Declare April Zim history month

Caesar Zvayi

PRESIDENT Mugabe IN February 1899, British novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled “The White Man’s Burden: The United States and The Philippine Islands” in which he urged the US to take up the “burden” of empire, as had Britain and other European nations when colonising Africa. Theodore Roosevelt, later to become president, described it as “rather poor poetry, but good sense from the expansion point of view.” However, not everyone, particularly in the developing world, was as impressed as Roosevelt. African-Americans, among many others, rapped the notion of the “white man’s burden.” And one of the prominent responses to Kipling’s poem was “The Black Man’s Burden,” written by African-American clergyman and editor Hubert Johnson and published in April that same year. Hubert Johnson argued that the mistreatment of brown people in the Philippines was an extension of the mistreatment of African-Americans at home. There was nothing noble in imperialism. The bottom line is the black man has a burden of ensuring that his history, which has over the years been misconstrued as being synonymous with the history of the white man’s arrival in Africa, is corrected and captured for posterity. It is a history of not being seen nor heard; a history of being manipulated and subjugated. The onus is on us Africans to correct the historical distortions. I flew this kite before in 2006, and I raise it again this year in the hope that someone in the high offices takes note and does something about it. In spite of having a rich history of stolid, defiant resistance to all forms of colonial or neo-colonial domination, we Zimbabweans are notoriously modest. We do not seem to celebrate this history except waiting for days or events. Why don’t we, for instance, have even a Zimbabwe history month to mark the milestones that helped define us as the nation we are today? I have said it before and I will say it again. If ever there is a month that deserves to be called Zimbabwe history month, it is April, a month littered with numerous milestones stretching from the First, Second to the Third Chimurenga wars. One hundred and fourteen years ago, on April 27 1898, the architects of the First Chimurenga War, Mbuya Chahwe, the medium of the Nehanda spirit, and Sekuru Gumboreshumba, the medium of the Kaguvi spirit also known as Murenga, were hanged by the settler regime for daring to challenge colonial dispossession. It is from the Kaguvi spirit, that was alternatively known as Murenga, meaning “war spirit”, that the name Chimurenga was derived. Mbuya Nehanda along with Zindoga, Hwata and Gutsa wrongly stood accused of murdering a brutal white native commissioner, one Henry Hawkins Pollard of the British South Africa Company who lived near Mazowe and terrorised people in that district. Rhodesian legal documents classified Mbuya Nehanda modestly as a Mashona woman residing at Chitawa’s Kraal in the Mazowe District; Zindoga as a native kitchen boy residing at Nehanda’s Kraal; and Hwata and Gutsa as native hunters residing at Hwata Kraal. The four along with Sekuru Kaguvi were arraigned in the High Court of Matabeleland that sat in Salisbury on February 20 1898 and were subsequently convicted on March 2 1898 in a case entered as “The (British) Queen against Nehanda”. They were sentenced to death by hanging. The execution was authorised by the (British) High Commissioner for South Africa, one Alfred Milner, and endorsed by the (British) Imperial Secretary on March 28 1898. The presiding judge was Judge Watermayer, with Herbert Hayton Castens Esquire, as “the acting Public Prosecutor Sovereign within the British South Africa Company territories, who prosecutes for and on behalf of her majesty”. The warrant for Mbuya Nehanda’s death commanded that she be executed within the wall of the gaol of Salisbury between the hours of 6 and 10 in the afternoon. A Roman Catholic priest, one Fr Richertz, was assigned to convert Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi, Hwata and Zindoga. It is said the hapless Catholic priest failed to make headway with Mbuya Nehanda but managed to convert Sekuru Gumboreshumba, whom he baptised as Dismas, the ‘‘good’’ thief. Gutsa, Hwata and Zindoga were also converted and similarly hanged. According to Fr Richertz’s account, Mbuya Nehanda “ . . . called for her people and wanted to go back to her own country Mazoe and die there . . . When I saw that nothing could be done with her, the time of the execution having arrived, I left Nehanda and went to Kaguvi who received me in good dispositions. Whilst I was conversing with him, Nehanda was taken to the scaffold. Her cries and resistance, when she was taken up the ladder, the screaming and yelling disturbed my conversation with Kaguvi very much, till the noisy opening of the trap door upon which she stood, followed by the heavy thud of her body as it fell, made an end to the interruption”, he wrote. Fr Richertz, however, conveniently forgot to mention the other words Mbuya Chahwe said to him, that “Mapfupa angu achamuka (my bones will surely rise)”. Fr Richertz may have considered it heresy, especially from a woman who had refused to be converted to “Christianity”, but he did not know that the settler regime had just killed the mediums of the Nehanda and Kaguvi spirits but the spirits proper remained to influence the war effort. Sixty-eight years later, Mbuya Nehanda’s prophesy came true when seven of her bones rose up in style on April 28  1966 to fire the first shots of the Second Chimurenga war. They struck just five months after Smith announced his Universal Declaration of Independence (UDI) and 20 months after the Rhodesian regime banned the nationalist movements Zapu and Zanu in August 1964. AMBUYA Nehanda It is not clear whether it was by design or providence that the seven cadres intended to hit on the exact date Nehanda was executed but were somehow delayed by logistical problems and did so a day later. The seven cadres — Simon Chingosha Nyandoro, Godwin Manyerenyere, Christopher Chatambudza, Arthur Maramba, Chubby Savanhu, Godfrey Dube and David Guzuzu — who entered the country from Zambia struck near Manyame River in Chinhoyi. Their aim was to destroy power pylons to cut off electricity coming from Kariba Dam and plunge the country into darkness. This was supposed to be the signal for other groups that were strategically placed in towns like Mutare, Rusape, Chegutu and Mvuma that the war against the Smith regime had begun. Lack of proper equipment and explosives saw the cadres fail to bring down the pylons near Lions Den, the Rhodesians got wind of the operation and descended on the people who were harbouring them. But the gallant fighters, who had retreated to Golden Kopje, dared the Rhodesians to come out and fight, and the cowardly Rhodies came complete with helicopter gunships and all sorts of weapons to face seven men armed only with AK-47 assault rifles. The seven commandos gave as much as they took as the battle lasted from about 9am to around 4pm. Eyewitness accounts say several helicopters and scores of Rhodesian soldiers were gunned down and littered the battle scene when the seven cadres were finally wiped out. It is important to note that they were only overcome because they had inferior weapons and ran out of ammunition, while the enemy was armed to the teeth and had the advantage of going back to base to replenish both ammunition and manpower. The bodies of the seven cadres were never seen again after the Rhodesians took them. The nationalist leaders learnt a lot from the battle of Chinhoyi and future incursions inflicted heavy losses on the Rhodesian regime that was finally brought to its false knees in 1979. In the intervening period, another milestone again occurred, on April 4 1975, when Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe, who had just been released from an 11-year incarceration by the Smith regime, crossed into Mozambique in the company of Cde Edgar Tekere. The following is the verbatim account of the crossing that President Mugabe gave during an interview with Power FM ahead of his 82nd birthday in 2006. “It was on Saturday morning and we decided to leave in the afternoon of that day. Old Tangwena, late now, Chief (Rekayi) Tangwena at whose home we had slept was instructed by his wife to lead us. Mai Tangwena vaisvikirwa, vakati zvanzi izvo iwe Tangwena pachako tungamirira vana ava. So he accompanied us. There we were, we had two young men carrying our bags and I think there were five of us and we decided to cross the border. “There was this big boundary road they called Bhinya. It was also so called after the name of the person who was chief native commissioner . . . I will think of it. We had to cross the broad road, not tarred, but just a dirt road, gravel, not tarred because it was meant to facilitate the vigilance that the Rhodesians kept on the people. “So we crossed that, after looking at both sides of the road, we moved on and at night we had to cross rivers. There was a small river that we crossed and upon putting our shoes back, I could not distinguish the right from the left. Ndakaita sambuya vangu vaimbouya kuchurch vakapfeka matennis vachiti yekurudyi yoenda uku (laughs indicating his left foot). Ndakatozoona zuva ratobuda kuti that was the disaster that had attended my feet. “You know the Tangwenas had been fighting for Gaerezi Ranch. It was that resistance, vaivingwa from time to time vachipfurwa. Ndiro chaidzo dzaiboorwa nemabullets kuti vabve, their children were all taken away to a school somewhere, but they resisted. We got to a village where two headmen vekwaTangwena decided to get away from this problem and settled on the Mozambican side, and two headmen had remained. So they were four. “We were drenched, very wet and we needed fire, so early in the morning fire was lit for us outside. I noticed that my shoes had done harm to my toes and we were not prepared to continue. So we remained there for quite some time. Kwakanga kusina masoja eFrelimo akawanda, so we had to relay our presence to them, and from that place word was sent ahead that we were there and we then got to a base that was close to Tete, this place was called Vam-Vam. “We were at Vam-Vam for quite some time that’s where we met vana Mao and others who had been recruited in Highfield. From there we were taken along a road in the direction of a town yaimbonzi Villa Guveya, now Katandika. It was while we were at Vam-Vam that Mozambique celebrated its independence. We stayed at Katandika for a month or two. From Katandika we were taken to Chimoio, and there we met many more and now we were moving with other comrades that we had met along the way. “That is where we met vanaChamu (Oppah Muchinguri) vachiri vadiki and many others. We had some students from university, vana (Zororo) Duri, vana (Christopher) Mutsvangwa vana Gula Ndebele, vana (John) Mayowe, who had left university, we met them there. “There were about 5 000 to 6 000 of us kuChimoio. It was a little outside the town, and then the governor decided that some of our cadres who had been trained who were in Tete should be informed about our presence. There were about three ladies and mukuru wavo akavatora ndiMai (Joice) Mujuru, and there were about four or five male cadres. So they came and saw us and came back, and we asked them to take control because they were trained cadres. “So that was the journey, and all the while we were with Chief Tangwena, right up to the end taive naChief Tangwena, and when we came back, we came back with him also. He was quite a gallant cadre, very strong,” President Mugabe said. The President was to gallantly lead the war effort from Mozambique for the next five years. He participated in all the peace initiatives up to the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference of September 10 to December 15 1979 that paved way for the first democratic elections in March 1980. It was a month later, again in April, that the new Zimbabwe was born on April 18. This was the month that the Union Jack was pulled down and the Zimbabwean flag, as we know it, rose majestically in its place at midnight on April 18 as the heir to the British throne Prince Charles and Governor Lord Soames saluted the new nation and its people. This was the day that defined us as a people as the then Prime Minister-elect, Cde Mugabe, laid out the policy of reconciliation in his maiden address, much to the amazement of terrified Rhodies who thought they would be made to account for their war crimes. That is April, a month that traces a century of resistance, from Nehanda to Mugabe.

Quisling politics and myth of the White Man’s Burden

Outsiders, Westerners to be specific, are not stakeholders in our politics. They do not have a “burden’’ to “civilise’’ us in the virtues of neo-liberal democracy.

Caesar Zvayi

When I was six, my mother bought me a cup that was emblazoned with the Zimbabwean Flag on one side. It was a white cup from Kango. I didn’t allow anyone to drink from that cup. There was hell to pay for anyone who dared put his/her lips — no matter how shapely — on its precious rim. And being the last born in a family of six, I always got my way after each tantrum. I, however, forgot to pack my cup when I transferred to start my Grade Five in the city, at Kurai Primary School in Kambuzuma to be specific. The excitement of the bus ride to the city and the prospect of all that the bright lights of the city promised made me forget my precious cup. I never saw it again as I later heard that its disappearance had coincided with the visit of an aunt whose fingers were reputed to be as long as her skinny limbs. I believe we should all approach our National Flag, Coat of Arms, National Anthem, finite and infinite resources, in fact everything to do with our beautiful country with the same possessive jealousy. This is my point of departure with some people perspiring for national leadership who approach matters of State with the lackadaisical attitude of the Tragedy of the Commons. That dilemma, captured in an article titled “The Tragedy of the Commons” that was first published in the journal Science in 1968, arising from the situation in which several individuals, acting independently and rationally but in their own self-interest, ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone’s long-term interest for this to happen. It appears to MDC-T leader — Morgan Tsvangirai — our country is such a commons, he seems to mistake it for a medieval pasture where all are free to graze. The MDC-T leader was quoted in the Western and local media as telling his Western handlers to “insist on the necessary reforms to create a conducive environment for free and fair elections.’’ A euphemism for illegal regime change. News flash, Mr Prime Minister; the only acceptable regime change will be one effected by Zimbabweans. “My call to the world is, ‘You must insist on the necessary reforms to create a conducive environment for free and fair elections and a lasting solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe.’ Zimbabwe can’t afford isolation and continued vilification by the world. Above all we don’t want to be treated like a pariah state. We need the international community to ensure that the will of the people is respected.” Tsvangirai, who was in London to address an African business summit, said on Monday. Quite surprising sentiments from a man who signed the so-called GPA that, in Article IX that deals with external interference, abhors foreign meddling in our domestic affairs. All three parties to the inclusive Government concurred in section 9.2 (a) that ‘‘the responsibility of effecting change of Government in Zimbabwe vests exclusively on and is the sole prerogative of the people of Zimbabwe through peaceful, democratic and constitutional means.’’ And in subsection (c) that ‘‘no outsiders have a right to call or campaign for regime change in Zimbabwe’’. So where does Tsvangirai see Westerners fitting in, in this scheme of things? For a man who claims the GPA is his Bible, Tsvangirai seemed blissfully ignorant that he was speaking ultra vires provisions of the same GPA he claims to uphold and defend. A GPA that was signed and implemented with the express objective of “fostering an environment of socio-economic and political stability in readiness for fresh elections.’’   A responsibility Tsvangirai seeks to outsource to outsiders as if they have a stake in our politics. Which African country has ever been invited to “ensure that the will of the people is respected’’ in any Western plebiscite? Why does Tsvangirai seek to perpetuate the myth of the so-called White Man’s Burden? It is high time the MDC-T leader realised that even though he is a willing cat’s paw for Western interests, quisling politics should start and end at Harvest House, they have no place in the wider nation. Outsiders have no role to play in our domestic affairs let alone elections even if they sponsor, illegally at that, one or more of the contestants. If he dreams of ever presiding over this country as Head of State and Government, the MDC-T leader must uphold the sanctity of our independence and sovereignty. Not surprisingly, Tsvangirai took the opportunity to swipe at the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme that has already hit the grassroots through community share ownership schemes. It does not pay, politically, to slam such pro-people policies in favour of jobs. Any sane or knowledgeable person knows that to develop to the levels attained by Western countries that grew on the back of exploiting the developing world, African countries and others in the developing world need genuine, wealth-creating middle classes, and these only come from owning the means of production. This is where Zanu-PF got it right through the land reform program and the indigenisation and economic empowerment policies. While one invites polite applause by slamming these policies in western capitals, among the progressive, such utterances invite ridicule. The jobs the MDC-T harps about create “middle income earners” or comprador bourgeoisies who front multinational corporations not the middle class we envisage and which is emerging in Zimbabwe. A real middle class does not draw salaries, it pays them. It does not create wealth for other nations but its own motherland. And this will not come from a “jobs policy” but from indigenisation and economic empowerment. A progressive leader would also have taken the platform like the one Tsvangirai was given in London to slam the ruinous economic sanctions that, in fact militate against the attainment of an environment conducive for the holding of free and fair elections. London offered Tsvangirai a perfect opportunity to call for the lifting of sanctions in light of the impending re-engagement talks set for Brussels. But that would have been expecting too much from a man whose brain seems to become foggy, the moment he sets foot on the foggy Isles where his biggest gaffes have always manifested. ‘‘Zimbabwe can’t afford isolation and continued vilification by the world. Above all we don’t want to be treated like a pariah state. “We need the international community to ensure that the will of the people is respected,” Tsvangirai quipped without a sense of irony. Of course, I am under no illusion that by “international community’’ Tsvangirai will be visualising the Anglo-Saxon alliance. How can the outside world take us seriously when you take every opportunity to badmouth your homeland Mr Tsvangirai? And you harp about security forces not being amenable to your kind of politics, how can they be amenable when everytime you open your mouth, you vindicate their assertion that you pose a security threat. Our country is not a commons, we own it and we alone have the right to decide its destiny. If you have grievances Mr Tsvangirai, or if there are loopholes you see in guaranteeing an environment conducive to the holding of free and fair elections, that is why you are in government. Fix the problems along with the other principals. You have your partners in the GPA, internal mechanisms like Jomic, guarantors in Sadc and the African Union to call upon if you have issues. Outsiders, Westerners to be specific, are not stakeholders in our politics. They do not have a “burden’’ to “civilise’’ us in the virtues of neo-liberal democracy. We had to fight protracted wars just to win the right to vote. Wars you had no stomach for. And to take the food from the mouths of their kith and kin to feed our impoverished people, we have to brace for gruelling fights even against our own brothers if they are willing to be used against their own. Do not give a black face to neo-colonial designs.

Beggars on a beach of gold

Why are we still borrowing when we have all these minerals at our disposal? Why are we not demanding our fair share? The bottom line is we are like beggars sitting on a beach of gold

Caesar Zvayi  The joke that has been doing the rounds since the discovery of diamonds in Marange is that VanaWasu (colloquial for people from Manicaland) were busy loading rough diamonds on their catapults to shoot birds from baobab trees that are ubiquitous in the Chiadzwa area. Oblivious to the value of the stones they were sending hurtling into the sky, vanaWasu would continually send thousands of dollars worth of diamonds hurtling into the sky in search of worthless Quelea birds. In other words they did not know that every stone they were shooting was so valuable it would have bought them  several herd of cattle. And VanaWasu being the jovial characters that they are take it all in their stride, especially if the wise waters are freely flowing and the sweet voiced and soft skinned ones are nearby for they always harp, ‘‘mhamba ingonaka panaMai.’’ I have shared this joke with my friends from the Eastern Highlands and we always have a good laugh about it. Suffice to say we may all be the proverbial Wasus given our lackadaisical approach to our very finite but valuable mineral resources that are being carted out to benefit mainly South Africa or Western countries from where our much-vaunted investors hail. Nathaniel Manheru broached this subject a few weeks back querying the fixation with Chiadzwa and what comes out of it to the total exclusion of other mining areas in Zimbabwe. It appears every Tom, Dick and Harry has an opinion about Chiadzwa. Even the so-called civil society has demanded ‘‘unfettered access’’ to the diamond fields despite their ‘‘high security area’’ status. Morgan Tsvangirai and his ‘‘monkey-see, monkey do’’ sidekick Arthur Mutambara have also joined the fray, talking themselves hoarse over Chiadzwa conveniently forgetting Murowa (which is 78 percent owned by Rio Tinto) or River Ranch. If we are at all serious about attaining the US$100 billion economy that the finance ministry loves to harp about, then we need to take stock of what we have and ensure that we benefit from every mineral the way the Chiadzwa gems are breathing life into our comatose economy. For instance, Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, was quoted telling investors in Johannesburg that there is a chasm between what the Ministry of Finance is getting from diamonds — and other minerals — and what he believes is actually being produced and exported. Biti revealed that the fiscus got US$80 million from diamonds in 2010 and is this year set to receive more than US$600 million. Contrast this with the US$150 million the country reportedly earned from all other minerals combined in 2011 against mining exports valued at US$2,5 billion and you get the feeling we are ignorantly throwing our minerals away and being content with meagre returns like the proverbial Samanyika and his catapult. But what do we have under this soil the British get so red in the face about? Believe it or not, our country, deserves the moniker ‘‘Persian Gulf of Minerals’’ and its quite shocking that we could only get, and be content with a measly US$150 million from such a diverse and valuable store. For the benefit of our Finance Minister, who wanted us declared a Highly Indebted Poor Country, here is what we are sitting on: Gold: We are estimated to have over 3,5 billion  tonnes beneath our soils. More than 90 percent of these deposits are located in the granite-greenstone terrain which covers about 60 percent of the country. Being home to over 6 000 recorded deposits, we have the capacity to produce at least 25 tonnes of gold annually. Iron Ore: Our high-grade deposits are estimated to be over 251,17m tonnes. Nickel: The country’s known deposits of 41,9 million tonnes are being mined at Trojan and Shangani mines in the south of the country. Among the base metals exploited in the country, nickel predominates in terms of value and contributes significantly to foreign currency generation. Bindura also hosts a smelter and refinery.  Platinum Group of Minerals (PGM): Our deposits, the second largest in the world, are estimated to be over 3,05 billion tonnes. They are found along the Great Dyke. After South Africa, we hold the second largest deposits, mined at the Chegutu, Wedza and Shurugwi complexes — all along the Great Dyke. Exploration for more PGMs is underway in areas outside the Great Dyke. Coal: Our huge coal resource base of over 8,87 billion tonnes is found in the Zambezi and the Save-Limpopo basins. It is renowned for its high ash content, low calorific values, low sulphur and phosphorus content needed in thermal power generation. To date, only coal resources within the mid-Zambezi basin have been reasonably exploited as the coal-bearing strata in this area is generally shallow and amenable to open cast mining. Chrome: Our deposits are estimated to be over 50 million tonnes. Production is mainly along the Great Dyke. We are the world’s fifth largest producer of chromite after South Africa, Kazakhstan, Turkey and India. Processed chrome, or high carbon ferrochrome (HCF), is one of our major foreign currency earners. Asbestos: We are the fifth largest producers of high quality white asbestos fibre in the world, which is produced in the full range of grades required by customers. Our deposits are estimated over 47,1 million tonnes. Diamonds: There have been over 130 discoveries of Kimberlite pipes in Zimbabwe. Known deposits are over 15 million tonnes. The story of our diamonds has become the stuff of legend following the discovery of three potentially lucrative kimberlite pipes in the Zvishavane district. A new mine, Murowa Diamond Mine, with production figures of 200 000 tonnes per annum, is in operation. Such kimberlitic occurrences are spatially related and found in similar geological settings to those in diamond-rich Botswana. Consequently, there is immense potential for the discovery of more diamond fields as exploratory activities in the Marange area have shown. Coal Bed Methane (CBM) gas: We have the largest known reserves of coal bed methane (CBM) gas in sub-Saharan Africa. CBM is a gas produced from the decomposition of organic matter during the formation of coal. All coalfields are, therefore, potential CBM gas fields. In Zimbabwe, CBM gas resources have so far been discovered in the Hwange and Lupane areas of the Matabeleland North Province, the Lubimbi area in Binga, the Sengwa area of Gokwe, and in Chiredzi in the south east. Uranium: Exploration in the country dates back to the 1950s when surveys were carried out in the Zambezi Valley. Deposits were subsequently discovered, and with the ever increasing global fuel prices and the projected power deficit in Southern Africa, uranium stands out as one of the key alternatives to both oil and electricity imports. Apart from the minerals highlighted above, we also have huge deposits of over 40 other “strategic” minerals that are still to be, exploited. So how can such a cache give us a paltry US$150 million when, for instance Mbada Diamonds alone is remitting US$15 million to treasury every month, and Chiadzwa alone is going to give us over US$600 million? Take for instance the case of Zimplats which is exporting more than 100 000 ounces of platinum each year. With platinum going for US$1 699 per ounce, it means we are giving South Africa US$170million every year, and this is just one mine, Zimplats. How does that compare to the US$150million remitted to treasury by all the mines? What is more Impala Platinum, the holding company for Zimplats, expects to ship out 100 000 ounces per year for the next 50 years which translates to US$8,5 billion of our money feeding into the South African economy. Given the fact Zimplats has stubbornly refused to set-up a smelter, we are also exporting jobs and other platinum by-products that would significantly feed into this figure of US$8,5 billion. The question is how much has Zimplats contributed to the fiscus? Would love to hear it from Minister Biti who loves to harp about a Chiadzwa that is sustaining an economy being bled by a largely unsupervised mining sector. Why are we still borrowing when we have all these minerals at our disposal? Why are we not demanding our fair share? The bottom line is we are like beggars sitting on a beach of gold, drifters drifting on silver seas as British crooner, Mike Rutherford put it. ‘‘Oh Lord, I’m a poor man. With all the riches I can hold I’m a beggar, and I’m sitting on a beach of gold.’’ Its time we stopped watching our eyelids.

Baby that retained its placenta

The hand that sells its heritage

Caesar Zvayi

There was an interesting story on the online website, NewZimbabwe.com this week, seemingly trivial but which goes to the heart of what MDC-T is and stands for and can even explain the ongoing circus with the constitution-making process, and the state of our domestic politics in general.
The story that was titled, ‘‘MDC-T sucked into Twitter storm’’ and published on March 4 queries why MDC-T’s twitter account does not follow a single Zimbabwean but treks ‘‘only the updates of 32 individuals and media organisations — all of them American or British’’. The story quoted two Zimbabwean journalists expressing outrage at this development.
One of the journalists Ntungamili Nkomo quipped: “It beggars belief that the @mdczimbabwe wing of PM @MRTsvangirai is not following a single Zimbabwean on Twitter. Only white journalists.” With another journalist, Nqaba Matshazi, responding to Nkomo as follows: “Something sinister @mdczimbabwe does not follow any black person, just white foreign journalists.
“The MDC-T should feel ashamed of itself. Choosing to exclusively follow white Western journalists and their news organisations ahead of the Zimbabwean electorate, local journalists and homegrown institutions is inexcusable. No racial prejudice on my part, but failing to befriend a single Zimbabwean when you are a Zimbabwean political party is truly bizarre. I would love to hear how the MDC-T explains itself. But whatever the case, the omission is an insult to Zimbabweans.”
What more can I say? Save to say to these my fellow colleagues, welcome to the world of the MDC-T! Some of us have been privy to the party’s political ugliness since its launch on September 11, 1999.
Nkomo and Matshazi have just had their Damascene moment but British establishment journalists like Peta Thorncroft saw those warts way back in 2007 but have always glossed over them for selfish reasons.
In an interview she had with one Violet Gonda of the pirate radio station SW Radio Africa on November 13, 2007, Peta Thorncroft gave a precise analysis of why the MDC didn’t have the support Zanu-PF had, from its open linkage to the West, how its leaders campaign in Western capitals and not among Zimbabweans, how its pro-West stance had alienated it from the ordinary Zimbabwean in particular, and African in general.
Here goes, straight off Peta Thorncroft’s British-born lips: ‘‘When the MDC started in 2000, what a pity that they were addressing people in Sandton mostly white people in Sandton north of Johannesburg instead of being in Dar es Salaam or Ghana or Abuja. They failed to make contact with Africa for so long, they were in London, we’ve just seen it again, Morgan Tsvangirai’s just been in America. Why isn’t he in Cairo? Maybe he needs financial support and he can’t get it outside of America or the UK and the same would go for Mutambara. They have not done enough in Africa . . .”
And this: “Where are they (MDC) in Mashonaland West, Central, the three Mashonaland provinces? And I go on and on about this and I was there just a few weeks ago, driving there with a very good cover and nobody knew I was a journalist and I was able to speak to people and they were very open and chatty with me. I mean the MDC just hasn’t tried to go into most of those places. And will they ever or are they going to just remain an urban party you know an urban party in Harare, some in Manicaland . . .”
In short she accounted for why all the MDC’s attempts at mass actions and mass stayaways flopped over the years, and by extension why Zanu-PF survived the western onslaught. And in in response to a question on whether the MDC was the party people thought it was, Peta Thorncroft had this to say: ‘‘I wonder if we ever knew what it (the MDC) was? We just accepted it, didn’t we? I wasn’t there in 2000, I went to one of its rallies in 2000 and I came in July 2001 and I think I just accepted that the MDC had been cheated at the elections and that this was a party that had the majority support in the country. It was only long afterwards that I discovered that in fact of course Zanu-PF had enormous support in certain rural parts of the country.
‘‘I first saw that demonstrated to me in the March elections of 2005, I was actually astonished by that and it is in my copy. I then saw it again demonstrated in the Budiriro by-election when 4 000 people continued to vote for Zanu-PF and it was quite a peaceful by election.
‘‘They were just as short of fuel, water and electricity as all the other people in Budiriro. And I think that I realised that I hadn’t taken into consideration that Zanu-PF was an old established party which, despite its appalling lack of democracy and its top-down style of doing business, because of the liberation struggle and the propaganda it’s been able to feed everyone it does genuinely have support.
‘‘And that the MDC as the farm workers disappeared and as the farmers disappeared a great chunk of its support went with it. I think that was important and I think that we didn’t see it and we didn’t sort of realise it at the time, I didn’t realise it at the time . . .” Peta Thorncroft said.
There you have it, dear reader, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. When you look at its track record, alliances and positions on all things Zimbabwean, its easy to see that the MDC-T has no real connection with Zimbabwe in particular or Africa in general. And all this has to do with its parentage. It was conceived in the West yes, but it has had numerous opportunities to sever that umbilical cord but didn’t. The party is like a baby that insisted on taking the placenta into the world. And the stench from that rotten appendage will always make it an untouchable to the discerning.
Be that as it may, where is Zanu-PF on Facebook, Twitter? Eh VaGumbo navaShamhu? This is the techno-age.