Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South)-The quotation below is taken from one piece written by a mysterious human being whose identity has remained enshrined behind the veil of journalistic priviledge, mostly I suspect to give the large tracts of political sermons he delivers or delivered, a halo of factuality and holiness on issues political.
Our tentative summations of who he really is has given his verbose pieces, sometimes so partisan and skewed, a false authority over political matters.
Some have said its Information Permanent Secretary George Charamba whilst others have said its Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo. The human himself calls his self Nathaniel Manheru.
“In place of a forward “movement”, there is regression; in place of “democracy” is demonic struggle for succession; in place of change is an endless churn and turn”.
“Artless politics, leaking like a sieve”.
“The art of politics in times of crisis is wearing an expressionless face, and picking a poise of over-confidence, all to show a false normalcy. Of course beneath calories are burning, much the same way the restlessly peddling “feet” of a duck belie its outward, above-the-water calmness”.
“Not so for the MDC whose fissiparous egos have been whipped into a frenzy. More than ever before, Tsvangirai looks set to be by-passed, decidedly left alone to sink into a pool of political once-weres. His colleagues can’t wait to put a full-stop to his career, ungainly whispering their leader’s nigh end”.
“It’s too late for pretences in this vicious war of each against all, all against each, and anyone can be an ally, erstwhile enemies included. It has never been so easy to get the inside story from within the MDC, in most cases with little or zero solicitation”.
The quotation above is from 2009 and was written over the ‘impeding’ demise of not only Morgan Tsvangirai but his MDC-T.
When I came across this passage, saved in my computer, I could not help but marvel at the seeming turn of events and the uncanny ability of the passage fitting ZANU PF today more than it can fit its originally intended MDC-T.
Substitute Tsvangirai for Mugabe in the passage above, especially after the latter’s ‘we are still united mantra’ at the 16th People’s Congress in Masvingo and you have the said duck stoic and relaxed above the waters whilst furiously paddling the waves underneath the false calm.
MDC-T has not survived unscathed the predicted implosion by Manheru as exhibited by the recent fiasco over the selection of Elias Mudzuri and Nelson Chamisa to join Thokozani Khupe as a trio of Vice Presidency.
However ZANU PF has become a worse state of the Manheru-predicted MDC-T and Mugabe is playing to perfection the role envisaged by Manheru for Tsvangirai in this passage.
The revolutionary party has regressed to a level so low and base that all things being equal 2018 should have been a walkover for the opposition.
However factor in the rural area morbid fear for ZANU thugs; the voter apathy; the indecisive opposition; the violence meted and threatened; the shady ZEC and you have evenly set armies come 2018 (sometimes ZANU actually leads by a nose)
The meaning of the forward march that was the liberation struggle has been lost in the frenetic stagnancy of greed and corruption as politicians squabble over wealth and power and such is the lowness of ZANU PF today that a whole congress came and went with nothing meaningful about the economy taking centre stage.
That is at a time the country does not have a currency of its own; corruption is festering all over from High schools to Zimdef and industry is literally dead.
‘Artless Politics Leaking Like Sieve’
Art is a dangerous field with very wide boundaries that can encompass a whole load of rubbish, bequeath it a torn gown and marvel as it swans down the catwalk. That’s why there is something termed Abstract Art.
At its most basic explanation its art that has no logical meaning, defying the conventional and the lucid to stand in a different light where meaning is a leap of the perceiver’s imagination.
A mish-mash of clashing colours (read personalities) over canvas and you hang a piece called ZANU PF. Are they going or coming? Fighting or scheming?
Manheru termed the on-goings in MDC-T artless back then but what can we call the shenanigans in ZANU PF today? Is there any order to the colours on the revolutionary party’s canvas?
Or it has all become abstract art that requires we unsheathe minds from the web of the conventional so as to understand calls for a life presidency or a presidency from a wheel chair; or modern Robin Hoods; or empowerment through street vending; or cholera in the 21st century?
Thus whoever the writer of the column is he or she at least managed what some gospel prophets have failed and that is come up with a succinct prediction of future events.
Though he framed it at that time as an MDC-T issue, like a Theological type he was actually priming us for the consummation in the actual fulfillment that has happened with ZANU PF.
There is so much action in the party, so much movement but a stagnancy permeates everything. The movement as Manheru said back then is as the vein-etching dances of Macheso that leave you in the very same place.
After the squabbles have run their course; after the conspiracies over tea mugs and underwear during the liberation struggle the country is still in no-man’s land with no jobs, no currency of its own and no functional plan out of the miry bog.
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