Patriotism: Choice or Coercion?

Hi

"My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its office holders"- Mark Twain.

Zim-Twitter has been abuzz with this Patriot Bill thing and I'm guessing most of you have heard of it and so me coming here and writing on a subject so cliché might seem so insane but hey, what has to be said gotta be said, no matter how old it gets. 

I would like you to picture this scene in the National Assembly on the 2nd of March. Allow me to quote Honorable Alum Mpofu who talks of enacting a law that, "prohibits any Zimbabwean citizen from wilfully communicating messages intended to harm the image and reputation of the country on International platforms or engaging with foreign countries with the intention of communicating messages that are intended to harm the country's positive image and or to under its integrity and reputation."

Fair enough, that is if you're not Zimbabwean or rather you are blind to current issues in Zimbabwe.

Now, Honorable Togarepi doesn't beat around the bushes. Picture him saying, again I quote, "If you attack the leader of this country, that has an effect when that leader goes out to source business. Nobody wants to do business with a person who from his country is called so many names. So it is very important that the media, politicians, business people and all citizens of this country understand that they are people of Zimbabwe first before their political and business interests."

Well, I have a lot to make out of that bold statement but for now I can say, "Excellent job". If you were ever fortunate enough to read the Logan Act, that is a brief and clever summation of it by Honourable Togarepi right there. Just in case you want to find it in the Hansard, the right potion is beautifully but deceptively headed, "Promotion of the Country's Positive Image and Brand".

That's the foundation of it all, the Patriot Bill which so many political activists are urging people to resist in anyway possible. Which is really interesting, isn't patriotism supposed to be a good thing. It obviously is a good thing so why then are we so set on going against the Bill which seeks to put patriotism and a manifestation of our love for Zimbabwe on the legal sphere? 

Maybe we should deal with what patriotism is, without attaching some political connotations to it (and that is almost impossible ladies and gentlemen).

Patriotism is the quality of being devoted to and having a vigorous support for one's country. It shows robust support for one's country even when it is going through tough times. It's more like that love which conquers even when put to the test, you know the Romeo and Juliet kinda love. It embodies sacrifice for the country to protects it's honour (yes, sacrifice).  

Again, allow me to take you back to one interesting conversation back in 1816 which I'm hoping would in a simplistic way, explain the concept of patriotism. Stephen Decatur's well known 1816 toast goes like, "Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country; right or wrong." Now that really sounds like a parent who doesn't want to hear that they are wrong, always right.

John Quincy Adams' reply to Stephen goes like, "My toast would be, may our Country always be successful, but successful or otherwise; always right." Indeed that's interesting, like a loving mother who would always be there for you no matter what but also defends you even when she clearly knows you're in the wrong. 

So clearly, patriotism sounds like the old adage, "blood is thicker than water". And now that makes it so questionable because sometimes in it's thickness blood won't quench your thirst as efficiently as water does and sometimes it houses viruses and cancers we really do not want. Just saying.

Ok, now let's move on to the political side of patriotism. Most interestingly, patriotism doesn't mean support towards a particular political party or leader but rather it means abiding by the system of governance laid down by constitutional makers. And in Zimbabwe and anywhere else, once you involve government, that's politics. Politically speaking, patriotism seeks to provide a rather significant source of commitment to the country and this somehow indirectly extends to how one now has an obligation, a political obligation of loyalty.  It seems to try and instill  within citizens a feeling of responsibility and pride towards one's nation but that pride and responsibility is put through the test of political allegiance, loyalty or dedication. Frankly speaking, that seems harmless but that is only until you open your eyes to the relationship between law and politics.

The relationship between law and politics, particularly here in Zimbabwe is one thing you don't need to have gone through law school in order to understand. By reading newspapers or watching ZBC, you can already establish that something controls the other. Legislation has always been an old age political tool and clearly government relies on it to influence the civic space. So my question is, is the proposed Patriot Bill on national considerations or is it just one of the commonest and shrewd political tools?

Thing is, the Bill aims to criminalise and prescribe stiff punishment for citizens who are said to campaign against national interests or publish falsehoods and a lot more depressing stuff. Given the Zimbabwean context, this is one wicked but clever way to silence critics but this is stretching it too far, given the Constitutional values and principles that the Bill would bury if it is approved. The country has been a hub of human rights crisis, electoral violence, press censorship, Gukurahundi genocide, corruption, you name it. And now citizens can not talk of that or tweet about it because they are tarnishing the country's image. Crazy right? If citizens do not call upon government to be responsible, who then will. It's clear that this Bill is just a sick attempt at silencing voices that call for responsibility from people holding office and once you see them trying to silence people, something is definitely fishy.

 Thing is, this Bill goes against the most basic tenets of democracy and respect for fundamental rights like freedom of expression. Why would someone go through such lengths unless they have been personally affected by those utterances they seek to silence. And this makes me wonder, do our legislators know of Constitutional Supremacy or are they deliberately set on not upholding it? It is against corruption, against incompetence, against arrest of students, against abuse of human rights and electoral violence that people campaign against and nothing is wrong with that. But as the Shona would say, "Ukabata chidhoma, amai vacho vanochema." 

Patriotism, as an emotion, does not even qualify as a reason for obedience or shoving obedience down people's throats. The Bill calls for political obedience, absolute obedience in life or death situations. It calls for obedience where children of political activists prematurely become orphans, where children of civil servants sometimes go to bed hungry. It calls for obedience where half its young people marry strangers in Sweden and Australia just so they can leave the country.  It calls for obedience where men lay on their deathbeds, defeated by life, regretting a life not lived because someone made it impossible for them. 

How is one expected to be loyal to a country whose ideological basis is seemingly evil? Do the tenets that underpin this Bill bear the fact that it isn't intended to prevent fraud or treason or promoting loyalty or is it is rather a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Truth is, if a person loves his/her country, they strive to make it best and silence really is nit how it is done. So real patriotism is not one governed by a draft of paper, it is not one where its citizens are coerced into silence and watch every institution collapse with rot. It is a voluntary feeling of allegiance that is driven by the knowledge  and belief in the potential that our country has and the ability to demand the absolute best and accountability from our leaders. Real patriotism has always been a willingness to challenge the government when it is wrong.

So as long as the Patriotic Bill does not address this and seeks to repress rather than progress, our answer as Zimbabweans will always be a bold no.

#StopThePatrioticBill

Till next time

Mitchel.