Politics, prophecies and serious opposition ructions
FOLLOWING last week’s reports that MDC-T leader, Douglas Mwonzora, visited CCC interim vice chairman, Job Sikhala, CCC Chitungwiza North legislator, Godfrey Sithole and 14 others at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, the CCC leader Nelson Chamisa has written to the Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS), Moses Chihobvu seeking authority to visit the same people.
Chamisa’s request came over two months after he drove to Chikurubi to visit the 16 members of his party who were arrested on June 14, following the Nyatsime violence and vandalism which was allegedly instigated by Sikhala.
While the tone of Chamisa’s letter, which was done through Shava Law Chambers, was one of politely accusing the ZPCS of unfairly denying him access to his imprisoned members, its timing inadvertently foregrounded the opposition leader’s politics of childishness.
It clearly demonstrated the bare fact that his renewed push to visit his members was driven more by the desire to counter Mwonzora’s reported visit than the love for the political trouble makers.
Many will remember how the October 16, 2022 edition of the Trevor Ncube-owned weekly, The Standard, carried a front page mischievous headline: “Chamisa denied ‘access’ to Sikhala . . . as Govt allows Mwonzora to visit Chikurubi prison.”
The story was supposed to be about Mwonzora’s Chikurubi visit, but Ncube appointed himself and his newspaper titles to the position of the official media to the Zimbabwean opposition.
The editor of the weekly shamelessly saw nothing wrong with throwing media ethics out of the window to pander to the whims of the Western-handled opposition outfit and fight in Chamisa’s corner.
Chamisa had perfunctorily and half-heartedly attempted to visit Sikhala and others on July 25 and denied entry by ZPCS officials and it appears he had forgotten about the issue until he got stung by Mwonzora’s reported visit.
He was over with his failure to visit Sikhala and others and was content with using the incident to criticise Government for it at his rallies until Mwonzora reportedly visited his 16 incarcerated members.
It should be noted that Mwonzora’s visit came after he had just joined the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD).
The CCC insiders whispered in hushed tones of how Chamisa was quacking in his boots at the thought of Mwonzora potentially negotiating for Sikhala’s release successfully.
A successful negotiation of the release of Sikhala and others would create more internal pressure for Chamisa to join POLAD which he has been spurning since 2018.
This would make Mwonzora a hero for the 16 party members. It would make the spectre of Sikhala joining MDC-T a reality. In any case, Sikhala is in Parliament on the MDC-T ticket.
He is an MDC-T legislator. Chamisa’s worry is not so much about losing Sikhala since he does not like him much. It is about the symbolic meaning of a Sikhala crossover to the MDC-T.
The foregoing events bring to the fore one thing - Chamisa and CCC’s neglect of Sikhala, Sithole and others. The question that then arises is: Why is Chamisa so much against Sikhala? A bit of background would assist some to understand the issue better.
Sometime in April 2020, a then MDC Alliance member who is also a member of an apostolic sect, which is led by one Madzibaba Mariko, was at his church’s shrine which is located on the rocky area between Chitungwiza Road and Manyame River near St Mary’s in Chitungwiza.
Madzibaba Mariko is said to have motioned him to stand up. The prophet said that he had a word for Zimbabweans.
“The . . . vision is about a servant of God who has the name of the biblical Job,” he said.
“Job shall rise above all odds and lead a huge group of people. He shall hold the newest office in Zimbabwe in the summer of 2023.
“The office equivalent to that of a Cabinet Minister, yet he will not be in Cabinet. He will fly to many capitals and meet several leaders. He shall be respected and will run for the highest office after that. In several visions, I saw Job swimming across the Manyame River before reaching his hands to the sky and receiving a torch, a leadership torch.
“As the torch shines in the vision, his physical shadow disappears and those who would be ahead of him and clad in red are consumed by a mysterious pestilence, vices, crimes and indulgences leaving him on top to bravely face men in green, gold and black,” said Madzibaba Mariko before asking the church member to sit down.
Obviously, the prophet’s parishioner took the word to fellow MDC Alliance members until it reached the ears of their legislator, Sikhala, as the seer intended.
Sikhala told the good news to members of his inner circle and the word spread until Chamisa got wind of it.
The Pentecostal church goer in Chamisa dismissed the issue off hand as “zvamapostori,” but the politician in
him told him that the prophecy and Sikhala’s popularity, especially among the youth spelt bad news for his own political career.
Since then Chamisa does not like Sikhala.
This has been worsened by the latter’s readiness to defy Government, which has earned him the moniker, Mandela, among the youth in apparent reference to the late former South African leader, Nelson Mandela.
His readiness to push for pointless protests and mindless vandalism and violence has created a hero among some who, since Chamisa’s electoral loss to President Mnangagwa on July 30, 2018, have been looking for justification to unleash anarchy in the country to exact revenge against and sabotage President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF.
The reality that the party’s youths now regard Sikhala’s so-called “bravery” better than Chamisa’s own “young age” which is supposed to be a political trump card, is dawning on him.
Chamisa thought that his “young age” would enable him to connect better with the youth, but the latter is very frustrated with him. In fact, Chamisa is no longer young at 44.
The Chamisa, who wreaked havoc at the Harare Polytechnic College at the turn of the century as a student leader, and Chamisa the CCC leader are totally different people, much to the frustration of some in his party who love violent protests. They now view him as a square peg in a round hole to his own frustration.
Instead of sitting down with the youths and counselling them against lawlessness, the childish politician in Chamisa has taken to hating Sikhala.
This has been worsened by the fact that Sikhala, like Tendai Biti and Chalton Hwende, is part of senior CCC members who are now disenchanted by Chamisa’s leadership style.
The group which, in CCC lingo, is referred to as the Maruva Cabal, wants Chamisa replaced by Biti like yesterday.
It is against this background that in June this year Chamisa told the world how he felt about Sikhala and those who participated in the Nyatsime violence and vandalism.
He tweeted that “we are a peaceful citizens’ movement. We believe in non-violence. Those among us who acted on their own accord in Nyatsime should submit themselves before our laws.”
That is not the citizens’ “way.” Chamisa threw Sikhala, Sithole and others under the bus. His attempt to visit them in July and his latest stunt on the same matter are, therefore, more about himself than their welfare. His letter and request to Commissioner General Chihobvu is more about his ineffectual attempt to outshine Mwonzora than asserting his rights and fighting for Sikhala.
As the world digests the matter, which is set to continue unfolding, it should be pointed out that while Sikhala and company erred, their party leadership has abandoned them.
Any apparent efforts of solidarity with them or fighting for their release by their leadership is either for their (leadership’s) own selfish ends or meant to influence political optics in their own favour in the eyes of the world.
As the nation counts down towards the 2023 harmonised general elections, those who have been mesmerised by Chamisa’s comedy and lies as well as his party’s bright colour should know that the opposition leader is all about himself and no one else.
He and his party are all about political power and not the people’s anxieties, concerns and welfare.
Fortunately, State power is not given on a silver platter by Western powers. It is earned from the electorate on the basis of one’s political track record.