Defying Mugabe's laws, a moral duty

Defying Mugabe's laws, a moral duty

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By Phillan Zamchiya

PRIMINENT Zimbabwean activists and a number of unsung heroines who have outrightly defied and continue to disregard POSA, AIPPA and other Zanu PF laws are not only morally upright and justified but are heroes and heroines who deserve an honourable mention in a new Zimbabwe.

To push the regime without disregarding such laws is no more possible than having a non-three sided triangle.

If the Government is evil as in our Zimbabwean case, and has abdicated its duty to promote justice, plundering and abusing human rights, then our duty as Zimbabweans to comply with its demands should be diminished or outrightly dissolved.

To always obey the law is not morally valid, for instance Thoreau points out this view in regard to the fugitive slave law, a law that required citizens to turn over runaway slaves to authorities. Isn’t this law one that progressive people would feel morally justified in disobeying?

In spite of the fact that we are inescapably enmeshed in the political realm, we can still make choices. We must not think that being good citizens requires us to obey the law, even when the law is wrong and even when obeying the law requires sacrifice of our constitutional freedoms and inherent rights in the universal declaration of human rights. We should reject the idea that a rogue Zanu PF government can coerce us into doing what we know is wrong.

Fear of jail cells will often lead us to obey such unjust laws that seek to perpetuate Mugabe’s dictatorship with no end in sight. People must know that they are entitled to engage in various forms of civil disobedience and should exercise their duty to defy any legal proposals that seek to take Mugabe beyond 2008 or whoever without the mandate of the ballot. If Mugabe is to ask us to choose between peaceful life in chains of his bad laws and death, we should be ready to answer in the words of Patrick Henry “…give me liberty, or give me death.” Choosing to give up liberty is not only foolish but immoral.

Disobeying draconian laws does not create anarchists but critical citizens. The kind of state in operation should determine whether it deserves loyalty. I agree with Martin Luther King Jnr in his letter from Birmingham City Jail, written in April 1963, where he states that if a law is imposed by a tyrannical government and requires actions that are unjust then we have moral responsibility to disobey it.

Zimbabweans must be able to feel that laws are not burdensome to some and beneficial to others and that state law is just in its application. Imagine how easy it is for state reporters to be registered under AIPPA as compared to critical citizens. Ask Pedzisai Ruhanya. Imagine how Zanu PF circumvents POSA when holding its rallies and how the MDC toils and hustles. Just note how the ruling party thugs are accorded the right to march in defence of the gravy train and how it is a mirage for critical citizens to do the same. Ask Dr Lovemore Madhuku.

If citizens are not accorded an equal opportunity to participate in the process that generates the laws, then such law should be defined as unjust and should be defied. To let a group of controversially elected Zanu PF MPs and non-constituency based members, operating on the whims and caprices of patronage, amend the law for continuity of evil, sweeps away all the remnants of morality attached to our law and such horrendous machinations should be defied in totality.

At this juncture of the struggle with the burden of POSA, AIPPA and oncoming legal proposals to amend the constitution so as to suite Mugabe’s wish to be life President, signalled in October 1980 when he signed a secret deal with Kim 11 Sung, it is important to embrace the words of Martin Luther King Jnr cited below:

“There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

Phillan Zamchiya is a political activist and writes from Cape Town. He can be contacted on: pres1zamchiya@yahoo.com

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