When the nation of Zimbabwe was born on 18 April 1980, Jamaican reggae superstar, Bob Marley, brought the house down at Rufaro Stadium in Harare with a standout performance for the ages, which included a sweet rub-a-dub song titled “Zimbabwe”. The revolution Marley sang about has since lost its zing amid a sharp recession 37 years later from the day history was made in Zimbabwe.
Pastor Evans Mawarire – the newest and unlikely hero for the opposition movement in Zimbabwe, this year returned home from a brief self-imposed period of exile in America hungry to pick up from where he left off last year – only to find himself locked up and charged with subversion before he could shoot a five-minute video for his #ThisFlag movement.
The 40-year-old clergyman who was 3-years-old when Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain has become the poster boy for millennials who are opposed to the rule of President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF. You could describe Mawarire as a born-free: a person who did not live under the colonial rule of Rhodesian strongman Ian Smith. Mawarire attended an elite government high school in Harare named Prince Edward. And he studied electrical engineering at the Harare Institute of Technology.
Mawarire is notably younger than his peers in opposition ranks: Morgan Tsvangirai of The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is 64 years old. Joyce Mujuru, President of Zimbabwe People First (ZPF), is 61 years old. Unlike Tsvangirai who delved into politics as a seasoned trade union chief, or former vice-president Mujuru who was expelled from Zanu-PF three years ago after she had served in cabinet for 34 years.
Mawarire has never been a card-carrying member of Zanu-PF, nor has he ever led a large body by all accounts. But he has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence. And while Mujuru and Tsvangirai lead well-oiled political formations; it was Mawarire who last year rallied his supporters to stage the biggest demonstration against Zanu-PF rule since 2005 via a nondescript smartphone, a flag of Zimbabwe and a free YouTube account à la Egyptian Arab Spring bloggers and activists.
The protest action followed a ghastly economic decline for the nation of 14 million people: Zimbabwe ranked 155 out of 188 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index in 2015. Over 72% of citizens live below the international poverty line, and one-fifth live in extreme poverty.
#ThisFlag has mushroomed in these dire conditions. When Mawarire began his high school studies in 1990, Zimbabwe had a profoundly utopian feel about it for all who lived there: the economy was in excellent shape – inflation remained low and civil servants got paid on time all of the time. Industry was booming.
Tourism and agriculture were flourishing. Zupco buses ran on time. And so did planes from Air Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe, The House Bob Mugabe Brought Down When the nation of Zimbabwe was born on 18 April 1980, Jamaican reggae superstar, Bob Marley, brought the house down at Rufaro Stadium in Harare with a standout performance for the ages, which included a sweet rub-a-dub song titled “Zimbabwe”.
The revolution Marley sang about has since lost its zing amid a sharp recession 37 years later from the day history was made in Zimbabwe. Pastor Evans Mawarire – the newest and unlikely hero for the opposition movement in Zimbabwe, this year returned home from a brief self-imposed period of exile in America hungry to pick up from where he left off last year – only to find himself locked up and charged with subversion before he could shoot a five-minute video for his #ThisFlag movement.
The 40-year-old clergyman who was 3-years-old when Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain has become the poster boy for millennials who are opposed to the rule of President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF. You could describe Mawarire as a born-free: a person who did not live under the colonial rule of Rhodesian strongman Ian Smith. Mawarire attended an elite government high school in Harare named Prince Edward. And he studied electrical engineering at the Harare Institute of Technology.
Mawarire is notably younger than his peers in opposition ranks: Morgan Tsvangirai of The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is 64 years old. Joyce Mujuru, President of Zimbabwe People First (ZPF), is 61 years old. Unlike Tsvangirai who delved into politics as a seasoned trade union chief, or former vice-president Mujuru who was expelled from Zanu-PF three years ago after she had served in cabinet for 34 years.
Mawarire has never been a card-carrying member of Zanu-PF, nor has he ever led a large body by all accounts. But he has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence. And while Mujuru and Tsvangirai lead well-oiled political formations; it was Mawarire who last year rallied his supporters to stage the biggest demonstration against Zanu-PF rule since 2005 via a nondescript smartphone, a flag of Zimbabwe and a free YouTube account à la Egyptian Arab Spring bloggers and activists.
The protest action followed a ghastly economic decline for the nation of 14 million people: Zimbabwe ranked 155 out of 188 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index in 2015. Over 72% of citizens live below the international poverty line, and one-fifth live in extreme poverty. #ThisFlag has mushroomed in these dire conditions. When Mawarire began his high school studies in 1990, Zimbabwe had a profoundly utopian feel about it for all who lived there: the economy was in excellent shape – inflation remained low and civil servants got paid on time all of the time. Industry was booming. Tourism and agriculture were flourishing. Zupco buses ran on time. And so did planes from Air Zimbabwe.
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