Swinging key to an imaginary door

Elliot Ziwira
Senior Writer

What is it with January, keys and doors?

Well, the issue may not necessarily have anything to do with January as a month replete with resolutions to atone for yesteryear blunders, but doors, seeing that they have so much metaphorical nuances.

There is something appealing about doors, particularly to those of us who have had them slammed in our faces enough times to discern what it means to be locked out.

Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition MDC-Alliance (MDC-A), or maybe the party formerly known as such — “What’s in a name?” as Juliet quips in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, for whatever way it may be put, puppetry remains the same.

“Hush up Columbus, Cum-bus-us/It don’t matter he did come here to trick us”, Mutabaruka chants in “People’s Court Part 11”; pointing out that it is the deed, and not the name that matters.

Back to January!

It was on January 21, 2020, two days shy of three years today, when Chamisa swung his so-called key to a paltry crowd in Mbare, in an attempt to hoodwink the world into believing that he has the panacea to the challenges bedevilling the Motherland, Zimbabwe.

With citizens desperately seeking solutions, Chamisa admitted, and still does, to being part of the problem, which he then claims to have an answer to.

The opposition leader gibbers on unity and peace, yet his language drips violence and divisiveness.

Chamisa said then: “I have told foreign governments not to invite (President) Mnangagwa, because he only has one side and I have the other part. We need national re-engagement so that together we can re-engage the world.”

Claiming that the West is “in agreement” with him, Chamisa hunts with the hounds, and seeks to run with the hares.

There are challenges, yes, but solutions are never found in situations where those claiming to have the keys are the ones who need to have their minds unlocked first, and be able to point out which door or doors need to be opened.

Closing out one’s own country from the outside world through engagement with the devil is neither cool nor grandiose. It is a sign of political immaturity and moral bankruptcy.

When it comes to doors and how they may be unlocked, there is a story that easily comes to mind.

It is a tale that endures both the passage of time and geo-political burdens.

The story is about a teacher taking a class of pupils with intellectual disabilities, who, having been satisfied that enough progress has been made on unlocking her charges’ mental acumen, decides to enlighten them on the essence of doors.

Her lesson naturally starts with a recap of the previous lesson in which she explains what a door is. She draws a huge door on the chalkboard as a teaching aid. Having been convinced that her good learners are aware of what a door is, she asks them what it is used for.

“We use the door when we want to go to the toilet”, little Marlon says.

“And when it is break-time or lunchtime, or when it is time to go home”, adds smiley Tariro.

More contributions come in, all enthusiastically pointing to what a door is used for, much to the delight of the committed teacher.

Then, the lesson moves on to focus on how a door is closed, locked and unlocked; and how a locked door cannot be used. All this is done with the teacher using both the actual door and the imaginary door on the chalkboard.

As the lesson draws to a close, she decides to emphasise the day’s theme by pointing to the door on the board, and ask the class what it is once more.

“It is a door”, they roar enthusiastically. They even explain what it is used for.

Now, it is time to go home, so she dismisses the class.

Much to her displeasure, they excitedly rush to the chalkboard, pushing and shoving to find their way out, as home beckons.

As this is going on, the teacher notices that Jingo remains behind, and is laughing hilariously at his fellow classmates, who to him are probably out of their minds.

Of her 15 charges, the teacher reasons, it is only Jingo who got it right. It is encouraging after all, she thinks out loud, so she calls out to Jingo:

“Why are you standing there laughing, instead of joining the others, Jingo?”

“Ma’am”, he says in peals of laughter, “Those guys are crazy; crazy, indeed!”

Sure, there is hope in this one, the good teacher is thrilled. He might be the hero here!

“Why do you think they are crazy?” she pushes it further.

“How could they push and shove like that at the door?” asked Jingo, the hero of the day, driving his point home, “Are they not aware that I am the one holding the key?”

Disappointment cannot even describe the feeling that comes with such an outburst, not so much that the key may not even be there, but it is meant for a non-existent door.

The door and the key exist in poor Jingo’s mind, yet he feels that he has a solution to the goodies waiting behind the door—at home.

Dear friend, countryman and kinsman, have you ever been in a situation where you lost, or misplaced your keys?

You get so desperate that you listen to whoever appears to have a solution to your problem.

Throwing caution to the wind, you become frantic, and seek solutions nowhere and everywhere. You may even decide to break in.

Whatever happens only depends on you accepting that you have lost a key to a door you know exists, and whose key number or design you are aware of.

Well, the reality is that we are going through challenging times as Zimbabweans. There is a door that is closed in our face; the door to the common good, the door to collective prosperity. We so much wish this door is unlocked.

However, the existence of such a door should go beyond imagination. The reality of the polarisation of the political landscape in Zimbabwe should be captured with the view to find the common good.

Whoever may have that key should be clear on what is meant by collective suffering, and the reason why the door is locked in the first place and by who.

Yes, as Chamisa pointed out, “together we can re-engage the world”. However, that togetherness must be informed by oneness.

Together means little, if the one who calls for it also believes that he is more together than others, at the same time admitting that he only has a part of the whole to his side.

When locks work in combination, because of the existence of separate parts of the whole, as what obtains in a democracy, which democracy Chamisa confesses to by admitting that no one has all of the sum, then, the key is in the hands of all. Suffice to say, President Mnangagwa holds a bigger chunk of the whole by virtue of having overwhelmingly won the Presidential poll on July 30, 2018.

Each of the 18 members of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) holds a share, and Chamisa holds a share, which no matter how significant it can be, remains equally part of the whole. It follows, then, that for the combination lock to be undone, everyone, who holds part of the code, should contribute without claiming to be the Alpha and Omega.

No one should claim to own citizens, because they do not belong to political parties. They belong to each other. Those codes politicians separately hold to unlock the combination key to our prosperity, are only made possible by the goodwill of the collective; the people.

Like Jingo, if indeed Chamisa holds the key, he has to be schooled on the fact that those pushing and shoving to find a way out, albeit through an imaginary door, are aware of the existence of an exit somewhere, only that they do not know where it could be.

They need to be convinced that the right door exists somewhere if their mindset is shifted to consider other possibilities going beyond the imagination. Otherwise, Chamisa should simply tack his imaginary key into the coin pocket of his pair of trousers and keep quiet.

As the President aptly points out at the closing ceremony of the 49th International Pastors Deeper Life Leadership Conference at the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Forward in Faith Ministries’ Africa Multinational for Christ College in Harare on January 26, 2020: “We are one nation, indeed one family, we must leave in peace and harmony.

“Since we were all created in His image, we should resist the temptation to be violent towards one another. It is not our Zimbabwean culture to be violent, to hate and do evil to one another.”

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