In every situation of human suffering, whether through disaster or conflict, there always emerge heroes. One of the most enduring stories of heroism is told by Jesus Christ in the Bible in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this story, a Samaritan comes to the rescue of a traveller who had been waylaid and injured by armed robbers. He administers first aid to the injured man and takes him to a hotel where he pays for his lodging until such time as he is fully recovered. Throughout history there has been similar stories of courage, compassion and leadership in times of adversity – Admiral Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar, Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia trial and Rosa Parks who refused to vacate her seat on a bus during the dark days of racial segregation in America.
The situation in Zimbabwe at the moment reflects some of the worst aspects of human suffering in which the whole nation is being brutalised and traumatised in a bid to keep Robert Mugabe in power. There are many heroes who are emerging from this traumatic situation and who will forever be remembered when the history of the country is recited. Some of these heroes are already household names internationally and may not need much mention – Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Nelson Chamisa, Jenny Williams, Pius Ncube, Arthur Mutambara, and many, many others. Others may be lesser known as the many men and women who have been murdered by Zanu-PF thugs for supporting the opposition stand against the brutality and dictatorship of the Mugabe regime.
Somewhere in between these high profile heroes and the lesser knowns is another group of highly active but unassuming individuals who have been working extremely hard to bring about positive change in the country. One such person is Advocate Eric Matinenga, the newly elected Member of Parliament for Buhera South who is now languishing in one of Mugabe jails. Eric is a close family member and he is someone I have known very well for most of my life. Our interactions over the years have transcended both social and professional boundaries and I have always had the highest regard for his social skills, his legal talents, his personality, charm, humility, humanity and empathy. Admittedly, there have been some embarrassing moments. Like one time I was contracted as a technical expert on a case in which he was representing the opposing litigants. But this was an exception – we almost always are on the same side on most aspects of our interactions.
In case you are not familiar with the case of Eric Matinenga, let me provide a brief outline of the essential facts of the case against him. A recently elected MP, Eric went to the courts to obtain an order for the army to be withdrawn from his constituency where its members were harassing, intimidating, beating-up and murdering the people who had voted for him. He asked that the army be confined to what it is constitutionally mandated to do – defending the country against external threats. The high court acceded to the request and issued the order restraining the army. This infuriated the Zimbabwe National Army Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga, who ordered Eric’s arrest and encaceration for the rest of Chiwenga’s life. As a result Eric is being held at unknown detention centre where he is inaccessible to his family, his legal counsel and his friends and colleagues. And this against a court order barring the police from arresting him!
The arrest and detention of Eric reflects and symbolises everything that has gone wrong with the great nation of Zimbabwe. The present ruling clique and its cabal of military supporters have become a law unto themselves with no respect for the constitution, for the legal rights of individuals and for normal human decency. We have become kind of used to President Mugabe wantonly disregarding court orders and issuing illegal instructions but, hey, he is the president and may believe, rightly or wrongly, that he has power over everything in “my Zimbabwe”. But when an army general, a mere civil servant who has no responsibility for police matters and internal law enforcement, can issue an illegal dictate to arrest someone and when such an illegal order is obeyed then the country is in the deepest of troubles.
The arrest of Eric is also symptomatic of a most disturbing and absurd doctrine that is being spread by Mugabe and his cronies. A few days back Mugabe made the announcement that because he came to power through the barrel of a gun, he will not relinquish the power to the might of the pen i.e. the vote of the people. The suggestion being that he will only be removed from power if people take up arms and defeat him. This is a most dangerous doctrine which sets an entirely unacceptable precedent for the country, the region and the world as a whole. More critically it is a doctrine grounded on a patent falsehood which is that Zanu-PF won the war of independence.
While the war was an important catalyst in the liberation of Zimbabwe from the racist oppression, it was neither the defining nor the decisive factor. History has recorded that Zimbabwe was born out of negotiations and settlement reached at Lancaster House in London in 1979. The Lancaster settlement was itself a culmination of a multi-pronged strategy involving the armed struggle, political and diplomatic pressure and civil unrest which had been ongoing from the earliest days of nationalistic resistance in the late fifties and early sixties. More importantly, however, the Lancaster agreement led to the elections of 1980 which Zanu-PF won to earn the right to rule the country. It is a patent falsehood and an act of self-delusion to claim that Zanu-PF was brought into power by the force of the gun. It was ultimately the votes of the people which made that happen!
Mr Mugabe should do well to remember that to suggest otherwise would be to undermine the whole basis of the legitimacy of his rule over the past 28 years. Mr Mugabe is in power and has remained in power because the people have voted for him (or as is more aptly the case in recent years, because he has manipulated the people’s votes to reflect himself as the winner of the elections). The people of Zimbabwe should not and cannot be fooled into now believing that their votes have counted for nothing throughout all these past 28 years and that Mugabe’s rule is in fact a dint of his “victory” in the liberation war. I believe that Mugabe is bringing back the whole liberation war record to intimidate voters from voting against him for fear of sparking another war.
Mugabe should be reminded of two important issues here. The first is that many of the voters of today were not yet born to experience the liberation struggle or were too young to understand what was going on. What all these people know is the great amount of suffering which they have gone though under Mugabe’s stewardship of the country. All they know is about the lack of jobs, poverty, the high cost of living, relatives dying all around them from HIV/ aids and other preventable diseases, empty store shelves, queues for everything which is in short supply, collapsed health and education, worthless local currency which depreciates by the second. These and a lot more are what they will remember Mugabe for and not some obscure glory as a revolutionary. The only thing that these young people are yearning for is that he should go now and allow someone who has the potential and ability to change the fortunes of the country to take over.
The second thing that he should remember is that Zimbabweans have decided that there will be no more war, if they can help it. They know that the strongest and most potent weapon in their armoury is their vote which they will cast in secret on 26 June to tell Mr Mugabe once again that he is no longer wanted - that his rule is finished. On many previous occasions in the recent past, people have voted to get Mugabe out but somehow he has wiggled out through rigging and cheating. But the people have now caught up with the dirty tricks and are now, more than ever, very determined and confident that they will have their say and they will be heard. For Mugabe, there is no way out except to capitulate to the inevitable. For General Chiwenga and his ilk, the courts and The Hague await to dispense justice for their crimes against humanity. For Eric Matinenga and other heroes praise, honour and reward in a free Zimbabwe await them. It will not be long.
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