This kind of resistance is so unZimbabwean

Residents beating up a policeman

This imposition of the import permit has resulted in thousands of cross-border traders who relied on importing these products for resell to support themselves and their families being thrown out of business. Subsequently, the nation watched as the border post of Beitbridge on Friday erupted into protests in which property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars including 35 vehicles that had been forfeited by ZIMRA being set ablaze.

State Security Minister Kembo Mohadi points that the demonstrations indicate that there was a hand of a third party involved as it was unlike Zimbabweans as Zimbabweans are well known for holding peaceful demonstrations. The people of Zimbabwe have been taken for granted for too long and this must be a wake-up call for those in authority that the people of Zimbabwe are so tired of being tired of this situation where they are ruled like they are in a banana republic in which the economy seems to be benefitting a handful few, the ministers and Zanu PF cronies. It is clear that the country is being operated as a commercial enterprise for private profit. For example, ministers and Zanu PF cronies since the land seizures of the 2000s were able to violently acquire white farmers’ commercial farms including the business affairs that came with it. The Marange diamond rush also presented an opportunity for individuals to purchase properties and businesses for their own personal aggrandisement whilst the country’s public and publicly guaranteed debt as of September 30, 2015 stood at US$8,368 billion. The irony of it is that US$15 billion was reported to have gone missing a figure which could have settled the national debt.

For too long Zimbabweans have been taken for fools, they have been considered as a docile and peace loving lot not capable of rebelling against the current status quo.  These uprisings which started in Beitbridge and are spreading throughout the country have been instigated by the government itself. The people of Zimbabwe have got to a point where they want their country back. As reiterated on by Martin Luther King, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed”. So these protests that have mushroomed all over Zimbabwe are a citizenry’s way of saying we are not going to wait for SADC, the African Union or United Nations to come and rescue us from the oppressors we voted into power. Zimbabweans are finally saying  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

So this third force that Minister Mohadi asserts to has been created by the government itself and it is in the form of increasing economic hardships, poverty, unemployment, lawlessness, abuse of human rights, corruption, police brutality, abductions and murder. People have watched their loved ones being maimed and killed by the very same police and army who are supposed to protect them. The Zimbabwe Republic Police have negated their mandate of enforcing law and securing law and order and have perfected the art of bribery and corruption. People are fed up of their money spinning road blocks and are tired of the rich living above law as they are able to bribe their way out.

These protests which have escalated into skirmishes with the police, although very rare in Zimbabwe, have shown the government that Zimbabweans are not as docile as they have always been taken to be. This kind of resistance and assertiveness being displayed is showing the government that Zimbabweans are not timid and docile and have finally realised that the destiny of Zimbabwe actually lies in their own hands. They have finally fathomed that salvation will not come from none other than themselves. The same way in which the Mugabe generation rose against the Smith regime is the same way that will usher in a new dawn.

So while the people of Zimbabwe have changed their ball game and rules of the game, the government has however used the same method by escalating the use of state apparatus to quell the protests through intimidation and police brutality. However, even as calls for Mugabe to resign have been sung too many times, Mugabe is clinging on to power for his dear life and one cannot help but wonder if it is Mugabe clinging on to power or the power clinging on to him.