Banning of Great October Revolution Celebration

The venue, Stanley hall is historic because it is located in Makokoba, the oldest black working-class suburb in Bulawayo and the venue for many militant and revolutionary activities by nationalists and trade unionists during the Rhodesian colonial era.

This action reflects the degeneration and paranoia of the ZANU(PF) government and its state machinery. ZANU(PF) still vaunts its historical claims to have been formed by two organisations, ZANU and ZAPU, both of which at the time of the Unity Accord (1987-1989) explicitly referred to thenselves as Marxist-Leninist parties.

ZAPU and its military wing ZIPRA was armed, funded and trained ideologically by the Soviet Union which owed its existence to the Bolshevik Party which led the Great October Socialist Revolution under the guidance of Comrade V.I. Lenin who gave his name to the term “Leninism”.

ZANU and its military wing ZANLA was armed, funded and trained by the People’s Republic of China which always acknowledged its debt to the Great October Socialist Revolution and whose leader, Mao Zedong made the reading of the Short History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) compulsory in the Communist Party of China.

Further, as the Red Star of the Bolsheviks is a prominent feature of our beloved national flag, this ban represents in reality a desecration of our flag and the principles which that flag symbolises.

We therefore ask the following questions:

• Why should citizens of Zimbabwe register to celebrate the anniversary of the Revolution which provided the very basis for our own liberation struggle and our own freedom from colonial domination in 1980?

• Why should our organisations – which are not political parties and have no agenda to stand at elections – be required to register in order to commemorate such an important event?

• If we were faith-based organisations, would we have been banned from meeting? Does not the banning of a Communist celebration which perpetuates the revolutionary scientific socialist ideology of dialectical and historical materialism demonstrate that the principles which brought ZANU(PF) to power have not only been abandoned but are actively being suppressed?

We intend to follow up our campaign after legal consultation, as we believe that this ban is a direct assault on the rights enshrined in our Constitution overwhelmingly voted for by the Zimbabwean people in 2013, but which, up till now, the ZANU(PF) government is refusing to implement.

We appeal to all Communist and progressive forces in Zimbabwe, on the African continent and in the world as a whole to stand in solidarity with us, the staunch upholders of the principles of scientific socialism and pan-Africanism for which our martyrs shed their blood – and to recognise the ideological, political and economic degeneracy which has created this intolerant decision, itself a reflection of the pathetic state of Zimbabwe today.

SIGNED:

Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena                           Ian Beddowes

General Secretary                                               General Secretary                        

Communist Group                                               Zimbabwe Communist League  

Contact: +27833401000 (What’s App)            +27786126593

                 +263777427690                                     ianbeddowes@gmail.com