Imploding Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has enjoyed peace since the dawn of independence despite economic hardships. The Zanu PF government even went as far as pacifying the apartheid regime in South Africa by denying Umkhonto we Sizwe and APLA the privilege to establish military bases in the country.

Zimbabwe has enjoyed peace since the dawn of independence despite economic hardships. The Zanu PF government even went as far as pacifying the apartheid regime in South Africa by denying Umkhonto we Sizwe and APLA the privilege to establish military bases in the country.

Zimbabwe chose peace over confrontation with apartheid South Africa despite the moral obligation to repay the favour extended to her during her own fight for independence.

The country has enjoyed the absence of war despite the occasional involvement of her armed forces in other countries’ wars by choice or by invitation. Even provocative incursions into the country’s airspace by South African Air Force jets did not warrant either defensive or offensive actions. The pacifist establishment ensured peace at all cost. Whereas Matabeleland and parts of Midlands provinces experienced a terrible dissident menace, still it was a far cry from being a war. True, there were unprecedented losses of innocent lives, mainly due to security forces purportedly pursuing cowardly armed malcontents. Should the dissident menace be taken as war, so should the terror purveyed by Stephen Chidhumo and Edgar Masendeke.

JOICE-MUJURU

Peace in Zimbabwe has not translated to contentment and the absence of other forms of strife. Zimbabweans have regularly endured too many hardships for a nation at peace with herself and her neighbours. There have been political battles fought in the midst of ordinary people, the economy has been a source of nightmares and more often than not, the heavens have refused to yield any rains. A combination of human and natural causes has multiplied the suffering experienced by the majority of Zimbabweans. The magnitude of the suffering has often equalled or surpassed the suffering obtaining in a war situation.

Zimbabwe’s situation proves that the presence of peace does not necessarily translate to bliss. There is suffering; more of it man-made than due to natural causes. It is much easier to understand natural calamities than man-made ones. Man-made causes are difficult to remedy as they are weapons for the continued domination and control of the population by those in power. If the problems were genuine, lasting solutions would have been found by now.

In perpetuating the suffering, the government seems to be employing a type of psychological approach known as implosion. Implosion is a treatment technique where one is encouraged to either relive or imagine situations one is averse to in order to conquer the anxieties associated with their fears. The government seems to be working on the premise that exposing the people to constant suffering within a peaceful environment will breed submissive and docile citizens who will not question adversity and suffering.

Nature is known to be diligent at forcing a form of equilibrium. As the government subjects the people to a form of implosion therapy, nature is finding time and space to restore a balance by subjecting the ruling Zanu PF party to experience its own implosion therapy. The implosion afflicting Zanu PF can actually cause damage instead of curing a phobia and anxiety. Zanu PF is facing a situation where the right hand is gouging the right eye, the left eye is busy misleading the left hand and the teeth are biting the tongue and chewing the fingers that feed it. It is a travesty, a dreadful situation that can cause extensive damage from within.

In real terms, the factional dog-fights that have become characteristic of Zanu PF are signs that something is about to give. In his novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe declared, “The centre can no longer hold”. A proper implosion occurs when the centre can no longer hold. The good thing with an implosion is that it is like a controlled explosion that takes place within the confines of a safe environment. Like it or not, Zanu PF is going through its own implosive moment where real and imaginary factions are tearing each other to smithereens.

First it was former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and her close followers who fell by the wayside when the first salvos of the implosion materialised. Now there are so many powerful beings within the party who are willing to light the fuse for the implosive device. Professor Twitter is fighting his corner like a wounded buffalo and in the other corner Comrade G-String Snatcher is breathing fire. The silence and dignity maintained by Comrade Lacoste is suspicious as it is strongly believed that he has his finger on the safety pin that can set off the implosion. The mentioned frontrunners are by no means working on their own, but enjoy being in cahoots with equally powerful entities who can act as the gunpowder.

Soon there will be very little left as the core of Zanu PF due to the implosion. Unlike in implosion therapy where the idea is to normalise an anxiety provoking situation, the implosion affecting Zanu PF is set to destroy the party. Off course the destruction of Zanu PF may result in suffering Zimbabweans getting the reprieve they have been praying for.

lMasola wa Dabudabu writes in his personal capacity.