LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER
this poem reshuffled cabinet
the rhythm resigned the president
its metaphors adjourned parliament
my daughter
awaken sleeping patriots eating peanuts in slogan darkness
rise dozing voters in the warmth of political acid
awaken struggle heroes in graves tired of wrong epitaphs and fake eulogies
awaken fat cats puffing zanunised and mdcided propaganda burgers in slumber
rise green horns drinking much talked herbal tea of change
grandfathers of patriotism to bring back
truth drowning in potholes of grief
god fathers of change to bring back my vote choked in drums of new renewed
corruption
bring red hot charcoal to roast political bedbugs sucking our blood in daylight
bring a word scientist to burn the justified injustice in poetic sulphuric acid
my daughter
this poem reshuffled cabinet
the rhythm resigned the president
the metaphors adjourned parliament.
ZANU (the Zimbabwe African National Union) was a militant organization formed in 1963 to fight against white minority rule in Rhodesia. In 1975 due to tribal tensions it split into the militant ZANU–PF (Patriotic Front), led by Robert Mugabe, and the moderate ZANU-Ndonga, led by Ndabaningi Sithole. ZANU-PF has been in power in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, and ZANU-Ndonga has been a minor opposition party. In 2015 some of the ZANU-Ndonga reunified with ZANU-PF. The major opposition party is the Movement for Democratic Change, founded in 1999 by Morgan Tsvangirai, but in 2005 it split into MDC–T and MDC–N factions led by Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube. In the 2008 elections Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote and Mugabe 43.2%,but government violence against MDC members and supporters caused Tsvangirai to withdraw from the run-off. After Tsvangirai's election failure in 2013 he was suspended from party leadership. Mugabe was removed by a military coup in 2017, but his ZANU vice-president continued to rule; Tsvangirai died 5 months later from colon cancer.
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