THE gathering at the Zimbabwe Grounds on Saturday which was ostensibly touted as a ‘prayer meeting’ for ‘abducted’ activist Itai Dzamara was nothing more than a congregation of political oddballs seeking redemption on their fast waning careers and fortunes.
It was laughable that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Mavambo/Kusile leader Simba Makoni, former war veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda and former ZANU PF Mashonaland West chairperson Temba Mliswa would attempt to sell the country a dummy and claim that ‘they had found each other’ because of Dzamara.
But while in reality the ‘abduction’ of Dzamara is no laughing matter, it is the manner in which these pretenders to the Zimbabwean political throne have sought to use this to antagonise people to take aim at the Government of Zimbabwe.
Why would anyone in Government, preoccupy themselves with ‘abducting’ Dzamara?
Why would anyone want to burden themselves with Dzamara, whose career in journalism or lack thereof has been one that is ruefully on the edges of the beloved profession?
Dzamara was never a threat to ZANU PF and the Government of Zimbabwe.
Even as political forces try to invoke his name to propel the masses to action against the Government, he still is not a threat to anyone least of all those who are shedding crocodile tears in public when they know the truth about this whole matter.
There is more to the Zimbabwe Grounds meeting than meets the eye.
And more significantly for ZANU PF, this is nothing to worry about given that it is a useless alliance of amateurs desperately trying to make names for themselves in an environment that has been brutal in its assessment of their error-prone careers.
The Dzamara ‘prayer’ meeting was a platform for them to gauge public mood, to galvanise the masses and to launch an offensive against the peace and tranquility pervading the country.
It was intended to find a tipping point; to agitate the people.
Sadly for Tsvangirai, that tipping point is no longer there, it vanished in 2008 when the economy fought running battles with the people in their households and all over the place in the country.
This economy can never take people to the streets against the Government.
The vendors issue should have been a sobering reminder that the people of Zimbabwe are way past that era of political disruptions whose beneficiaries are none-other than Morgan Tsvangirai and his cronies.
The fateful inclusive Government era taught them a lesson that Morgan and his people can never be trusted with people’s lives.
Their bigoted view of the reality of Zimbabwean politics has returned to haunt them the same way it shall ravage them like a mad demon on the Dzamara issue.
If anything, Rhodesian finger and foot prints are all over this mischief.
The ever intrusive Western hand is visible in all this malevolence.
And as usual, not far away from what the eye can see, one sees Morgan Tsvangirai’s naivety and his chronic failure to read and judge public mood.
Yet there was much more to it than Jabulani Sibanda, Temba Mliswa, Simba Makoni running to the equally embattled Morgan Tsvangirai like puppies and holding his worn out political robes for survival.
This ‘event’ was an exhibition of political misfits foolishly and falsely hoping that their lousy and disastrous combination would form a force that will dismantle Robert Mugabe’s formidable juggernaut.
Itai Dzamara, the supposed glue that had brought these men and women together was suddenly forgotten as flaunting took centre stage.
Images of Nelson Chamisa embracing Temba Mliswa would under normal circumstances and on a different platform leave enduring memories in the minds and hearts of many.
But these can never be normal circumstances when the youthful wife of the man said to have been ‘abducted’ by ‘unknown men’ in an ‘unmarked’ car is left to weep alone while these politicians massage their inflated egos.
While we sympathise with Dzamara’s wife and her family, our minds get immediately saddled with why they are allowing politicians to use their ‘missing’ relative to achieve their objectives which are far detached from joining the country’s security services in the search for their missing dearest?
This is why we are gravely worried that the Dzamara ‘rally’ turned into a spectacle of bravado and showboating instead of serving its purpose of praying for Itai.
Sibanda called on all opposition political leaders to work together to remove President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF from power, while urging Zimbabweans at large to launch what he called ‘Operation Kubvisa Zvisina Basa (clean-up operation)’, a local weekly reported.
“Let’s come and reason together,” said Sibanda.
“These words my brother and president of the MDC Tsvangirai and Amai Tsvangirai.
“Let’s come and reason together my sister from Matabelelalnd, Thokozani Khupe, all chiefs from Manicaland including Chief Makoni.
“God is saying come let’s reason together.
“We must forget about our political affiliations and co-operate.
“We cannot continue to be going for painkillers, painkillers and more painkillers. “We have the signs and we need to confront the problem not its symptoms.
“In Shona when they say maswerasei, the answer is taswera kana maswerawo, which means we are ok if you are fine as well.
“That means we cannot be fine when a colleague is not well, so tinoda operation yekubvisa zvisina kufanira,” (let’s remove rubbish).”
The tipping point that Jabulani Sibanda, Morgan Tsvangirai and company dream of will never come.
It is just wishful thinking that will be buried soon like the way July 31 2013 buried the MDC-T.
Let those with ears listen.