From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZIMBABWE: CONTINUED USE OF ''COMRADE'' CALLED INTO QUESTION
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:10:27 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ZIMBABWE: CONTINUED USE OF ''COMRADE'' CALLED INTO QUESTION


an inter press service feature

by andrew zhakata

harare, jan 4 (ips) --  after watching the ruling party shed
off its socialist rhetoric in the last two years, zimbabweans
have begun questioning the continued official use of the
term ''comrade''.

the term was adopted by zimbabwean freedom fighters during
the war of independence against the white minority rule in the
british breakaway colony of rhodesia in 1970s. the guerrillars
were backed by the former eastern bloc countries, whose
socialist ideology they adopted.

after independence in 1980, ''comrade'' became a highly-
respected term for all blacks in zimbabwe, with the exception of
persons known or suspected to have collaborated with the white
minority regime.

the term was used specifically to address the freedom
fighters, as the black combatants were affectionately called by
the country's black majority. however, the term has since come
into popular use in bars, streets and offices.

state-run radio, television and newspapers adopted the term
as a title in place of the traditional titles like ''mr'',
''mrs'', ''miss''.

among whites, the official media used ''comrade'' only when
addressing diplomats from socialist countries, and some
zimbabwean whites well known for supporting the independence
struggle.

however, since the avowedly marxist government of president
robert mugabe embraced the free-market ecomonic reforms two
years ago, a growing number of zimbabweans is querying the
continued official use of the term.

zimbabweans who want ''comrade'' scrapped say the term is a
vestige of mugabe's failed socialist experiment.

''tourists do not visit countries where people are called
comrades'', read one letter in a privately-owned newspaper
recently.

the editor of the satirical catholic monthly magazine 'moto',
onesimo kabweza, told ips: ''to people who did not go into the
bush to fight, the title is like an honorary degree''.
(more/ips)


zimbabwe: ''comrade'' (2)

kabweza, however, says ''the title should be scrapped because
the ex-combatants who really deserved the title were demobilised
in 1980''.

political analyst jimu simbwi says ''comrade'' is the only
relic of mugabe's ''glorious scientific socialism''.

''the title rings hollow now and often sounds as if we are
in (george orwell's) 'animal farm','' says simbwi, who describes
the title as an ''embarrassing anachronism''.

some ex-combatants, like martin zaranga, no longer want to be
associated with the ''comrade'' title.

''i do not like the title anymore. the word comrade is now
synonymous with corruption, nepotism and exploitation'', says
zaranga who now sells vegetables in the zimbabwean capital,
harare.

but supporters of the ruling party, zimbabwe african national
union-patriotic front (zanu-pf), rile zimbabweans who shun the
''comrade'' title and describe them as ''unpatriotic''.

generally, zimbabwe's whites hate the title ''comrade''
because it is associated with communism, says a senior official
of the state-run zimbabwe broadcasting corporation (zbc).

there are about 150,000 whites out of the country's nearly 11
million people. despite their small number, the whites
constitute the single most powerful economic group.

some whites, like former member of parliament bill irvine,
have made it clear they abhor the title.

''i wish to be addressed as mr. irvine not comrade irvine. the
new feeling of oneness and the unity does not necessarily mean
every one is a comrade'', said irvine, member of parliament from
the rhodesia days until 1985.

but member of parliament margaret dongo, a former freedom
fighter, believes strongly, ''it would be wrong to address the
unrepetant former rhodesian leader, ian smith, as comrade''.

in any case, explains the zbc official who does not wish
to be named: ''we only use the title on a few whites who have
jumped on the zanu(pf) bandwagon''.

the official emphasises that radio and television will
continue using ''comrade'' on personalities deemed to deserve
the title until the government and the ruling party direct
scrapping it altogether. (end/ips/az/apc/93)