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being made third class citizens in the land of their birth. Until recently there has
been a great imbalance in land ownership and utilization, the majority of
Zimbabweans being crowded in poor “reserves” while the tiny white population
(never greater than 5% at any point in our history) occupied the greater part of the
best land. That was great injustice. Under UDI, certain jobs, schools, hospitals
and residential areas were reserved for whites. That was great injustice. The
majority of blacks had no voting rights and the few whites ruled over the majority
blacks by reason of their skin colour. That was great injustice. The effort to
overcome these great injustices eventually led to the liberation war.
But sadly, new forms of injustice emerged or were perpetuated after
independence. The fact that many voters remain unrepresented in Parliament
because of the first past the post system is an injustice. The fact that 30 seats in
parliament are not contested but are directly or indirectly the result of presidential
appointment gives a very unfair advantage to the ruling party. The fact that only
the ruling party has the right to nominate heroes, while using the national fiscus
for the burial of such heroes is wrong. This is not the Zimbabwe we want.
But injustice is also experienced in the private sphere. Within commerce and
industry labourers are underpaid while the management enriches itself. In the
home, continued gender preference for the boy-child against the girl-child is
injustice. These are but a few examples of injustices, which Zimbabweans must
detest and correct. Without justice there can be no peace and harmony.
3.2.14
Service and Accountability
Service, as opposed to self-centredness, is a practical way of promoting unity and
harmony among our people. The call to serve one another in love stands in stark
contrast to the normal human desire for position and self-preference. The spirit of
service also seeks to add value to others. It acknowledges that meaning is found in
meeting the needs of others rather than in self-centredness. No better example of
service exists than Jesus’ willingness to give up his life in order that others might
be saved. As he said of himself, he ‘did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mt 20:28). Following Jesus’ example,
selfless service and a concern for the weak and the powerless became the
distinguishing mark of the early Christian community.
3.2.15
Promotion of the common good
The goods of this earth are meant for the benefit of everyone. Thus all created
things and those produced by humans should be shared justly. The right to private
property is good in so far as it facilitates the realization of the common good.
When private property ceases to serve the common good, it also ceases to be
morally justified.
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