A Response to Diana Jeater's Tweets on Nelson Chamisa

I feel pity for most black people especially Africans like Zimbabweans, we tend to feel for the white person more than our own, if it was Caesar Zvayi who got this roasting we wouldn't even bat an eyelid. If we see a white beggar we feel like crying, see a black one feel like running them over with our car. I believe Professors should distinguish themselves, if they write like Zvayi they will be smashed onto the curb. Racism & putting down black people has become hidden and subtle, indeed we are ridiculed then come out clapping for these people. Here is what I think of some of the views expressed by Diana Jeater in a series of tweets aimed at Nelson Chamisa the young presidential aspirant. Diana is someone who has deep understanding of Zimbabwe so she is not speaking from a position of ignorant outsider:

Diana says: "I like the call for Big Ideas not Big Men. But I didn't get a strong sense of the transformation #Chamisa promises. Much of the programme seems reactive & retrogressive, boiling down to 'we're not Zanu'.

Maybe I am not great with English language but how much of a change is it to move from politics of personalities to that of ideas? I think it is huge but Diana says this is weak. Continues to say this is retrogressive but how so? In moving to politics of ideas we are going backwards? How does a shift towards ideas become "we are not ZANU"?

Diana says: "A call for Big Ideas is not in itself a Big Idea. #Chamisa's only Big Idea seems to be changing the government. There were a lot of technocratic fixes, but most of them are in Zanu-PF's programme as well."

Diana is being naive, she knows Zimbabwe intimately, she knows our problem with ZANUPF has been living up to the promise, it boiled down to implementation since the 1980s. So does it matter if MDC has some of what ZANUPF has? What we are looking for is implementation, she deliberately feigns ignorance like Stephen Suckar.

Diana says: "Value Added. Yes, it makes sense. Don't export raw, but process. Mining, specifically. But this has been Zanu policy for a decade! And Zanu's 2011 ban on chrome ore exports was lifted in 2015 because there wasn't processing capacity & the sector collapsed"

Here is the hidden rebuke towards Chamisa, the same shown by Stephen on HardTalk, when Africans dream big, it seems to offend white people especially the British in this case. Diana is saying Chamisa better not try, look your fellow countryman failed at it, you have no capacity. Of course at the heart of it is what the British want out of Zimbabwe, resources after leaving EU. If we restrict our exports we hurt them bad, South Africa another major exporter is moving to nationalise mining & the British are heavily invested the Anglo-American head office is testament. Stephen went at Chamisa as well for these dreams, if you thought it was about a fast bullet train think again, it was about being offended by a dreaming black person. Of course we are colonised in our minds we don't think beyond the surface hence we have heroes like Sankara, Lumumba, Luther who we celebrate after death. In this moment we do not see what Chamisa managing gold processing will do for Southern Africa.

Diana says: "Produce more within the multi-currency system (unclear how) & focus on technology to develop 'smart' agriculture. Means what? As I observed to Chinamasa at #CHAfrica last year: if it's not serious about climate change, any new agricultural policy will fail."

Diana might not know how we do the business of farming, with hoes and animals. What can technology do for output and ease of farming? Bringing tractors in every village is smart agriculture. Where you need 6 cattle, 6 people working from dawn to 2pm you have one person finishing a whole field in 30 minutes. She somehow thinks if it does not address climate change then it is not worth it. Who created the problem of climate degradation? Is it not the western capitals eating beyond what is necessary? Africa is vastly raw but somehow we are being told to address a problem that is created far away. Our carbon emissions might be less than London alone. So where are our priorities to be?

Diana says: "Revisit all existing partnership deals with government to make sure they are not 'shady'. 'Shift relationships with foreign investors'. Yes, but speak *carefully*. Mishandled, this sounds like 'Chinese Go Home'"

Imagine in UK they discover that something is not right about a Chinese deal, what will they do, speak in hushed tones or go megaphone and prevent the Chinese products? Is there any quietness on the UK's desire to send many Africans back home? Has it impacted them in any way? In other words we must accepted being raped by Chinese and give them vaseline in the process. Hidden in this seemingly smart advice is the desire to allow other dirty deals, if Chamisa is to go after the Chinese he will soon scrutinise the British deals. Does it make sense to pay $9 billion to former white farmers urgently for a country having $4 billion revenue? Have we been paid for colonisation and resources that were plundered?

Diana says: "...get migrants in UK back working in Zim health sector. But it's presented as a voluntarist aspiration, not a strategy. How will MDC create these jobs? AND replace lost remittances?"

How is bringing back our people in NHS not a strategy to bring efficiency into our health sector? These are people exposed to advanced healthcare, know how to better treat patients and run hospitals. She asks how will MDC create these jobs? I am just an economist and thought jobs are already there. What is our nurse to patient ratio? Somewhere around 1000 citizens per nurse, for doctors this is worse. Ideally we need to cut the number down to about 1 nurse per 200 citizens. That would mean employing at least 30,000 new nurses. Then she asks about remittances, she somehow thinks people back home are mostly reliant on remittances. If the people come back they will starve to death. But an economy that is functional does not need remittances for upkeep.

Conclusion

Other points like rigged elections have precedence in history so there is no need to repeat here. Overall she says a lot of bullshit, some points are designed to show us as incapable. We must not try to do things our own way because we lack the capacity. Unfortunately most of us are trying to fit in with white people. Tendai Biti used have this mindset raving about IMF/WB. Now at least he has been disabused of that notion, he believes in the ability of our people. When Chamisa takes power those who think it is not possible can wait and watch, some of us are raring to go with an enabling environment. If you talk of Smart Agriculture we have young men like Tony Togara who have been dreaming and scheming since like 2016. Many of our people cannot think outside the box but watch out for the smart who are quiet and have ready business plans seeking an environment that is not greedy like ZANUPF. Many of you will see young billionaires emerge and think how foolish we were to think their dreams were wild.

How ZANUPF Rigged Zimbabwe 2013 Elections

Zimbabwe Celebrates, So What's Next?

Yesterday amidst the euphoria one question was universal across all social media, it simply asked, what is next for Zimbabwe. Many people avoided it by saying do not ask me now let me first enjoy this moment without the weight of thought. I'm reminded of the animation Finding Nemo, a dentist had fish he kept in a tank. His practice was next to the Sydney Harbour so they could hear the ocean rumbling, their true home. By the inspiration of Nemo and help of a pelican they escaped in plastic bags full of air. When they got to the ocean it was surreal, they kept quiet and one who could muster something said, "what next?" Luckily for them we saw them swimming freely but not sure how they popped their plastic bags. My daughter would say the blow fish burst his bubble and then tore the others' bags. So as a Zimbabwean I have often wondered if Mugabe goes then what next, I tried to imagine a great picture. What follows are my thoughts, my wishful thinking for the next 5-10 years.

Reforming The System of Governance

It is expedient that we move with speed, in the euphoria many are seeing heroes but I am questioning the system. I am looking at a constitution that was trampled on so much within a week I am wondering if this great document has any chance of being supreme. If Zapiro had to draw a cartoon of it he would probably go for gang rape. We need to fix this problem otherwise we leave our children a legacy of poverty. Many Zimbabweans are of the idea that we don't need anyone but I think that is selfish pride which can sink us quickly. Let us get SADC, UN and AU to look at our system and help level the electoral playing field. As a nation with a history of violence I wish we would implement a system of proportional representation, the winner takes all system has many graves and wounds. We evaluate candidates based on how much 50+1 votes they can get. If we are to make the voices of minorities heard then we must not belittle their contribution. 

Clean Up the Closets

Thirty seven years is a long time, it doesn't help that the government of Mugabe was putting things in the closet, consider the following:

• Gukurahundi Commission findings were never made public. 
• A host of other commissions are somewhere buried.
• Elections tampering and violence has become a culture. 
• Money was looted from national coffers
• Abduction and disappearance of citizens is rife. 

These issues need to be addressed and brought to closure. Doing it is not an easy thing but it must be done. If we are to banish the culture of impunity that is expunged with a handshake, we must be willing to dig up graves and re-bury them after post-mortem. Mr. Mugabe is now able to be sued, we can either address his failures once and for all or one case at a time.

Let's Buy a New Broom & Sweep Clean 

I know this is not what many people want because we don't want to embarass our leaders or heroes. But it is foolhardy to think a person can preside over their own case and lose. Zimbabwe needs a new government, a coalition of democrats is a good start. The reason being we need someone to check what Mugabe regime was doing without fear, discomfort or favour. Expecting our new heroes to do that is asking for too much. It is given that questions are going to be asked and most likely assets are going to be seized and brought back to state. Zimbabwe has been plundered and if we do not fix this we are going to have bigger problems than Mugabe. At least Mr. Mugabe could play the crowd, he was a divisive figure because his crimes were cleverly masked behind some for of adherence to legality. The events of the past week were brazen and open defiance of the law. The generals must now vacate office on account of what they did to the constitution. Politics might be their next stop but it is time to bring up the young brigadiers to make the army flourish in professionalism, we have not forgotten how generals always gathered pre-election and say we don't salute anyone without liberation war credentials, we must Bury that attitude of entitlement. 

Healing of the Wounded 

There are many wounds that need healing in our nation, in fact all Zimbabweans are wounded in one way or the other, young adults grieve over having no jobs, families grieve over property destroyed for supporting opposition parties, many grieve over their loved ones who died because the health care system could not afford them antibiotics, a lot grieve disruption to life, education et al. We must have a Truth Commission where people can open up and allow their grieving to stop. I look forward to the closure for the family of Itai Dzamara, the man who stood alone in a park demanding Mugabe to go. The same park people gathered on the day Mugabe said he is resigning. I've always told people that if we are to move as a nation then we must collectively own up to Gukurahundi and if need be pay reparations. The money recovered from looting state coffers can go a long way in settling these reparations. 

Let Us Unite, Genuine Unity

Robert Mugabe thrived on dividing people, tribes do not get along that much, political opponents treat each other as enemies. Those at home see those abroad as people who are not part of Zimbabwe. Within hours of Mugabe resigning there was a joke saying all Zimbabweans in diaspora must wait to come back, we must give jobs to those who are at home first. It is a joke but for someone in UK or South Africa whose asylum faces revocation it is horrendous to imagine, not welcomed home and abroad. Zimbabwe has great tribes but most have been drowned by Shona hegemony, the Ndebele fight for their space but it is not so easy. The minority are hardly known, in South Africa I know their tribes because they are given space. I remember someone saying I only hear of Ndebele from Mpumalanga but I have never met one. Curious I asked how did you know about them? She said I see them on TV and their culture being celebrated. In Zimbabwe many people don't know how many tribes we have, it is only Ndebele and Shona even in education curricula. 

Let Us Rebuild, Put Zimbabwe First 

I know right now the plan is to fly to London and New York, meet IMF and World Bank asking for money to do this and that. We never trust ourselves enough that we have something, that we are capable. Why would a nation with Strive Masiyiwa as a citizen need IMF to raise funds for it? He is the most connected Zimbabwean whom we can use to chair an investment forum. With more than 3 million citizens abroad we can use them as a conduit to access liquidity giving them shares in return. Why not make general hospitals semi-private by calling diaspora to buy shares? They can approach a bank, get a loan of $2000 and if it is 50,000 citizens then you have $100 million dollars with no interest and repayment, it will generate own dividends. This process repeated can result in billions flowing into the country. 

Conclusion 

These are my thoughts, my wishful thinking of how things must proceed for our nation. I am praying that we will do the right thing even though in the midst of euphoria I am seeing a lot saying it is time to rest but I think the hardest work of our lives begins today. I was born exactly a year after independence of Zimbabwe and now an adult, if I do not see myself as part of the solution then we leave it to these old men who should be going into the sunset. I am certainly not leaving things to chance. I am sober and considering the issues ahead, crossing the bridge when you get there is never a good option for you might have left behind a log that will help you cross. 

Nkosana Moyo: Why He is Another Simba Makoni, Not His Own Man

Over the past week social media has been ablaze with the entrance of Dr. Nkosana Moyo’s entry into the furnace that is Zimbabwe politics. He has decided to run for presidency through his own political party Alliance for People’s Agenda. There was a flurry of posts I came across supporting his candidature and equally many castigating him as a non-entity. People questioned his authenticity joining the race to run with a few months to go before elections when he has no team whatsoever on the ground. I also had no doubt that Nkosana was just another Simba Makoni in the making who would at best force the election into a run-off. Zimbabweans despite all the claim to education are a gullible and excitable lot so much that the same events can play out in politics a thousand times but they would still not learn a lesson.

Remember Simba Makoni’s MKD in 2008?

In February 2008 a few months before elections Simba Makoni walked out of ZANUPF seemingly to challenge Robert Mugabe in the election through his own political party Mavambo/Kusile Dawn (MKD). To put it into context, Simba Makoni announced his candidature 53 days before the election was to take place. This is hardly enough time to traverse the length and breadth of Zimbabwe to campaign and hope to win against Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. The madness of the whole arrangement was that season campaigner Welshman Ncube decided not to run for election choosing to support the candidature of Simba Makoni, this was probably the stupidest decision I have seen made by the professor but as we shall see later, there is a method to the madness. Simba Makoni did run and got about 9% of the total votes. This was pivotal as if 4% of those votes had been given to Morgan Tsvangirai he would have become the president officially. Word has it that the long time taken to release results was because Mugabe had actually lost and Morgan had gotten at least 70% of the votes.

Image Credit: Alliance for People's Agenda Facebook

Enter the King Maker Trevor Ncube

Even though it seemed odd for Welshman Ncube to rally behind Simba Makoni there is a strong possibility that his hand was forced by Trevor Ncube. A few days after Simba Makoni threw his hat into the fray Trevor Ncube wrote a lengthy piece on his site Thought Leader that he would exercise his right to vote because Simba Makoni was an option. Trevor is a quiet man who is far from the madness but very much involved behind the scenes. His favoured position is being a puppet master pulling strings of political players. On his Thought Leader blog he has his followership who agreed with him that Simba Makoni is the best thing. Reading the comments one would be left in no doubt Simba Makoni would garner the highest opposition votes alas it was not to be. If Welshman Ncube appeared to adopt a tough stance for not working with MDCT it can be traced to the influence of Trevor Ncube who does not like anything about Morgan Tsvangirai. Whatever it is that Morgan did to Trevor it must be huge because he will abandon all objectivity when he is looking at the person of Tsvangirai.

Trevor’s “Third Way” and Nkosana Moyo

Trevor Ncube has long been mooting a third way to Zimbabwe politics, this is why he threw his weight behind Welshman Ncube and then Simba Makoni. His Third Way can be traced back to the Wikileaks cable of August 2007 where he revealed his disgust for ZANUPF and MDCT (you can read the full cable here). Interestingly it is in this cable that he revealed his choice for who should lead the opposition to unseat ZANUPF as follows:

1. Strive Masiyiwa
2. Nkosana Moyo
3. Simba Makoni

We know from history that the Simba Makoni card was played and it failed dismally so now Trevor is moving to the next option which happens to be Nkosana Moyo. You might remember in recent history Strive Masiyiwa’s name was thrown around that he would run for office. Knowing Strive Masiyiwa I knew this was utter hogwash but someone was feeding the news perhaps to nudge the businessman to run for office. But this is unthinkable akin to Tim Cook leaving Apple to run for US presidency. When it was seen that Strive Masiyiwa is not an option option number 2 had to be implemented. Up stepped Nkosana Moyo saying “Its Time, Sekuyisikhati, Inguva” launching his Alliance for People’s Agenda (APA) party. But whose agenda is he really serving? If the People means Trevor Ncube then he is right otherwise he is just another puppet on a string being pulled Rosebank’s Trevor Ncube offices. According to Trevor Ncube MDCT and ZANUPF are not an option to take Zimbabwe forward, so he will not rest and let Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDCT take a strong opposition into 2018 elections, so he is throwing his weight and wealth behind Nkosana Moyo.

The Rebuff of Coaliton Factor by Nkosana

Buoyed by the Gambian scenario where the long time president was unseated by a grand coalition of opposition forces, Zimbabweans on the ground have been nudging the opposition leaders to unite and fight the dictatorship of ZANUPF as one. Indeed the people are tired and any opposition leader worth his/her salt has been mindful of the sentiment on the ground that unite or else. But Nkosana Moyo appeared blind to this sentiment, immediately saying he does not see the need for a coalition. He has been at pains to explain his distancing from everyone saying “his view has not been articulated by any of the available parties”. This reason has been laughed off by the people and he will keep being nudged towards a coalition. If Nkosana Moyo had to be truthful he would simply come out and say his handler Trevor Ncube does not want to him coalesce under a possible leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai. Why would Trevor Ncube fund the getting of MDCT into power? It remains to be seen if Trevor will try to hijack the coalition and have it kick Morgan Tsvangirai to the curb. From what I see on social media Trevor Ncube has a lot of people active on social media to push his thoughts and opinions. Just do a survey of people who have APA or Nkosana Moyo as their profile picture, a sizeable number have visibly fake names a pointer that there is a social media team with multiple profiles working round the clock to influence opinion.

The Evan Mawarire Factor

You might be wondering how Evan Mawarire fits into the whole Nkosana Moyo puzzle, on his interview with Ruvheneko, Nkosana Moyo was asked “It is believed you were supposed to launch a party together with Dr. Shingi Munyeza, Pastor Evan Mawarire and Trevor Ncube, that you were supposed work together”? He refused that he was supposed to launch with them but agreed that he was talking to them on a consultative basis. Nkosana seemed caught unawares by this question if not discomfited. I remember the days Evan Mawarire left Zimbabwe and came to South Africa on his way to United States. When we met him we had a chat and bid him farewell, curiously I asked where he was staying and if we need to make contributions towards his upkeep, someone said Evan is well taken care of and Trevor Ncube is covering the expenses. I would not be surprised if Evan came and threw his weight behind Nkosana Moyo and perhaps that explains why he was not so comfortable to engage with MDCT. But I heard from the man himself that he is not interested in political office, I was concerned he might morph into another political party from #ThisFlag campaign. When Ruvheneko asked Nkosana I remembered the Evan Mawarire and Trevor Ncube link.

Conclusion

I am under no illusion that Nkosana Moyo is taking instructions from Trevor Ncube and he is the one behind him choosing to run for political office. Nkosana Moyo or grandbae as the young ladies like to call him is a nice person. But it remains to be seen how he will walk the fine line between ground sentiment for coalition and the desire by Trevor to steer clear of MDCT and Tsvangirai. His notion that he has a unique blueprint not articulated by any other opposition political party will be found out soon. He will have to think of another means to escape the calls for going with others or else it will just appear as his arrogance. Is it worthy to ruin a fine reputation to toe the line of Trevor Ncube? Nkosana has more time than Simba Makoni so it remains to be seen if he will force the two main candidates into another run-off election like in 2008. It will be a long road to 2018 elections with a lot of drama playing out. Whatever happens I hope people will do what is right to deliver a victory for the people, egos have to be levelled. It also imperative that the people do what is necessary to fund their struggle, waiting for the wealthy in our society can always land us in a ditch.