ZIMBABWE - HARARE - Zimbabwe is at the crossroads. We are a nation in deep pyschological pain and anguish. We are angry with and at ourselves. We are hurting.
However, over the past ten years or so we have allowed ourselves to be haters; a people filled with anger and frustration.
We have whether, advertently or inadvertently, become insipidly intolerant of any political views that are at a tangent with our own political convictions.
Sadly, we have politicised almost every facet of our lives; from business, to religion and even to music.
This sad state of affairs has been actively encouraged by the Mugabe dictatorship largely through its vice-like grip on all the official media outlets, both print and electronic.
Zimbabwe is arguably one of the few countries in the world where all four official radio stations in the country are State-owned and State-controlled.
There is only one official television station that is also State-owned and State-controlled.
Thus, the only access we have to alternative voices on the radio is by listening to outside-based radio stations such as Studio 7 and Voice of America.
Only a few people can afford pay-per-view satellite television. The majority of the people are forced to buy free-to-air digital satellite decoders because the propaganda that is churned day in, day out by the State media is just too much for any right-thinking person to bear with.
Both the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings and Zimpapers have a specific mandate from the regime. The main agenda of this mandate is to ruthlessly propagate hate messages of and concerning the MDC in general and Morgan Tsvangirai in particular.
Listeners of radio news bulletins and viewers of ZTV are daily bombarded with harshly-worded propaganda against the country's biggest and most popular political party; the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
You have a host of so-called '' analysts '' and other dubious commentators who frequently and routinely appear on national television specifically to demonise the MDC and to castigate them for being the main author of all of Zimbabwe's problems.
You then wonder why the MDC continues to rule the roost amidst this crunch and Josef Goebels-style hate propaganda. The MDC has virtually no access to the State-controlled media.
In contrast, invariably all events organised by the erstwhile ruling party, ZANU (PF), are given prominent coverage both on national television and in the State-controlled newspapers such as The Herald and The Chronicle.
Even the death of a donkey belonging to a senior ZANU (PF) official can be covered on national television prime time news as opposed to covering the resolutions made by an important meeting of the MDC national council; for instance!
My argument here is simply that the ZANU PF dictatorship has systematically cultivated a siege mentality for itself. As a result, the rogue dictatorship has embarked upon a campaign to paint all MDC leaders and supporters as hopeless puppets and sell-outs who do not love their country and who are prepared to '' return '' the country to its former colonisers.
This siege mentality gives rise to a delusional and paranoid hatred for and fear of the MDC. In direct response to this pathetic delusion and fallacy, the State media goes into over-drive; spurning hatred and contempt for any views and any organisations that might not necessarily agree with the ZANU PF way of doing business.
Even a harmless woman like Jestina Mukoko, who apparently might never have handled any firearm in her entire life, is labelled a bandit and a ‘‘danger '' to State security. This level of paranoia is astounding and is indeed, fit for recognition in the Guiness Book of world records.
You may now appreciate why we in the MDC believe that Zimbabwe needs to heal from this incessant hate-mongering instigated by the ZANU PF dictatorship.
This is the main reason why our vision as the MDC is to pursue social liberation policies aimed at completing the unfinished business of the national liberation struggle. We shall strive for the democratic structural economic liberation, rehabilitation and transformation of Zimbabwe.
In short, we intend to usher in a New Zimbabwe with a new and fresh beginning. The MDC shall work for the restoration of the core values of trust, confidence and love between the government and its people.
As the MDC, we intend to cultivate a situation of tolerance and respect for divergent political views. Quite honestly, if someone does not support the MDC it does not mean that they hate Zimbabwe and thus, are not patriotic.
We are opposed to ZANU PF not because we hate its leaders and their supporters but solely because we do not believe in their politics of cronyism, rampant corruption, patronage, intolerance and an appalling record of general bad governance and disrespect for property rights and basic human rights.
The MDC is the present and the future of Zimbabwean politics. We do not allow ourselves to be prisoners of the past. Instead, our conscience is our master. We do not believe in bitterness, hatred, corruption and greed.
In our social justice program, the MDC will create platforms for social dialogue that will address the legacies of the liberation struggle, national healing and social reconciliation.
The State must openly address the atrocities committed since independence in a manner that truth and justice become the foundation of any national reconciliation.
This is not to mean that we advocate retribution. No; we don't believe in the primitive system of an eye for an eye. We all know that two wrongs do not create a right.
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Many people have, rather ignorantly, accused the MDC of simply specialising in criticising ZANU PF without offering any alternative workable policies. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The MDC is a vibrant party that is made up of people from all ethnic, racial, social and cultural creed. Therein lies our strength. A villager from Mushayavanhu in Gutu can sit side by side with a Harvard-trained university professor; in the MDC.
We are united by a common and shared vision for Zimbabwe, our beloved country. We are not in the MDC to get jobs for the boys or to be appointed cabinet ministers as some of the readers of this column mistakenly believe. We have no reason to sing for our supper because some of us are already highly successful professionals and businesspeople.
We joined the MDC to serve and not to be served. Whether or not we are given positions of responsibility is not the issue. We are driven by our desire to save our country from the plethora of problems brought about by almost three decades of ZANU PF misrule and dictatorship. This is why some of us are still stuck in Zimbabwe today.
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Although we possess credentials that can easily give us top and highly paid jobs in the Diaspora, we have made the choice of staying at home and to fight the dictatorship until our beloved motherland is set free. And you can be assured that victory is certain.
We are motivated by the virtues of the gallant sons and daughters of Zimbabwe; those of our compatriots who have travelled this arduous journey before us.
We are inspired by the selflessness and dedication of our heroes such as Joshua Nkomo, Josiah Tongogara, Nikita Mangena, Herbert Chitepo, Eddison Zvobgo, Ruth Chinamano, Julia Zvobgo and many others.
In the MDC, we refuse to be intimidated by tyranny and thuggery. We will maintain our peaceful fight for democratic change in Zimbabwe. We are on the right side of history. The people are with us and indeed; we are the people. We shall overcome. Victory shall soon be ours to claim.
As a people, we Zimbabweans are naturally very loving, accomodative, tolerant, generous and patriotic.
Senator Obert Gutu is the MDC Senator for Chisipite. He is a trained Lawyer, member of the MDC National Legal Committee as well as the MDC National Information Committee.
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