No more slogans

As Zimbabwe hurtles towards another election whose outcome is likely to be contested I sat down to reflect on the political journey that we have been on for more than thirty-three years. The Zimbabwe that we helped bring to life has not turned out the way we thought it would. Like midwives Zimbabweans prepared for the delivery of the new country. We were there during all stages of pregnancy, labour and the early postnatal period; a community of midwives with each of us doing our part in bringing about the birth of Zimbabwe.

In 1980 the baby finally arrived. We were ecstatic. It was, therefore, fitting that at the ‘baby welcome party’ a legend performed to welcome this special baby. Bob Marley did not just perform but he also wrote a special tribute to the new baby. The song ‘Zimbabwe’ sums up what drove communities - men, women, young and old – to take up arms against a system that made them second class citizens in the land of their birth. The opening lines, ‘Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny, / And in this judgement there is no partiality’ were poignant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7g-niDevcU

Once we were free we started the difficult task of transforming our nation, the laws, the public services, the education system, the health system, etc. We did a brilliant job in those early years; major improvements in education and health led to the improvement in the quality of life for all Zimbabweans. The five year development plans and other slogans summed up what we were trying to achieve as a nation. Then we caught the bug; the bug that infects those who have been in power for too long – self-preservation and the desire to keep power at all costs. The tune changed. It all became about slogans- ‘Pasi na…’, ‘Pasi ne…’, ‘Pamberi na…’, ‘Pamberi ne…’ etc. The baby turned on the midwives! Instead of transforming lives the government now focussed on preserving power. Action was replaced by slogans and jingles – we were sucked into a cultist support for those in power.

As we reflect on the last thirty-three years we now need to say to the party that has ruled us for all this time – slogans will not be enough. We need to make it clear to them that we do not eat slogans. For thirty-three years they have stripped us of the power that we fought for; they have lined their own pockets from the public purse. For more than thirty years they have used slogans to entice us to support them; those who refused were beaten, maimed or killed. Chenjerai Hove deals with the idea of sloganeering effectively in the Mail and Guardian article titled ‘Zimbabwe's war of empty slogans’. Hove poignantly observes that, ‘As the country faints under heavy economic and political burdens, the politicians would rather punch the air with empty slogans and worthless promises that are so unrealistic  that even illiterate villagers wonder how a politician can be so dumb as to promise a bridge where there is not even a  river.’

It is now time to say we will not be swayed by empty slogans. Zimbabweans need to demand actions rather than slogans; they need to demand the right to determine their own destiny. We must not allow the violent slogans to distract us from our collective search for the freedom that we fleetingly enjoyed in the 1980s. Some politicians believe that Zimbabweans are stupid, passive and incapable of seeing through their empty slogans. It is now time to say ‘We won’t take your slogans no more!’ We need to state clearly that we are not going to be swayed by violence, threats or slogans – we are going to be swayed by policies, ideas and actions. I have written elsewhere about the need for us to disabuse ourselves of the notion that we are unable to change our situation. Once we reject the sloganeering and we vote for policies and practical ideas then we will force our politics and politicians to change.

It is to the legendary Bob Marley that I turn to once again. His song ‘Slogans - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZSihzPBt2A ’ says,

  Wipe out the paintings of slogans all over the streets (ooh, ooh, ooh), confusing the people while your asphalt burns our tired feet.

 I see borders and barriers, segregation, demonstration and riots (ooh, ooh, ooh),    a-sufferation of the refugees, oh-oh, when, when will we be free?

We can stop the asphalt burning our tired feet, we can refuse to be confused by empty slogans, we can refuse to be divided by a cabal of politicians’ slogans and we can take down the ‘borders and barriers’ that stop us working as a collective to achieve real freedom. The answer to Marley’s ‘When will we be free?’ lies in us refusing to be used, refusing to accept empty slogans and in working together. The individuality and selfishness promoted by belonging to political parties needs to be subservient to the needs of our country. We must sing like Marley:

Oh-oh-oh, we can't take your slogans no more,

 can't take your slogans no more,

 can't take your slogans no more,

 no more sweet talk from-a culprit,

 no more sweet talk from the hypocrites.

As Hove states, ‘When Zimbabwean parties campaign, they usually produce a chain of newly invented, juicy slogans and clever political sayings rather than persuading voters with substantive issues, analysis of community and national problems and solutions.’ For a long time we have allowed ourselves to be sweet talked into voting people into power; for a long time we have taken slogans without question. We need to vote for people who engage with the substantive issues of our time; those who diagnose community and national problems in order to come up with practical solutions. The time has come to say to our politicians ‘Can’t take your slogans no more!’