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

Little old Simon Khaya Moyo still chanting “Zimbabwe will never be a colony again”

18^th September 2021

On the 24^th of August 2021 there was a news article on Nehanda Radio about Simon Khaya Moyo

whereby he was quoted repeating variations of the ZANU-PF mantra ‘Zimbabwe will never be a colony again’. For those who do not know the man, Simon Khaya Moyo is one of the many very old men in ZANU-PF who have been stinking up Zimbabwean politics for 41 years with incompetency and by being out of touch with reality. He looks a bit like papa smurf and is more than 30 years past his sell by date.

So anyway, word on the street is that Khaya Moyo is hoping to become another second Vice President a position which he is perfectly suited on the basis that it’s a position traditionally reserved for  a very old and useless non-Shona person. The last two men who occupied that second VP role were notorious for being absolutely hopeless.

So, what’s happening is that Khaya Moyo is campaigning to get this position, but true to form everything he is saying is not only nonsense but confirmation that he is out of touch with reality. ZANU-PF’s standard propaganda against the MDC Alliance (the genuine one, not the opportunists led by Douglas Mwonzora) involves false accusations that the opposition are bankrolled by the West. So, for Khaya Moyo to say Zimbabwe will never be a colony again during the same week when ZANU-PF have been rubbing their hands with glee at the IMF money they received, is an example of his lack of self-awareness. The fact of the matter is that ZANU-PF are the ones that are selling the country to the highest bidders who so far have been the Chinese. As shown by the events of this week, ZANU-PF will accept money from anyone because they don’t have the know-how of making money using innovative business.

One of the benefits of removing ZANU-PF from power is that the country will no longer need to subsidise the lifestyles of old and useless politicians like Khaya Moyo who have never achieved anything for the Zimbabwean people. As it happens, the oldest most dangerous and useless politician in Zimbabwe is the man who made himself President, and we cannot wait to see the back of him in 2023.

 

#Zanupfmustgo

#ZimbabweanLivesMatter

 

Written By

Nontokozo Malaba Ncube

ROHR Zimbabwe

 

About the author;-

Nontokozo Malaba Ncube is a human rights activist and a member of Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe’s UK Chapter. She is also a member of the opposition MDC Alliance party. She is based in the United Kingdom and can be contacted by email on nmncube44408@gmail.com

The IMF USD1bn could be used to fund a military crackdown before and during 2023 election

18^th September 2021

The rumours going around on social media indicate that ZANU-PF are a bit concerned with the events

in Zambia where an opposition party leader beat the incumbent (Edgar Lungu).  Before the announcement of the election results, it appeared Lungu was trying to rig the result but within days the results were announced and Lungu had no choice but to accepted defeat.

The way politics in Africa works is that the incumbent usually has complete control of the military, police and judiciary who are the people who uphold and enforce the electoral result.  What happened in Zambia is that this state apparatus deserted Lungu in favour of the opposition leader. This is something that definitely bothered Mnangagwa which is why it took him long to congratulate Hichilema. In ZANU-PF’s eyes, the unthinkable happened i.e., the military rejected a sitting president, similar to what happened to Mugabe in 2017 but in a general election.  ZANU-PF was hoping that the Zambian military and state apparatus would rig the election and ignore the public vote, something Mnangagwa and company have been doing since 1980. This is why the regime’s loudmouths have been jittery and going on the offensive on social media.

Seeing the events in Zambia unfold, will definitely compel Mnangagwa and his generals to prepare the military and state apparatus to act in his favour come 2023. This will include paying the generals huge bonuses, buying them new cars, and giving them free money via tenders. In addition, the military and police will most likely receive new weapons and kit which they will use to crackdown on the opposition.

What this means is that we in the opposition need to keep an eye on how this USD1bn is being spent and publicising to the world about any dodgy spending of this IMF money by ZANU-PF. We have had enough of ZANU-PF and we want them gone!!!

 

#ZanuPFMustgo
#ZimbabweanLivesMatter

Written by

Nontokozo Malaba Ncube
ROHR Zimbabwe Activist

 

About the author;-

Nontokozo Malaba Ncube is a human rights activist and a member of Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe’s UK Chapter. She is also a member of the opposition MDC Alliance party. She is based in the United Kingdom and can be contacted by email on nmncube44408@gmail.com

 

ZANU-PF could use the IMF USD1bn to fund their 2023 election campaign, including the rigging

18^th September 2021

By Nontokozo Malaba Ncube

A number of political observers have focused on the likelihood that ZANU-PF will use the IMF money to ‘fund’ agriculture and mining. For those who may not be in the know, in Zimbabwe, agriculture and mining are the sectors which ZANU-PF uses to steal money from the state. And it’s not like this IMF money is going to be guarded against corruption while it’s at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. The Minister of Finance has a history of taking people’s money. Moreover, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is not safe from ZANU-PF. It’s essentially their personal bank. It is most likely that ZANU-PF is going to steal this IMF money through their usual scams in agriculture and mining. But many people are failing to see that this money could also be used by ZANU-PF to fund their 2023 election campaign.

As long as this USD1bn from the IMF is at the Reserve Bank, ZANU-PF will toy with it. Political analysts believe that ZANU-PF steals public money for two reasons; to line their pockets and those of their families, friends, and mistresses, and to keep themselves in power. We already know that a lot of this money is going to be stolen by Mnangagwa, his kinsmen and the cartel around him. But with an election less than 2 years away, ZANU-PF will use some of this money to fund their campaign of violence and the rigging. They will buy beer and trinkets for the hapless youths to “motivate” them to engage in violence against perceived opponents of the ZANU-PF government. They will buy 4x4s for chiefs and political commissars across the country. A significant part of this election war chest will be funding the electoral rigging. This often involves bribing officials at the ZEC and hiring dodgy companies from Russia or such like to rig the election behind the scenes.

As such, all democrats and the genuine opposition in Zimbabwe need to do their own fundraising to be able to compete with what ZANU-PF has. Without money we have no chance in the 2023 election. For the sake of the country, and future generations, ZANU-PF needs to be removed the same way Zambia got rid of its useless President and his party few weeks ago.

#ZanuPFMustgo

#ZimbabweanLivesMatter

................................

Nontokozo Malaba Ncube

ROHR Zimbabwe Activist

 

About the author;-

Nontokozo Malaba Ncube is a human rights activist and a member of Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe’s UK Chapter. She is also a member of the opposition MDC Alliance party. She is based in the United Kingdom and can be contacted by email on nmncube44408@gmail.com