Ethnic Cleansing in Zimbabwe: The Origins and Objectives of the Zimamoza Institute
Published: 25/Juin/2007
Source: Zimamoza Institute (Harare)
Mission statement:
We, the descendants of the migrant workers who came mainly from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia; whose blood, sweat and taxes oiled the economic development of Zimbabwe; and who eventually became naturalised Zimbabweans due to old age, destitution, infirmity or assimilation; having considered the causes of the ethnic prejudices, humiliation and victimisation to which we are being subjected in Zimbabwe, and which have culminated in our being stripped of our citizenship by the government of Zimbabwe, and thereby being rendered, “stateless persons”; and having reached the following conclusions:
- That we are Zimbabweans by both birth and descent, not by the grace of any particular individual, but by the Grace of God, creator of this very Earth of which Zimbabwe is a part, and whose inhabitants came to be where they geographically are today through migration;
- That the stripping of a people of their citizenship demeans the sanctity of the concept of citizenship, thereby violating the fundamental principles which uphold the dignity of humanity, with the effect that the victims are induced with a feeling of inferiority and sub-servience to those who display the power to invest or divest them of their citizenship;
- That the ethnic prejudices, humiliations and victimisation to which we are being subjected are an indication that in Zimbabwe, cultural absorption and assimilation do not work;
- That our dignity as human beings can only be safeguarded by ourselves, the victims, through the promotion of our ethnic identity and the upholding of our ethnic rights as a minority group; and that if we, the victims, did not take it upon ourselves to uphold our rights and improve our lot, we shall eventually be turned into a slave class always at the mercy of the dominant tribes.
Download statement: Zimamoza-Institute_Ethnic-cleansing_June2007