Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe must go mantra and the on-going demos and protest gatherings
19 Sep 2016 at 08:42hrs | Views
Recently I attended the Silent Protest in Birmingham protest on 10th September 2016 and another demonstration in London on 16th. Yes I have been busy of late. I was there and I was one of those protesters. It may appear like a small action many miles away from the source of all our problems as Zimbabweans. For us in the diaspora it is one of the ways we can show solidarity with our fellow citizens back home. We are the voice of the voiceless masses back home that are being brutalised for taking part in peaceful demonstrations. Our people are being abducted, intimidated, harassed and made to disappear simply for expressing their political views. We owe it to them to highlight their plight.
There are demonstrations and protest marches everywhere by Zimbabweans where ever they are. Most of them are about why Mugabe must go. While we were protesting it got me thinking. Are we not a bit too late in saying Mugabe must go. Mugabe is gone or almost gone. Look at the man; he is now barely a shadow of his former self. The man is now a bag of bones with a coffin made to measure (I know I will die someday but all I am saying is that my coffin has not been ordered yet). Mugabe's coffin has been ordered and delivered! Yet here we are all screaming Mugabe must go! Go where? The man is gone. After him what next?
It is about time we sang a different tune. I suggest we change the lyrics to Mnangagwa must go. Why Mnangagwa one might ask. He is the heir-apparent, the president-in-waiting. Darling of the Chinese, British and Americans amongst other distant admirers. They want Mnangagwa to take over not because he is an angel or saviour but because they do not know the man or understand Zimbabwean politics. They are either naïve or plain stupid. The 'anybody but Mugabe' solution is no solution. Do they know the real Emmerson 'Crocodile' Mnangagwa? He has been Mugabe's right hand man for more than four decades. His hands are dripping with the blood of the innocent as much as much as Mugabe's. Starting with over 20 000 Gukurahundi genocide victims right through to the documented and undocumented disappearances of political opponents. Where is Itai Dzamara? Mugabe and Mnangagwa know exactly where his remains are buried? If Mugabe must go, so should the Crocodile that killed willy-nilly at His Master's orders.
I can understand why the Chinese want Mnangagwa as they have no qualms supporting repressive regimes. After all they are one such repressive regime which does not bother with human rights and freedom of expression. They would prefer a strongman like Mnangagwa who can control and suppress Zimbabweans in order to allow the Chinese to exploit the rich natural resources in Zimbabwe. The Chinese want to avoid war in Zimbabwe as that might disrupt them from peaceful plundering of our nation's resources.
What I do not understand is why the British and Americans are buying into the Mnangagwa presidency strategy. Did they not learn anything from their once cosy relationship with Mugabe whom the British knighted in 1994. If they think that Mnangagwa will bring political stability and economic revival, then they real have no clue. Mnangagwa is just as clueless as Mugabe when it comes to uniting Zimbabweans and changing the economic fortunes of the country. I say this is another wrong move. What they should do is to speak to Zimbabweans who know that there is no difference between Mugabe and Mnangagwa. To support a Mnangagwa presidency is to resurrect Mugabe's ghost and to maintain the status quo.
I urge all Zimbabweans to oppose vehemently this succession plan aimed at crowning Mugabe's principal disciple, Emmerson Mnangangwa. Mnangagwa must be stopped from assuming the presidency at all costs and by any means. I would go further and say Zanu pf in its totality should be stopped from forming the next government in 2018 or preferably long before 2018. The whole rotten system established by Mugabe and Mnangagwa since 1980 needs uprooting and discarding. We need a fresh start. Let us be ready for a better post-Mugabe era. There is no guarantee that the day Mugabe goes to heaven or to the Hague all will be restored to normal. Zimbabwe's future rests on what you and I can do to a greater extent and what outsiders do to a lesser extent.
Nobukhosi Moyo - MDC-T Activist, pro #ThisFlag, pro #MyZimbabwe, Zim Human Rights Activist.
There are demonstrations and protest marches everywhere by Zimbabweans where ever they are. Most of them are about why Mugabe must go. While we were protesting it got me thinking. Are we not a bit too late in saying Mugabe must go. Mugabe is gone or almost gone. Look at the man; he is now barely a shadow of his former self. The man is now a bag of bones with a coffin made to measure (I know I will die someday but all I am saying is that my coffin has not been ordered yet). Mugabe's coffin has been ordered and delivered! Yet here we are all screaming Mugabe must go! Go where? The man is gone. After him what next?
It is about time we sang a different tune. I suggest we change the lyrics to Mnangagwa must go. Why Mnangagwa one might ask. He is the heir-apparent, the president-in-waiting. Darling of the Chinese, British and Americans amongst other distant admirers. They want Mnangagwa to take over not because he is an angel or saviour but because they do not know the man or understand Zimbabwean politics. They are either naïve or plain stupid. The 'anybody but Mugabe' solution is no solution. Do they know the real Emmerson 'Crocodile' Mnangagwa? He has been Mugabe's right hand man for more than four decades. His hands are dripping with the blood of the innocent as much as much as Mugabe's. Starting with over 20 000 Gukurahundi genocide victims right through to the documented and undocumented disappearances of political opponents. Where is Itai Dzamara? Mugabe and Mnangagwa know exactly where his remains are buried? If Mugabe must go, so should the Crocodile that killed willy-nilly at His Master's orders.
I can understand why the Chinese want Mnangagwa as they have no qualms supporting repressive regimes. After all they are one such repressive regime which does not bother with human rights and freedom of expression. They would prefer a strongman like Mnangagwa who can control and suppress Zimbabweans in order to allow the Chinese to exploit the rich natural resources in Zimbabwe. The Chinese want to avoid war in Zimbabwe as that might disrupt them from peaceful plundering of our nation's resources.
What I do not understand is why the British and Americans are buying into the Mnangagwa presidency strategy. Did they not learn anything from their once cosy relationship with Mugabe whom the British knighted in 1994. If they think that Mnangagwa will bring political stability and economic revival, then they real have no clue. Mnangagwa is just as clueless as Mugabe when it comes to uniting Zimbabweans and changing the economic fortunes of the country. I say this is another wrong move. What they should do is to speak to Zimbabweans who know that there is no difference between Mugabe and Mnangagwa. To support a Mnangagwa presidency is to resurrect Mugabe's ghost and to maintain the status quo.
I urge all Zimbabweans to oppose vehemently this succession plan aimed at crowning Mugabe's principal disciple, Emmerson Mnangangwa. Mnangagwa must be stopped from assuming the presidency at all costs and by any means. I would go further and say Zanu pf in its totality should be stopped from forming the next government in 2018 or preferably long before 2018. The whole rotten system established by Mugabe and Mnangagwa since 1980 needs uprooting and discarding. We need a fresh start. Let us be ready for a better post-Mugabe era. There is no guarantee that the day Mugabe goes to heaven or to the Hague all will be restored to normal. Zimbabwe's future rests on what you and I can do to a greater extent and what outsiders do to a lesser extent.
Nobukhosi Moyo - MDC-T Activist, pro #ThisFlag, pro #MyZimbabwe, Zim Human Rights Activist.
Source - Nobukhosi Moyo
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