The good, the good, and the ugly..?
It’s 5.30am. Tomorrow is Easter Friday. I have been awake for hours reflecting back to Easter 2005. Resurrection, new life, hope (false hope maybe, but hope all the same) - these were things we had at this time last year as we were preparing for elections which took place on 31 March. The chance of a fair election was as slim as a pin, but we had an opportunity to vote and we were all united against the regime. Does anyone out there remember ‘Freedom Day’? How ironic and cruel it all seems now.
So another year on and where are we now? The opposition party has become self involved with in-house fighting while the dictator (remember our common enemy?) builds ground, not in the manner that is strengthening our country, but in a way that is further oppressing the people. It does not matter who is right and who is wrong, the fact remains that the MDC has neutralised themselves. We now head into elections with three contesting parties instead of two. We are no longer one strong force against the regime but have taken to turning against each other instead. The good, the bad and the ugly? Or is it the good, the good, and the ugly? For years a new leader was promoted and now the same people who spent their energy promoting, have changed direction.
Zimbabweans are left confused. Trust is broken.
Looking back a year in time for me just brings feeling of anger and disappointment. To hear comments like there is no ‘short term’ solution just adds salt to the wound. mugabe celebrates 26 years of ‘independence’ next week (another ironic dagger given that the anniversary is the day after Easter Monday). Where does ‘short term’ come into this picture? Some say that we would be hypocrites to replace one dictator with another, but is it not hypocritical to have given hope and then taken it away? Was it all just a waste of time? Have I just been blindly naive?
Everyone knows that politics is a dirty game - there is no room for idealism. After all, what is democracy if its not 51% of the people telling the other 49% what to do? Politics is about compromise, which is where the opposition has slipped off the rails. The people who promote themselves as our leaders should consider the fact that we do not have 10, 5 or even 2 years to start again. Both sides of the opposition (how ridiculous does that sound!) have lost yet another battle. People are dying NOW! Hope is fading fast.
As I write this, I know that this is the way it is but still I cannot end on such a negative note.
I am very tired. But we have to have hope.
April 14th, 2006 21:14
“After all, what is democracy if its not 51% of the people telling the other 49% what to do?”
That is the “tyranny of the majority”. Those who framed the US constitution were well aware of that danger, and incorporated checks and balances to prevent it. It was particularly a problem for the Americans as they had many religious minority sects.
The constitutions of developing countries often lack the necessary checks and balances.
So far, the US constitution has survived Nixon, and it looks like it will survive Bush. In many countries, Bush would by now be a full blooded dictator.
April 16th, 2006 12:07
Noktula,
When Mr. Mugabe and the ZANU-PF came to power, they had a specific written philosophy to guide them in their rebellion against colonialism: Marxism.
What is the actual writen philosophy being used by “Freedom Day” Zimbabweans now, to rally the people and guide them in their efforts to remove or replace Mr. Mugabe and the ZANU-PF?
What, Noktula, is the precise philosophy Zimbabweans want to use against Marxism to inspire the “hope” for a positive change that you call for?
If Zimbabweans can’t agree on a new philosophy to inspire ‘hope,’ Mr. Mugabe has an old one already in place.
April 17th, 2006 18:12
No one to blame but themselves, just goes to show that evil will thrive when good men do nothing.
April 26th, 2006 20:28
It is sad to see such a beautiful country full of BEAUTIFUL people fall into what people would say “a pit of dispair.”
It is sad to see a man take charge of a country that is full of potential, and have that man use his “power” for bad. But can you really consider it power? One of the reasons people bully or dictate is because of fear..so what is it he’s afraid of? Obviously he is afraid of being overthrown and losing his position of leadership in that country.
So what is there to do? What is a country to do when their country is falling…what hope are they able to hold on to?
Take this into consideration:
He won’t be around forever. He’s 84 years old and even if he reaches 100 years old, he won’t be able to rule the country with the sharpness he has today.
I believe that one day the country of Zimbabwe is going to rise above its current circumstances and become one of the strongest countries in the world and we won’t know what to do. They won’t be strong in a bad overbearing way, but they will be strong in a clean, healthy way.
I pray daily for this country and I pray that God blesses it tremendously and that He will lead them from “captivity” into freedom!