Opinion / Columnist
We, the people, are the sheep amongst Mujuru, Biti, etc
08 Jun 2015 at 09:23hrs | Views
the wolves, we must be "as shrewd as snakes" to survive!
The recent avalanche of apologies from former VP Joice Mujuru, apologizing for "her role" in the Zanu PF failures and then Tendai Biti apologizing for "collective foolishness" of the opposition reminded me Jesus's warning to his disciples.
"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves," said Jesus in Matthew 10:16.
"Suppose there are two men, the first man runs over your son and kills the child," explained my late father. "The second man steals your cow. Both men offer their apologies. The innocent as a dove person will accept the two men's apologies and that will be the end of the matter."
"The shrewd as snake person would dig deeper into the two incidents. If the first man was sober as a judge when the accident happened, brought the body of the dead child together with his most sincere apologies; it was probable an accident. It will right and reasonable to forgive him."
"On the other hand if the cow was stolen in the dead of night and you have only found out who the guilty person because you would not rest until you uncovered the truth. A cow cannot just disappear into thin air without trace! It will be right and reasonable to doubt the sincerity of the thief's apology. This was not an accident but a carefully planned act for selfish gain; the man is apologizing not for having wronged you but for being caught which is not the same thing!"
On what basis therefore can one justify accepting Mai Mujuru's apology for "her role" in the corrupt and oppressive Zanu PF tyrannical rule. It will be naïve and downright stupid to accept that she did not know this was going on; not after 34 years, of course she knew. Indeed she not only knew what was going on, she certainly played her part in the corruption and looting.
Mai Mujuru is one of the richest individuals in Zimbabwe with a fortune valued in billions of dollars amassed at the time when many business ventures were closing down and corruption was rampant. She must be a very shrewd business woman or else she is as corrupt as they come! She has denied being corrupt, most jail birds will tell you they are innocent "the lawyer fcuked me up!" She will, no doubt, explain to the world how she made her fortune one of these fine days.
If has taken two years of nagging Tendai Biti on when he and his fellow MDC leaders will apologize for betraying the nation and failing to implement even one of the raft of democratic reforms necessary for free and fair elections. Mugabe bribed MDC leaders into doing nothing on the reforms and so after five years of the GNU not even one reform was implemented.
Of course Tendai Biti and his MDC friends sold-out during the GNU. MDC leaders "were busy enjoying themselves during the GNU, they forgot why they were there" as SADC heads commented.
"We would like to apologise for the collective foolishness of the opposition and failure to form an alternative political voice in the country," admitted Tendai Biti.
It was not the sudden realization of the tragic consequences of the 35 years of Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical rule that forced Mai Mujuru to admit the failure and prompted the apology. If she had not been kicked out of the party last December, she would still be playing her role in the dictatorship vehemently denying there was corruption and blaming the economic meltdown on "the sanctions imposed the imperialist West!"
Mai Mujuru never saw the injustice of the Zanu PF dictatorship or the tragic human suffering brought by the economic meltdown; she did see any of this for the 34 years she was in power and does not see it now. What she sees now and has prompted her to make this uncharacteristic admission of Zanu PF's failures is the political reality that she is no longer in power and she sees the admission and apology as necessary first steps in her attempt to regain power.
Similarly Tendai Biti's apology is not because he and his fellow MDC friends have had any "Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus transformative moment". They are still the same corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent sell-out they were before the rigged July 2013 election that saw most of them kicked off the gravy train. They are apologizing because they too see it as the necessary first step for them to get back into power.
Mujuru's apology has not "cured" her of being the corrupt and tyrannical woman she has been these last 34 years. The apology has not "cured" Biti of the "collective foolishness" he and other MDC leaders showed during the GNU.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the people of Zimbabwe have been naïve and gullible and treated all our leaders as if they were all incapable of doing anything wrong. Now that the country is in a real mess, it would fool for us to accept at face value that all that went wrong was an accident.
"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves," said Jesus. Those words are as relevant to Jesus's disciples as there are to us today. A healthy and functioning democracy demands an electorate that is as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves!
Zimbabwe missed up on the chance to create a democracy in 1980 because we were naïve to trust Mugabe and his cronies. The country had the golden chance to end the Zanu PF dictatorship during the GNU but wasted that chance because we entrusted the task of implemented the reforms to to corrupt and incompetent MDC leaders.
The economic meltdown is putting Mugabe and Zanu PF under increasing pressure to accept political and economic reforms. This will be another chance to make sure the democratic reforms are finally implemented. It will be irresponsible of us to waste this chance too by entrusting the important task of getting all the reform implemented to politicians like Mai Mujuru and Tendai Biti who have already proven beyond doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent just because they have said they are sorry!
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Nomusa Garikai <zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
The recent avalanche of apologies from former VP Joice Mujuru, apologizing for "her role" in the Zanu PF failures and then Tendai Biti apologizing for "collective foolishness" of the opposition reminded me Jesus's warning to his disciples.
"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves," said Jesus in Matthew 10:16.
"Suppose there are two men, the first man runs over your son and kills the child," explained my late father. "The second man steals your cow. Both men offer their apologies. The innocent as a dove person will accept the two men's apologies and that will be the end of the matter."
"The shrewd as snake person would dig deeper into the two incidents. If the first man was sober as a judge when the accident happened, brought the body of the dead child together with his most sincere apologies; it was probable an accident. It will right and reasonable to forgive him."
"On the other hand if the cow was stolen in the dead of night and you have only found out who the guilty person because you would not rest until you uncovered the truth. A cow cannot just disappear into thin air without trace! It will be right and reasonable to doubt the sincerity of the thief's apology. This was not an accident but a carefully planned act for selfish gain; the man is apologizing not for having wronged you but for being caught which is not the same thing!"
On what basis therefore can one justify accepting Mai Mujuru's apology for "her role" in the corrupt and oppressive Zanu PF tyrannical rule. It will be naïve and downright stupid to accept that she did not know this was going on; not after 34 years, of course she knew. Indeed she not only knew what was going on, she certainly played her part in the corruption and looting.
Mai Mujuru is one of the richest individuals in Zimbabwe with a fortune valued in billions of dollars amassed at the time when many business ventures were closing down and corruption was rampant. She must be a very shrewd business woman or else she is as corrupt as they come! She has denied being corrupt, most jail birds will tell you they are innocent "the lawyer fcuked me up!" She will, no doubt, explain to the world how she made her fortune one of these fine days.
If has taken two years of nagging Tendai Biti on when he and his fellow MDC leaders will apologize for betraying the nation and failing to implement even one of the raft of democratic reforms necessary for free and fair elections. Mugabe bribed MDC leaders into doing nothing on the reforms and so after five years of the GNU not even one reform was implemented.
Of course Tendai Biti and his MDC friends sold-out during the GNU. MDC leaders "were busy enjoying themselves during the GNU, they forgot why they were there" as SADC heads commented.
"We would like to apologise for the collective foolishness of the opposition and failure to form an alternative political voice in the country," admitted Tendai Biti.
It was not the sudden realization of the tragic consequences of the 35 years of Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical rule that forced Mai Mujuru to admit the failure and prompted the apology. If she had not been kicked out of the party last December, she would still be playing her role in the dictatorship vehemently denying there was corruption and blaming the economic meltdown on "the sanctions imposed the imperialist West!"
Mai Mujuru never saw the injustice of the Zanu PF dictatorship or the tragic human suffering brought by the economic meltdown; she did see any of this for the 34 years she was in power and does not see it now. What she sees now and has prompted her to make this uncharacteristic admission of Zanu PF's failures is the political reality that she is no longer in power and she sees the admission and apology as necessary first steps in her attempt to regain power.
Similarly Tendai Biti's apology is not because he and his fellow MDC friends have had any "Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus transformative moment". They are still the same corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent sell-out they were before the rigged July 2013 election that saw most of them kicked off the gravy train. They are apologizing because they too see it as the necessary first step for them to get back into power.
Mujuru's apology has not "cured" her of being the corrupt and tyrannical woman she has been these last 34 years. The apology has not "cured" Biti of the "collective foolishness" he and other MDC leaders showed during the GNU.
Zimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the people of Zimbabwe have been naïve and gullible and treated all our leaders as if they were all incapable of doing anything wrong. Now that the country is in a real mess, it would fool for us to accept at face value that all that went wrong was an accident.
"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves," said Jesus. Those words are as relevant to Jesus's disciples as there are to us today. A healthy and functioning democracy demands an electorate that is as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves!
Zimbabwe missed up on the chance to create a democracy in 1980 because we were naïve to trust Mugabe and his cronies. The country had the golden chance to end the Zanu PF dictatorship during the GNU but wasted that chance because we entrusted the task of implemented the reforms to to corrupt and incompetent MDC leaders.
The economic meltdown is putting Mugabe and Zanu PF under increasing pressure to accept political and economic reforms. This will be another chance to make sure the democratic reforms are finally implemented. It will be irresponsible of us to waste this chance too by entrusting the important task of getting all the reform implemented to politicians like Mai Mujuru and Tendai Biti who have already proven beyond doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent just because they have said they are sorry!
----------------
Nomusa Garikai <zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
Source - Wilbert Mukori
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