Zanu PF sells another dummy to MDC

By Garikai Mafirakureva

When MDC-T National spokesperson Obert Gutu wrote on his timeline on Facebook; “Good day folks, I hope I find you well today. Has Zanu PF really split or we are just being sold a dummy, here? Let’s discuss.” I felt the urge to contribute on the subject matter.

But before I dig deep into the subject I would like to define a politician and a trade unionist. According to the Longman dictionary of Contemporary English a politician is someone who is skilled at dealing with people or using the situation within an organization to gain an advantage. Put simply he is a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement within an organization.

On the other hand according to the Longman dictionary of Contemporary English a trade unionist is a member of an organization, usually in a particular trade or profession, that represents workers, especially in meetings with employers.

In other words he is a member of an organization whose membership consists of workers, united to protect and promote their common interests.

Most of you might be wondering why I had to bore you with the definitions but I think this is where my argument emanates and as you read further you will clearly see the difference between Zanu PF and MDC.

So recently the media went into overdrive about the so-called ‘Zanu PF purges’, keenly swallowing hook, line and sinker to the purges of the Joice Mujuru cabal and the expulsion of several members allegedly aligned to the former Vice President.

However, by drawing conclusions from raw information and assessing its significance and by collating it with other information I find the issue of ‘splitting’ Zanu PF a bit ham-fisted and feel it should be treated with the suspicion it deserves.

One is tempted to think that Mujuru and Dydmus Mutasa and many others alleged to be their followers, are decoys put on an offensive penetration operation meant to distract and to divert the opposition’s attention.

They have assumed the role of playbacks thrown in the wilderness of mirrors providing false information to their enemy while gaining accurate information from them.

To me the alleged factionalism is just window dressing providing chicken feed to a gullible trade unionist led opposition and the entire nation. This is just a deceptive operation to help convince the opposition or other casual observers that what they are observing is genuine. These are the real works of politicians.

I get pissed off with Mutasa’s threat to expose Zanu PF’s dirty tricks day in day out without telling the nation anything that can be authenticated.

If he really wants to expose Zanu PF one would think he would tell the nation where Rashiwe Guzha, Itai Dzamara are; what happened to Christopher Giwa, Elliot Manyika, Sydney Malunga, Border Gezi, Chindori Chininga and many others. Not his stupid rumblings that can be best described as kindergarten folk tales.   

Instead, he chose to launch a thinly veiled attack on Morgan Tsvangirai who he accused of skipping the country to Botswana, at the time they thought he was going to take over from President Mugabe at the State House after winning the 2008 March 31 harmonized elections.

To me his statement that the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) is very big and is everywhere is just a masked threat to the opposition. Remember Mutasa was the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs under which the (CIO) fell, from 2009 to 2014.

During Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown it is the same Mutasa who was involved in the “oil mountain” where Nomatter Tagarira, a Grade 3 dropout, is alleged to have hoodwinked government officials into believing diesel could gush out of rocks.

For the opposition and the nation at large to believe that Mutasa was not aware of the n’anga’s spurious pranks is not only being naïve but a total failure to extrapolate Zanu PF’s crystal clear political dishonesty. 

To me he is an agent provocateur – a deep-cover agent who feigns enthusiastic support for the expelled members of the Mujuru faction while tempting the targets within the party or in the opposition to incriminate themselves through their action or words.

While on the other hand Mujuru’s frightening and deafening silence has managed to draw sympathy from the ordinary observers as well as opposition parties that are already falling over each other to jump into bed with her. I can also safely describe her as a perfect agent of influence– a deep-cover agent with influence among the members of a target group.

Edward Joseph “Ed” Snowden an American computer professional, former CIA employee, and government contractor is a household name today after he leaked classified information from the U.S. National Security Agency in 2013 that shook the whole world.

While on the other hand another name that is well known worldwide is that of Julian Paul Assange, an Australian computer programmer, publisher and journalist, a known editor-in-chief of the website WikiLeaks, which he co-founded in 2006 after an earlier career in hacking and programming.

Can Mutasa be compared with these two? All those listening to Mutasa’s threats to expose Zanu PF, can you really come up with one single statement that he said that can pin down Zanu PF or link it to any heinous crimes committed during its 35 year rule? I wonder.

Treason and corruption charges that were levelled against Mujuru and his followers suddenly collapsed and nothing is being said about the charges anymore.

Opposition leaders should be wary of such pranks because I feel once beaten twice shy.

Zanu PF played the same tricks in July 31 2013 harmonized elections, when they allegedly used a double edged scheme in the form of a ‘mole’ called Baba Jukwa, that claimed to expose secrets within Zanu PF as well as claiming to be revealing the party’s systematic disregard for individual freedom but all his claims lacked substance but nevertheless the opposition bought the crap.

In a short space of time Baba Jukwa Facebook page had a record 400,000 followers as it became popular by day. For several months prior to the July 31 election, the opposition used the chuff posted on the page as prize source on the internal dynamics in ZANU PF and the maligned succession issue, which, spelt a spectacular death for the ‘revolutionary’ party and their ascension to power.

On the other hand Mai Jukwa supported Zanu PF through and through and had a substantial number of followers presumably Zanu PF hardliners.    

At the height of all this madness stepped in Jealousy Mawarire, a Harare based man who dragged Mugabe to court and forced an election without reforms as prescribed by the Sadc-brokered power-sharing pact and his subsequent Constitutional Court (ConCourt) victory against Mugabe.

Much to most people’s surprise the MDC-T went into an election despite the unavailability of the voters’ roll and lack of political and election reforms with a Baba Jukwa instilled confidence.

One analyst, Blessing-Miles Tendi who teaches African politics in the University of Oxford’s Department for International Development and is the author of Making History in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe: Politics, Intellectuals and the Media, once stated that “Tsvangirai’s party lost sight of the need for rapid and comprehensive institutional reforms in the early years of power-sharing.

It expended most of its energies in fighting for appointments to the ministry of agriculture, attorney general, central and provincial governors.

By the time it refocused on institutional reforms, the period to elections had shortened significantly. There was little time, energy and external goodwill left for the MDC-T to pursue what should have been its main pursuits from the beginning.”

After the dust had settled the Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi was arrested on allegations of running the Baba Jukwa page, but most analysts describe this as just a gimmick by Zanu PF to kill the Baba Jukwa character that they created to divert attention from the electoral shenanigans that were taking place.

The moment they started killing the Baba Jukwa character is the moment they introduced the “Weevils” and “Gammatox” at the late Nathan Shamhuyarira’s funeral.

So if MDC fails to see Zanu PF’s tricks, then we can safely say it is being led by former trade unionists that are novices in the political game and are clueless to Zanu PF’s political tricks.    

This can be proven by Gutu’s post on his Facebook timeline which said, “Whether or not he was fired, (meaning Jonathan Moyo) we don’t give a damn. The fact of the matter is that Zanu PF is crumbling like a deck of cards. I would be lying if I say I am not enjoying every moment of this.”