least we forget its been nineteen years now since Chris Giwa was tragically taken away from us. The epitaph on his tomb stone, “we was robbed” aptly sums the shared feeling among his friends, relatives and comrades in the struggle for a better Zimbabwe. Giwa was a former President of the University of Zimbabwe student government (SRC) and past President of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU). He was also an activist and part of the founding advisors of the Forum Party. At the age of 23 Chris had managed build a great profile and attract the curious attention of both friends and foes. He was a brave and sincere man and his clarity of mind and speech and his firm belief in honest and integrity made him an exceptionally gifted leader in the student movement and general civic society. As a student leader Giwa sought to give meaning to the motto “the struggle is our birth right” through engaging in various efforts to afford students a better life and higher quality education. As President of the students government Giwa fought a vicious battle against the University of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill of 1990. The Bill among other issues sought to give the University authorities arbitrary powers and exert unnecessary restrictions on the exercise of academic freedom. Writing in 1990 in his personal memoirs, Giwa had this to say, “Our position stood where it stands and stands where it stood, that, the Bill is a mockery of our democratic achievements and gains of independence and should be vehemently opposed by all those who value a better higher education system in Zimbabwe”. Unfortunately the Bill was passed into law and has been systematically used by various administrations at the University to stifle academic freedom and destabilize student governments through suspensions and expulsions of student activists. The fact that the post 1990 University of Zimbabwe administrations have suspended more student leaders than the colonial governments gives credence to Giwa’s assertion that the Act would reverse the gains of independence. In the same spirit with other former student activist Giwa sought to link the struggles of the students with the broader struggles of the workers and the poor fighting for a better life and better governance. At the time of Chris’s death the Zimbabwean government had taken a fundamental ideological and policy shift through the adoption of a hurried structural adjustment program. Like with all other futile and anti-poor neo-liberal prescriptions the retreat of the state from the public realm had a detrimental effect on the ability of the state to look after its citizens. The social delivery system started to show signs of cracking with the worst effects being witnessed in the health and educational sectors. There were numerous job losses and the economy was slowly sinking into a quagmire. Chris together with some dedicated cadres from the student movement realized the need to work with the labour movement and other pro poor organizations to defend the poor and denounce the neo-liberal policy stance. The alliance of the student and labour movements provided a forum for a sustained struggle against privatization and became the basis for more potent and political struggles in the country. On the political front, students had waged struggles against the one party state and corruption. Chris and his colleagues maintained the momentum and sought to use their strategic alliance with the international students’ movement to highlight the democratic deficits and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. It has to be appreciated that, at that time the Zimbabwean government was still the darling of international community hence the students efforts were not without challenges. Within the country, the one party syndrome was evidently rooted within various state institutions and it took a lot of courage for these few young people to stand up and demand better governance. Nevertheless, the students used the restricted democratic space to warn Zimbabweans of an impending governance crisis. Towards the end of his life Chris became an active advisor for a new opposition political party, Forum Party (FP). A lot of political analysis and criticism has been written about FP and this article will not dwell on that. Nevertheless, the effort of the Zimbabweans in the FP to openly challenge the Zanu PF government on a political level was a sign of their courage and determination to have a better Zimbabwe. It was courageous for Chris to sacrifice his blossoming career as an economist and move on to the battle front in the establishment of a vibrant opposition movement in Zimbabwe. Chris’s commitment to the FP demonstrated his consistency of character and honest belief that the government was neglecting the poor and had to be relieved of its political mandate through democratic means. With all the above accolades, Chris was a humble young man. He was charismatic, exceptionally gifted as an athlete, remarkably good looking and very eloquent. Giwa was a committed Christian who up to the time of his death stood by his strong faith in the Lord. His Christian faith was evident in his political conduct, he preached non violence, he was honest and stood by the truth. He was academically gifted and he died a week before his graduation with a top class honors degree in economics. Like many other prospective graduates, his suit and academic regalia were already hanging in his wardrobe. Friends and relatives were preparing for the grand graduation celebration like in any other Zimbabwean family but his death turned all this into a period of tragic grief. On the night his parents were supposed to spend with him talking about his graduation day they ended up having to wipe his blood from the scene where he was killed. As one of his friends noted, when the reckoning comes, his name must never be forgotten in the pantheon of Zimbabwe’s departed visionaries. Rest in peace Chris Tofara Giwa we pray that we meet you when Jesus comes again.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 22:43:44 +0000
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