The crooks must rot in jail

Advertise on The Zimbabwean

Written by Editor

Friday, 16 July 2010 16:40

Others have argued that in the interests of the nation, that for the sake of progress, Zimbabweans have to let bygones be bygones. That the perpetrators of political crimes must confess their misdeeds and apologise to the victims, and that the victims must forgive those who own up to crime.
In other words, the militias, war veterans and CIO goons who have tortured, raped and murdered across the country all in the name of Zanu (PF) can expect forgiveness upon confessing their sins. This argument also covers the Gukurahundi butchers who throughout the early 80s maimed and killed at will in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
For the record, we have never admired impunity but we admit that there might be a strong point in the argument that without truth, forgiveness and true reconciliation, Zimbabwe can never move forward.
However, true as the need for some form of genuine forgiveness of past political crimes and reconciliation might be, let not that be used to allow common criminals and murderers to go scot-free. For a good number of the worst crimes committed especially over the past decade had little to do with politics but were motivated by hatred and greed.
The people who dug diamonds at Marange, sold them and earned US$30 million and as they say in Shona ‘ate all the money’ were not in pursuit of any political objective, real or imagined.
There were driven by greedy and greedy alone. This is common theft of an important national resource, finish and klaar, as our South African neighbours would say.
The people who looted ZESA, GMB, NRZ and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe belong in jail.
Likewise, there was nothing revolutionary or political about going around commercial farms intimidating fellow citizens and stealing everything they ever owned from tractors to chickens. Surely, that could not have by any stretch of the imagination helped solve colonial land tenure imbalances.
That was and remains pure theft. It must be punished!
For far too long the thugs – that’s what they are – have used cheap propaganda and outright lies to cover their tracks and justify stealing from the public purse and looting property from fellow citizens, starving innocent orphans and torturing those who oppose their vile ways.
Enough is enough. Now is the time for Zimbabweans to demand that the criminals be put where they belong – behind firmly locked doors, in jail!

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