EDITORIAL COMMENT: Zim bigger than Chamisa’s inflated ego From the launch of his election campaign to his inauguration on Sunday, President Mnangagwa has pleaded for unity, oneness, peace and tolerance among Zimbabweans

President Mnangagwa has done more than an average leader would do to bring his nation together. It should be everyone’s patriotic duty, unsolicited, to work for the good of their motherland.

From the launch of his election campaign to his inauguration on Sunday, President Mnangagwa has pleaded for unity, oneness, peace and tolerance among Zimbabweans, especially after the peaceful elections of July 30 which the opposition MDC-Alliance lost.

Its leader Nelson Chamisa has demonstrated he is not only a sore loser, but that he has all the dangerous traits of a megalomaniac and dictator. There is a medical condition doctors call narcissistic personality disorder.

This is excessive and single-minded concern for oneself. It manifests in refusing that one can fail, that other people can do better and the desire to get one’s way regardless of public opinion. The individual wants to treat oneself as the centre of the universe and the universal voice. Chamisa fits neatly into this description.

From the launch of his election campaign, he convinced himself and deceived those who supported him that they were the people and they would win the 2018 harmonised elections.

He consistently declared that he would not accept any other result. Most Zimbabweans took it lightly as part of campaign banter to intimidate his opponents. He even told supporters in March that every morning he was rehearsing at his home in readiness for the Presidency. He in fact said he already had his inauguration speech prepared.

The debate among the public was not about whether he would win or lose, but simply that whoever lost the elections would respect the will of the people and let the nation move on.

People underestimated Chamisa’s conceit  when he launched his war against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as part of preparations to condemn the poll result as manipulated and rigged in favour of the eventual winner, President Mnangagwa.

Again he declared that if Mnangagwa won, he would spoil the victory for him. He is living that threat. He has disputed the election results. Last week he challenged the results in the Constitutional Court. When he lost again he attacked the Judiciary as “captured”, repeating an accusation he has been making during his campaign rallies.

Typical of someone suffering from NPD, he is the only one bearing the torch of what is right. The people of Zimbabwe who voted are wrong. The highest court in the land which ruled against him is compromised. He has rejected advice from Sadc and the African Union for losers to accept the people’s verdict.

He must have his way and has now reportedly taken his case to the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights. Most likely if he loses he will try the United Nations.

Zimbabweans concerned about democracy should thank themselves that Chamisa lost these elections. His obsession with power for its own sake exposes him as a dangerous person who would be difficult to remove should he be installed as a leader.

His treatment of ZEC confirms he would have no qualms about amending both the party and national Constitution to stay in power. His determination to win power now shows nobody and nothing can stand in his way if he gets the full instruments of State power.

We don’t know who is advising him on this perilous and relentless quest for power, but they are not his best friends. The people of Zimbabwe voted. Their wish is for the political leadership to unite and fashion a common strategy to meet ED’s vision of a middle income economy by 2030. When they voted they were not expecting these endless, needless disputes.

The risk Chamisa faces now is losing his most ardent supporters.

Few people would be so naïve to believe that the fate of a whole nation should depend on the desires of a single individual no matter how charismatic they think they are.

Zimbabwe is far greater than Chamisa and Zimbabweans want to give ED a chance, especially after Chamisa lied that he had mountains of evidence to prove his rigging allegations in court.

It was providential that the Constitutional Court hearing was screened live. He didn’t have any evidence.

President Mnangagwa has emphasised the need to move from politics to the economy. This resonates with a majority of Zimbabweans and Chamisa could discover too late that his political antics have no more traction.

Should he opt for violence, he should expect to face the full wrath of the law with little international sympathy except from his sponsors.

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