On the 24th of August 2016, we went to bed with images of violence erupting in Harare. Whilst this is a show of how citizens have been dragged to the edge, I am convinced it is not the best route to take. Unfortunately, you do not engage an opponent using the tactic he knows best. The ZANU-PF-led government very well knows how to use violence and hard-handedness on citizens. So the use of violence in retaliation simply feeds into their strategy and gives the regime power to be more repressive in dealing with ‘errant’ protesters. On the other hand, violence gives Robert Mugabe the power to evoke a state of emergency for the constitutionally permissible 14 days. A situation that no progressive citizen would want because the consequences will never be favorable to the majority. Therefore, non-violent action is and still remains the only viable option for Zimbabwean citizens in their demands for socio-political and economic transformation in Zimbabwe.
As The Dalai Lama said in Kurlansky (2009), “responding to violence with violence is rarely appropriate…..It is precisely when things become really difficult, urgent and critical that we should think and act with non-violence.” People should learn how to carry out and sustain peaceful withdrawal of obedience and cooperation. Civil resistance and disobedience need to be prolonged by the masses. The citizens should apply political ju-jitsu, where their “opponent’s violent attack is met with non-violent defiance and not with counter violence”. The opponent can thus be propelled off-balance and not given the chance to apply their next planned violent move. For non-violence to succeed there is need to:
- Persuade more parties to join the non-violent action and increase the presence of non-violent resistors
- Expose the oppressive regime by remaining non-violent (the global community is watching)
Leaders of social movements and political parties need to be wiser and keep their supporters off the streets at this juncture. The voice, efforts and power of protests and marches have been seen and are very much commended. However, the streets are no longer safe for citizens. They have been infested by provocateurs and rubble-rousers planted to cause chaos and discount the peaceful protests. The burning and looting on the 24th of August was probably done by planted elements, who moved in with precision at the height of the commotion. They knew the targets that would raise attention and easily become the “collateral damage” as they try to propel the civil resistance toward a violent trajectory. I doubt if the social movement leaders and protest organizers have put in place systems that can efficiently identify and isolate planted provocateurs. Infiltration is another of the regime’s strengths. Keeping going to the streets will lead to more arrests and this impacts on the nonviolent action as citizens are needed more on the outside than behind bars.
Now that people have been energized and sensitised about the struggle through protests there is need to escalate the nonviolent action by applying Constructive Programs similar to those used by Gandhi. Constructive Programming moves the action off the street and increases public pressure through other legal forms of non-cooperation. The main aim being to “raise the societal costs and minimize the rewards for those committing and benefiting from the injustices” The focus should now be on the economic aspect of civil resistance. Citizens should develop economic self reliance and strengthen social cohesion such that in the event of stay-aways they can still resist and support each other. In a now fully informal economy they have to create alternative markets for goods and services.
Instead of looting and vandalizing stores citizens should stop patronizing or buying products from businesses run by those linked to the injustices. It is folly, that after marching in protest against the regime, one goes on to buy a beverage from an Alpha and Omega vendor. Or, you pass through Choppies Supermarket to pick your daily or weekly supplies and then end the evening listening to ZiFM. There is need to identify businesses run by politicians and individuals linked to the regime and push them out of business through consumer boycotts. Their supply chain needs to be disrupted through pressuring their suppliers to stop providing goods to an oppressive regime. There can be increased non-cooperation such as refusing to pay spot fines, taxes, duties and purchasing things like the ZBC Licenses. Zimbabwean citizens in the Diaspora can identify companies, in their host countries, that are trading with those linked to the regime. They then must picket those companies and encourage local consumer boycotts of those companies’ products on the basis that they are trading with oppressors. A good example will be the haulage companies moving goods for businesses owned by those in political offices. International bodies and sports unions can be lobbied to boycott Zimbabwe on the social scene and not invite Zimbabwe to participate in events or functions. Alternatively, Zimbabwe can be invited and these events are then used to pass across solidarity statements and raise awareness of the country’s plight.
On the political front, parties should scale up legal means of bringing about political transformation. These could include the following:
- Scaling up the push for the National Transitional Authority
- Starting impeachment proceedings against the President
- Push a motion of a vote of no confidence on the government
- Urgent court applications questioning the President’s fitness to be in office. If he was not fit to travel to Ghana how can he be fit to rule a nation?
I will conclude by sharing some myths on nonviolent action that Gene Sharp demystifies in his book on Waging Nonviolent Struggle. Sharp reveals the following:
- Nonviolent action has nothing to do with passivity, submissiveness or cowardice. It’s simply choosing an alternative to the natural reaction of being violent.
- Nonviolent action is a powerful means of conducting conflict that is an extremely different phenomenon from violence of all types.
- Nonviolent action is a technique that involves the use of psychological, social, economic and political power. It is not verbal persuasion.
- In order for nonviolent action to be successful people do not have to be pacifists or saints. They simply need to be determined to achieve their cause through peaceful means
- Nonviolent action can bring about results and transformation much quicker than violence. Indeed, violent actions that had been meant to bring about transformation within days have escalated to prolonged wars in countries such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and the DRC to mention a few. The time taken to achieve victory through nonviolent action depends on the strengths of the nonviolent resisters and the wisdom of their action.
Wisdom has be applied and leaders need to avoid wanting to be macho and taking citizens to the streets into the waiting arms of hounding and blood-thirsty security forces. It is time to scale up the nonviolent action through constructive methods and ensure citizens are safe.
Nonviolent action is the only alternative to addressing Zimbabwe’s problems…..katalambano
