A divided people, a defeated people!

The national shutdown or stayaway is developing in interesting dimensions.... It is not as peaceful as earlier predicted and disturbing reports of loss of lives keep filtering in. Variously motivated comments for and against the strike action are also an interesting phenomenon... It suggests one thing to me: that Zimbabweans , haven't quite found each other on what is at stake and they are not on one page as to what needs to be done!

This thrifty govt had , as always worked crafty ways of ensuring there is enough doubting Tomases, happy beneficiaries, sly turncoats and cheap sellouts to ensure the opposition strategies are foiled or remain unconvincing and unsustainable.

They have mastered the art of recreating new forms of sustainable apartheid of black government against black citizens...

There are still multiple varying pockets of opinion about the nature, the size , extent and impact of the our crisis. Even whether or not it has reached " crisis" levels is not a unanimous consensus.

Primarily, that is because in all its madness, the ZANU PF policies have effectively divided the levels both of benefit and deprivation in the national cake.

A small protected powerful Inner Clique of Primary Shareholders of the country holds forte .... They have cut out all of us from the nation's resource bank... They are everyday lining up national wealth, living large, insulating self and family from all punitive responsibilities and bad policies... And stocking up future wealth for their children.

Add to their number Categories of connected tenderpreneur Cartels... people that feed the Primary Shareholders and in turn earn lucrative, protected deals and tenders from national coffers, insulated from open competition or legal scrutiny. This forms another layer of The Chosen Ones. Their children don't go to local schools or universities and they don't get onto a Mpilo or Parirenyatwa bed!

Absolute loyalty and patronage sustains them . They too are looting future generations to invest for self and family. They will defend ED and the junta with their very lives.

There's a layer of Snr Civil Servants, Chiefs,Chefs and a Cream of Securocrats in the Army, Police , Intelligence who live off the power of the Centre , a life unlike any other Zimbabwean . They and their families also swear by ED and his Inner Circle...

They could never understand any talk of illegitimacy or suffering as they simply do not relate to that shit!

A strong group of running dogs comprising of media moguls and media houses whose business is to only see good and defend the govt and all its policies is another protected tool box of The Prince... It works with a semi- neutral, print, radio, social media, the works... media structure accorded some license to pretend to play balanced , some semblance window of critical free thinking, but also to defend the junta flagship as an underlying rule...

They are fiercely critical of all opposition endeavours that, you would otherwise expect them to promote and champion!

They too live pretty well and do not share any of the despair and anger of the rest of the country. They hold these stayaways in muted scorn.

Those buffer organisations and structures that have been created by ZANU PF over time to shadow the sincere opposition and civil society.... including pro-Zanu Residents associations, pro ZANU PF Churches and FBOs , pro Zpf ZCTU, govt- sponsored-NGOs (GONGOs ) and indeed pro- Zanu PF MDCs are some of the most sly, cunning, dangerous infiltrates of the Zpf Juggernaut in this whole governance circus...

These are paid runners who work in the opposition, with the full blessings of the opposition camp everyday with the , but sole business of undoing every opposition effort.

They and their families sing loudest about change but work the hardest against change...! As we speak , some lead the marching masses and , to justify the army and the killings , they will burn properties and incite the violence...

Many cadres that so far have been in the trenches and seemed to oppose ZANU PFare now filled with fear in their hearts, sincere of dying paupers or of watching their business empires fold and crumble... and they are suddenly in awe of the resilience of their tormentor... They are simply too tired of struggle and would rather jump onto the bandwagon and shame the masses... These and other, similarly compromised Categories of Favour comprise a significant number in the struggle for democracy... Or rather out of it.

You can feel the forked tongues and fence- sitting in so much of the Stay away commentary....

Always, the effect of that is a disjointed, half hearted, ineffective change strategy.

The narrative therefore that maybe Zimbabwean as a whole have not suffered enough for there to be a unanimous call and truly binding collective agency for change is true. Too many people out there are apologists of this govt and in the depths of their hearts many who call for change simply envy the gravy train and only want to be part of the layers that are protected from the pain of the povo.