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We met in Durban for the Your City Summit on crime and violence prevetion from June 16 to June 22, we dinned and wined, we talked the talk and then talked the walk. Research papers were presented by some renown academics from different parts of the world, plenary sessions were there and people had the opportunity to agree to agree, disagree to disagree, agree to disagree to a certain degree and still remained free. Resolutions and recommendations were made and youths had a rare opportunity to connect and inspire each other. Yet when all this has been said and done, what remains to be seen is the extent to which people are going to walk the talk and to what extent they will be successful.
At the centre of the whole debate were the youths. In fact the whole summit was about the youths in relation to crime and violence prevention in their cities. I felt empowered and challenged at the same time and I could see myself going back to Zimbabwe to challenge other youths but one thing kept my mind doubting. It was because of the environment back home.
I will maintain that the Durban summit was good and helpful, especially to those youths who have conducive environments back home to implement what they learnt from sharing experiences with other youths. For Zimbabwe, due to the prevailing circumstances, I wondered then as I am wondering now whether the summit became the case of a perfect platform but wrong target. For me, it became meaningless to have empowered youths who are eager to reduce or actually stop crime and violence in their cities yet the systems in the environment that they are going to operate actually fuels crime and violence.
When you have a system of government that is a direct beneficiary of crime and violence for its survival. A system that has created evil systems to strengthen its already corrupt system. The first step would be therefore to deal with changing that system in its totality and put in place new and better systems if the war against crime and violence is to be won in Zimbabwe. In my own view there is an urgent need to target those who preside over this system, our leaders, gate keepers as well as policy and decision makers for our struggle against crime and violence to yield.
Despite presiding over the demise of our once beloved country from Great Zimbabwe to Zimbabwe in ruins they have gone on to create a conducive environment for the breeding of crime and violence. This they have done with demonic efficiency, distinguished and unquestionable success. They shall answer. Through their ill informed, ill thought and politically motivated decisions they have went on to implement some not so human descisions.
One that quickly comes to mind is Operation Murambatsvina through which they destroyed people’s homes on the pretext that they were harbouring criminals and opposition elements who wanted to institute a coup against the gerontocracy, Robert Mugabe’s government .In the process they destroyed the informal sector through which many people depended on for survival. The result was to leave thousands of people desperate destitutes. With nowhere to stay and no income generating activities at their disposal, these people became potential criminals and their ghosts haunt us every night and day.
The government continues to create structures (or is it infrastructures?) of violence throughout the country. The establishment of the Border Gezi training centres in the run up to the 2002 election where young people were given an overdose of Zanu PF propaganda disguised as the proper history of the liberation war did a perfect job to create stooges and willing accomplices of the government to perpetrate violence and engage in criminal activities unperturbed. They shall also answer. The efficient use of hate language and creation of political bases where people sympathetic to the opposition were beaten, tortured, maimed, butchered and killed even in broad day light confirms the determination of the satanic authorities that be to hold on to power even when the people they purport to be leading have rejected them. The illegal regime has thus not only cultivated a culture of violence but has created strong and intact structures of violence which unfortunately they are willing to sustain.
Under these circumstances where you have a government which is supposed to be putting mechanisms to prevent crime and violence doing exactly the opposite thing it becomes difficult for us as the youths to be effective in our endeavours to reduce crime and violence. When a regime openly defies and violates international conventions and protocols to which it is signatory to and all that the International community does is to quickly gather in luxurious hotels using tax payers’ monies only to confirm the obvious, issue harmless statements and take no action, what shall the youths say and do? I resonate with one member of the Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights, Robson Shoes who wrote in one of his poem that
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Michael
Michael Mabwe is a young poet, human rights activist based in Zimbabwe. He is the founder of Contradictions Arts for Development Trust(CADET) which operates the Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights initiative.He can be contacted on zimphr@gmail.com
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