Zimbabwe: On the disappearance of rights activist Itai Dzamara

I have a problem with politics of disappearance and brutality. And I have a problem with dictatorship and Robert Mugabe's leadership style. Like any other concerned citizen, I am deeply worried about Itai Dzamara's safety following his mysterious disappearance in Harare, Zimbabwe on 9th March 2015. I have a number of questions that remain unanswered more than two weeks after Dzamara's abduction. The manner of his abduction, however, is a clear indication that the State itself was involved. Ridiculous claims that Dzamara staged his own abduction and subsequent disappearance should be treated with the contempt they deserve. I'm convinced that it is a ploy, indeed a deliberate attempt by the Harare regime to evade the matter at hand. Robert Mugabe and his minions know where the rights activist is. They know what they are doing to him and what they did to him.

It's almost 35 years after Zimbabwe gained her independence from Great Britain in 1980 but there is really nothing significant showing that which the liberation struggle was all about. There appears to be no difference between Ian Smith's oppressive and brutal regime and that of Robert Mugabe. Although my birth was in the third year of Zimbabwe's independence, I have grown up in the past 30 years or so knowing that we have an intolerant, unresponsive, oppressive, murderous, arrogant and brutal regime. There are persons known to me who have been murdered in cold blood for daring to differ with the ZANU PF government and some have disappeared without trace. Was Dzamara murdered or has he become one of those activists to disappear without trace? We have every reason to be worried.

My fears were heightened the very moment prominent Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was murdered in February 2015. I had private thoughts and conclusions. In my mind, I had no doubt that Vladimir Putin had a hand in such a cowardly and dastardly act. In Zimbabwe, it is patently clear that Dzamara had become a real force in opposition politics. He spoke his mind and was forever devoted to the truth. I admired him and still no doubt admire him for his courage to stand up and be counted.

Some might have laughed at his non-violent protests but I took him seriously. As Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, "What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say." Itai Dzamara is and was a man of integrity. He practised what he preached. He is and was a man of action and not mere talk without action. I miss him and will forever miss him. If we truly have respect and compassion for others, then we will place others' needs ahead of our own ambitions. We need Dzamara to be back. We need him, his family needs him, and Zimbabwe needs him.

I have no doubt whatsoever that a commitment to justice sometimes causes conflict but it makes our society a better place for everyone. Citizens who are just and fair can change the world and Dzamara was determined to change the nature of our politics, indeed the way of governance in Zimbabwe. As Eleanor Roosevelt put it: "Nothing we do ever stands by itself. If it is good, it will serve some good purpose in the future." When others don't believe in what you are doing, only self-discipline and diligence can keep you going. This is what we need: self-discipline and diligence. We may reunite with Dzamara but even if we don't we need to keep moving forward and fight for our freedom.

In conclusion, we will never bring disgrace on our country by an act of dishonesty and cowardice. We will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the country both alone and with many. We will revere and obey the country's laws, and will do our best to incite a like reverence and respect in those above us who are prone to annul them or set them at naught. We will strive increasingly to quicken the public's sense of civic duty. Thus in all these ways we will transmit our country, not only not less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us. May God be with Itai Dzamara! May God bless Zimbabwe! The struggle continues unabated!

* Mutsa Murenje writes from Johannesburg, South Africa.