DEAR President Emmerson Mnangagwa, BY TENDAI R. MBOFANA Here are the lamentations of a Zimbabwean. Any oppressor is given the power to oppress by the oppressed. That is what we refuse to acknowledge as Zimbabweans. We will never be free any time soon and it is apparent that not many of us are ready to accept this fact. Your Excellency, as long as we lamely sit back, and daydream about some “messiah” coming from another land, or one or two local people doing the fighting for us, then we are the most foolish people on this planet. And, each and everyday we are proving this to be so. Most Zimbabweans are not prepared to sacrifice for the good of the country and the future of our children. We would rather eat our cake and have it at the same time. Well, that is not how life operates. We can’t expect to go about our everyday lives enjoying the little comforts and pleasures that we still have, and expect someone else to sacrifice for us, and bring the change that we want. We always want someone else to have the silver bullet that solves all our problems. Well, life is not like that, and will never be. Your Excellency, even the valiant action by Rosa Parks in 1955 — when she refused to sit at the back of the bus, where black people were expected to sit — would have amounted to nothing, had the masses not joined in the struggle by staging massive nationwide boycotts across the United States. As far as I am concerned, Zimbabweans haven’t suffered enough to take their plight and destiny seriously. Once we have suffered enough, we will automatically get off our behinds, and truly say: Kusiri kufa ndekupi (one way or another, we are dying). The oppressed are the ones who can repossess power from the oppressor. I learnt that from my childhood — after being subjected to repeated sexual abuse and bullying — without fearing anyone, nor running to someone else to fight my battles, I boldly stood up and spoke for myself, no matter the consequences, and bruising in the process, the victory is always sweet. Until we get to that stage, please, if there is anyone still dreaming of emancipation any time soon, they should either wake up or keep dreaming, probably that is how some people manage to get through the hassles of life by hiding their heads in the sand.
