Opinion / Columnist
Mrs Masuku: she gaffed!
31 Jan 2018 at 20:56hrs | Views
This boot-licking is so contagious it has become a disease; it's pandemic: this disease does not belong to any political party of ethnic group in the country. Be it Shona or Ndebele or of white race they went out of their way to embrace the new dispensation of Mnangagwa's government. Mnangagwa himself knows that he needed to do very little to get excess of hero-worshippers around him. But we know this already and not very long ago. There are some we know by names who worshipped Amai Dr. Grace Mugabe but overnight changed their allegiance to Mnangagwa by the sound of the cock crowing in the next dawn of the coup of November 2017.
Mrs. Masuku can sincerely and comfortably say she is not the only one who betrayed the revolution, the struggle, there are many of them out there in Bulawayo alone. She was then confident that those who booed her were as a matter of fact; licking their wounds, (bazikhotha izilonda njengeja) did not manage to get those lucrative posts in the new dispensation; to eat yet again. Mrs Masuku has always been the foot-solder of Zanu PF until Dr. Grace Mugabe booted her out because she thought she was not loyal enough. Mrs. Eunice Sandi-Moyo was also one of them who were near to Robert Mugabe's ears for a long time. These are known women including Sithembiso Nyoni who betrayed the struggle, the revolution. These are women who are and were more Zanu PF than the Zanu PF members themselves. They were more patriotic than the word-definition patriotism. They sang and danced at the mere mention of Robert. They would even invent liars to please the Führer: once Robert and the next is Emmerson!
Alone Dr. Dumiso Dabengwa aired his wish to be part of Mnangagwa's government immediately after the coup was staged on SA- TV. This is a decorated soldier who trained in the Soviet Union: we all thought he was the spokesperson for the region of Mathebeleland. Is General Dabengwa together with the people who are marginalized in this region? Is Dr. Dabengwa warming up to his once arch enemy Mnangagwa who dangled door keys (on his face) of his cell at Chikurubi? "Join Zanu PF, here are the keys, you can leave prison anytime if you join Zanu PF" Mnangagwa said to Dabengwa. Did General Dabengwa not suffer torture in Chikurubi under Mnangagwa as Security Minister of Mugabe's Zanu PF government?
Why is Dabengwa not trusted in Mathebeleland? Has General Dabengwa ever asked those questions seriously why the people of Mathebeleland and Bulawayo do not vote for him? Since 2009 Zapu has never won elections in their own territory. These are questions that linger in our minds, questions that will always insist, what makes General Dabengwa think that Zanu PF has changed? What makes Dabengwa think that he can work together with Mnangagwa: such an unpredictable, ruthless, tribal, murderer person? For argument sake, if he was given a post, what was he going to do with Zapu party since he is the president of the party? Was Zapu party going to go for an alliance with Mnangagwa's party- the new dispensation, the new dawn, the new era?
Colonel Tshinga Dupe's by-election campaign in Makhokhoba constituency promised the people of Bulawayo that he will bring water from Zambezi to Bulawayo. He was going to take charge of Mathebeleland Water Project. The residents believed him and they voted for him with the hope that he will bring change to the region, not only in Makhokhoba but in sustainable development in Bulawayo's rotting industry. He said he was going to resuscitate the Bulawayo industry: Bulawayo will experience its glory of yesteryear Tshinga Dube said. We are still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled to date. It is not late considering the elections will take place in four months time! There is still time to realize all those electoral promises he made.
Mr. Hadebe, director of Joshua Nyongolo Nkomo Foundation went into overdrive: likened Mnangagwa with Joshua Nkomo. He desperately needed something to say to bring attention to the new era: the bootlicking frenzy already pandemic in all corners of Zimbabwe. The unemployment in Zimbabwe that has become chronic and it compels almost all to seek relevance with the government because that is where employment and kickbacks in the form of projects are given at the mercy of the ruling elite. How much have to be seen worshipping Mnangagwa to get any project funding in the first place. This is the culture that Zanu PF has nurtured since independence of 1980.
Let's come back to Mrs. Angeline Masuku. Her actions and utterances were a stroke of genius. This is a woman who had been thrown to the dustbins of politics by G-40. For some reason not very clear they got rid of her. In a developing country like Zimbabwe, to come back from a political dust bin back to active political life once more, is luck like no other. She had to risk it, and show it to her Boss that she is working for him in that very difficult electorate of Mathebeleland. It misfired seriously. It is not that she gauged the mourning mood of the residents in Bulawayo wrongly, no; Mrs. Masuku was desperate to say something to please the boss. In a nutshell this is politics in Zimbabwe. At the same time Mrs. Masuku was aware of the fact that some elements in the leadership of Mathebeleland are deeply envious of her position as Minister of Mathebeleland or whatever they call her ministerial post. The politics of Zimbabwe today is not those values and principles we held so high in Zapu during the liberation days in Zambia. Zimbabwe's politics is the politics of the stomach. The stomach determines what to do in any given opportunity arising.
Gugurahundi has been commercialized says Mrs. Masuku. This statement has been made by several peoples in the government and outside. In our desperation let us not underestimate a people called west Europeans for whatever reasons. I do not know any organization, be it charity of Foundations or governments that will just give donor money because you shouted "Gugurahundi" at their doorsteps. If I speak about German Foundations, I do not know any Stiftung that will sponsor such a project called Gugurahundi atrocities, it did not matter how painful you can illustrate your project proposal. International Foundations engages with people on the ground whose purpose is to bring sustainable development. International organisations will only chip in when they see that our governments do not care about the welfare of its people: famine and loss of livelihoods in marginalized societies. Their AID is concrete and tangible.
The Gugurahundi and crimes against humanity issues are problems to be solved by designated world bodies such as the UN and Haig's international court of justice. A truth and reconciliation inside Zimbabwe is also welcome as long as the government of Zimbabwe does not act as arbitrators of genocide, if they are defendants at the same time. The government of the day in Zimbabwe has some elements who committed those crimes against humanity: what is there for them to arbitrate? Does that not smell like a kangaroo-court? Legal expertise is required, also the neutral persons and international institutions that handle such painful issues determines the success of it. In those high level crimes there are no money-making dealings per se with such high level crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. To say that Gugurahundi is commercialized is according to me wickedness at best because such moves wish to trivialize and neutralize cases of genocide and crimes against humanity. They want to scare people who genuinely want closure to this chapter.
Mrs. Masuku should be told in no uncertain terms whatsoever that defending her boss Mnangagwa's genocide-past puts her politically in a vulnerable position in the region she is Minister of. We also know that organisations and persons in Mathebeleland are infiltrated with underground CIOs who are there for the purpose of trivializing and neutralizing the Gugurahundi cause. Those are the peoples in the region who are given the right to highjack Gugurahundi cause. We really have to be vigilant about those sheeps in the wolf skins. We know them; they speak our languages, they are eloquently smart in their dealings with groups who are genuinely active for the Gugurahundi cause. We should not worry about Mrs. Angeline Masuku's utterance more than to worry about (hidden) people in the region who are working for Zanu PF, to trivialize genocide; those are enemies of Mathebeleland and Midlands. Watch out!
Mrs. Masuku can sincerely and comfortably say she is not the only one who betrayed the revolution, the struggle, there are many of them out there in Bulawayo alone. She was then confident that those who booed her were as a matter of fact; licking their wounds, (bazikhotha izilonda njengeja) did not manage to get those lucrative posts in the new dispensation; to eat yet again. Mrs Masuku has always been the foot-solder of Zanu PF until Dr. Grace Mugabe booted her out because she thought she was not loyal enough. Mrs. Eunice Sandi-Moyo was also one of them who were near to Robert Mugabe's ears for a long time. These are known women including Sithembiso Nyoni who betrayed the struggle, the revolution. These are women who are and were more Zanu PF than the Zanu PF members themselves. They were more patriotic than the word-definition patriotism. They sang and danced at the mere mention of Robert. They would even invent liars to please the Führer: once Robert and the next is Emmerson!
Alone Dr. Dumiso Dabengwa aired his wish to be part of Mnangagwa's government immediately after the coup was staged on SA- TV. This is a decorated soldier who trained in the Soviet Union: we all thought he was the spokesperson for the region of Mathebeleland. Is General Dabengwa together with the people who are marginalized in this region? Is Dr. Dabengwa warming up to his once arch enemy Mnangagwa who dangled door keys (on his face) of his cell at Chikurubi? "Join Zanu PF, here are the keys, you can leave prison anytime if you join Zanu PF" Mnangagwa said to Dabengwa. Did General Dabengwa not suffer torture in Chikurubi under Mnangagwa as Security Minister of Mugabe's Zanu PF government?
Why is Dabengwa not trusted in Mathebeleland? Has General Dabengwa ever asked those questions seriously why the people of Mathebeleland and Bulawayo do not vote for him? Since 2009 Zapu has never won elections in their own territory. These are questions that linger in our minds, questions that will always insist, what makes General Dabengwa think that Zanu PF has changed? What makes Dabengwa think that he can work together with Mnangagwa: such an unpredictable, ruthless, tribal, murderer person? For argument sake, if he was given a post, what was he going to do with Zapu party since he is the president of the party? Was Zapu party going to go for an alliance with Mnangagwa's party- the new dispensation, the new dawn, the new era?
Colonel Tshinga Dupe's by-election campaign in Makhokhoba constituency promised the people of Bulawayo that he will bring water from Zambezi to Bulawayo. He was going to take charge of Mathebeleland Water Project. The residents believed him and they voted for him with the hope that he will bring change to the region, not only in Makhokhoba but in sustainable development in Bulawayo's rotting industry. He said he was going to resuscitate the Bulawayo industry: Bulawayo will experience its glory of yesteryear Tshinga Dube said. We are still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled to date. It is not late considering the elections will take place in four months time! There is still time to realize all those electoral promises he made.
Mr. Hadebe, director of Joshua Nyongolo Nkomo Foundation went into overdrive: likened Mnangagwa with Joshua Nkomo. He desperately needed something to say to bring attention to the new era: the bootlicking frenzy already pandemic in all corners of Zimbabwe. The unemployment in Zimbabwe that has become chronic and it compels almost all to seek relevance with the government because that is where employment and kickbacks in the form of projects are given at the mercy of the ruling elite. How much have to be seen worshipping Mnangagwa to get any project funding in the first place. This is the culture that Zanu PF has nurtured since independence of 1980.
Let's come back to Mrs. Angeline Masuku. Her actions and utterances were a stroke of genius. This is a woman who had been thrown to the dustbins of politics by G-40. For some reason not very clear they got rid of her. In a developing country like Zimbabwe, to come back from a political dust bin back to active political life once more, is luck like no other. She had to risk it, and show it to her Boss that she is working for him in that very difficult electorate of Mathebeleland. It misfired seriously. It is not that she gauged the mourning mood of the residents in Bulawayo wrongly, no; Mrs. Masuku was desperate to say something to please the boss. In a nutshell this is politics in Zimbabwe. At the same time Mrs. Masuku was aware of the fact that some elements in the leadership of Mathebeleland are deeply envious of her position as Minister of Mathebeleland or whatever they call her ministerial post. The politics of Zimbabwe today is not those values and principles we held so high in Zapu during the liberation days in Zambia. Zimbabwe's politics is the politics of the stomach. The stomach determines what to do in any given opportunity arising.
Gugurahundi has been commercialized says Mrs. Masuku. This statement has been made by several peoples in the government and outside. In our desperation let us not underestimate a people called west Europeans for whatever reasons. I do not know any organization, be it charity of Foundations or governments that will just give donor money because you shouted "Gugurahundi" at their doorsteps. If I speak about German Foundations, I do not know any Stiftung that will sponsor such a project called Gugurahundi atrocities, it did not matter how painful you can illustrate your project proposal. International Foundations engages with people on the ground whose purpose is to bring sustainable development. International organisations will only chip in when they see that our governments do not care about the welfare of its people: famine and loss of livelihoods in marginalized societies. Their AID is concrete and tangible.
The Gugurahundi and crimes against humanity issues are problems to be solved by designated world bodies such as the UN and Haig's international court of justice. A truth and reconciliation inside Zimbabwe is also welcome as long as the government of Zimbabwe does not act as arbitrators of genocide, if they are defendants at the same time. The government of the day in Zimbabwe has some elements who committed those crimes against humanity: what is there for them to arbitrate? Does that not smell like a kangaroo-court? Legal expertise is required, also the neutral persons and international institutions that handle such painful issues determines the success of it. In those high level crimes there are no money-making dealings per se with such high level crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. To say that Gugurahundi is commercialized is according to me wickedness at best because such moves wish to trivialize and neutralize cases of genocide and crimes against humanity. They want to scare people who genuinely want closure to this chapter.
Mrs. Masuku should be told in no uncertain terms whatsoever that defending her boss Mnangagwa's genocide-past puts her politically in a vulnerable position in the region she is Minister of. We also know that organisations and persons in Mathebeleland are infiltrated with underground CIOs who are there for the purpose of trivializing and neutralizing the Gugurahundi cause. Those are the peoples in the region who are given the right to highjack Gugurahundi cause. We really have to be vigilant about those sheeps in the wolf skins. We know them; they speak our languages, they are eloquently smart in their dealings with groups who are genuinely active for the Gugurahundi cause. We should not worry about Mrs. Angeline Masuku's utterance more than to worry about (hidden) people in the region who are working for Zanu PF, to trivialize genocide; those are enemies of Mathebeleland and Midlands. Watch out!
Source - Nomazulu Thata
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.
