Lawfare: the new normal in Zimbabwe as the Harare regime clamps down on dissenting voices.

By Prince Gora 

In a 1946 post-war confessional prose, the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) wrote a touching poem about the silence of German intellectuals and certain clergy—including, by his own admission, Niemöller himself—following the Nazi's rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group. The poem deals with themes of persecution, guilt, repentance, and personal responsibility. It reads as follows;

First they came for the Communists,

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists,

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews 

And I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me,

And there was no one left.

To speak out for me!

Convict, Convict, Convict... is the new chorus in town.

1946 is a very long time ago and evils of the Nazi regime seem very divorced from any of the modern day leaders and rulers. Thus, at face value, Martin Niemöller's poem seem to have no practical applications to countries like, er, Zimbabwe. 

But let's take a closer look.

Let's begin by testing your memory and how closely you have been following the news over the past year or so.

Tsitsi Dangarembga, Julie Barnes, Makomborero Haruzivishe, Jacob Ngarivhume, Fadzayi Mahere, Job Sikhala, to name but just a few.

Anything in common amongst these people? Yes. They are Zimbabweans. 

Anything else? Again, yes. They are Zimbabweans who believe in a better future for the country.

Most importantly though is the fact that all the aforementioned citizens of my beloved country are people who have been convicted by the courts in the past few months. 

Criminals right? Well, let's not rush there - just yet. Let's take a closer look at the crimes they have been convicted for. 

Tsitsi and Julie? Holding placards demanding human rights. 

Mako? Blowing a whistle in a restaurant.

Ngarivhume? Calling for a peaceful demonstration. 

Fadzayi? Non existent law that was declared so by the High Court of Zimbabwe. 

Job Sikhala? Demanding justice for slain opposition activist, Moreblessing Ali.

For comparison, let us examine the case of Henrietta Rushwaya who was caught with 5kgs of gold in a hand bag at Harare International Airport some 2 years ago. Nothing has been heard of the case ever since. Or should we take a look at Obadiah Moyo's case of emblazoning Covid 19 funds or Prisca Mupfumira's scandal at NASA or Justice Mayor Wadyajena's COTTCO fiasco. All theses cases have a grand total of zero convictions.

Conviction is the jaganault, the chorus of the song. Verses of the song include unwarranted arrests, pre-trial detention, intimidation, abductions and censorship of everyone including creatives like the popular Winky D.

Lawfare.

Writing in his weekly bulletin, the Big Saturday Read, in August 2020, the late Dr. Alex Magaisa (MHSRIP) explained that, "There is a war that takes place without guns and ammunition, a war in which the law is the  primary weapon. This kind of war is referred to as lawfare."

Dr. Magaisa further explained that dictatorships rely on a combination of guns and the law but mostly the law because guns are too visible and too gory. They produce blood on the streets and create evidence of tortured bodies. The sight of thousands of gun-wielding soldiers and riot police on streets also gives away evidence of a severe crackdown and heavy-handedness.

So, alternatively, Dr. Magaisa explained, they engage in lawfare against dissenting voices instead. Dictatorships arrest and detain dissenters based on spurious charges and are kept in jail for a few days, sometimes weeks before they are released on bail.

A case of Job Sikhala.

What Dr. Magaisa wrote about, a kind of lawfare where dissenters are released from jail after being given bail in a few weeks is, perhaps, lawfare of the 'old'. 

In the 'new' lawfare, dissenters are kept in prison without bail for a year and then sentenced to a finable six months in prison. If this sounds like fiction, then you are not paying attention because this is exactly what happened to Zengeza West Legislator, Job Sikhala.

Something similar also happened to Makomborero Haruzivishe in 2021 in a case where Mako has since been proven to be innocent of the charges for which he spent 10 months in prison for.

It is important to point out that many years ago, in colonial Zimbabwe, similar scenarios were also recorded. The case of Mudzimbamuto, a freedom fighter who spent years in detention based on emergency powers is a good reference point.

Shrinking civic space and the silencing of society.

Empirical evidence clearly show that human rights defenders, opposition activists, civil society players and the likes are being targeted.

If you don't believe my theory, you may need to also take a look at proposed laws or laws that have been enacted in Zimbabwe in recent times. The PVO Bill, MOPA, the Cyber Security and Data Protection Act, the Patriotic Bill and etcetera will tell you everything you need to know about the intentions of the Harare regime. 

Conclusion 

As free human beings,  we have an option to either follow in Martin Niemöller's footsteps of doing nothing and regretting later - or not. But we also have an option to take a cue from his lessons and act now! It is however important for us to realize that if we keep quite now, they may be no one left to speak for us!