Government should stop crying wolf

THE more things change, the more they remain the same. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Demagogues throughout history have perpetuated the idea of an us vs them.

It’s a very potent political tool whose rhetoric appeals to people’s fears and prejudices, the darkest pits of the human soul.

German dictator Adolf Hitler spoke of the Jews as being the reason for their disfranchisement, loss of World War I and other dubious claims.

United States President Donald Trump used the same tactic to get into office by exploiting immigrant paranoia and the Black Lives Movement is fuelled by a fear and anger directed at a “racist” police force.

Following suit in the use of this primitive political tool is Zanu PF acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa, who went on to attack, in a very undiplomatic fashion, US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brian A Nichols, accusing him of sponsoring “terrorist” activities. We have seen this play out before.

The acute economic recession that afflicted Zimbabwe in the 2000s was blamed on ‘’illegal’’ sanctions and racism by white overlords who don’t want us to own our means of production, never mind the fact that the land reform programme itself was illadvised and mismanaged, even to this day.

In the same vein, as there are fears of riots today, the blame is put again on foreign powers, terrorists and not on the fact that drought and rampant hyperinflation have impoverished the people.

The government needs to stop crying wolf as the people are not gullible to believe such.

Instead, this strains diplomatic relationships barely two years after the mantra of the regime, which claimed Zimbabwe “is open for business’’.

The Toureg nomads say: “Kiss the hand you cannot severe.” Atlanta, a city in the US with a gross domestic product of US$12 billion, almost matches our country’s.

There are cities with more people than Zimbabwe and we can’t be engaged in torching contests with major powers. We are a small country. It has not worked for Cuba and it has not worked for us.

Our government is in a crisis, but in every crisis exists opportunity. In a perfect world, they should look themselves in the mirror, take responsibility and govern.

But alas, it takes the easy route, playing victim and I hope today, we don’t see bloodshed like what happened almost exactly two years ago, during the August 1 post-election protests, as well as last year during the January 14-16 anti-fuel price hike protests.

Maverick Maphosa