‘The Zanu assassination theatre’
By Tendai Chamboko
Why now? Four-five weeks just before a crucial election. Does this not ring a bell? Are you not reminded of the attempted assassination on Robert Mugabe in the February of 1980 leading to the March election.
Just like this incident at the White City Stadium, the February 1980 episode had the same theme, script, actors and surprisingly the similar scenarios in terms of timing in the period leading to the election.
Are we not watching another Zanu drama which has been played and concocted from the Zanu army barracks. A bomb? A bomb which does not kill anyone in such a crowded place.
The basic explosive devise is a hand grenade and this on its own should be able to take out and kill at least two people in a crowded place as witnessed that afternoon.
When you look at Mary Chiwenga in the hospital bed, with all her make-up still intact, does she look like someone who has been bombed. How naïve we are?
Was the bomb set before the rally or was it thrown in? The statements are conflicting, but either way, the investigation should be easy and straight forward.
If something was thrown in, with video evidence this should easily be picked up.
If the “bomb” was set before the rally, this again should have easily been picked, since basic security procedure of high political profile movements involves checking any odd items, before the actual gathering.
Unfortunately, no one will be investigated and arrested. In the History of Zimbabwe, we are still to witness a successful political assassination conviction in the court of law, despite the numerousness of such cases since Mugabe’s stage entrance.
By our very nature Zimbabweans are generally not very militant and not given to the throwing of bombs like the El Shabab or Talibans. I can confidently say the common ordinary Zimbabwean does not have such tendency except maybe if he has been Zanu/Zanla acquaintance.
Why should anyone seek to kill Mnangagwa at this stage of the game, especially in view of the precarious political position he is in.
Chances are very high that Mnangagwa can lose a free and fair election. The person who seeks to eliminate Mnangagwa would, ideally, do that after he has won the election.
Why are there so many attempts and the target never gets killed?
“It is God protecting them”, they would boast. Mugabe would also boast on his escapes. Mugabe had 11 or so attempts and no one success. And guess who was on his side and he survives also?
If we include attempts on Mugabe in which Mnangagwa was on his side then ED’s is easily going to surpass Mugabe in this high assassination attempt survival rate.
Unfortunately, the gullible Zimbabwe populace bite the bait
History is a pendulum and it keeps repeating itself, albeit by repeating the same tricks. The political magician has mastered the tricks to keep his audience amazed and play on their emotions and let them delude themselves and think they are watching reality.
The trick of the attempted assassination would bring the drifting partisans closer to the open crocodile mouth and assume it is dead and reason the crocodile itself is only a victim. They gait around and believe things will be better and the crocodile is no longer harmful it has changed heart.
The trick would also help the crocodile get acceptance when it acts in the name of self-defence as it unleashes its tail and drags its victim into the pool of water. Poor Joshua Nkomo was also a victim of assassination attempt drama and accused of seeking to topple the government of the people.
We cheered and sympathised with the crocodiles as he was dragged into the pool of murky waters, were other victims lay- Hamadziripi, Ndabanigni, and the rest who were accused of the same debauchery.
The thread of the same theatre has continued to today and it seems the scripter writer is now also the actor. The ice cream story and Mai Mujuru’s case comes to mind. Let us believe the bomb drama at our peril, as the script is read to us. We wait for the next episode.
