Zim overcoming Third Chimurenga betrayal Joice Mujuru
Joice Mujuru

Joice Mujuru

Obi Egbuna Jnr Simunye

The lasting image for Zimbabweans and Cubans when looking at Mujuru and General Ochoa, will not be their heroic feats fighting to liberate Zimbabwe or defending Angola’s sovereignty, but allowing themselves to be seduced by a cunning US diplomat and genocidal nose candy.

If Africans at home and abroad are looking for a phrase that best describes US-EU policy on Zimbabwe, one that automatically comes to mind is counting your eggs before they hatch. This is quite evident whenever their embassies send out correspondence from Harare that gives the impression that regime change has almost come to be.

When President Mugabe stood front and centre in Harare on Wednesday all reactionary and opportunist forces in Zimbabwe were put on notice, that while the US-EU imperialist media and propaganda apparatus may guarantee them 15 minutes of fame and a platform that provides state of the art facelifts and makeovers, under no circumstances would this translate into a political force ready to assume power and control.

At the heart of the strategy to celebrate the anonymous communiqué of the Zimbabwe National War Veterans Liberation Association (ZNWLVA) and promote the People First party led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru is an open acknowledgement that revolutionary opposition to President Mugabe and zanu-pf is absolutely non-existent.

This question virtually shuts down the US-EU imperialist media and propaganda apparatus, because in the final analysis what all reactionaries in Zimbabwe have in common from both factions of MDC to the 400 civil society groups, is a paper trail of dirty US dollars and British pounds in connection to their very existence.

Because Mujuru and the ZNWVLA played such a crucial role in both the Second Chimurenga and the initial boost of the Third Chimurenga, US-EU imperialism has no choice but to take a wait and see approach, mainly because not too long ago they hurled more than their share of insults at ex- VP Mujuru and ZNWVLA.

Another interesting aspect of the neocolonialist dynamics in Zimbabwe to watch unfold is how former Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Mujuru share the limited political space available to willing agents and culprits in the US-EU regime change agenda.

There could perhaps be a rather comical end to this political drama if Mujuru and Tsvangirai both have early withdrawals from the 2018 elections due to insomnia that crept upon both of them like burglars in the night because gross opportunism in many cases can deprive one a good night’s sleep.

Since ZNWVLA was created as part of the process to help zanu and zapu guerrillas transition after the monumental liberation victory, this presented President Mugabe and zanu-pf with a challenge that the modern day African revolutionary process has been forced to confront whenever you have a transfer of political power.

The irony of Zimbabwe’s Third Chimurenga is that as time goes on President Mugabe and zanu-pf have to refer back to what many consider the golden era of African anti-colonialist and imperialist resistance for answers and insight into contradictions pertaining to developments we are forced to confront at this historical moment.

Both Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah and Thomas Sankara were very upfront when articulating the role of soldiers in society. When addressing cadets at the Ghana Military Academy in May of 1961, the Osagyefo made the following remarks, “It is not the duty of a soldier to criticise or endeavour to interfere in any way with the political affairs of the country; he must leave this to the politicians, whose business it is. The Government expects you, under all circumstances, to serve it and the people of Ghana loyally.”

Turning to Burkina Faso, Comrade Sankara said, “Without patriotic political education a soldier is only a potential criminal.”

As it would turn out, Mother Africa was robbed of one its most unique revolutionary Pan-Africanist personalities when Comrade Sankara was assassinated in cold blood by former Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore who came from the ranks of the Burkinabe military.

This reminds so-called African Americans of the analysis that both Kwame Ture and Assata Shakur provided when discussing the lack of political education training within the ranks of the Black Panther Party for Self Defence.

Brother Kwame mockingly said all you needed was a gun, a black beret and to memorise the 10 point programme and just that simple you were a member.

When we examine the cancer of military neocolonialism and the obstacles it has always presented, an area of paramount importance is the false sense of entitlement that effects the better judgment of those who fought courageously on the battlefield.

This is true especially if they put a reactionary spin and interpretation to the slogan, “Power comes from the barrel of a gun” made famous by Chairman Mao Tse Tung.

In the case of Mujuru whose heroic feats during the Second Chimurenga are celebrated not only in Zimbabwe but all over Mother Africa, the decision to have a clandestine meeting with former US Ambassador James McGee and turn her back on President Mugabe and zanu-pf lumps her with the likes of Mobutu Sese Seko in the Congo, Lasana Conte in Guinea, and Boumdienne in Algeria, to name a few.

The manner in which President Mugabe chose to handle this counter-revolutionary gesture by former VP Mujuru demonstrated his loyalty and patience with a woman he not only saw as a daughter, but empowered every step of the way beginning with her appointment as a minister at a young age and her becoming the first woman to serve as a VP in modern African history.

On a Pan-Africanist and international scale, Mujuru appearing to be in a cosy setting with a US ambassador is the equivalent of Cuban General Arnaldo Ochoa deciding to smuggle cocaine during the special period in Cuba when the Soviet Union decided to withdraw support from the Cuban revolution and extend an olive branch to US imperialism.

The lasting image for Zimbabweans and Cubans when looking at Mujuru and General Ochoa, will not be their heroic feats fighting to liberate Zimbabwe or defending Angola’s sovereignty, but allowing themselves to be seduced by a cunning US diplomat and genocidal nose candy.

From the vantage point of solidarity, it was extremely odd that Mujuru never used her platform to generate support from women all over the world in the fight to lift US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe, at a time when women emerged as the face of the nation’s land reclamation programme.

What young Africans at home and abroad must realise is that while the willingness to take up arms in a liberation struggle is very courageous, this does not guarantee that those who pursue that path will remain loyal to their nation, people and revolution.

We also have to consider that some of our most decorated revolutionary icons like Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, Ahmed Seku Ture, and Patrice Lumumba, rose to power using positive actions as the main instrument of resistance, while many others who waged protracted armed struggle to gain their independence did not then maintain revolutionary zeal and fervour when they assumed the mantle of leadership.

Because President Mugabe and zanu-pf have covered all bases when it comes to defending Zimbabwe’s independence and sovereignty, the best way to describe all those who have opted for neocolonialism instead of a ground-breaking revolution is here today, gone tomorrow.

Obi Egbuna Jnr is the US Correspondent to The Herald and External Relations Officer of ZICUFA(Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association). His email is [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

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