UN UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Preamble

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly,

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. 

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11

Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14

Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

Everyone has the right to a nationality.

No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

"Liberating a country is not a one-day wonder," said Chamisa. And you failed to implement even one reform in 24 years! W Mukori

 There are many reasons why Zimbabwe is a failed state and one of the reasons has to be the disconnect between what those in positions of power and authority say and reality. Leaders like Nelson Chamisa and Emmerson Mnangagwa live in their own cloud cuckoo land!

Ever since the 2017 military coup tat ousted the late dictator Robert Mugabe, Mnangagwa was cocksure he was the man to revive the country’s economic fortunes. “Zimbabwe is open for business!” he announces soon after taking over. The disconnect from reality was obvious; nothing had changed! Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt and tyrannical thugs who rigged elections top stay in power. 

And just to rub it in that nothing had changed, Mnangagwa promised to hold free and fair elections only to continue blatantly rig elections. He promised to stamp out corruption and corruption has gone into overdrive under his rule. Zimbabwe is sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss and yet Mnangagwa continue wittering about the country attaining upper middle income status by 2030. Vision 2030, as he calls it, is a mirage by moonlight!

The people of Zimbabwe have risked all to elect MDC/CCC leaders these last 24 years for the primary purpose of implementing the democratic changes to stop Zanu PF rigging elections. Last year Mnangagwa and company, yet again, blatantly rigged the elections - proof that the MDC/CCC leaders are corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless.

Addressing the issue of defections among opposition leaders to the ruling Zanu-PF party, as well as growing frustrations among citizens over Zimbabwe's prolonged struggles, Chamisa reiterated that the fight for freedom demands consistency and selflessness.

"The struggle to liberate the country is neither a one-day wonder nor an instant coffee affair. It's not a walk in the park or a fly-by-night task. One needs to be consistent, conscious, and strong. The fight is not a fight for opportunities, but a fight for values,” said Chamisa.

"We need strong leaders. Leaders who are not after serving themselves but who serve others. Leaders who are not motivated or driven by a galloping appetite for material gains. Leaders must be driven by the broader and collective objective of making a difference.”

One is tempted to laugh even thou this is no laughing matter! And so, I will cry!

Yes, implementing the democratic reforms to end the Zanu PF dictatorship was not “a one-day wonder”! You and your MDC/CCC friends have been on the political stage for 24 YEARS including the 5 years in the 2008 to 2013 GNU, when you had the golden opportunity to implement the reforms. Yet you have failed to implement even one token reform. Not even one!

Worse still, ever since the GNU debacle, MDC/CCC leaders have participated in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuating the dictatorship the nation’s suffering out of greed. 

Of course, Chamisa and company know of the sheer futility of participating in these flawed elections. they are selling out.

“Look, you can't keep on participating in flawed electoral processes that serve to give big benefits to dictators such as Robert Mugabe. Mugabe has perfected the art of winning elections. So it will be very foolish for the opposition to continue legitimizing these sham elections which don't deliver. This country will go through a serious economic crisis in 2020 caused by Zanu PF. And yet, this is the only country where a government doesn't perform, it is encouraged by a super majority in parliament,” said Tendai Biti in a 2015 interview with Isaac Mugabi.

“So you can't continue subjecting Zimbabweans to processes where their hopes just get crushed.”

When Tendai Biti failed to stop his colleagues participating in the flawed elections; he joined them for his share of the spoils. David Coltart was a lot more explicit on why the opposition has been participating in the flawed elections.

“The (2013) electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility,” confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.

Chamisa conned the nation to participate in the flawed 2023 elections claiming he had “plugged all the Zanu PF vote rigging loop holes. #Godisinit!”He knew he was lying because the nation did not have even something as basic as a verified voters roll. Freeman Chari and his Team Pachedu friends had shown that the voters’ roll was a shambles. 

Zimbabwe is a failed state precisely because the nation has been stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. For 44 years and counting Zanu PF has blatantly rigged elections or be it the last 24 years with the connivence the MDC/CCC sellouts. The nation has been led by demagogues who think themselves as God Almighty’s gift to the nation when in reality they are the curse to the nation!

MDC/CCC leaders have failed to implement even one token reform in 24 years because they ARE “motivated or driven by a galloping appetite for material gains!” Cry, the beloved Zimbabwe.

Parting shot! 

A healthy and functioning democracy - government of the people, by the people and for the people - demands that the people must be educated, knowledgeable, objective and diligent in their task of holding leaders to account. Zimbabweans, we are an ignorant, naive and gullible lot, easily conned. Both Zanu PF and MDC/CCC have exploited this weakness to no end. If the nation is ever going to get out of this hell-on-earth we are in, we will have to be a hell lot smarter than this.