Eddison Zvobgo and the struggle for Zimbabwe

Eddison Zvobgo was both implicated in and a critic of Mugabe's rule. He paid for it. His niece remembers him.





Eddison Zvobgo.

We do not want to create a socio-legal order in the country in which people are petrified, in which people go to bed having barricaded their doors and their windows because someone belonging to the��Special��Branch of the police will break into their houses. This is what we have been fighting against.

�����Eddison��Zvobgo

On August 22, my family, strewn across the globe, remembered the��life of��Eddison��Zvobgo���my uncle, our family patriarch, and one of Zimbabwe���s great men���whose��life��ended��in 2004��after��an arduous battle��with��cancer.��With��Zimbabweans��once again facing an uncertain future,��I have been reflecting��on��his��life and involvement in the struggle for Zimbabwe, and wondering what he,��and��others��who sacrificed so much for the nation,��would make of��contemporary politics.

A��Harvard-trained lawyer, poet, and the ZANU-PF spokesperson at the Lancaster House where the eponymous��Agreement��brought recognized independence to��Zimbabwe,��Eddison��loved his country��and served��it��throughout his life, even at great��personal cost.

Like anyone,��Eddison��was a flawed and complicated man.��Before becoming a��critical voice��against��former president��Robert Mugabe���who for��decades��took all means necessary to maintain his grip on power���Eddison��had not only been Mugabe���s co-partisan but also his ally.��They had fought together in the liberation struggle��and, along with many others,��emerged as heroes.

A��brilliant legal mind,��Eddison��helped��legislate the��single-party state��Mugabe governed���a��reality that even those who loved him cannot ignore or forget.��However, as��Mugabe��defied��the law, term limits, and��civil liberties,��Eddison��began to��publicly challenge��him.��One notable��challenge��was over��Gukurahundi���the massacres in which an estimated 20,000��Ndebele people��were��killed.��Eddison��was��one of the very few ZANU��leaders to��ever��recognize and apologize��for��Gukurahundi��notwithstanding the political taboo.��These defections from mainstream ZANU politics��cost him dearly.

One of my earliest memories of Eddison is in the hospital when I was 4 years old. He had just survived an assassination attempt staged as a car accident���the price of��stepping out of line. I do not remember much of the events succeeding the��incident, except for the whoosh of hospital curtains being drawn by white-clad nurses, the blue blanket that covered my uncle���s two leg casts, and laughter���my family���s coping mechanism of choice. From time to time in the following years, at family gatherings, I would overhear relatives talking in hushed tones about the accident. They would clam up when they realized I was listening.��Ever-curious, I would press, ���What are you talking about?��� to which they would respond, with a smile, ���Oh Clara [my middle name], you ask too many questions. Some things you are just not meant to know…���

Once Minister of Justice and, later, Minister of��Parliamentary��and��Constitutional Affairs,��Eddison��was��demoted��over the years, first��to Minister of Mines��then��to Minister Without Portfolio.��Finally,��in 2000,��Mugabe��removed��him��from the cabinet��altogether.��At a different time, under different circumstances,��Eddison��may have been president of Zimbabwe. But, I suppose we will never know.

I wonder sometimes if it is better that my uncle did not��live to��see the extent of Zimbabwe���s fall and the worst of corruption, kleptocracy, and repression under Mugabe and now Mnangagwa. I think it��may��have been too��painful��to see��his��and others�����dreams��for��Zimbabwe in tatters.��While in Mozambique during the liberation struggle,��he��is��recorded��in an interview��saying:

Every one of us has been in jail ten years, fourteen years, I myself nine, without trial. Every one of us has lived, has had to live, scared of the police. How on earth could we create a society which is exactly like that? We don���t want it. We are fed up of it. And, this is why we are in this revolution for as long as is necessary, to abolish this system.

Forty years later,��Eddison���s��question resounds still.��How on earth could we create a society which is exactly like that?��Zimbabweans��today��live��in��fear of��harassment, intimidation, and political violence��by the��police and the military.��And,��they��don���t want it.��They��are fed up of it.��So, I wonder:��Will the revolution begin anew, this time to��dismantle��the party��Eddison��helped found��and��remove its��leaders��from power?

My uncle��Eddison���or��babamukuru, as I called him���made an indelible mark on my life, and I wish he could see me today. Now pursuing a political science PhD, I, like him, pry into the uncomfortable and criticize the party and the regime, albeit from a safer distance.��He��was a poet,��politician,��and patriot. But, to me, he was first and foremost my uncle, my dad���s big brother. He��remains��the smartest and funniest person I have ever known.��He taught��me to be sharp, competitive, and, above all, courageous.��How��I loved him.

Chengetai JM Zvogbo’s biography,��The Struggle for Zimbabwe 1935-2004: Eddison JM Zvobgo is recently available from Mambo Press (Gweru, Zimbabwe).