Opinion / Columnist
2011: The year Jonathan Moyo may want to forget quickly
30 Dec 2011 at 17:50hrs | Views
If there is a year that political serial flip-flopper and arguably architect of Zimbabwe's media revenge laws, Jonathan Moyo would NOT like to be reminded of, it is 2011.
The year 2011 proved the most embarrassing, stressful and frustrating to the Zanu-pf politburo propagandist cum university professor that he wants it to pass quickly.
This was the year when Wikileaks exposed Jonathan Moyo's fickle Zanu-pf loyalty as it emerged he once advised the United States on removing the Commander-in-Chief, Head of State and Government, First Secretary and President of Zanu-pf Politburo Robert Gabriel Mugabe from power.
Yes, it also became abundantly clear in 2011that Jonathan Moyo hates his past especially publications which kept reminding the public about his previous writings critical of Robert Mugabe whom he now says is his hero.
Among the articles causing Jonathan Moyo embarrassment and stress are: 'Why Mugabe should go now'; 'Mugabe now too old, too tired'; 'Mugabe not telling the truth'; 'Mugabe leadership doomed to fail'; 'Mugabe behaving like a cornered rat'; 'Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe'; 'Mugabe incoherent, disoriented' and so on.
Ironically, in 2011, Jonathan Moyo hypocritically accused his political opponents and the independent media of being 'British-funded political tools of regime change' when he failed the test of morality himself by attempting to work clandestinely for Mugabe's ouster with imperialist entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson of Britain.
According to one cable 07Pretoria2443 Jonathan Moyo and Richard Branson discussed ways to boot Mugabe out of power, during which Moyo suggested to Branson that it would be easier to use a respected group of African leaders who could convince Mugabe to leave power.
Incredibly, in a move seen by experts as an attempt to deter journalists from doing their job and to throttle the Daily News financially, Moyo filed a US$100 000 lawsuit against the editor and a reporter of the Daily News for stories quoting comments attributed to him in the cables that are already known to the whole world.
Jonathan Moyo confessed to losing sleep over the cables "after spending an average of 18 hours a day between August and last Friday sifting through the staggering record of the published cables on the Internet and enduring uniquely Zimbabwean broadband frustrations with browsing speed and all,…"(see Wikileaks, a blessing in disguise by Jonathan Moyo, Zimpapers,10/09/11).
Moyo was also frustrated in 2011 for his failure to have Finance Minister Tendai Biti arrested for demanding a diamonds cash audit and to have MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai and his key official Jameson Timba arrested on allegations they undermined Mugabe by disputing Mugabe's interpretation of the outcome of the SADC Extraordinary Summit held in Sandton, South Africa.
A positive thing that Jonathan Moyo did in 2011 was his brilliant public lecture at the University of Zimbabwe on 'The challenges of public administration in Zimbabwe today' on 21 October 2011. Many would wish Moyo's New Year's resolution was to return to university work fulltime where he has undoubted and admirable skill.
Nevertheless, 2011 is the year Jonathan Moyo would like to forget quickly. Happy New Year!!!
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
The year 2011 proved the most embarrassing, stressful and frustrating to the Zanu-pf politburo propagandist cum university professor that he wants it to pass quickly.
This was the year when Wikileaks exposed Jonathan Moyo's fickle Zanu-pf loyalty as it emerged he once advised the United States on removing the Commander-in-Chief, Head of State and Government, First Secretary and President of Zanu-pf Politburo Robert Gabriel Mugabe from power.
Yes, it also became abundantly clear in 2011that Jonathan Moyo hates his past especially publications which kept reminding the public about his previous writings critical of Robert Mugabe whom he now says is his hero.
Among the articles causing Jonathan Moyo embarrassment and stress are: 'Why Mugabe should go now'; 'Mugabe now too old, too tired'; 'Mugabe not telling the truth'; 'Mugabe leadership doomed to fail'; 'Mugabe behaving like a cornered rat'; 'Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe'; 'Mugabe incoherent, disoriented' and so on.
Ironically, in 2011, Jonathan Moyo hypocritically accused his political opponents and the independent media of being 'British-funded political tools of regime change' when he failed the test of morality himself by attempting to work clandestinely for Mugabe's ouster with imperialist entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson of Britain.
According to one cable 07Pretoria2443 Jonathan Moyo and Richard Branson discussed ways to boot Mugabe out of power, during which Moyo suggested to Branson that it would be easier to use a respected group of African leaders who could convince Mugabe to leave power.
Incredibly, in a move seen by experts as an attempt to deter journalists from doing their job and to throttle the Daily News financially, Moyo filed a US$100 000 lawsuit against the editor and a reporter of the Daily News for stories quoting comments attributed to him in the cables that are already known to the whole world.
Jonathan Moyo confessed to losing sleep over the cables "after spending an average of 18 hours a day between August and last Friday sifting through the staggering record of the published cables on the Internet and enduring uniquely Zimbabwean broadband frustrations with browsing speed and all,…"(see Wikileaks, a blessing in disguise by Jonathan Moyo, Zimpapers,10/09/11).
Moyo was also frustrated in 2011 for his failure to have Finance Minister Tendai Biti arrested for demanding a diamonds cash audit and to have MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai and his key official Jameson Timba arrested on allegations they undermined Mugabe by disputing Mugabe's interpretation of the outcome of the SADC Extraordinary Summit held in Sandton, South Africa.
A positive thing that Jonathan Moyo did in 2011 was his brilliant public lecture at the University of Zimbabwe on 'The challenges of public administration in Zimbabwe today' on 21 October 2011. Many would wish Moyo's New Year's resolution was to return to university work fulltime where he has undoubted and admirable skill.
Nevertheless, 2011 is the year Jonathan Moyo would like to forget quickly. Happy New Year!!!
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London, zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Source - Clifford Chitupa Mashiri
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