AT COP26 – GLASGOW WE CONFRONTED THE DEVIL HIMSELF

11^th November 2021

By Emmaculate Tshuma

It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to confront a dictator in close proximity.

As a human rights activist my dream came true when I first heard the news that Emmerson Mnangagwa, the despotic President of Zimbabwe was to attend the COP26 Climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland from the 1^st of November 2021 to 14^th November 2021 (That is what we heard in the early days but it later turned out that he was to attend until the 3^rd November at the very latest).

I relished the opportunity to confront him face to face. I cannot mention some of the things that raced through my mind, lest I fall foul of the law.“Evil to the hilt” is the best I can say of them within the confines of the law.

You know, I can trace all my suffering to this evil man, Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ZANU-PF party. I am here in the UK because of him and his party. I hail from a country where sunshine is a given, yet I find myself in a foreign country that is not only cold, but where the immigration system is deliberately hostile. I have had to live like an unwanted person in a foreign land for what seems to be eternity and I blame it all on Emmerson Mnangagwa and Robert Mugabe before him. Infact, I should be saying “ZANU-PF” because it is the umbrella under which both evil men fall.

It is hard enough being Zimbabwean in these times, but it is much worse being from the minority in Matabeleland. It is almost like a curse. Genocide happened in our part of the country in the 80’s authored by Robert Mugabe and the very Emmerson Mnangagwa who was then Minister of State Security. Lest I digress, I will not dwell on it much in this piece except to name it - Gukurahundi. I will leave it for another day.

Back to COP26, when I heard the Devil Emmerson Mnangagwa would attend, I braced myself for a big fight. I relished the opportunity to confront him. I imagined all sorts of scenarios and possibilities and, strangely, one of them involved raw eggs.

I cannot describe the excitement but Monday 1^st November 2021 and Tuesday 2^nd November 2021 will forever be etched in my mind for I was part of a demonstration at COP26 where, together with more than a hundred other Zimbabweans we were able to confront Mnangagwa as well as tell the true Zimbabwean story to the rest of the world. We thwarted his scheduled attendance at a gala meant for him at Trades Hall in Glasgow on Tuesday 2^nd November 2021. We exposed him for the devil he is and we got international press coverage in the process.

I would like to thank my fellow ROHR Zimbabwe members, MDCA members, ZHRO members, ZAPU members and indeed independent or non-aligned Zimbabweans that all came together to make our demonstration over the 2 days such a resounding success.

I have received threats after that and so have many of my fellow demonstrators but so far I count myself relatively lucky because some have had worse experience. For example Shepherd Yuda’s car was vandalized the night he arrived back home in Middlesbrough. His second car was pasted with row eggs. Vongayi Mufara was awake the whole night on Tuesday 2^nd November 2021 into the morning of Wednesday 3^rd November 2021 because some people were making strange intimidating noises outside her bedroom window. Nontokozo Malaba Ncube, just like me, was receiving strange calls from strange +263 and +44 numbers. Your guess is as good as mine as to who the perpetrators are but I cannot mention them lest I jeopardize ongoing investigations.

We remain resolute in our quest for the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe. I for one will not be deterred by the threats as long as I am not physically in Zimbabwe.

The struggle continues.

About the author:-

Emmaculate Tshuma is a Zimbabwean human rights activist based in the United Kingdom. She is a member of Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe and belongs the North Branch of the UK Chapter. She can be contacted via email; - emmahtshuma_05@yahoo.com