There have been many elections in Zimbabwe but none have ever been as important as the July 2018 elections. This will be the first time the country will vote under a new leadership other than Robert Mugabe’s and as usual they is every reason why one should have plenty of fears.
Like the majority of Zimbabweans, I too have been displaced by hardships and constant failures by the government to offer better opportunities and the obvious corrupt tendencies. Living outside the country has its own shares of pros and cons but chief among these is the uncertainty an election posses especially with a history of violence and rigging within the electoral process. I fear for self, my rural folks and my siblings in the urban jungle, for in the past we all have been affected in some way or the other and it is never the greatest of times to be part of Zimbabwe unless a great change is achieved.
BEYOND BORDERS
When you live away from your country, you constantly think of home. There is always that voice that reminds you, nomatter how successful it pans out for you, you are always thinking of when (if ever) you will settle back there again. As such when matter of elections are nearing, you stay glued to the TV and hope it all goes well and your favorite candidate gets a chance to lead the country.
It becomes the only topic there is amongst fellow ‘migrants’ as we try and analyze and understand who will win. Unable to vote and unwilling to travel back, lest we are not allowed back for many known reasons, the best we can do is talk about it and share ‘scoops’ from our so called sources within the power circles back home.
For Zimbabweans, as long as we can remember, our favorite candidates have not had a chance to lead the country into a “new dispensation” so to speak. There has always been that stumbling block (largely the ousted Mugabe and his cronies) who made sure R.G.M would rule even from his grave no matter the cost.
As such the process of elections has remained useless to many and until now, was a sure way of keeping Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF in power.
For a brief moment, we pause, inhale and exhale, hoping to hear good news about our beloved country and that maybe, a new leader with prosperity at heart, might pave a new way and see us, in droves, return to the land of our forefathers.
The uncertainties of being away from your home makes life complicated in every single way with the hardest of all being unable to see family and friends occasionally. It seems, now more than ever, that I value these relationships more than I ever did and would give it all up just to be with family than searching for greener pastures away from them.
THE RURAL FOLKS
My parents live in the rural areas and in the past this lot has experienced the worst pre-election unrest than anyone else in the country. I say so because the majority of the people in the rural areas are the older generation who have had to put up with long distances to attend rallies (forcibly), intimidated, be constantly held at ransom and emotionally abused in the hope of living peacefully on the land they rightfully deserve.
These old folks are the same that paved the way for an independent country. Now old ad powerless, they had become the back born of ZANU and election rigging platforms.
Here, the atrocities committed are mind boggling. People have gone to lengths accusing the other of being non-partisan and supporting the West sponsored opposition just to gain power and leadership in rural governing bodies. My own father had to dodge a few situations after being selected as a Herd man, his stories of how ruthless election times can be always makes me wonder how he is doing now, just days before the country goes to vote.
Almost everyone in the rural areas has had the statement, ‘vote wisely’ which assumes no bias but is heavily loaded with vote ZANU PF warning tones.
An area that fails to ‘vote wisely’ in past elections has gone on to ultimately get less attention on many fronts such as the most important when living in the farm lands, agricultural inputs.
This is the scenario they have had to face in the past and I wonder how they have been copying, truthfully, during these trying times because every effort to really get the feel of the situation on the ground telephonically is met with very few words and a constant “all is well” even when it is not. Only after the elections, can they divulge the details of the events.
THE URBAN FAMILIES
Image: Unknown
I too have siblings, living in urban settings, such as we all have been blessed with. As much as political violence has been limited to active and easy to anger members of the political parties involved, unrest of any kind tends to have a ripple effect to the rest of the cities in which it is perpetrated.
In past elections, attending rallies, especially for the opposition could have been dangerous and political labeling could came with its form of social hatred or victimization.
Not only is Zimbabwe legging behind in many aspects but until now, people have not been allowed to express themselves without fear. Many have had political conversations clandestinely and behind closed doors which inevitably leads to poor representation and even debates on who is fit to lead a community.
Until Emerson Mnangagwa removed Robert Mugabe from power, freedom of expression had been limited only to the brave and this blog post could not have surfaced. Far too many stories have been spoken of beatings and disappearances that it reduced the majority of the country, in the urban cities and towns, to mere spectators and a passive electorate. No one dared to speak against the might of Mugabe, his wife, family and friends without the possibility of receiving a visit or two from the ‘junta’.
The election process in Zimbabwe as been a messy one and I would love to believe that as much as we still have the same political party in power, whose understanding in rigging and forcefully convincing people to vote in a certain way is a world class, they might be trying to change. It seems Emerson has a bit of leniency or it could be that he has already been exposed as ruthless such that he cannot maneuver freely to any side.
The country seems ambivalent about Mnangagwa but there sure is a difference to the political landscape prior to these elections like that we have never seen before. There has been a small significant positive change and a few issues that need to be dealt with but it certainly feels very much a different country in which even the media has been free to collect and report on anything and anyone they want.
All is left unto my people, representing the many displaced and frustrated to transform the country into a dispensation that we can all be happy in.
Until then, we wait.
The Gregarian 