Do not bother: Ideas do not die (Herald)

By Reason Wafawarova in SYDNEY, Australia

11 Dec 2009

IT is most telling that the lifting of economic sanctions by Western powers and the commitment to re-engage Zimbabwe have become issues explicitly hinged to the often demanded "reforms" on the part of Zanu-PF, a party considered to be grossly recusant to the imperial establishment.

The facade of the demanded reforms can be anything depending on the person that is speaking and also the time and place.

It can be as abstract as saying until "Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his party have real power", or as trivial as demanding that Roy Bennett be sworn in as a deputy minister, or as meaningless as "until President Mugabe creates genuine democratic space", or even as stupid as saying, "until the white commercial farmers get their stolen properties back".

It does not matter that the face of this reform may be some articulate demand for the "respect of human rights" or "the opening up of media space" in Zimbabwe.

The underlying reality is that the West will regard "real power" for Tsvangirai as power that can rid Zimbabwe of Zanu-PF and President Mugabe.

When they demand the swearing in of Roy Bennett they are simply making implicit racial noise that would send the country in raucous anger if it were said openly.

It wouldn’t do to say, "how dare you refuse to swear in a white ex-commercial farmer as if the upsetting of the global racial order you did in 2000 was not bad enough?"

Genuine democratic space means space good enough to allow the annihilation of Zanu-PF and its proletarian outlook.

This writer has been confronted with the question of what he would do "after Mugabe and all the war veterans are dead".

Some have said that would be their time to come with their "powerful Westerners" and drag this writer by the ear all the way to The Hague.

The logic is that this writer is well too protected by President Mugabe and the war veterans even when he is 14 000 km away from home.

There is basically no need to bother issuing empty threats to the likes of this writer, essentially because that is tantamount to threatening ideas.

What is hated about Zimbabwe’s war veterans and their patron, President Mugabe is not their person per se, but the ideas they stand for.

These are ideas for the freedom, dignity, justice and happiness for the people of Zimbabwe, mainly the proletariat.

All developing nations are not happy with imperial oppression and domination, they are not happy about the colonial legacy, about neo-colonialism, about class exploitation and about the rule of imperial authority.

These ideas resonate very well with voice of resistance in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Iran, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Namibia and even in capitalist post-apartheid South Africa.

These are immortal ideas joining with the invincible voice of Fidel Castro, the immortal voice of Che Guevara, the ever-inspiring teachings of Julius Nyerere, the fighting spirit of Samora Machel, the fatherly spirit of Joshua Nkomo, and the endurance of Nelson Mandela.

The idea of freedom and happiness for the proletariat of this world sparks a disturbance in the forces of occupation in this world.

Imperialism is about occupation — economic occupation, cultural occupation, political occupation and of course, whenever necessary — military occupation.

Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector was well occupied imperially prior to 2000 and the occupation forces were pushed out triumphantly by people power. It is such ideas from which Zanu-PF is being called to reform, otherwise sanctions will remain.

We are told that Chinese investment is less civilised than Western investment, and also that the Chinese invest in places with "rogue regimes". This is the political language we are too used to. We must endorse the opinion of the far-sighted Westerners, and this is why Chinese investment is less than righteous, and this is why Zanu-PF is the "undemocratic side" of the GPA coin in Zimbabwe.

The Western sponsored MDC-T is the "democratic side" of that coin.

This is the voice that must be heard when one talks "freedom of speech".

Democratic theorists have long observed that in a society where the voice of the people is heard, it is important that the powerful elites ensure that the voice says the right things.

This is why the question "What are you doing in Australia if imperialism is so bad?" must be so sensible.

One living in the West enjoys unrestrained freedom of speech, but that voice must be saying the right things, or else one becomes eligible for Nazi status, or is accused of supporting "murderous regimes", a charge that can take one to The Hague, if the threats often directed at this writer are anything to go by.

The historical fact is that Che Guevara was cut down by imperialist bullets under the Bolivian skies, just like Samora Machel was brutally gunned down from the skies of apartheid South Africa. And yet for those in the resistance the reality is that Che is not dead, Samora is not dead, Patrice Lumumba is not dead, and Thomas Sankara is not dead.

No one can shoot ideas; you cannot assassinate ideas, and you cannot bury dead bodies with ideas.

Zanu-PF is not just a bunch of men and women who sit in its Central Committee and Politburo.

It is not contained in the life of President Mugabe.

It is an idea — an immortal idea that led so many people to leave families and loved ones to go into the trenches in order to defeat the colonial demon, and bring dignity and freedom for the people of Zimbabwe.

That idea is immortal and far superior to any legendary war veteran we can name. It does not matter that there are some hopeless people in Zanu-PF echelons of power.

Even they cannot kill the revolutionary idea. The idea is like a seed. It can germinate from the heart of one man and blossom into a revolutionary forest.

This why Samora Machel is not dead to some of us; Josiah Tongogara is not dead, Joshua Nkomo is not dead.

These people are an embodiment of revolutionary ideas, of self-sacrifice, and they are not dead.

There will always be a fearless youth — youth thirsty for dignity, thirsty for courage, thirst for ideas and for the vitality that symbolises the African legacy, the legacy for total liberation and full economic emancipation.

This is the inspiration this writer has — that the struggle will never falter for as long as the domination of our homeland is not done away with.

Being a 19-year-old at the death of Machel, and only 20 when Thomas Sankara was tragically cut down, that seed to free Africa sank in the heart of this writer — never to die but to be passed on to younger generations until freedom comes.

Today we seek to drink from the life-giving source of the revolutionary heritage — that of Zimbabwe and that of Africa.

These men who departed from our midst were mere men — but men who knew how to show and educate our people the idea that we could have confidence in ourselves — confidence in our own abilities.

These men live among us through these ideas.

Che Guevara was one who had the good fortune to be born into a well-off Argentine family — yet he knew how to turn his back on the easy road.

He knew how to say no to those temptations that make many of our people fall head over hills for Western glitters.

Guevara showed himself to be a man who could make common cause with the people and the suffering of others.

Che’s demanding character stands in contrast to the character of greedy and corrupt sharks that litter our African revolution today.

They know how to sloganeer and how to make cheap and populist statements, but their hearts and souls are stuck in the sweetness of filthy lucre.

To them, the revolution is about amassing wealth and having protruding tummies and swelling hips.

However, the revolutionary idea teaches us conviction, human compassion, a demanding character, and this makes us revolutionaries among revolutionaries, men among men — from that we swear never to depart.

The images of Guevara, that of Castro, Mugabe, Nkomo, Nkrumah and many other African sons of the revolution will never depart from us.

They are part of our history, just as images. Imperialism seeks to destroy not these images but the spirit in the cadres.

Those who wish for the death of Zanu-PF are not after the images and bodies of politicians running the affairs of this party.

They are after the spirit and the idea that drives this party — a party that has disturbed the world order that the West would call a democratic society; in reality a society of Western client states that pay homage to imperial authority.

Zimbabwe’s GPA and inclusive Government cannot be said to be a uniting phenomenon if it fails to recognise the legacy of our liberation struggle — that eternal romanticism, the power of youth, so fresh and invigorating; this lucidity, this wisdom, and this dedication that only profound and passionate revolutionaries can have.

We must cherish the energy of youth and the wisdom of old age — put them together and forever cherish this judicious combination.

Our hearts must lead us to vigorous action for the betterment of our nation and we must immortalise the ideas left by those who sacrificed their lives for the liberation that brought us this democracy we so much enjoy today, even as we feel free to declare that there is no such thing as democracy in Zimbabwe.

We can be free to differ in political opinion, but no one should ever have the freedom to embrace imperialism on behalf of all others.

The duty to defend Zimbabwe’s national interest is straitjacket calling with no ambiguity.

Our legacy is that Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans and will always assume that status in the family of nations.

From that we cannot depart, and any struggle that teaches lap dog politics is a vain struggle that deserves no tolerance.

Zimbabwe we are one and together we will overcome.

It is homeland or death!