Reading Zimbabwe's government-owned newspaper and vitriolic ZANU mouthpiece, The Herald, always feels like a trip to a very backward Never Never Land. Today's piece on National "Unity" Day is a prime example.

The authors speak nostalgically about origins of the day: The joining of forces of Mugabe's ZANU party and his rival's ZAPU in 1987 to create what we now know as the ZANU-PF, and bemoans the state of Zimbabwe's disunity in the face of "enemy" threats today.

What the article neglects to mention is that said-unity was achieved through an atrocious campaign of ethnic cleansing against Mugabe's rivals. During the infamous Gukurahundi, Mugabe's "Fifth Brigade" set out to utterly destroy his political opposition, which largely coalesced along ethnic lines. (See the video below for more.)

National "unity" wasn't won through peaceful agreement, but through extreme brutalization that left the opposition leadership with no choice but to acquiesce. This is has been the defining characteristic of Mugabe's rule since the beginning---"unity" through brutalization. That's how it was in the 1980s, and that's how it remains today.

The Herald's memory is sorely confused if it looks to 1987 as a great triumph of leadership and national accord. But then again, I have a feeling the authors know exactly what they're doing: By referencing the "misguided elements" seeking to "erode the support of the ruling party, particularly in Matabeleland"--the same region where the Gukurahundi took place--the paper (and the ruling party) appear to be issuing a not-so-subtle warning, recalling the memory of massacres that still pulse through Zimbabwe's collective conscience and saying, "Watch your step. We've done it once, we can do it again."

I scoffed when I started reading this, but realized, as I continued, that this piece is much more ominous than I originally thought. As the article concludes:

"We concur with Cde Mugabe's call to forge national unity by rejuvenating the party machinery and cultivating organisational enthusiasm right from the grassroots level.

Unity eliminates tribalism, regionalism and ethnicity in the country.

It is only when united that individuals, the community and the nation at large can focus on development and achieve their goals. It is our belief that the threat posed by outsiders and local rebellious elements is sufficient unifying force, which should keep Zimbabweans inseparable.

Let us all jealously guard national unity as we stand to gain when the country is united."

In other words, unity eliminates dissent, and we'll stop at nothing to achieve it.

[Image: The cover of the groundbreaking report issued on the Gukurahundi.]