Pastor's #ThisFlag Campaign against Corruption Lands Him in Jail
Zimbabwe used to be a center of economic prosperity, but after corruption and poverty took hold of the country, one pastor decided to fight back with social media.
Pastor Evan Mawarire drapes Zimbabwe's flag over his shoulders as he laments his country's economic downfall in a Facebook video. His grief is nearly tangible as he mourns a Zimbabwe he no longer recognizes - a place where injustice and corruption are on the rise while its once flourishing economy grinds to a halt.
"This flag, every day it flies, is begging for you to get involved, is begging for you to say something, is begging for you to cry out," Mawarire tells fellow Zimbabeans while clutching the flag in his hands.
The Facebook video is only one of several videos Mawarire has posted, urging people to do something about the state of the country.
But what began as a simple hashtag called #ThisFlag turned into a movement that landed Mawarire in handcuffs.
Supporters of the #ThisFlag movement organized a nationwide "stay-away," a total shutdown of businesses and schools to protest the country's poverty and corruption epidemic.
The campaign took a dramatic turn when Mawarire was arrested for allegedly disturbing the peace and inciting public violence. Religious News Service reports that more than 200 lawyers swarmed to his aid, vowing to represent him free of charge.
Mawarire was released with no charges against him.
"There was no violence. No one was fighting. No one was throwing stones," he told his fellow Zimbabweans in a Facebook post after his release. "You did so well."
When ome citizens did resort to violence and burned down a warehouse in response to the government's restrictions on trade, Mawarire responded with Scripture.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish, or where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint," he said, quoting . "Remember, my citizens...no violence...The Bible says in : 'I am still confident of this, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. This is the land of the living, this country Zimbabwe."
Mawarire's social media campaign has earned him respect and the unofficial title "Captain Zimbabwe."
Despite the corruption and extreme inflation rate that has exceeded 89 sextillion percent, this pastor believes there is still hope.
"Continue to pray for Zimbabwe," he said in one of his many Facebook videos. "God is doing something special and amazing."
