THE crackdown on civil society organisations went into overdrive on Wednesday after suspected security agents visited the offices of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and the Zimbabwe National Students Union.
The “visit” comes as over 100 activists are in detention amid claims by government they wanted to create chaos ahead of the Sadc summit.
It also comes after a senior government official declared that those arrested will be released after the “visitors have gone”, meaning after the 44th Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit.
Citizens have witnessed the deployment of police officers and soldiers in residential areas in what is seen as a show of force.
The last time soldiers were deployed to the streets, six people lost their lives while 35 were left nursing injuries and up to now no compensation has been paid as per the State-appointed Kgalema Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry’s recommendation, six years ago.
Currently, there is a cat and mouse game between authorities and vendors in the central business district as the latter fight for their source of survival.
The crackdown on vendors has extended to industrial areas like Graniteside where licensed vendors have been told that all licences have been suspended until after the Sadc summit.
The question Zimbabweans are asking is: Has the hosting of the Sadc summit become a curse for citizens?
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They expected spin-offs from the event. Apart from hotels and car hire firms, Zimbabwe’s hosting of the Sadc summit has brought more losses and misery for ordinary folks.
Who would have thought that over 100 activists will spend the next weeks in detention? No one anticipated this from the second republic which promised to shed the bad boy tag of the past.
Recent events have made the reviled late Robert Mugabe’s regime saints.
The Sadc summit will come and go, but the wounds inflicted because of Zimbabwe’s obsession with pleasing visitors will take time to heal.
An administration that works against the people it is supposed to serve is deemed to have lost its moral compass.
There are areas where the administration’s force should be exerted, chief among them being the fight against corruption.
If this crackdown on pro-democracy activists was transferred to the fight against corruption, we would not be hearing a tenderpreneur boasting “hapana zvamunondiita [I am untouchable]”.
The status quo continues because we have misplaced priorities. The enemies are not pro-democracy activities but corruption, hunger and a tough economic environment. This is where the war should be taken to.
