This week, one of Zimbabwe's finest musicians succumbed to pneumonia. Andy Brown made a name for himself with the 80s Afro-Pop group Ilanga, and then went onto further fame as a solo musician. Starting in the 90s, he also began to be known for his very vocal support of the policies of Zanu-pf, Zimbabwe's ruling party. Now let me digress here a little bit: supporting the policies and the ideals of Zanu-pf does not mean, in any way, that one is a party stooge who parrots all the ruling party mantras. It simply means that one realises the economic and racial injustices that dedevil Zimbabwe; that one acknowledges the role played by Zanu and Zapu in liberating Zimbabwe from colonial slavery; and that one supports the ideals and aims of the Liberation Struggle (land-reform, equity, education, health-care, racial-harmony etc).
For all of Andy Brown's support of the ideals mentioned above, he was vilified by a large section of Zimbabweans. In his death, some of the comments coming out of the mouths of his fellow Zimbabweans have been scathing, to say the least. What poor, old Andy ever did to to deserve this venom, no one knows. It's now become perilous, even heresy amongst a large section of Zimbabweans, to even espouse ideals that are in tandem with those of our Liberation Struggle. To do so is to invite ridicule, even violence. Such is the time we Zimbabweans live in.
If only people would step back a little, like the late Andy Brown, and note that 4000 white, commercial-farmers cannot continue to own 83% of Zimbabwe's arable land; or that Zimbabwe -- with $2.5 trillion in mineral-resources under its ground -- cannot be content with getting a paltry $190 million in royalties per year from Western mining companies, for all the resources they cart out of Zimbabwe
We need to think about these things, and our late comrade Andy Brown, did indeed think and articulate his thought on these issues. May his soul forever rest in peace.
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