Opinion / Columnist
Opposition seeks relevance via failed protest
14 Jul 2016 at 07:18hrs | Views
THE announcement by MDC-T deputy president Ms Thokozani Khupe of another demonstration, this time called "beat the pots" to protest "against hunger" in the country points to something going wrong in her party.
Her announcement comes after three demonstrations against the government in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare which turned out not only to be ineffective but also a toll on the party's leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
The MDC-T had said it would be holding the demos in all the provinces but has suddenly gone quiet after realising that it was likely to yield nothing.
Another interesting development is the fight between proponents of #ThisFlag fronted by Pastor Evan Mawarire and #Tajamuka a shadowy group fronted by former MDC-T youth leader Mr Promise Mkhwananzi.
The fight is over the bragging rights to last week's rudderless shut down campaign by regime change agents and the violent demonstrations in Beitbridge the week before that led to the torching of a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority warehouse.
Excited by the failed campaign, the MDC-T, thinking it could revive itself from the ashes, suggested that Mr Mkhwananzi and his group were the legitimate movement behind attempts to cause civil unrest in the country.
In a Facebook post on Monday night, a senior MDC-T official Mr Charlton Hwende claimed that Mkhwananzi who is out on bail on charges of stoning a Choppies supermarket in Harare, was the legitimate "force" on the basis that he was arrested by the police.
This was on the basis that Pastor Mawarire, who was arrested on Tuesday, had not been arrested for inciting people to rise against the government, which in his mind confirms legitimacy of opposition status against the government.
"Those who work with the evil regime don't get arrested. Welcome back leader Promise Mkhwananzi you are a genuine soldier! Sell outs we are watching you," posted Mr Hwende in an indirect attack to pastor Mawarire.
However, in a more direct attack on the pastor, Mr Hwende shared a post by another user attacking #ThisFlag as a creation of the state.
"#ThisFlag? That's why we are going to be stuck and suffer for good as Zimbabweans we tend to follow anything new passing by and lose focus," posted the user.
"I do believe its state work, by putting something new on the table, it is a way of delaying the inevitable, and anything new will need 10 or more years to make impact, of which Morgan Tsvangirai is closer now.
"Hameno act like idiots and let the country be destroyed, but politics is dirty as they all say.
"Fighting a dictator is not an overnight process. Good luck and continue with your blindness."
After the posts, Hwende received a flurry of attacks from Pastor Mawarire's sympathisers accusing him and the MDC-T of trying to monopolise the opposition status.
A Facebook user, Umzukulu ka Sitsha posted saying Mr Hwende should know that the MDC-T were not the only "authors" of change in Zimbabwe.
Another user Simudzai Mureri posted, "Who needs enemies with a friend like Charlton Hwende in MDC-T. This idiot thinks MDC-T and Morgan Tsvangirai are the alpha and omega of Zimbabwean opposition.
No change can happen without them. Nxaaaa"
Interestingly, Mr Hwende's attacks on Pastor Mawarire coincided with Ms Khupe's launch of the "beat the pots" campaign almost betraying a sense of desperation on the part of the MDC-T for attention of Zimbabweans who have long forgotten the party.
Weekend reports revealed that that France and the United States are responsible for sponsoring attempts by both #Tajamuka and #ThisFlag to incite violence and anarchy in the country with the aim of effecting regime change.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Ignatius Chombo, revealed at the weekend that United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Harry Thomas and his French counterpart, Ambassador Laurent Delahousse, helped engineer last week's civil disturbances in Harare and Bulawayo.
Chombo said the two were working through dodgy groups and leveraging on social media to foment civil disobedience and ultimately destabilise Zimbabwe.
It is not a secret that the MDC-T and Tsvangirai himself have been facing serious financial problems and the desperation to associate themselves with the attempts at causing unrest in the country could earn them the badly needed green backs.
On the other hand, Mr Tsvangirai last month revealed that he suffers from cancer of the colon after reports of serious infighting with rival factions, one led by Ms Khupe, angling to succeed the embattled leader.
Her launch of the "beat the pots" campaign can be interpreted therefore as an attempt to draw attention from her ailing leader as she and her faction initiate campaigns to replace him.
It has nothing to do with the plight of Zimbabweans but a selfish campaign to pursue intra political interests within the MDC-T under the pretext that she wants to address the plight of hungry people.
The government has done that already, not through the mindless beating of pots but coming up with intervention strategies of protecting its people from hunger.
The government, after an assessment of the past agricultural season, began securing maize for the people to cushion them from the ravages of the drought that resulted in poor harvests.
President Mugabe, while addressing the Million Man March in Harare in May said the distribution of food among those affected by drought was to be done in a non-partisan manner and everyone was to receive aid.
It is on this basis that Ms Khupe's campaign can be dismissed as nothing but an attempt to steal what is remaining of the limelight that her boss Mr Tsvangirai has within their party and has nothing to do with the rest of the Zimbabwean citizenry.
What can be said of Ms Khupe's campaign and the chaotic #Tajamuka and infamous #ThisFlag campaign is that all parties are smelling money and with elections not very far away, all have started campaigns to attract western government as willing vessels of pursuing a regime change agenda.
However, the fact that politics is a game of numbers still stands stubbornly and the images of the Million Man March are still fresh in the minds of all, images confirming beyond doubt that the majority of Zimbabweans remain in support of the ruling Zanu-PF and President Mugabe.
Her announcement comes after three demonstrations against the government in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare which turned out not only to be ineffective but also a toll on the party's leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
The MDC-T had said it would be holding the demos in all the provinces but has suddenly gone quiet after realising that it was likely to yield nothing.
Another interesting development is the fight between proponents of #ThisFlag fronted by Pastor Evan Mawarire and #Tajamuka a shadowy group fronted by former MDC-T youth leader Mr Promise Mkhwananzi.
The fight is over the bragging rights to last week's rudderless shut down campaign by regime change agents and the violent demonstrations in Beitbridge the week before that led to the torching of a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority warehouse.
Excited by the failed campaign, the MDC-T, thinking it could revive itself from the ashes, suggested that Mr Mkhwananzi and his group were the legitimate movement behind attempts to cause civil unrest in the country.
In a Facebook post on Monday night, a senior MDC-T official Mr Charlton Hwende claimed that Mkhwananzi who is out on bail on charges of stoning a Choppies supermarket in Harare, was the legitimate "force" on the basis that he was arrested by the police.
This was on the basis that Pastor Mawarire, who was arrested on Tuesday, had not been arrested for inciting people to rise against the government, which in his mind confirms legitimacy of opposition status against the government.
"Those who work with the evil regime don't get arrested. Welcome back leader Promise Mkhwananzi you are a genuine soldier! Sell outs we are watching you," posted Mr Hwende in an indirect attack to pastor Mawarire.
However, in a more direct attack on the pastor, Mr Hwende shared a post by another user attacking #ThisFlag as a creation of the state.
"#ThisFlag? That's why we are going to be stuck and suffer for good as Zimbabweans we tend to follow anything new passing by and lose focus," posted the user.
"I do believe its state work, by putting something new on the table, it is a way of delaying the inevitable, and anything new will need 10 or more years to make impact, of which Morgan Tsvangirai is closer now.
"Hameno act like idiots and let the country be destroyed, but politics is dirty as they all say.
"Fighting a dictator is not an overnight process. Good luck and continue with your blindness."
After the posts, Hwende received a flurry of attacks from Pastor Mawarire's sympathisers accusing him and the MDC-T of trying to monopolise the opposition status.
A Facebook user, Umzukulu ka Sitsha posted saying Mr Hwende should know that the MDC-T were not the only "authors" of change in Zimbabwe.
Another user Simudzai Mureri posted, "Who needs enemies with a friend like Charlton Hwende in MDC-T. This idiot thinks MDC-T and Morgan Tsvangirai are the alpha and omega of Zimbabwean opposition.
No change can happen without them. Nxaaaa"
Interestingly, Mr Hwende's attacks on Pastor Mawarire coincided with Ms Khupe's launch of the "beat the pots" campaign almost betraying a sense of desperation on the part of the MDC-T for attention of Zimbabweans who have long forgotten the party.
Weekend reports revealed that that France and the United States are responsible for sponsoring attempts by both #Tajamuka and #ThisFlag to incite violence and anarchy in the country with the aim of effecting regime change.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Ignatius Chombo, revealed at the weekend that United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Harry Thomas and his French counterpart, Ambassador Laurent Delahousse, helped engineer last week's civil disturbances in Harare and Bulawayo.
Chombo said the two were working through dodgy groups and leveraging on social media to foment civil disobedience and ultimately destabilise Zimbabwe.
It is not a secret that the MDC-T and Tsvangirai himself have been facing serious financial problems and the desperation to associate themselves with the attempts at causing unrest in the country could earn them the badly needed green backs.
On the other hand, Mr Tsvangirai last month revealed that he suffers from cancer of the colon after reports of serious infighting with rival factions, one led by Ms Khupe, angling to succeed the embattled leader.
Her launch of the "beat the pots" campaign can be interpreted therefore as an attempt to draw attention from her ailing leader as she and her faction initiate campaigns to replace him.
It has nothing to do with the plight of Zimbabweans but a selfish campaign to pursue intra political interests within the MDC-T under the pretext that she wants to address the plight of hungry people.
The government has done that already, not through the mindless beating of pots but coming up with intervention strategies of protecting its people from hunger.
The government, after an assessment of the past agricultural season, began securing maize for the people to cushion them from the ravages of the drought that resulted in poor harvests.
President Mugabe, while addressing the Million Man March in Harare in May said the distribution of food among those affected by drought was to be done in a non-partisan manner and everyone was to receive aid.
It is on this basis that Ms Khupe's campaign can be dismissed as nothing but an attempt to steal what is remaining of the limelight that her boss Mr Tsvangirai has within their party and has nothing to do with the rest of the Zimbabwean citizenry.
What can be said of Ms Khupe's campaign and the chaotic #Tajamuka and infamous #ThisFlag campaign is that all parties are smelling money and with elections not very far away, all have started campaigns to attract western government as willing vessels of pursuing a regime change agenda.
However, the fact that politics is a game of numbers still stands stubbornly and the images of the Million Man March are still fresh in the minds of all, images confirming beyond doubt that the majority of Zimbabweans remain in support of the ruling Zanu-PF and President Mugabe.
Source - chronicle
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