With the UK leaving the EU build-up, I happened to get up very early one morning and saw a rerun with Sky-news’ Faisal Islam interviewing David Cameron. I watched in utter shock at how this journalist was giving Mr Cameron what I would call “The Gears” over his wanting to stay in. At points I half expected that they were about to slap each other or the cops would come rushing in to arrest Faisal. Amazed by this I continued to watch as Faisal relentlessly continued throwing words at Mr Cameron. It was as though Faisal was the Prosecuting Lawyer in a trial and Mr Cameron was the guilty Defendant sitting in the box on trial for the most atrocious crime.
It was at this point I realized that this must be freedom of speech. This must be that thing that all Zimbabweans fear doing. Speaking Freely or in Shona “Kutaura Wakasununguka” or to a crowd “Munofanirwa Kutaura Makasununguka”.
What does it mean to speak freely? Is it wrong to do so?
I grew up in a generation where speaking freely could get you into lots of trouble. Not long ago I read a story online about someone who made a funny picture about our current president and shared it on Facebook. As one does, a friend of his liked the post. Not long after the police whisked both off to jail where they would now face court sentencing. I never heard the outcome of this, but one wonders what they faced. Even if they simply got a ‘slap on the hand’ and told not to do it again, the trauma of it all would have left some fear in them. You read about protesters getting arrested almost weekly for having stood up against our president.
At the time of writing this I am 28. My generation is the ones that lived through the farm invasions and being moved from place to place while wondering if my father was safe on the farm. We would wake up to chanting at the gates by crowds of people singing and waving axes and panga’s in the air. Axes and panga’s still wet with blood from a white farmer that was beaten close to death just a few farms away. They demanded my fathers weapons and by the grace of god a safe passage off the farm was given in return. Then came packing as fast as you can a bag with just what you can carry so you can as fast as possible get out of this place you call home. We spent over 6 months living with another family who graciously took us in while my father would be between the farm and our temporary home. I know what effect this had on my life and, as a parent, can imagine the effect it had on my parents who had with 4 children in the house they had to protect.
These are the things that made me watch that sky-news interview in awe at what was being said and how it was said. I wondered what would happen to the journalist that spoke to any of our government officials, let alone the president himself, in that way. Would our lovely country be in the turmoil it is now had we, not just been allowed to, but encouraged to hold our government to account as this journalist did Mr Cameron. As a nation we fear standing up against corruption and speaking out against human rights abuse. We have all seen what happens should someone do so. Itai Dzamara is only one example of this and we still don’t know what happened to him or where he is.
With times changing and social media growing at an unbelievable pace, we see more and more people speaking up and reporting issues in Zimbabwe. We watch the news anxiously for what is being said and what may have happened. One can’t help but feel that a new era is about to breathe life into our beloved country. The younger generation have seen what it is to speak up and report corruption. They aren’t afraid to stand for what is right. As a nation we need to ‘look and learn’ from this generation and the rest of the world. We need to hold to account those that did wrong. We need to Speak Freely!