Jonathan Moyo: Ashes blow in the face of one who throws them

By William Muchayi

The haggard figure of Professor Jonathan Moyo, totally distraught and disoriented, only to be dragged off the stage in the middle of a farewell song at Zanele Ntombizodwa’s funeral, is one among rare occasions which on witnessing, few fail to shed tears however distant they are to the deceased.

In fact, this tragic death among other things helped to expose the professor’s human side in contrast to the rabid and bile vomiting image he has been known for. That being said, in as much as the nation shares with the Moyo family their grief and tribulations, and not forgetting the fact that Zanele is just a pawn in this game of chess, it is equally naive to mask Jonathan Moyo’s transgressions at this dark hour.

Indeed, perennial wisdom dictates that it is an effort in futility to kick a dead horse let alone ridicule those visited by misfortune as expressed in the Shona wisdom, Seka urema wafa.

However, it is misleading to assume that Jonathan Moyo’s plight is equivalent to that of a dead horse, for, far from that, the learned professor still possesses the venom of a viper which derives pleasure from inflicting harm on the defenceless, hence, the need not to be too absorbed in his grief.

In fact, there are limits to which this new relationship with Moyo can be sustained, for, far from being a born again, the bereaved will never repent. On that premise, it is convenient to expose the professor’s naivety which has characterised his public life as he occupies a central position in Mugabe’s blood sucking cabal that has ruined the lives of millions.

In fact, given the facts at hand, Jonathan Moyo’s loss is insignificant compared to the pain he and his colleagues in Zanu PF have inflicted on millions of Zimbabweans. Isn’t it just recently when Moyo downplayed Itai Dzamara’s abduction as he mocked it as stage managed incident spearheaded by the opposition to seek relevance?

In that regard, Moyo through sheer foolishness or ignorance if not both, isn’t touched by Itai’s tragedy and neither does the minister consider the plight of Sheffra, Nokutenda and Nenyasha, Itai’s family, as they cry in public in search of their breadwinner. Or, does Jonathan Moyo ever consider the feelings of Itai’s parents as they search for their lost son?

Given the trauma that haunts the two families, that is, the Dzamara and Moyo, over their losses, the latter are in a better position compared to the former for several reasons: Firstly, Itai was a breadwinner unlike Zanele, meaning that the former’s children Nenyasha and Nokutenda’s lives are ruined forever.

In addition, in as much as Jonathan Moyo still searches for answers over Zanele’s death, at least the minister has closure after burying his daughter in dignity. Once in a while, Moyo can visit and lay flowers on his daughter’s grave. Although that does not in any way compensate for her loss, at least these gestures console him.

In contrast, the Dzamara family that Moyo mocks does not enjoy all these privileges and neither do they have closure. As reported in the media, Moyo is at pains to realise that Zanele was buried without a heart. At least, the minister should be consoled by the fact that it is only the heart missing and not the rest of the body as is the case with Itai.

In fact, at no particular moment did Jonathan Moyo raise the alarm over the disappearance and murder of activists by the Mugabe cabal of which the minister is a central figure, from Patrick Nabanyana, Edwin Chikomba, Tonderai Ndira, Talent Mabika, Tichaona Chiminya and many other fallen heroes and heroines.

In all these tragic cases, Moyo through association is complicity in the atrocities and for him to assume that Zanele’s blood is thicker than that of the rest is not only naïve but stupid.

At this dark hour in his family, Professor Moyo has to be reminded that he is fortunate enough to give a decent burial to Zanele unlike many families whose sons and daughters have perished fleeing from the minister and his marauding gang in Zanu PF.

Indeed, millions are driven out of the country by a regime Jonathan Moyo is part to, hence, the minister being complicity in the deaths of many.

Is the minister aware of millions who have been driven into exile by Mugabe whom Moyo supports to cling onto power? Chenjerai Hove, one of the country’s top authors, like many victims of professor Moyo and his cabal in Zanu PF couldn’t bury his mother when she died as he was trapped in exile, fleeing from Jonathan Moyo and his gang.

Tragically, Jonathan Moyo thrives on a system that has ruined the lives of many. As Chenjerai Hove recalls, his mother ‘’promised not to die before I came back, and I promised not to die while in exile.’’ Regrettably, the author couldn’t fulfil this wish as his mother passed away while still in exile before he himself lost his own battle in July 2015 still trapped in Norway as a refugee.

In his own words while still alive, Hove recalls five serious attempts on his life, along with never-ending death threats that once brought his mother to tears. It is in this context that Jonathan Moyo’s tragedy has to be understood more so, taking into consideration the fact that the minister is an accomplice in perpetuating a system that has inflicted so much pain in many.

Given all this evidence, the nation’s grief over Moyo’s tragedy has to be measured although not forgetting the fact that Zanele herself is a victim caught in the cross fire. If there is anybody she has to blame in death, it is her father and not the general public who have been victims of the minister for too long.

Indeed, several contradictions that have characterised Moyo’s life got exposed by Zanele’s death, thus, laying bare the professor’s foolishness and lack of foresight. As exposed in his twitter spat with Tito Mboweni, the former governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa, Moyo laughs at the fall of the Rand.

In his own words, ‘’After South Africa lost position as Africa’s largest economy to Nigeria, Rand is now falling like any other African currency.’’ While ignoring the fact that Zimbabwe has abandoned her own currency due to mismanagement by the regime of which Moyo is a central figure, the poor minister foolishly celebrates the rand’s fall.

In spite of his acclaimed intelligence, little does it dawn in Moyo’s mind that Zanele’s successful studies at the University of Cape Town is premised on the strength of the rand, let alone the success with which the South African police force investigate his daughter’s death. On this premise, it implies that a strong rand not only benefits South Africans but Jonathan Moyo as well, hence, the foolishness in the professor’s mindset.

In any case, why didn’t Zanele enrol at any of the local universities in the first place? Isn’t it ironic that most of Zimbabwe’s elite, Jonathan Moyo included, prefer to send their children abroad to study while shunning local institutions?

The acid tongued professor doesn’t mince his words as he attacks not only the South African police force but the country’s medical fraternity as well, especially the fact that toxicology results were to be out in five years.

Moyo’s hypocrisy as an advocate of justice is exposed when one contrasts these frantic efforts by the minister with the manner in which Solomon Mujuru’s tragic death was investigated. Did Moyo ever question the credibility of Mujuru’s toxology results as did the deceased’s family and the general public?

The minister’s criticism of the South African medical fraternity would have resonated well with the public had it been that he has been consistent in his search for truth and justice irrespective of the victims’ identity and political affiliation all along.

After all is said, Jonathan Moyo has to be reminded that we all have blood and after being prickled, it bleeds. It is for this reason that he who hates a man’s child doesn’t have a child of his own.

William Muchayi is a pro-democracy and political analyst who can be contacted on [email protected]