Tendai Ruben Mbofana
Obviously, I did not know what this meant.
It was often used in the Roman Catholic publication ‘Moto Magazine’, usually in reference to the Zimbabwe regime.
If my memory serves me right, this was during the barbaric 1982 to 87 Gukurahundi massacres committed by the ZANU PF government against largely unarmed civilians in the Midlands and Matebeleland provinces.
This is when over 20,000 people were massacred in cold blood, on the basis of their Ndebele ethnicity – which was shamefully disguised as fighting insurgents.
Nonetheless, I found the term really fascinating as I could not, for the life of me, link a delicious fruit (packed with nutrition) to a country.
Only after consulting my father, who was a teacher, and my mentor – whose passion was also writing opinion pieces for national newspapers – did the meaning finally dawn on me.
The phrase was coined by American author O. Henry in 1904 to describe Guatemala and Honduras under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations, such as the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita).
Their main fruit export were bananas.
Typically, a banana republic has a society of extremely stratified social classes – usually a large impoverished working class and a ruling class (composed of the business, political, and military elites).
In turn, these countries are predominantly economically behind the rest of the world.
In the modern era, a banana republic can be a state where the majority are severely oppressed and exploited by a small ruling class.
As a result, there is widespread persecution and subjugation of any voices of dissent that may seek to speak out and stand up for the suffering citizenry.
This is exactly what we witness, in utter shock and disgust, taking place right here in Zimbabwe.
I have written a huge deal over this disgraceful and horrifying subjugation of the people of this country such that I will not be repeating myself today.
However, the level of persecution, particularly through the abuse of the judiciary, has become a huge cause for concern.
This can not be ignored any longer.
Today, 7th February 2024, Zimbabweans witnessed in horror and disbelief the conviction of political activist Job Sikhala by Harare Magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka on charges of publishing falsehoods prejudicial to the state.
This was in relation to a 2021 social media post, in which Sikhala accused the police of killing an infant strapped to his mother’s back.
Of course, the police immediately issued a statement rejecting the story and declaring it untrue.
What is interesting about this case, though, is that Sikhala was not the only one to post this allegation.
We also had renowned activists such as journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and opposition member Fadzayi Mahere.
All these people were arrested for their respective posts and subsequently brought before the courts.
As it turned out, Chin’ono was acquitted on 28th April 2021, after High Court judge Justice Charewa declared that the crime of which he was being accused was no longer part of Zimbabwean law.
Section 31(a) (iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] was struck off the statute books by the Constitution Court in October 2013.
In other words, there is no offense called ‘publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State’ in Zimbabwe.
So, after such a clear and unambiguous ruling by a senior court, on what grounds, on God’s green earth, did Magistrate Chakanyuka find Sikhala guilty of the same non-existent offense?
Are Zimbabweans to be blamed if they interpreted this as a miscarriage of justice?
What are we to say when someone is convicted on a law that ceased to exist 10 years ago?
Is this not a glaring example of the persecution of voices of dissent and opposition in the country through the abuse of state institutions?
Let us not easily forget that this is the same man who was locked up in prison, in pre-conviction detention, for nearly 600 days – as he was repeatedly denied his constitutional right to bail.
It is most tragic and unfortunate when our country’s courts appear to be used for settling political scores by the ruling elite.
There is no other way, which makes sense, of viewing this.
Is this how low we have sunk as a country – where opponents are found guilty, by our courts, of deeds that are no longer criminal?
As I have alluded to before in previous writings, the colonial regime was even better since all our incarcerated nationalist leaders were convicted under existent laws.
In fact, those laws are still in force today.
Let anyone bomb a train or take up arms against the government, and we will see if they will not be thrown in prison for a very long time.
Yet, in ‘independent Zimbabwe’ activists are found guilty on charges that can not be found anywhere in our law books.
If our leaders can not see anything embarrassing about this entire incident, then that points to people lacking a conscience.
There is nothing that tarnishes the image of the country more than such flagrant abuses of our judicial system.
These injustices can not and should not be allowed to pass unchallenged.
We can not merely watch as our beloved Zimbabwe is turned into a banana republic!
● Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
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