Nera demonstrations: paltry turnout number: Who is stupid to repeat that?

The citizens of Zimbabwe are learning quickly how politicians use them and abuse them: be it the ruling party Zanu PF and the opposition parties some of whom have even tasted power in the GNU. The majority of the people did not come. They learnt in a hard way how politics from both sides: ruling and opposition, can mislead them, use them and leave them to dry after each and every demonstration that has happened in the recent times. The shock value still lingers: violence crackdown of last year's demonstrations

There were Zanu PF demonstrations: million match demonstrations that were felt country-wide. People were frog-matched to Harare by cars and buses. The "good" demonstrators must have hoped for a good diner after those heat waves they were subjected to on their way to Harare. They got nothing whatsoever: not even water to drink. So many people were stranded in Harare after the demonstrations: having their number been used, nobody knew them who they were after that big mass turnout. But all the Zanu MPs, Ministers and Members of the Politburo assembled in the evening after and had a good dinner with the Dear Leader.

Come demonstrations of activists from the July of last year: People were brave they demonstrated effectively against the VP Mphoko residing in a posh Sheraton Hotel for two year at the cost of the tax payer. No doubt that was a very powerful message that Stanley Zvorwadza put together to make a sound voice. The "good" VP Mphoko left the Hotel unceremoniously with his big tail tucked between his feet! We say kudos to Stanley Zvorwadza. He is a distinguished revolutionary in our eyes; we really adore him and his unparallel performance and a spirit to change! By the way he never relocated his wife to another country for safety.

Almost at the same time the civil servants were going to demonstrate for not getting their pay. That was a demonstration that would have happened even without the political activists riding on their "ground work" they had already done. "This Flag" revolution hijacked the civil servants demonstration and the Pastor performed well in this demonstration: civil servants were given their salaries at once. Pastor Evan Mawarire was incarcerated for demonstration and subsequent incarceration and for his movement: #This Flag that shook waves in the spins of the Zanu regime. The people: the wider electorate identified him as a leader who demonstrated absolute courage at that moment.

The entire attention was shifted then to our young vibrant leader Pastor Evan Mawarire: no doubt about his clarity in speech: a very eloquent speaker who articulated his politics and his understanding of our socio-economic problems to the satisfaction of the Zimbabwean citizens at home and in the Diaspora. He also got a lot of respect in the international community. His shortcomings or his limited political foresight was as strong as his courage to challenge Zanu PF regime. When he arrived from the USA, he told us in the media that he went to USA to get his family safe, but he is now back home to go for Presidential elections, is going to face the old regime of Zanu PF head-on.

Pastor Mawarire was also in front of these last week's Nera demonstrations again to demonstrate his absolute courage. But which women were to be sacrificed in this demonstration if Mawarire's wife was safe in the streets of New York? Which woman would sacrifice her life if Pastor is saying it loudly, my wife and children are safe, but all of you must come and demonstrate and change this notorious regime! What if the women got beaten up, his own fears; got raped, the most barbaric way people were beaten, and some lost their children during the demonstrations of last year: people really Tajamukaed, they #This flaged, #Asisesabi, Hatichacka! All those slogans we know them by heart, in sleeping we can recite them. It is the ordinary people who suffered at the hands of the brutal government of Zanu PF. They realised too just how brutal this government can be: it did not matter if the demonstrations were peaceful or not: Zanu PF is a government that has criminal minds: they can kill with impunity: the world, the international community will just look on, has looked on before when they were barbaric activities going on in Mathebeleland and Midlands. At best they condemned the cracking down of peaceful demonstrations and it ended there!

The people realized too that these very leaders in the opposite can use them as means, the povo, to their political ends. They were left to dry when the good Pastor absconded for USA to look for a safe keep of his wife and children, they must be safe, safe. Indeed he got the safe place: the streets of New York streets are safe places. In German we say: "sichere Herkunfsländer." Would it not be logic if all women and children of Zimbabwe were sent to USA temporarily, for some time, so that Zimbabwe becomes a real battlefield for regime change: men-to-men battles fists and all other means to bring down Zanu PF? Why would safety be the prerogative of one family that of Mawarire family and all others are to go out to demonstrate, it did not matter if they got killed, raped, it's the struggle after all: Pastor Mawarire will be President of Zimbabwe and there shall be some second Hero's Acres for those who died in their bravery of regime change. My second question is: who is cooking for Pastor Mawarire if his wife is residing indefinitely in the USA: is it Advocate Mahere or Linda Masarira? I suppose this is a rude question to ask the Pastor: it's the maids who do the cooking after all.

The people did not want to risk their lives for the few who are waiting in the sidelines to get into the shoes of Zanu PF oppressors and do the same story- repressive story, corruption all over again. The people now have less confidence even to the MDC-T opposition. During the GNU government, Biti is the one who showered praises at President Mugabe: "He is the fountain of wisdom: we shall appreciate his wisdom when he has died!" Is that normal such nonsense coming from an opposition party fighting Zanu on the ground? Are these the leaders we can sincerely put trust on them? You need to follow Tendai Biti on twitter and you read the twits about he criticizes the government of Zanu and Robert Mugabe and his Wife Grace: what has changed now: is it because he and all of them in GNU were out-manoeuvred and thrown out of the gravy train. They were taking turns: competing for recognition and nearness to the Dear Leader, in praising President Mugabe: what has changed now outside the GNU, is outside there too cold!

 The last weekend's by-elections in Mwenezi are telling all of us that the elections will be rigged seriously: indeed the elections were rigged: the margin of winning is not normal: 18,700. Zanu PF got an abnormal lead! The good question is, why go to the elections if it's telling all that there is not free and fair elections going to take place in 2018. Going to the elections is a good sign that the opposition is saying we cannot beat Zanu PF. But since Zanu PF is street-smart, with criminal minds most of them, they will just rig 66,666% and give the rest: the second best political party will be awarded the 33,333% seats: bread-crumbs from the Zanu PF table.

Patric Guramatuhnu, or Nomusa Garikai or Wilbert Mukori has been singing this hymn unendingly. Oftentimes we have become very irritated about this repetition of his cause. To some degree it makes a lot of sense what he is trying to tell the wider electorate. We cannot go for elections in 2018 again without reforms on the ground. Under normal circumstances all parties in Nera should actually come together and collectively boycott the elections so that nobody should be seen to be waiting on the fence to jump in and go to bed with Zanu PF. I do support Wilbert Mukori about this stance: my concerns about him are his methodologies and communication methods: so many people feel attacked by his communication methods in differing with them on various issues. I need to learn too, to critique and not criticize issues that are found wanting. Critiquing is a form of democratic privilege if one is communicating competently and factual. Perhaps we should never personalize our critiques, a very difficult thing to do. Easier said than done.

Please do not call for demonstration if you leaders go to the demonstration with your half-hearts and inherent fears of being brutally beaten to downright nastiness. We lost lives last year, very few people will be convinced to brave it out again after those serious abuse of criminal nature by Zimbabwean police and army and CIOs: It is not long ago last year a demonstration was called: when we saw Amai Mujuru in a 4 &4 car and her security round her car, the same was Tendai Biti who never left the car. In no time their cars ran away as fast as they could: leaving behind the povo without fast cars, running on foot, people without leaders had to face the brutality of the police. Who is stupid to repeat that again so that Amai Mujuru becomes President or President Tsvangirai becomes President of Zimbabwe?