People vote in and can remove governments

When he was arrested on Tuesday Mawarire was charged with inciting violence but shortly before appearing in court the charges were changed to more serious charges of attempting to overthrow a constitutionally elected government, charges which could have attracted a twenty year jail term. His lawyer made an objection that the last minute change was unconstitutional to which the magistrate was in agreement which resulted in the charges being thrown out.

While the court was in session inside, with nearly 50 lawyers representing Mawarire, outside there were nearly 5,000 supporters, the majority of which were adorned in the Zimbabwean flag, singing protest songs, dancing and praying for the Pastor, undeterred by heavily armed riot police and several water cannons on standby. Thanks to the government of Zimbabwe Pastor Evan’s arrest has actually made him, because Zimbabweans from all walks of life thronged the Rotten Row courts to show their support. This was a clear indication to the government who have previously dismissed Pastor Evan’s flag supporters, referring them as nothing but “nameless, faceless trolls”. Unbeknown to the government, this flag movement has since moved from being an online movement to a movement that has attracted people from all walks of life, the young, old, educated and uneducated, employed, unemployed, people from different political affiliations, religious backgrounds, you name it, they were there outside Rotten Row.  This online campaign by civilians has been described as “the most subversive movement in Zimbabwe’s recent history”.

The arrest of Pastor Evan and that of other activists is only serving to embolden the people. People are no longer afraid, they have learnt the power of unity, how if they stand together they can actually make a change. The Mawarire case should also be a lesson to the Zimbabwe government that regimes that are no longer serving the interests of the people who voted them into power can either voluntarily change or they can be forced to change by the people.

When confronted with political and violent repression citizens normally respond with non violent protests such as strikes, demonstrations and stay-aways, which is what Pastor Evan Mawarire was advocating for. In all his video broadcasts he always encouraged people not to be violent and urged them to stay at home. In my opinion, what could have driven people to be violent in the last protests was because of the government’s use of violent repression on its citizens. Violent protests were a delayed reaction, that was long overdue, to arbitrary arrests, abductions, murders, ill governance, corruption and  economic repression which has manifested itself through an economy which  seemingly is enriching the Mugabe family and his Zanu PF cronies.

As reiterated on by Abouhard et al (2016) “Leaders who use political, violent or a mix of repressive tactics will be met by violent protests from their citizens.”

In a nutshell, the arrest of Pastor Mawarire has been a blessing in disguise as it has given people courage and inspiration to finally realise that they are the masters of their own destinies. That no one, not even the African Union, nor SADC nor the United Nations will come as their saviour to rid them of this repressive and corrupt government. The way the citizens came to give Pastor Evan moral support and to show the government that they were against his arbitrary arrest and the way the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights rallied behind him, is a clear indication that as Zimbabweans we actually have the power to vote in and to remove a repressive government that no longer serves our interests.