ZVAKWANA

Zvakwana-Sokwanele

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Zvakwana-Sokwanele

Zvakwana is a grass-roots resistance group that was started in 2002 in Zimbabwe, shortly after Robert Mugabe’s re-election; an election many Zimbabweans and international observers accused Mugabe of having rigged. The Zvakwana motto ‘Zvakwana’ and ‘Sokwanele’ that are vernacular for “enough is enough” come from the Shona and Ndebele languages.

The resistance group was formed because Zimbabwean’s felt that the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) was no longer making progress in carrying out their mission for governmental change. Forced to work within government laws, the MDC’s campaigns had become less effective.

Zvakwana is a non-partisan, non-profit, non-violent resistance organization. The president of Zvakwana remains unnamed in all interviews, his anonymity necessary to protect him from being prosecuted by Mugabe’s regime.

Zvakwana is a people’s movement made up of Zimbabweans who are hoping to oust the current ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front) regime and Robert Mugabe, their president. For Zvakwana, “any institution that doesn’t work with the people is against the people.” Zvakwana is encouraging people to take a stand and resist the current regime.

Their message is one of defiance: defiance of Mugabe and his regime. Zvakwana refused to stop fighting for justice, unwilling to accept that Mugabe would likely rig elections in Zimbabwe for the third time in a row. Their mission was to at least try to make the world aware of the real ZANU-PF government, behind the hidden word 'democracy'.

Zvakwana has resisted Mugabe’s regime with organized protests (most recently in April of 2005, shortly after Mugabe was re-elected), but for the most part their resistance is of a quieter sort.

Zvakwana protests by graffitying walls with emblazoned Z’s for Zvakwana, they changed a street sign in central Harare to ‘Zvakwana Way’, placing Zvakwana stickers in public restrooms, passing out condoms with Z’s pasted on the label and the message “get up, stand up” written on them. Bob Marley has become a symbol of freedom for Zimbabweans, his words their mantra.

One way Zvakwana tried to notify the world of their oppressed state was by urging Zimbabweans to choose stamps with themes that depicted the corruption, torture, hunger and poverty that was a result of Mugabe’s regime. A CD has also been made with resistance songs of various Southern Africa singers and also some of Bob Marley's resistance songs.

It is with the creation of Zvakwana's website www.zvakwana.org that is their newest innovation to try to keep Zimbabweans best informed. The problem with this of course is that so few Zimbabweans actually have access to the internet.

The website posts monthly newsletters, the most recent a posting of their response to the stolen April elections, in an effort to keep Zimbabweans informed of current issues. The website also hosts outlines for step-by-step non-violent campaigning strategies to encourage Zimbabweans to vote for the democratic party (that is lead by Morgan Tsvangirai), as well as seven guidelines that encourage safe civil disobedience.

With a mailing list to join and an ever-growing interest in the group with awareness of what they do, Zvakwana’s popularity has quickly grown over the past three years.

Zvakwana is calling out for a free democracy, with fair elections and a government who doesn’t give food hand outs only to people who’s vote they know they will receive.

Mugabe, who has been president since Zimbabwe’s political independence in 1980, has left many of his promises for a democratic, free society, with a new life for Zimbabwean’s of prosperity, with land of their own, unfulfilled.

This is where Zvakwana comes into play. Where Mugabe calls his party democratic, the Zvakwana opposition considers him to be a ruthless dictator, manipulating the poor to get their votes and rigging the elections to ensure his re-election.

The organization's objective is to both “remove the propensity for human rights abuses” and to “ensure the rights of the individual are upheld regardless of gender, religion, race, sexual orientation or political persuasion.” While Zvakwana is calling out to Zimbabweans to fight for these basic rights, it puts protestors of Mugabe’s regime in a very vulnerable position, risking having the government cut off food supply, possible physical abuse and even imprisonment. It is for these reasons that it is of utmost importance for Zvakwana meetings to be held surreptitiously for all resistor's protection.

While Zvakwana gotten its support mainly from Zimbabwean's living in suburban slums, it is quickly gathering support from people of all economic levels across the country, and now worldwide, with a resistance group whose growth will someday overthrow the ZANU-PF's corrupt party.

Created by Caitlin Sloan