The Prisoners of Hope: Civil Society and the Opposition

There are many debates as to what constitutes the essence of our African humanity and, indeed, Zimbabwean-ness. The country has had a difficult but illustrious history characterised by turmoil and tenacity, chaos and courage, corruption and compassion. Zambia ’s Kenneth Kaunda once described forgiveness as “a constant willingness to live in a new day”. In this article I intend to demonstrate why there has not been any revolt in Zimbabwe, despite unparalleled repression. Perhaps it is the ingrained capacity of Zimbabweans to constantly hope for a new day that has made us prisoners of hope. I wish to focus my comments on the effect the ZANU-PF’s authoritarian regime has had on political opposition in Zimbabwe, on the architecture of civil society, and in particular on the role of civil society organisations. A particular area of concern is the threat to their functioning posed by the new NGO Bill.