Chamisa is 'immature, ideologically bankrupt,' says Jonathan Moyo

PROFESSOR Jonathan Moyo has hit out at Nelson Chamisa's "duplicitous" nature, revealing he worked with the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader for three years, interacting on a daily basis and yet the opposition politician publicly pretended otherwise.

Chamisa, according to Moyo, would not publicly admit the three-year close collaboration, citing "mambo jambo" about "formidable" trees needing to hide their roots..

"He (Chamisa) always gave the impression that he and I were not working together at all; yet we interacted many times a day, 24/7, between 2018 and early 2022," Moyo told News.24.com.

"When I challenged Chamisa about [the] duplicitous stance in November 2021, he said no formidable tree makes public its roots.

"I told him that his analogy was inappropriate, undemocratic, unprofessional, wrong, and satanic; he mumbled some mumbo jumbo, and I bade him farewell, which later turned out to be for good."

Prof Moyo and ex-cabinet colleague Patrick Zhuwao – both forced into exile by the 2017 military coup – recently issued a public apology to ruling party members for their role in the #ZanuPFMustGo campaign.

The campaign immediately followed the violent power grab by the Zanu-PF faction backing then vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Asked by newzimbabwe.com about the ‘method to the madness' behind their public apology Prof Moyo said the only viable theatre for meaningful debate on the Zimbabwe question was in the ruling party.

"We never had issues with the Zanu-PF membership; we had issues with fellow leaders, who won the day by military force. A lot of the ZanuPF membership, including from my Tsholotsho constituency, were puzzled by our use of the hashtag."

He dismissed the opposition in Zimbabwe as mahumbwe (child's play).

"Our public, and thus open support, for NC (Nelson Chamisa) did not rise to the broad based coalition we expected and, worse, it was not reciprocated but attracted intolerable demonisation which even dragged in family members who were gratuitously maligned, including my late daughter.

"As far as we concerned the relevant, substantive and meaningful debate on Zimbabwe's national question and economic prosperity – based on the inclusive values and principles of the country's liberation struggle and national independence – has remained among and between Zanu-PF members. The rest mahumbwe (child's play)."

He continued; "NC (Nelson Chamisa) and his base publicly proved to be unworthy of the kind of support we gave them.

"We now know first-hand that they're immature, ideologically bankrupt and anti-the nationalist project. They want power just for its own sake, on behalf of their handlers and funders."

Zanu-PF national spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa welcomed the apology although it was intended for party members, and not the leadership.

Mutsvangwa may have missed, or perhaps chose to ignore, reiteration by Prof Moyo and Zhuwao that issues which were at the heart of the G40-Lacoste leadership row in 2017 remain critical to the country's future.

"Critically, the method in our madness is to be found in the issues we list (in their public apology).

"We believed in those issues before 15 November 2017 and we have remained seized with those issues since then. How those issues are addressed will define Zim's future.

"To make a long story short, clearly the #ZanuPfMustGo hashtag is misplaced and misguided; it's even unconstitutional. In particular, we never had issues with the Zanu-PF membership, we had issues with fellow leaders, who won the day by military force," he said.

Meanwhile, asked by News24.com how he had spent the past five years in exile, Prof Moyo said; "I have been studying, doing consultancy work, teaching, mentoring graduate and doctoral students, making and producing music, and, above all, raising and taking care of our last-born girl child, who is set for university next year."