Opinion / Columnist
Entrepreneur Chingonzo did not impress President Obama but made an ass of himself
06 Aug 2014 at 15:18hrs | Views
A 21-year-old Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Takura Chingonzo, on Tuesday afternoon, hit the jackpot; he interviewed President Barack Obama on stage at the US-Africa Business Forum in Washington. Sadly, like one other Zimbabwean, Richard Morgan Tsvangirai in 2009, he make a complete ass of himself!
"So in our working (Internet access)," Takura told the President and the audience and the world at large, "we came to a point in time where we needed to import a bit of technology from the United States, and so we were engaging in conversation with these U.S.-based businesses. And the response that we got time and time again was that unfortunately we cannot do business with you because you are from Zimbabwe."
"And I was shocked," concluded Takura with well-rehearsed facial and body postures to match – an electric shock would not have stunned him more. " -- this doesn't make sense!"
The story is all a fabricated lie because the sanctions are targeted sanctions and Takura Chingonzo is certainly NOT on that targeted list. He admitted as much himself.
"These entities believe that Zimbabwe is under sanctions," explain Chingonzo. "So what really can we do to do try and clarify this to make sure that we as the young entrepreneurs can effectively develop Africa and engage in business?" Really?
Think up a project be it in the internet access as is the case here or whatever, convincing financer and buyers, etc. was the really tough bit. So our model young Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Takura Chingonzo, jumped all those hurdles with flying colours but fall flat on his face when it came to American Business partner that he was not one of the one hundred or so Zimbabweans on the targeted sanctions list.
In 2009 President Obama had the then Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has his first African leader invited to White House. The later was telling him a hen's teeth story about why American should lift the sanction against Zimbabwe because Mugabe had changed. It was not until the rigged 2013 elections which resulted in Tsvangirai being kicked off the gravy train to finally convince his that the tyrant had not changed one bit.
Now as back then in 2009, President Obama was called upon to explain once again why America had imposed the targeted sanctions.
"The challenge for us in the United States has been how do we balance our desire to help the people of Zimbabwe with what has, frankly, been a repeated violation of basic democratic practices and human rights inside of Zimbabwe," explained the President, for the umpteenth time
The President should have looked the up-start idiot straight in the eyes and asked him, "Takura Chingonzo where you not shocked at the blatant vote rigging last year by President Mugabe and his Zanu PF members? In this day and age and 33 years after independence why should millions be so callously denied such a basic right as the right to a meaningful vote?" Takura would have been shocked for real this time.
Of course last year's blatant vote rigging had not shocked Takura, it had been water off a duck's back. Still, he would have said that had indeed been very shocked and would have been obliged to repeat his earlier I-am-very-shocked theatricals. Everyone would have seen that he was just faking it and the shame of it all would have send a thousand volt electric shock down his spine!
The trouble with narrow minded people like Takura Chingonzo and Morgan Tsvangirai is as long as they are doing well they do not give a damn that millions others are suffering. The Zanu PF dictatorship is working for them and to hell with the millions the system is grinding into the dirty!
No doubt Takura will be invited to meet President Mugabe on his return to Zimbabwe for his sterling contribution to have the targeted sanctions lifted. Mugabe would only be interested to recruit him to work with the CIO, if he is not already; the tyrant has the Chinese working on how to monitor all the internet traffic and would what to beef that up!
"So in our working (Internet access)," Takura told the President and the audience and the world at large, "we came to a point in time where we needed to import a bit of technology from the United States, and so we were engaging in conversation with these U.S.-based businesses. And the response that we got time and time again was that unfortunately we cannot do business with you because you are from Zimbabwe."
"And I was shocked," concluded Takura with well-rehearsed facial and body postures to match – an electric shock would not have stunned him more. " -- this doesn't make sense!"
The story is all a fabricated lie because the sanctions are targeted sanctions and Takura Chingonzo is certainly NOT on that targeted list. He admitted as much himself.
"These entities believe that Zimbabwe is under sanctions," explain Chingonzo. "So what really can we do to do try and clarify this to make sure that we as the young entrepreneurs can effectively develop Africa and engage in business?" Really?
Think up a project be it in the internet access as is the case here or whatever, convincing financer and buyers, etc. was the really tough bit. So our model young Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Takura Chingonzo, jumped all those hurdles with flying colours but fall flat on his face when it came to American Business partner that he was not one of the one hundred or so Zimbabweans on the targeted sanctions list.
In 2009 President Obama had the then Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has his first African leader invited to White House. The later was telling him a hen's teeth story about why American should lift the sanction against Zimbabwe because Mugabe had changed. It was not until the rigged 2013 elections which resulted in Tsvangirai being kicked off the gravy train to finally convince his that the tyrant had not changed one bit.
Now as back then in 2009, President Obama was called upon to explain once again why America had imposed the targeted sanctions.
"The challenge for us in the United States has been how do we balance our desire to help the people of Zimbabwe with what has, frankly, been a repeated violation of basic democratic practices and human rights inside of Zimbabwe," explained the President, for the umpteenth time
The President should have looked the up-start idiot straight in the eyes and asked him, "Takura Chingonzo where you not shocked at the blatant vote rigging last year by President Mugabe and his Zanu PF members? In this day and age and 33 years after independence why should millions be so callously denied such a basic right as the right to a meaningful vote?" Takura would have been shocked for real this time.
Of course last year's blatant vote rigging had not shocked Takura, it had been water off a duck's back. Still, he would have said that had indeed been very shocked and would have been obliged to repeat his earlier I-am-very-shocked theatricals. Everyone would have seen that he was just faking it and the shame of it all would have send a thousand volt electric shock down his spine!
The trouble with narrow minded people like Takura Chingonzo and Morgan Tsvangirai is as long as they are doing well they do not give a damn that millions others are suffering. The Zanu PF dictatorship is working for them and to hell with the millions the system is grinding into the dirty!
No doubt Takura will be invited to meet President Mugabe on his return to Zimbabwe for his sterling contribution to have the targeted sanctions lifted. Mugabe would only be interested to recruit him to work with the CIO, if he is not already; the tyrant has the Chinese working on how to monitor all the internet traffic and would what to beef that up!
Source - Wilbert Mukori
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
