Gibson Nyikadzino
THE history of non-violent protests shows that people who
participated had consistency and commitment to meet their objectives. The
nature of their speech, then, did not incite violence. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. and India’s Mahatma Ghandi are examples of how non-violence can be an
anecdote to social ills if properly executed.
The Arab Revolutions of 2011 in Egypt also show that street
protests are just one of a host of non-violent tactics that can achieve
political results. Equally, valuable types of resistance include boycotts or
strikes. Recently in Zimbabwe two girls Namatai Kwekweza and Vongai Zimudzi
were arrested for staging a non-violent demonstration against a constitutional
amendment without taking the issue for a referendum.
Today, a Twitter hashtag #ZanuPFMustGo
has generated online momentum from
activists, frustrated citizens, politicians and academics over the fragile
economic situation in Zimbabwe. This online consensus has come ahead of the
planned July 31 protest calling for change of livelihoods on one end and the
complete decimation of ZANU-PF on the other extreme end. Already, the activists
and others have begun unfollowing
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s account on the platform. As they tweet, they say
theirs is a non-violent struggle to bring change
in a country that endured 14 years of a violent struggle for independence.
With the history of how the Zanu-PF government has responded
to protests, to think of removing the revolutionary government from power using
a hashtag movement is a dangerous excursion taking off from the deep end. By
placing confidence in violent means, one has chosen the very type of struggle
with which the oppressors nearly have superiority. The leaders of nation-state
are more equipped to use violence overwhelmingly. At the height of the April
2016 #ThisFlag and #Tajamuka demonstrations, Prof. Jonathan
Moyo then a minister in the Zanu-PF government tweeted: “Only idiots think
publicit stunts, hashtag protests, pastoral farts and rented demos will grab
power in Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabweans behind the #ZanuPFMustGo
movement are not ready for the call, they know their calls are a fluke. There
are ways to depict problems in Zimbabwe mastered in an unorthodox manner, for
example, like what contemporary musician and satirist Valentine Choga (Van Choga) does. Through his artistry, he
uses metaphors, symbolisms and caricatures that show the struggles of a common
man. Satire is part of any work of culture, art or entertainment created with a
goal to drive social-change through non-violent means.
Also, how non-violent protests work depend on the nature of
the political history of a nation and the creative ideas of the people to relay
their grievances.
For instance, the Montgomery bus and South Africa boycotts
paved the way for the dismantling of Jim Crow segregation and apartheid. A sex
strike in 2003 by Liberian women demanding an end to the country’s second civil
war succeeded.
In Sudan, a nation-wide labour strike and stay-at-home
campaign preceded the ouster of Omar Al Bashir.
In the 1990s in Turkey, 30 million citizens were reported to
have turned the lights on and off at night to focus national attention on
corruption, part of the campaign that culminated in judicial investigations,
trials and guilty verdicts for politicians and members of organised crime
syndicates. The leaders of these protests were known by their respective
governments and led their compatriots.
Non-violence is a substitute to war. What those behind the #ZanuPFMustGo movement should do is identifying
the sources of a government’s power, knowing what it survives on and shrink
that support. Without doing so, this is a futile virtual rant with short legs.
British archaeologist and diplomat Col. Thomas Edward
Lawrence once said: “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night
in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity, but
the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they act upon their dreams with
open eyes, to make it possible.”
The possibility to decimate Zanu-PF using a hashtag, at
times known as people power, is close to non-existent judging with the nature
of the political terrain and the history of the movements. The July 31 planned
protests are a dangerous dream and a plan without strategy. The previous
protests coordinated and mobilised through use of Twitter and other platforms had
violent outcomes. This is a constant reminder today that the participation rate
of the planned protests is likely to be lower.
In 2011, then State Security minister Didymus Mutasa warned:
“You cannot start a revolution in a square. If you try it hear in Zimbabwe, you will be dealt
with decisively.” Having left government in 2014, Mutasa's words can still be felt as present in his physical absence.
While the government has not been efficient in addressing
socio-economic needs affecting the people, it will be ready to deploy its machinery
when threatened by those who will participate in the #ZanuPFMustGo movement.
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