I WAS delighted to meet the man in the straw hat when he visited our offices recently.
And I was not disappointed; the man is everything he is said to be and more.
Most interesting is that he neither refutes nor agrees, he just continues to be.
And this time around he was talking about ‘doing money’, kuita mari.
I must say it is quite refreshing to come across a being who has no airs, comfortable in his own skin and who aspires to be nothing but himself and bettering his lot.
So strong is his sense of identity that he has not compromised when it comes to who he is
He is what he is and who he is and damned be anyone who tries to define or pigeonhole him.
And one thing very clear, in no uncertain terms, is that the man, Cde Joseph Chinotimba, while the world caricatures him and weaves jokes around him; the man is making significant strides in his domains.
He led the war veterans and ordinary people and became the iconic face of the ‘Jambanja’ that saw people regaining their land, became a farmer and businessman and now he is a legislator.
All these achievements while people make him the butt of their jokes.
I for one am glad that Cde Chinos has not changed one iota; it would really be dreadful if the man was to change just because he is now a legislator.
He has come into the house to serve his people, period.
And he will serve them as Chinotimba and nothing else.
Fake mannerisms and all that phoniness that come with achieving a ‘certain’ status has, thanks to the Higher powers, not grabbed him, he remains the Chinos that we know, a character full of energy, serving and ready to serve some more.
While we laugh, poke fun at him and think ill of him, he insists that he will be ‘doing money’ and wants everyone, blacks, to partake in the process and as a lawmaker, he will be assisting all those ready to embrace the indigenisation drive.
As we spoke he spelt out his desires and plans for his constituency and the rest of the country.
Here is somebody who wants to tap into the resources around him and make money.
Trust me, he will, and fortune will follow those that will work with him.
Some dismissed him with the back of their hands during the Land Reform Programme but today lives have changed as a result of ownership of land.
The man literally bubbles with confidence, munhu anoda zvinhu zvake.
In our vilification of the man we have become unwitty tools in the hands of the disgruntled Rhodie, the former white farmer who hides behind Uncle Toms.
The man in a straw-hat is one of us and he has no other home but this one where he will ‘do’ money.
Cde Chinos went to the ‘Jambanja’ fuelled by the knowledge that he ‘died-for-this-country’ and again he goes to parliament knowing he ‘died-for-this-country’.
The man is a real inspiration, he is busy ‘doing’ money and impacting lives while we struggle with the Queen’s language.