Hopewell Chin’ono: Opposition must now unite and prepare for a do or die 2023

By Hopewell Chin’ono

I have been reading the opposition leaders responses to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s invitation for national dialogue on the ongoing biting economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe, they were very incisive, original and mature.

Every country needs a very strong opposition movement that can hold the government of the day to account for its commissions and omissions.

Regardless of how good these opposition responses have been, the unfortunate thing is that the leaders and their supporters are divided, and that has been a perennial gift to ZANUPF.

ZANUPF has the army and government apparatus for use, we thought that they would at least professionalize government operations but that will not happen!

The very least that the opposition parties can do is come together and talk with one voice instead of preaching from different pulpits.

Imagine an opposition movement led by Nelson Chamisa, Nkosana Moyo and Noah Manyika?

It will bridge the differences in the opposition movement, the three men have unique skills that they can bring to the table and devastatingly use to take the fight of ideas to ZANUPF.

Even if nothing comes out of the national dialogue that the President has proposed, they will need to start building towards a powerful and well-organized 2023 election campaign.

ZANUPF has done everything possible to push away the floating voter who either voted for ED or sympathized with his narrative of being a changed man leading a changed party, that narrative is daily turning out to be a bogus trumpet and disingenuous election gimmick.

ZANUPF has managed to silence almost every reasonable person who supported them, now you only have the usual sycophants and the buccaneer business people who benefit from alignments with the ruling party making irrational noises.

I know many business people who voted for ED but are now regretting and are determined to never do it again, they feel let down and as one CEO said to me recently, “…you feel stupid when you are with your peers who cautioned you not to be gullible.”

It is now quiet clear to all of us that ZANUPF will always be ZANUPF, they can’t change and they won’t change for anything, in fact Robert Mugabe’s ZANUPF now seems to be tame compared to the current violent and disorganized ZANUPF government.

I was invited to a dinner last night hosted for visiting international academics that included the legendary Tanzanian Professor, Issa Gulamhussein Shivji.

The all asked me the same question, Hopewell what went wrong?

I too am confused about how anyone could have bled away such international goodwill and throw away such a glorious opportunity to reimaging themselves.

Remember what I said in 2017 just after Robert Mugabe’s removal, I said that ZANUPF had been presented with an opportunity to rule and win clean elections for another generation or this would be their last term in office.

They are headed towards the later unless a major miracle happens in their way of thinking.

2023 will be key for this country, at this rate they will not win anything and if they force their way as they have done before, they will remain a pariah administration internationally.

Now here is the tricky bit for them, ZANUPF’s leadership is old, they will all have met their maker in 20 years time if we apply the law of natural attrition.

The mega fortunes that they have built will now be in the hands of their kids and probably wives and they won’t be secure at all, ask Sani Abacha’s family.

They will be vulnerable to international law and if the politics here changes, they will be vulnerable too to the new order.

This is why I don’t understand why ZANUPF continues on this self-destructive path, it is unhelpful at the very least and thoughtless and it shows a party with a people oblivious to history.

They could have changed and legitimized everything that they secured through their positions in the state apparatus and leave behind legitimate businesses.

The more people are beaten up and killed, the more that idea disappears because these people will seek justice at some point in the life of this country.

All these people being beaten up and killed have families, they will never vote for ZANUPF ever again even if they were ZANUPF supporters!

This is why the opposition must regroup and pick up these own goals by this ZANUPF government, there is power in numbers and the more divided the opposition is, the less likely it is for them to dislodge the current ruling party.

The MDCA has the hardware, Nkosana Moyo and Noah Manyika will provide the software and because of their international reputations, they will be able to easily fundraise for a united opposition movement.

These three men must sit down and talk and bring their supporters and all disgruntled Zimbabweans under one roof, now is the time when the conditions are in their favor.

ZANUPF ruled with some ideas and a hammer, Mugabe went away with the ideas people and what we now have is a ZANUPF that responds with a hammer, I say so because even at his worst, Mugabe never sent soldiers into the urban streets to kill citizens using live ammunition.

Responding to every challenge with a hammer is self-defeating, the opposition must respond with ideas and solutions, but above all, they must UNITE!

As Alvin Toffler said, the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Hopewell Chin’ono is an award winning Zimbabwean international Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker. He is a Harvard University Nieman Fellow and a CNN African Journalist of the year.

He is also a Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Africa Leadership Institute.

Hopewell has a new documentary film looking at mentalx illness in Zimbabwe called State of Mind, which was launched to critical acclaim.

It was recently nominated for a big award at the Festival International du Film Pan-Africain de Cannes in France. You can watch the documentary trailer below.