuni correctly observed that there is no country in the world whose economy can flourish in an environment that is not conducive, an atmosphere that is awash with political instability. The US has become what it is today because of the interdependence that is there between the military and politics. Kahuni noted that the SSR being called for by the West is simply a strategy ‘‘to sway the militaries of developing nations into believing that professional militarism is linked to political neutrality.’’ What the West has been working for since the beginning of the 21st Century has been simply to set the Zimbabwean government on a collusion path with the securocrats in the hope of formenting a military coup.
This trend has failed to bear fruits as our security sector has refused to be compromised by the difficult economic conditions created by the West.
The security sector reform being called for by detractors must be resisted. Clare Short once made a speech on security sector reform at the centre for defence studies in King’s College, London. Her proposition was that capitalist countries’ safety and security at home and the international system must be a priority. Mark Sedra noted that Security Sector Reform is a model that is being sold by donors which is very questionable because it is not African owned or African driven. It is a violation of the development orthodoxy. SSR must be undertaken in failed or fragile states.
It provides donor states with a convenient façade for the continuation of interest-based security assistance programmes. The question that comes to mind is whose security are these programs chiefly concerned with? Nicole Ball contends that SSR should be embedded in local demands and driven by local stakeholders. We strongly opine that these must be programs that are home grown and serve the indigenous people’s own country specific interests. This entails that emphasis must be on protecting the land taken during the Third Chimurenga, the interests of Zimbabweans and this must be done in an enabling environment that is viable for economic development to take place. This is the domain of the army.
Nicole Ball and Jake Sherman noted that the United States’ SSR after the September 11, 2001 has undermined or contradicted the principle of democratic governance and the holism of SSR. Security sector reform (SSR) cannot be analysed in an apolitical fashion. SSR does not take place in a vacuum where politics and interests both local and external are dormant or absent altogether.
Those who advocate for SSR must be real, they must accept reality. What is it do they want to achieve with SSR? It must be acceptable to those whose security sector want to be reformed and not forced on them. The military are a bulwark against neo-imperialist intrusion, a stabilising and organisational force and strength in a society. They act on the behalf of the society and are ‘‘citizens in uniform.’’
Dear reader, there is need to “clog the pores” of those calling for SSR. The relations between the African ruling elite and the warriors or the army during colonialism and in the modern context predate colonialism; you can read the late Dr Stan Mudenge’s History of the Munhumutapa.
It must be borne in mind that the Zimbabwean security sector are the heirs of the Chimurenga, they are combatants with a long record of missions in Africa and elsewhere in the world. They are arguably the bedrock of a new weapon that must be carried by every Zimbabwean, a clarion call to continue the struggle and advance along the road first charted by Lobengula, Murenga, Nehanda, Kaguvi and others.
In one of his addresses to the United Nations General Assembly, Thomas Sankara, a citizen of Africa said ‘‘I come here to bring you fraternal greetings from a country . . . whose seven million children, women and men refuse to die from ignorance, hunger and thirst any longer.’’
This calls our attention to President Mugabe’s visionary leadership and guidance. Cde Mugabe as the commander in chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is the mouthpiece of all the exploited African people. He is a field marshal who wants to see to fruition the aspirations of the founding fathers of the Organisation of African Union now the African Union.
He is channelling Zimbabwe and Africa to traverse a path that will see them emancipate themselves from the neo-liberal eco-political impasse that has kept them in servitude.
Africa cannot continue to endure such exploitation under the guise of a Western propelled and guided development. It is a pity that this western hypocrisy, economic and cultural bondage has even mutated to an ecological and cultural devastation that has continued to corrode the African moral fibre.
This is not a natural phenomenon because they are arguably the products of a neo-imperialistic world order. We refuse to be the “Lazarus of this world” we reject the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table.
We have heeded Che, Fidel and Hugo Chavez’s advice that ‘‘a human being is not an incorrigible little animal capable of advancing only if you feed him grass or tempt him with a carrot or whip him with a stick.’’ We cannot afford to be ‘‘half slave and half free.’’
What people need is total emancipation. The people must therefore transfuse the colonial or neo-colonial blood that is in them or that continues to contaminate their Africaness. They must realise that in the international system they must be “homo ludens” born out of struggle, are products of that struggle and heirs of such struggles. It is a fact that liberation struggles that were fought on the African continent and in other Third World countries across the globe shook the core of the colonial foundations. The purity of such revolutions must therefore not be contaminated by the ravenous desires for money; good living is arguably a product of hard work.
To succeed Zimbabweans must remain revolutionary; they must continue being a conscious force that is active, agile and willing to transform their conditions of life. The army must assist them in this endeavour. It must mobilise the people and academics must educationally and mentally immunise the people so that they are always aware of the ideals of liberation struggles.
Dear reader once again we encourage you to reflect on the meaning of James Chimombe’s lyrics, ‘‘Baba namai kana monditsvaga, Baba naamai kana mandishaya ropa rangu munoriwana pasi pemureza weZimbabwe.’’
We must always remember that as Zimbabweans we can neither separate ourselves from our shadows nor separate ourselves from the Chimurenga.
Zimbabwe is our God given vineyard and it is ours to keep and it is ours to use and grow potbellies and fat round necks. Our resources are a symbol of our liberty and dignity.
The question that arises and demands our attention to reflect on as we prepare for the 2013 polls is whether we should allow ourselves to be recipients of what our erstwhile colonisers call justice?
Should we allow ourselves to be their economic and socio-political punch bags? The answer is a resounding No! Together with our President we dance to the Chimurenga beat, in unison we say, “Zimbabwe will never be a colony again, hands off our God given vineyard, Zimbabwe is ours’’, if they want to be beneficiaries of the vineyard’s proceeds then it must be in accordance to our terms and dictates.
It is clear that as Zimbabweans we no longer want to be bass boys or nannies, neo-imperialists and their cohorts must not continue to assault our mental faculties through their human rights talk.
President Mugabe has repeatedly said Britain and America and their like cannot lecture us on democracy and human rights because that is what we fought for. Zimbabweans cannot afford to be mere workers who do not benefit from the fruits of their labour, Zimbabwean workers be it in public or private sector need reasonable salaries so that they are able to send their children to school, to eat good food and have a place to retire to after a hard day’s work. This must be the hallmark of the people’s struggle.
Karl Marx said “those who live in a palace do not think about the same things nor in the same way as those who live in a hut.’’ What are the civil servants thinking when they see that the finance minister is refusing to share the national cake with them?
The pensioners are also crying foul. What do the people think when they see their elected representatives wallowing in riches and eating sumptuously while their families go to sleep on empty tummies?
Those who are supposed to be servants of the people wear expensive suits whilst those who voted them into office have become “Mr and Mrs Patches” with supposed to be clothes that have patches everywhere.
What they are simply told is that they will get the bass boy jobs and nannies’ jobs through the promised million jobs that will be created by the neo-imperialists who only yesterday launched an incessant assault on their salaries and were given pensions that could only afford them a bicycle.
Zimbabwe needs a convinced people and not submissive people.
What is fundamental is nationalism because it cements and binds people together, the militia, the ruling elite, the workers and the masses. Zimbabweans cannot allow the West and their local appendages to paralyse the will of Zimbabwean citizens. We know which party to vote for.
l Darlington N Mahuku & Bowden BC Mbanje are lecturers in international relations, and peace and governance with Bindura University of Science Education
Online Reporter