A Dictator must be removed before an election
Eddie Cross says the calls for Egyptian style protests in Zimbabwe is naive. John Makumbe believes that Egypt style protests can and will happen in Zimbabwe. The average Zimbabwean, including myself, believes that those kind of protests in Zimbabwe are pretty much impossible, especially when the majority of our activist youth are bickering amongst themselves and are willing to sell their allegiance, to any political party for money for a meal a day.
In the meantime one of Zimbabwe’s most vocally active youth groups, The Youth Forum, reckons that before any election, a dictator must be removed.
The question of course is how?
Lessons from Egypt: A Dictator Must be removed Before an Election
We salute, hail and acknowledge the recent victory by the people of Egypt and Tunisia in deposing off their dictator-led governments. The Governments in both Tunisia and Egypt, just like our own, failed to read the mood of their populations. Consequently they left in a humiliating manner. It is therefore important for each government to know when it could no longer be defended by its own military.
The first lesson for us as Zimbabweans is: A DICTATOR MUST BE REMOVED BEFORE AN ELECTION. This idea of waiting for an election to depose of our own dictator who has proclaimed time and again that a pen (the vote) cannot win a fight with a gun is rather illogical. The mandate of executing a relevant stimuli revolution in era of political stagnation that threatens national progress unequivocally lies with the galvanized youths whether they realize this reality, sit it out in pseudo-action orientated civic organization of purely mercenary tradition, over-exploit the prerogative of prorogue or timidly water down every nascent call to peaceful unstinting organization.
Furthermore, if we remain able to accept the affliction of multi-faceted syndrome of procrastination while the loss in terms of time continues to escalate it will remain our lot to marvel the easy traditions of other galvanized youths on the continent as not ‘realistic in President Mugabe’s Zimbabwe’. Notwithstanding, eventually running away from motherland to other democracies accomplished by the marvellous revolutionary traditions of other equally-born youths in Africa as those undignified visitors called ‘political and economic exiles’.
Governments cannot rule without the military and the military cannot survive without the people whose resources are utilised to buy weapons and pay for salaries. This is why no government could exist by alienating its people. The fundamental lesson to learn here is that the beginning of the end of a regime starts with a spark which ignites the fire. Our motherland has had many sparks but it is us who have failed to ignite the fire and sustain it. Surprising, other countries in the Mid-east have ignited their fires with reports saying Libya, Bahrain and Iran are the latest countries to be hit by popular protests inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
We should disburse homage to the role that social media is now playing in many such revolts. The political unrest exploding across the Middle East is just the latest illustration that social media is no longer just for teenagers to tweet about their lives, play Farmville, and post pictures from last weekend’s party. Today, it has the potential to shake regimes and drive leaders from power. An army of bloggers, facebookers and tweeters in Egypt and Egyptians around the world were at the heart of the uprisings. All these facilities are abundantly available in Zimbabwe and can be used effectively.
Time is running out, the youths of Zimbabwe need to act now!