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Obi Egbuna Jnr  Simunye

Dear Pastor Mawarire

As you and the US based leadership and membership of the This Flag Movement prepare for your demonstrations at the United Nations scheduled to take place on September 17th and 21st, I sincerely hope you find time to properly address the issues being raised in this open letter.The first question is where did you get the idea to use the Zimbabwe flag as a rallying point in the very first place? My reason for asking is because in the July 10 2015 edition of The Herald, I wrote an article titled Africans raise Zimbabwe’s flag everywhere, with the photograph of young white supremacist Dylann Roof who walked into the historic Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston South Carolina and murdered nine so-called African Americans. This included the Snr Pastor and State Senator Clementa Pinckney who, based on the path he chose, would be your brother in faith. Pastor Mawarire as you are well aware the picture of Mr Roof used in that article showed him with a black jacket with patches of flags of both Rhodesia and South Africa under apartheid on his arm.

The goal was to show so-called African Americans that Mr Roof committed this heinous crime in the name of Cecil John Rhodes, Geoffrey Hudgins Ian Smith, and all those who were dedicated to maintain domination of Zimbabwe and South Africa politically, economically and militarily.

The article raised the question whether our sister Bree Newsome who gained international attention for climbing a 30 foot flagpole and removing the US confederate flag from the state capital in South Carolina, would she be ready to adopt the flag of Zimbabwe and join the global fight to remove US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe? What that article represented, ideologically speaking, is in diametrical opposition to the campaign of flag and cultural desecration you are leading in the name of democracy and human rights.

Pastor Mawarire, according to the 10 commandments in the holy bible, under no conditions can you as a man of faith ever resort to lying or distort the truth in the name of the flag, country and people you claim to love. Please answer if you hijacked this idea with the hope of intensifying the efforts both on the ground in Zimbabwe, throughout Africa and the Diaspora with the aim of a pro-western imperialist regime change as a top priority.

I truly believe imitation is the highest form of flattery. What offends me as an adopted son of Zimbabwe and son of Mother Africa is the audacious manner you use one of the most beautiful flags to serve the interests of US-EU imperialism.

Pastor Mawarire when addressing the US imperialist think tank the Atlantic Group in Washington DC last month, you said neither your grandfather or father who fought in the 2nd Chimurenga could see what they fought for. This demonstrated that in your oratorical arsenal you are very capable of telling an audience exactly what they want to hear, what you fail to realize is your every move and the connections you make are watched closer than you could ever comprehend.

Pastor Mawarire last week in Montgomery, Alabama you met with one of the most sincere and dedicated Civil Rights and Human Rights figures in the US Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders who has proudly served the 23rd district since 1983.

When you attempted to trumpet the narrative that gets you applauses in US imperialist think tank circles, presenting yourself as a courageous man who wound up in the United States because your life was in grave danger, you were rather hesitant to answer his question which was simply how did you get out of Zimbabwe in the first place?

Pastor Mawarire the next question Senator Sanders raised with you was concerning the 3rd Chimurenga’s historic land reclamation programme, which you claimed the entire nation supports. However your concern was with widespread corruption and human rights. Since you know that US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe are a vindictive response to both the land reclamation programme and Operation Sovereign Legitimacy in the Congo, why don’t you correct the condescending white liberals like Nicole Wilett-Jensen of the Albright Stonebridge Group who refers to this historical effort as farm grabbing?

Pastor Mawarire it is obvious that your partners in crime, white Rhodesian and white South African Mr David Coltart and Mrs Chloe McGrath along with your handlers at the US State Department, have decided to manufacture and present you as a non-violent religious-spiritual leader in the tradition of Dr King Reverend Ralph Abernathy and Reverend Fred Shuttleworth to name a few.

Because Zimbabwe and South Africa are only separated by the Limpopo River based on your angle and perspective, you resemble Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has always been celebrated in the imperialist world.

I would not be surprised if when you were allegedly hiding in South Africa he didn’t give you his personal blessings and suggested the regime change mission of the This Flag movement is compatible with the wishes of almighty God. Since you are so patriotic, we hope you are not going to join Archbishop Tutu’s chorus for a military invasion of the country you tell everyone has your unconditional love. We would like to know if Archbishop Tutu picked up the phone and arranged for you and your family to come to the US and become the religious mouthpiece for regime change in Zimbabwe.

This explains why you were at Alabama State University in Montgomery last Friday and at the historic Brown’s Chapel in Selma, Alabama which you proudly display on your facebook page. You forgot to mention who sponsored your itinerary in the Civil/Human rights belt of the United States.

You were the guest of Global Ties Alabama, the center of international exchange sponsored by the US State Department and their Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Perhaps for strategic reasons you chose not to share this with Zimbabweans back home, who will never have the opportunity to move around the US on the State Department’s dime and meet diplomats or Civil/Human Rights icons like Ambassador Andrew Young and Senator Hank Sanders.

Pastor Mawarire because you appear rather oblivious to very important dynamics concerning US Zimbabwe policy, I hope you are aware that US Secretary of State John Kerry is married to the woman who inherited the Heinz dynasty, Teresa Heinz. Her place of birth is Mozambique and her original name is Maria Teresa Thierstein Simoes Ferreira. This means the entities sponsoring your travels are connected to the colonial legacy of the most violent conquerors of Mother Africa.

It is no coincidence that every country conquered by the Portuguese (Guinee Bissau, Mozambique and Angola) had to be liberated by armed struggle. I am showing you Secretary Kerry’s disdain for President Mugabe and zanu-pf stems from political pillow talk with his significant other.

Pastor Mawarire when you addressed the Atlantic Group did you know that their Africa programme is directed by a gentleman who has sat on the Sr Advisory board of US Africa Command since its inception. It is interesting to see a non-violent man of God rub shoulders with the likes of J. Peter Pham.

Pastor Mawarire US imperialism is using you to exploit so-called African Americans’s lack of exposure to Southern Africa that stems from a narrative that reduces the SADC region to the biography of Nelson Madiba Mandela. For this reason the State Department is hoping this will be the first time that the audiences mobilised to listen to your account have ever heard the Zimbabwe question presented in a public forum. In Conclusion Pastor Mawarire, on facebook you posed the question, “What Do You Citizens Want?” which you only wanted Diaspora Zimbabwean students to answer. About 58 percent called for regime change.

On the one hand you cry this is not the agenda of the This Flag movement yet you proudly display this numerical figure on social media.

You are on the way to the United Nations where the Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey and Dr DuBois presented appeals charging US imperialism with genocide. Many Zimbabweans are angered with your showboating and wish it comes to an end. I must say I encourage it for one reason, when a prostitute is on a street corner selling their body, at some point their pimp appears. The time is coming soon when Africans in Zimbabwe in particular and Africans in general will demand to know who is financing your activities and the database of all the political contacts you are making, as you continue to work for the demise of Zimbabwe.

Obi Egbuna Jnr is the US Correspondent of The Herald and external relations officer of ZICUFA( Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association). His email is [email protected]