It is finished, Tetelestai, Zvapera

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By Luke Tamborinyoka

Today is not only Independence Day but it is also Easter Friday; that momentous day when Jesus Christ was crucified on the Cross at Golgotha. Christians will use this day to prayerfully reflect on the sacrifice by the Son of Man who paid the ultimate price to save humanity from her collective mortal frailties and inadequacies.

For me, the seminal biblical verse every time the world commemorates Jesus’ final hours as living flesh has always been that solemn utterance on the Cross when Jesus calmly muttered: “Tetelestai” (It is Finished, Zvapera) as He bowed His head and committed His spirit to His Father (John 19 verse 30).

The seminal utterance “It is finished (Zvapera)” or Tetelestai in Greek, denotes an accomplished mission.

Jesus Christ was the human form of God who came to live like— and among—the rest of us. He had taught the gospel and lived it. He had performed many miracles, healing the sick and the lame and addressing the concerns of the infirm. As He hung on the Cross at Calvary, “It is finished” was a valedictory statement upon the successful accomplishment of His earthly mission.

It is pertinent to note that Tetelestai was not a frightful utterance by a helpless martyr. “It is Finished” was actually a bold statement of satisfaction upon the completion of a mission and a purpose.

Today’s Easter Friday coincides with our national independence day; that day when so many of the gallant sons and daughters of our land died so that the national dream could live again.

Sadly, the dream of a collective independence for all has been washed away. True independence has now been privatized by a small, parasitic elite that goes by the moniker “Vene” (the true owners of the country).

It is this small clique that is truly enjoying the fruits of uhuru while the rest of us wallow in abject collective poverty. The myth that national independence was for all of us has now been utterly busted.

It is finished.

The massive corruption in the country by the criminal elements around the President (Vene) has shown that only a selected few can truly claim to be enjoying a “free” Zimbabwe. ED, his cronies and relatives are truly enjoying life— kudya rifa renyika —while the rest of us are wallowing in unmitigated penury.

In fact, evidence abounds that the ruling political elite has since finished eating the fruits of independence. They have also eaten the very tree of independence —leaves, roots, bark and stem!

Yes, even the tree of independence itself has all but gone. It is finished. Zvapera.

We are holding this year’s Easter festivities when all pretence that we have a prudent government in place has since been comprehensively busted.

On yes, it is finished! Zvapera.

This year’s independence celebrations, often a lavish affair by the chefs, are being held at Nembudziya Growth in Gokwe. Over the years, development has escaped the sleepy area of Gokwe, among many other parts of the country. But ironically, this year’s celebrations in neglected Gokwe will be held under the theme: Zim@45: Devolve and Develop Together Towards Vision2030.

Today, celebratory planes will fly over Gokwe’s desolate landscape. A lavish ceremony will be held where the chefs will enjoy sumptuous meals, with the weather-beaten ordinary folk watching while seated in the scorching sun.

The people of Gokwe, the venue of today’s lavish party by the chefs, have nothing to show for their independence. And all hope that anyone in this government will remember them is long gone.

Oh yes, it is finished. Zvapera.

All they have been promised is a mortuary at Nembudziya probably as a reminder that government has left the people of Gokwe to wallow and die in their poverty.

Three weeks ago while giving an update on the preparations of today’s Independence Day celebrations, the government, through the Minister of Information, promised the people of Gokwe that they would build a mortuary at Nembudziya hospital.

Oh yes, the only “development” plan announced by a whole government for the people of Gokwe that are hosting them today was that they would build them a mortuary.

Without a hint of irony, the information Minister told the press that plans for today’s celebrations were already well in place. He said, with a straight face, that only for the duration of today’s lavish party, there would be a special mobile VIP ward at Nembudziya; of course only for the convenience of the chefs should any of them fall ill.

For the ordinary Nembudziya villagers who will be sitting in the scorching sun today, government said it was constructing a permanent mortuary for the convenience of their own death, long after the lavish celebratory tents have been folded and transported back to Harare.

All the decency and empathy that one would expect from a prudent government is long gone. It is finished. Zvapera.

Indeed, all the pretence of a government of the people, by the people and for the people is gone. It is finished. Zvapera.

On the eve of today’s Easter Friday, they have nominated a thief to be honoured, just as what happened when a huge crowd on the eve of Jesus’ crucifixion nominated a celebrated robber, one Barrabbas, to be saved.

Kuda Tagwirei, a tenderpreneur and an ED frontman with vast filthy lucre, was recently fast-tracked through the Zanu PF political processes. Like Barrabas on this day, Harare’s Zanu PF structures nominated him on the eve of this Easter to join the political elite at the high table, thereby providing him with political succour and sanatorium from angry Zimbabweans demanding transparency and accountability from him and his ilk.

Like the biblical Barrabas on this day, the Zanu PF Golgotha crowd is determined to save him!

These thieves, the Barrabases of our time, have systematically been saved from accountability and are being fast-tracked into the VIP political tent. They are being touted as hard workers and philanthropists.

It is quite sad, if not tragic, that we are commemorating our 45th independence day at a time when the golden era of hard, honest sweat is long gone.

It is finished..

Gone is the era of guys with traceable wealth such as Strive Masiyiwa, Enock Kamushinda and Nigel Chanakira, among others. . Also gone is the era of the doyens behind our then efficient public transport system that was dominated by mammoth brands such as Shiri Yekutanga, Matambanadzo, Mazarura and Kukura Kurerwa, among many others.

Indeed, the golden era of prudent business luminaries is gone.

It is finished. Zvapera.

In its place is this new era of a coterie of corrupt tenderpreneurs who have become rich overnight only by dint of their political connections.

Otherwise the era of businessmen and businesswomen of probity is long gone.

It is finished. Zvapera.

Indeed, the seminal Easter verse that is my theme of this week’s instalment denotes completeness and fulfilment of a vocation. It marks and expresses the accomplishment of a mission.

In the same vein, Mnangagwa too appears to have completed his own weird mission to bring together his children, relatives, tribesmen and friends to sculpt a kleptocracy, a government of thieves. Judging by the appointments ED has made to various strategic State and party positions, his purpose and mission to villagize, clanitise and “Karangise” Zimbabwe appears to have now been completed.

It is finished. Zvapera.

The Mnangagwa government once claimed that it represented a break from the past, which past was evidenced by a clear State/Party conflation. But now even Auxillia Mnangagwa, just like Grace Mugabe before her, is now a Politburo member. The notion that this so-called New Dispensation was a break from the past has since been utterly busted.

It is finished.Zvapera.

As we jointly commemorate our independence and the crucifixion of the Son of Man today, let us remember the many heinous acts that the Mnangagwa regime has committed since its “gunnified” entrance onto the political dais in November 2017.

The callous murders of innocent citizens, the arbitrary arrests of journalists and human rights defenders, the State-sanctioned abductions, the enactment of repressive legislation such as the PVO Act, the highly toxic and undeserved recalls of elected officials, the closure of democratic space and the deliberate onslaught on the legitimate opposition in order to create a one-party-State, are all well documented.

Jesus Christ may have been crucified on this day but Mnangagwa too has equally crucified the last vestiges of whatever crucibles of democracy were still remaining in Zimbabwe.

Just as they nailed Jesus Christ on the cross on this day, Mnangagwa has equally nailed the last remnants of democracy on the cross of political expediency.

There is neither an iota nor a semblance of democracy still left in the entire body politic.

It is finished. Zvapera .

For me, the dictum It is finished—Tetelestai—Zvapera will always remain a poignant Easter verse. It denotes accomplishment of a mission, the dusting up after the successful execution of a task.

So too have I finished my message task for this week.

It is finished. Tetelestai. Zvapera.