Zimbabwe Information Center in North America
A project of the North American Coalition for a Free Zimbabwe (NACFREEZ)
MDC
By Stanford G. Mukasa
Letter from America
January 20, 2008
Gertrude Mthombeni's Legacy
Firebrand human rights activist and top official of the Movement for Democratic Change, Gertrude Mthombeni, who died at the weekend left a legacy of her unyielding and unselfish determination to bring democracy to Zimbabwe that will inspire people involved in the struggle to free Zimbabweans from the oppressive rule of Robert Mugabe’s regime.
When she visited the United States last year Mthombeni met with Zimbabweans in Diaspora, and her message was that all Zimbabweans were stakeholders and partners in the struggle. It does not matter how comfortable you may be here in the United States you still have a role to play to free Zimbabweans because you are still part of the Zimbabwean nation, Mthombeni told Zimbabweans.
Mthombeni also noted that Zimbabweans were remitting millions of dollars to their relatives at home.
“That is well and good,” Mthombeni said. “But what contribution are you making to the struggle that will free your relatives from the situation which now requires that you send them money?” she asked.
Mthombeni also noted that many Zimbabweans in Diaspora have become armchair critics sending out endless emails and telling MDC and people at home what they should or should not do in the struggle.
“How can you tell people who are in the trenches, who are on the ground how to fight Mugabe when you are not contributing anything to the struggle?” Mthombeni hit out.
Physically, Mthombeni was not in very good health. It was evident to many of us who held discussions with her during her stay in the USA that Mthombeni was involved in her personal internal struggle for survival.
The Mugabe regime had tortured , jailed and harassed her. All that beating she endured from Mugabe’s police was having a toll on her health. And it showed.
During one of our conversations I suggested that she takes a break from the freedom struggle and attend to her physical recovery. I joked that she would be of no use to the freedom struggle in Zimbabwe if she was dead, and that she needed to regain her energies, strength and health.
Many Zimbabweans in Diaspora were concerned about Mthombeni having to go back to Zimbabwe, given her condition. We were aware that there are no medical facilities in Zimbabwe that could effectively support her, especially since she was in the opposition movement.
We had heard of some horrible and incredible stories of how opposition members of the MDC had been pulled from their hospital beds and thrown into jails were they were denied medical facilities.
But Mthombeni was unyielding in her determination to see this struggle to its logical conclusion.
“If that means I have to die in the struggle so be it. We will all come to an end someday,” she said with a smile.
Mthombeni came out very clearly as a textbook case of a dedicated freedom fighter. The small group of Zimbabweans in Diaspora who gathered around her at a reception organized by a fellow Zimbabwean in Philadelphia were, by their own admission, inspired by Mthombeni’s sense of leadership, dignity and resolve.
One of Mthombeni’s lasting legacies was the way she and her colleagues in Matabeleland maintained unity and cohesiveness among supporters after the MDC has suffered a leadership split in 2005.
Some media reports and analysts argued at the time that this was the end of the MDC as the major opposition movement in Zimbabwe. MDC has split right in the middle, they argued, noting that the Welshman Ncube faction of the MDC had set up its headquarters in Matabeleland and was likely to bring the entire region to their side.
Amid this confusion and melee Gertrude Mthombeni stepped in on the discourse on ethnicity and politics in Zimbabwe.
Mthombeni stated that the people of Matabeleland should not be seen, and they certainly did not identify themselves as an ethnic group in Zimbabwe’s national politics. Instead, Mthombeni said the people of Matabeleland identify themselves as part of the national character of Zimbabwe.
Mthombeni was successful in shifting focus away from the narrow ethnic identities to a national debate on issues that affected Zimbabweans as a nation.
Her strength lay in the fact that in Mthombeni there were no blacks, no whites, no Ndebele, no Zezurus, no Karangas, no Manyika – but Zimbabweans, pure and simple. She shunned divisive politics which she saw as unproductive and irrelevant.
Mthombeni represented the best of the Zimbabwean characteristics. She gained admiration and respect because she was very friendly and cared not only about certain individuals but the entire Zimbabwean population was her family.
Zimbabweans in Diaspora who met Mthombeni in Philadelphia were amazed by, on one hand, her tough talk on the responsibilities of Zimbabweans toward their own liberation, and, on the other hand, her very soft spoken simplicity, sisterly or motherly attitude. She was happy in company of Zimbabweans. She shared jokes, laughter and conversations as if she was with her family in her house.
What will be Mthombeni’s lasting legacy ?
The most conspicuous legacy was her spiritual strength and determination to free Zimbabwe. She spoke with great passion and emotion about life in Zimbabwe.
Mthombeni was an undisputed and legitimate ambassador of the suffering masses in Zimbabwe.
Although she did not give details of her personal experience in Mugabe’s jails or how she had been assaulted by Mugabe’s police, everybody knew what she and her colleagues had endured under Mugabe. Their stories and pictures had been splashed around the world’s media.
Mthombeni’s remarks touched the hearts and emotions of all who heard her. There was a greater emotional empathy and bonding with Mthombeni, MDC president Tsvangirayi as well as Roy Bennett, each of whom spoke convincingly from experience about the life of hell under the Mugabe regime’s dictatorship.
When the meetings ended Zimbabweans in Diaspora looked genuinely challenged to redouble their efforts, or at least to get involved, in the struggle.
Another legacy was Mthombeni’s selflessness. She put the national liberation over and above her own personal comforts. She did not ask much, if anything, for herself but implored Zimbabweans in Diaspora to assist and be involved in the liberation struggle.
She appealed to her audience to help President Tsvangirai. “How do you expect him to be president of Zimbabwe if you do not help him achieve that goal?’ She asked the audience.
Mthombeni reminded her audience that President Tsvangirai and his team will be campaigning in 210 constituencies. She said they will need fuel. The challenge to Zimbabweans in Diaspora was they were duty- bound to help Tsvangirai lead the struggle to its logical conclusion.
Little did Zimbabweans in Diaspora know that less than four moths later they would be receiving news that Mthombeni had passed away.
Shock and disbelief greeted the news of her passing away.
A number of Zimbabweans in Diaspora, most of whom had never met Mthombeni until her visit to the United States last October, openly confessed that their lives had been changed forever.
Some said they had been confused about whether they had a role in struggle for liberation. Others had felt that this historic struggle was a responsibility of MDC, its leadership and Zimbabweans.
Yet others had felt that sending money to their families was enough.
But all of them now agreed and understood that fighting for democracy is a responsibility of every Zimbabwean and that it must be done selflessly. No one should ask: “What’s in it for me personally if I contribute to the struggle?”
Reinforcing this message Tsvangirai and Bennett had told the Zimbabweans in Diaspora that fighting Mugabe was a collaborative responsibility of all Zimbabweans. They all echoed Mthombeni’s remarks that no matter how well settled they may be in the USA Zimbabwe was still home to Zimbabweans in Diaspora. It is to Zimbabwe that they will all eventually go for retirement or their final resting place.
Before she returned to Zimbabwe Mthombeni had talked about a new war front she was preparing to fight. Her new position had been secretary for tourism, environment and wildlife. Considering the havoc the Mugabe regime had wreaked on the environment and the destruction of the wild life, Mthombeni was planning to undertake a countrywide tour to assess the level of utter destruction of the environment by Mugabe’s regime.
Even in her failing health Mthombeni was ready to take a new mammoth task to rehabilitate an environment and wildlife whose extent of destruction by Mugabe’s regime defied any logic.
She welcomed the suggestion that the post -Mugabe Zimbabwe would all be looking to her for leadership to bring back the environment and wildlife to its pre -Mugabe era when it flourished and was the pride of the region, if not the entire continent of Africa.
Given the intransigence of Robert Mugabe and the continuing deterioration of the social and economic conditions in Zimbabwe Mthombeni’s leadership, outspoken articulation of the situation in Zimbabwe and her resolve to fight to the last makes her a death a dark spot in the struggle against Mugabe.
But at the same time, Mthombeni’s death has given the impetus for the struggle to continue with greater determination and the involvement of more people. . Because this is what she would have liked to see happening.