Obert Masaraure
Zimbabwe faces a profound national question, one that various leaders have attempted to define with varying degrees of success. This article aligns with the view that the greatest task of our generation is the completion of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
The Zimbabwe Communist Party, in its compelling political program, “Completing the Liberation of Zimbabwe: Power to the Workers and Peasants,” meticulously argues that the current crisis is a direct manifestation of unfinished liberation. The party challenges the naive assumption that merely lowering the Union Jack and raising the Zimbabwean flag in 1980 would automatically transform the lives of ordinary people.
While Zimbabwe gained political independence in 1980, the fundamental political and economic structures of the pre-independence era remain largely intact. Political institutions and laws, originally designed to oppress and marginalize the Black majority, persist, albeit now implemented by a Black government.
For instance, emergency laws, frequently invoked against Black individuals organizing against colonial rule, were retained and extensively used in the 1980s. A striking example is the arrest of Lookout Masuku, Dumiso Dabengwa, and four other ZAPU affiliates on April 27, 1983, under Ian Smith’s emergency powers regulations. Masuku tragically died in prison despite court orders for his release, all under the pretext of being “threats to public safety and order.”
During the colonial era, maintaining order necessitated extreme force due to the absence of a social contract between the governors and the governed. This violence was essential to suppress revolts against the systematic looting of land and natural resources. Rhodesia functioned as a police state, a direct consequence of the perverse injustices perpetrated by the white ruling elites. For example, a disproportionate 90% of education funding was allocated to the tiny white minority, a stark injustice that inevitably sparked resistance from the Black majority. The colonial regime thus heavily invested in a socio-legal and political order of massive repression to control the disenfranchised majority.
The dawn of independence should have brought with it the dismantling of these repressive institutions and the forging of a genuine social contract. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA) remained in place, merely changing names from LOMA to POSA (Public Order and Security Act) and most recently to MOPA (Maintenance of Order and Peace Act). Crucially, its central objective of stifling freedom of assembly has remained unchanged through these transitions.
The banning of political parties, a common practice under colonial rule, persists. State institutions continue to collude with the ruling party, creating an uneven playing field that perpetuates the ruling party’s hegemonic grip on power. The consistent state-sponsored rigging of elections serves as undeniable proof that “Rhodesia didn’t die; Rhodesia is alive and kicking.” The collapse of this political repression is a crucial step towards completing Zimbabwe’s liberation.
The Rhodesian economy primarily served a minority absorbed into the formal economy—a male-dominated sector that benefited from all policy planning and investment, at the expense of the informal economy and the marginalized communal areas. The women-dominated communal and informal economies remain home to the vast majority of the population. Disturbingly, government developmental planning continues to prioritize the now seriously shrunken formal economy, which occupies less than 10% of the population. This, mirroring the Rhodesian era, results in massive underutilization of resources, including labor.
Consequently, unemployment is shockingly high. The few who are employed face severe exploitation, as labor unions endure massive repression, just as they did during colonialism. A thorough analysis of the control of the means of production reveals that wealth remains concentrated in the hands of a minority. The state continues to protect the property rights of the few who own everything. While some Black individuals have been added to this elite group of wealth owners, the vast majority remain excluded.
In terms of social services, the progress made in the early 1980s in expanding access was swiftly reversed by the Structural Adjustment Program of the early 1990s. Today, the majority of our people lack access to basic services, including water, housing, education, and healthcare—a perfect legacy of the colonial era where social services were reserved for the elites. A shocking 3 million prospective students are out of school, with 50,000 dropping out in a single calendar year.
The Zimbabwean state also remains a client of the global market, compelled to supply raw materials at dictated world prices. While the benefits of global economic booms are barely felt on the periphery where Zimbabwe resides, the shocks, as witnessed in 2008, are keenly felt. The conditions of the colonial era that promoted looting remain in place; Jameson’s looting committee is still intact, now run by a network of “Zviganandas.” The Zimbabwean state continues to produce poverty for the majority and abundance for the politically connected elites.
To end the suffering of the people, the remnants of the colonial state must be overthrown, and a new, people-centered state must be urgently created. This new state will not be an ally of those in power but a staunch ally of the majority of our currently oppressed and excluded people.
There are two paths towards creating a people-centered state. The first is a popular revolution led by peasants and workers uniting to defeat the looters managing the nation’s affairs, with the working class subsequently restructuring the state and placing it in the hands of the masses.
The second option is a negotiated settlement. This would not be a settlement between elite leaders of select political parties, but rather a settlement between the current state leaders and the majority of the people from diverse constituencies. The ruling elites have already demonstrated their inability to manage their internal affairs. The ongoing internal cannibalism among them signals that their fragile elite looting pact is on the brink of collapse. This should provide sufficient motivation for them to come to the table for a soft landing for themselves and for Zimbabwe. Such dialogue would lead to the appointment of a National Transitional Authority (NTA).
The NTA would then be tasked with redesigning the state, creating one that truly serves the people and is not merely a client of international markets. Should the elites resist dialogue, a violent revolution becomes unavoidable, and it too will ultimately lead to the installation of a Transitional Authority.
The NTA is the inevitable solution to the national crisis. The only choice left is the route towards the NTA. While a negotiated settlement is preferred due to its lower cost, readiness for a popular revolution is equally essential if the elites refuse to listen.
Obert Masaraure
Member of the Steering Committee pushing for an NTA in Zimbabwe (writing in a personal capacity) +263776129336
obertmasaraure@gmail.com