US, UK summon Evan Mawarire
THE new darling of the West’s regime change agenda, Mr Evan Mawarire, has reportedly been summoned to the United States to debrief his handlers on his activities in trying to destabilise Zimbabwe, and to get instructions on his next steps ahead of the 2018 harmonised elections.
Mr Mawarire, a church leader fronting the antiGovernment #ThisFlag campaign, has sparked frenzied activities among opposition elements keen to secure donor funding as the organisations now try to outdo each other to be recognised as the West’s point persons in fighting President Mugabe’s constitutionally elected Government.
On Friday, Mr Mawarire posted on his Facebook page that he was out of Zimbabwe. Though he did not say where he had travelled to, a close associate told our Harare Bureau that his colleague was scheduled to go to the US to debrief on his activities and possibly secure more funding for his campaign. Mr Mawarire, the associate said, was also likely to visit the United Kingdom for the same purposes.
Last week, Mr Mawarire’s calls for a national stay away were ignored as Zimbabweans snubbed the economically destructive activity and possibly shied away from a protest driven by third forces that the Government has already identified as the US and French embassies in Harare.
His Facebook post read: “Fellow Citizens, thank you for your concern for my safety and whereabouts. I am well and safe taking some time to recuperate . . . Currently I have travelled to attend to a previously arranged engagement outside the country and will be back home to my family and work soon.”
Efforts to get a comment from him were fruitless yesterday. His activities have seen opposition political parties and civil society organisations getting locked in frantic competition to access Western donor funds. Analysts say a look at events over the past two weeks confirmed that the groups and individuals were trying to outdo each other in proving to donors they deserved a bigger slice of money routinely set aside for antiZimbabwe activities.
After Zanu-PF resoundingly won elections in 2013, donors who used to pamper MDC-T and other hostile NGOs, retreated and left the organisations bankrupt. Now, these organisations are doing all they can to create a perception of continued relevance as new antiGovernment players enter the fray.
The shadowy #Tajamuka group has even spoken of being “jealous” of Mr Mawarire’s donor support, while MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai rushed from South Africa where he was undergoing chemotherapy to hold a Press conference in Harare to get in on the act.
MDC-T also urged women to take to the streets with pots and pans as a means of showing that they were still active in the anti-Zimbabwe movement. Not to be outdone was Viva Zimbabwe leader Mr William Mutumanje, also known as Acie Lumumba, who last week distributed fliers calling on people to come to the Harare Magistrates’ Courts where he was appearing on charges of using filthy language to insult President Mugabe.
This was after white commercial farmers and donorlinked groups gathered at the courts for Mr Mawarire’s appearance on criminal charges related to seeking to disturb the peace.
The Government has indicated it is aware of the foreign hand in the social media-led elitist protests, which have failed to garner much traction after initially trying to hijack a civil service stay away.
Home Affairs Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo last week said, “It is interesting to note that some former white farmers, and company executives went to the extent of attending Evan Mawarire’s appearance in court and chanting out solidarity messages with him. Some of the former white farmers and individuals went on to record and post videos on the internet inciting the public not to co-operate with authorities in Zimbabwe and stay at home. This hypocrisy should stop forthwith. No one from the white community has openly denounced the debilitating sanctions, which were imposed on the country by the Western world. I want to categorically tell them that their regime change agenda machinations will not work.”
Commentator Professor Claude Mararike said of the scramble for donor support: “These are political lunatics . . . whom people should not follow as they have no basis to contribute anything meaningful as far as the political landscape of this country is concerned.”