Democracy, Precarity, and the Question of Freedom: Are We Ever Truly Free?

Participant of a demonstration in favour of Zimbabwe’s independence from British rule. Image via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-2.0, https://bit.ly/religion-zim

"Zimbabweans are so smart and witty and able to weave together tons of situations and experiences into terminologies that are just utterly original" ~ Danai Gurira Is freedom the most desirable thing in the world, or rather in our lives? If it is not, I am pretty sure we can still count among the very important things we value, freedom . It is believable that no one, at all, wants to be a slave - we all want to live free lives, we want to be able to choose where we should like to invest our talents and time without coercion. In July 2025, I taught a high school course on Slavery, and even the class of 12-13 year olds expressed disdain for servile lives. I believe that as human beings, we inherently desire freedom from external pressures, by people or governments, stopping them from infringing on private spaces, our minds, our rooms, our minds, laptops, phones, you name it. While it is true that we have this desire for freedom, life in general is full of constraints, dos and don'ts. From a tender age, two things happened; experientially we discovered what to do and not to do, the constraints that were embedded in the environment that stopped us from doing as we pleased. For example, touching a hot charcoal, pulling the tablecloth or crawling off the bed - the consequences were sudden and negative. The second thing is how our parents or guardians cautioned us, as we started to reason, about the dangers of making certain choices like bad friends, not sleeping early, overeating etc. The point being that from the onset, because we do not control nature and because we live in society with other people, we simply cannot do as we please. While spaces exist where we can just be, our lives are interlinked with those of others, thus, we clash, we reclaim our personal spaces, we reassert our boundaries or we walk away. What if some constraints are inescapable? There are reasons why it is easier for children to be content with the situation they find themselves in, they know no other life, unless you believe in reincarnation. A child told not to walk about the house, will attempt to, naturally, but if the door is locked, there is a complication. Is the child staying in doors because they have been warned not to go out, or because even if they wanted to attempt to, it would be futile because the door is locked? The locked door is an inescapable barrier. Say the child is not old enough to find the keys and actually unlock the door to be free, but either (a) the parent left with the key or (b) they have hidden the key somewhere secure. Now the barrier is more inescapable because in (a) the means of escape do not exist and in (b) the means of escape exist but hidden in a secure location by someone bigger and stronger. The second case is particularly important because the child can protest, cry or throw everything around, or search thoroughly, but because the key is the only way out, they are constrained. The purpose of this thought experiment is to demonstrate how because of the innate desire to be free, the human being never ceases to imagine or desire what is better or different from what they have been taught to know or accustomed to living. However some constraints are systemic, that is to say, deeply embedded in socio-economic and political structures such that they are inescapable. In such situations you either stay and suffer, learn to maneuver your way (although not everyone can do this) or you walk away.  I recently read an article by Al Jazeera about how most Zimbabweans prefer to have funeral policies over medical aid. Is this just a matter of preference? Do we as Zimbabweans not really want medical aid, and only want decent funerals? What do you think? I think not. I think many Zimbabweans, just like any other ordinary people, want medical aid, clean water, good roads, good and affordable schools, good, accessible and affordable healthcare, good public transportation systems and free and fair public institutions. I wrote before, about how these could be seen as desirable outcomes for living under a democracy, although this is debatable. It is precisely on promises to deliver economic prosperity, water, electricity, development and healthcare that politicians ask for votes. While Zimbabwe is constantly plunged into darkness because of power outages, streets are full of billboards with the president promising electricity. While millions reel in poverty and cannot afford healthcare, posters still exist on walls, sign-posts and electricity poles promising prosperity and dignified lives.

It is not because majority of Zimbabweans do not want to work or just prefer funeral cover over medical aid. By great standards, as Zimbabweans we are hard working and desirous of better lives (and money.) We want to live a soft life too - one that is constantly flashed before our eyes by the children of the politicians and the Mbingas. Reasons far removed from our control condemn us to a life of precarity, of uncertainty,of fear.

I invite you to think, if your family had a medical emergency today, say, needing a heart transplant or some very sophisticated operation, do you have the money to cover for that or rather, do you have hope that your government will help you? Is your government supposed to help you? The short answer is yes, but the reasons supporting and against will need another blog . Simply, the government should empower you enough (economically) to stand for yourself, build your own life, and make and direct your own wealth,  and if not, should be ready to help you in your time of need, not just when they need to use you for a political stunt. Being a citizen should necessarily entitle you to benefits, access to education, skills and jobs that put your life in your own hands. The solutions to this precarity (the medical emergecy example) how precisely why the problem is systemic.

In the unfortunate event of a medical emergency such as one described above, the following solutions are available. (a) Your family could be lucky enough to create a GoFundMe page or raise funds through church, relatives or communities. (b) Mbingas or iNgamula can decide to have mercy on you and give you the money, and post a few pictures on social media about their philanthropic spirit or (c) you lose the battle with the disease and die. In Zimbabwe right now, even if you have medical aid, there are still many and vital medications and consultations you might need to pay for out of pocket. This is not a blog about the healthcare system or the precarity of life. This author seeks to question the senselessness of structures and institutions that exist on the promise of doing something which they do not do. I seek to ask whether in the nation-state as we know it one can be truly free. Or it is just a bigger and more bizarre version of the imprisoned child that this blog started with.  I have always found myself lost in thought: for what reason do countries and governments exist in the first place?

The idea of a territorially defined nation-state, like Zimbabwe, Botswana or Zambia, with a written constitution and a government has become so pervasive and common that many cannot believe that 200-300 years ago no such spatial practices existed! It is wrong to ask, “what was Zimbabwe  called before it was called Rhodesia” or “why did the whites colonize our country?” This is because “our country” and “Zimbabwe” never used to exist as a territorially defined space, the point at which they start existing can be discussed, but colonisation is where the conversation would start. So why do countries exist? Are we just doomed by some lottery of birth to have been born in and thus tied to the countries we were born in? One does not foresee and determine their country of birth, and for some, their citizenship becomes the chains that keep them from progressing or just moving to where you want. I have seen many memes about weak and strong passports.

If you could decide what country you want to live in and if you would love to have been born there (a) which country is this (b) why this specific country (c) what is wrong with your current country? (d) why would you choose to live in a country, why not a mountain with no government or control by other people? What is the country and why does it exist? Who makes the country up? Does being Zimbabwean mean that you are part of the country? Yes you are, as a citizen, as a subject of the government. But there are many Zimbabweans who are stateless! To be a citizen you have to be recognised by the government that you indeed are Zimbabwean, think of all the documents that make you a citizen; Birth certificate, National Identity Card and Passport to name a few. There is an authority that tells you, identifies you and certifies you as part of a country, your country. Even when you wish to leave the country, you have to leave through the ports of exit, you have to have a “Zimbabwean” passport, you cannot just decide this side of the Limpopo is now annoying, you should like to experience Musina and just go. No you cannot! So are you free? Are you truly a free person? Is this thought not frustrating? Human constructs, which are not natural, govern and determine your being and movement!

Even within the country to avail yourself benefits, if there are any (there always are), you need to be identifiable as a citizen. Education is a right, but to access it you need your birth certificate (think you need your ID or birth number to write importan exams), and schools that accept people without them are either stigmatised or marginalised. The entire panic about ukuthathisa ibirth (getting and birth certificate), ukuthatha isithupha (getting and Identity card), gives the impression that you cannot be human enough, or Zimbabwean enough unless you are entered into some data-base and even your biometrics recorded in some software. You even need a death certificate when you die! It needs to be certified that you actually are dead. You need to be certified or rather “cleared” by the police (they take all your fingerprints and you pay some US$20 for that, but that is a chat for another day) to get a job. 

I think it is important at times to pause and ask why all these systems exist, and where they came from, and if they make any difference in a country where corruption is endemic. Why should you ask why they exist? It is wrong to ask questions of only those things which we think are possible to change. One may say, “I won't ask why the country exists because that is just how things are.” The spirit of this blog is to show you how throughout time, people have existed in states or communities where they thought that is just how things are, and yet no system is eternal, all systems evolve. Even such wisdom has existed amongst our people: “okungapheliyo kuyahlola”, “chisingaperi chinoshura” The Romans, who had a Republic, would hardly recognise the “Republic” of Zimbabwe as a republic, and we would not think of them as a really democratic republic either. But Roman writers, like Cicero, did argue that freedom was the mark of the republic and that the republican constitution ensured it. In the Roman republic, there was hierarchy, women and slaves (yes, slaves existed in a republic) were not allowed to vote. Zimbabwe has universal suffrage, everyone above the age of 18 can vote, but is it a free republic? It can be argued that the ruling party has seriously tyrannical tendencies which undermine the republicanness of the country.  The point is, when we start to question the origin and purpose of institutions and conceptions of power, we begin to understand that we are part of history in the making and human beings are not at the final destination, yet.  We become better people by the simple act of thinking. We start to realise constraints that are systemic and devise ways to undo them or vow to never stop dreaming of alternatives models of being and living.