Thread by @ProfJNMoyo

#MondayLetter
16/8/21
Dear Everyone,
1/24 There's been spirited debate in these streets & elsewhere, sparked by @glenmpani's intervention on Zimbabwe's triple crisis of political parties, arising from the DEPOLITICISATION of the public sphere since the Nov 2017 military coup!

2/24 Unfortunately but understandably, some vested interests took @glenmpani's intervention & my rejoinder to it, as an attack & opposition to @mdczimbabwe & @nelsonchamisa. Yet what's been seen as OPPOSITION is in fact FRUSTRATION & what's been seen as an ATTACK is a CHALLENGE!

3/24 Arguably, most Zimbabweans see the MDC-A as the most promising way forward. Yet as the the dynamics of 2023 become real with little preparedness to see on the ground; FRUSTRATION is dominating many private and public discussions, because the election is due within 23 months!

4/24 For a perspective, FRUSTRATION is not OPPOSITION & CHALLENGING is not ATTACKING; the difference is like that of day & night: you get frustrated by the inaction of what you like & oppose the action of what you dislike and you challenge what you like & attack what you dislike!

5/24 It's an old-age truism that people, in any community, use what they have to get what they want or need. It is in this context that most Zimbabweans, whether rightly or wrongly, see the MDC-A under Chamisa as the formation in the best position to deliver the change they want!

6/24 Most Zimbabweans see #ZDF/#ZanuPF & @edmnangagwa as the problems between them & the change they want. The MDC-A under Chamisa is seen as the pathway to some solution. This is based on the 2018 presidential election, in which Chamisa got 66% of the vote stolen by Mnangagwa!

7/24 When #ZDF/#ZANUPF used @DMwonzora as a tool for recalling MDC-A MPs & Councillors; it's not only MDC-A members who were offended but also all right thinking Zimbabweans, who are in the majority. The recalls were a brazen assault on the electorate & Constitution of Zimbabwe!

8/24 The fact that the recalls of MDC-A MPs & Councillors were brazenly done on the back of the brazenly stolen 2018 presidential election, incensed Zimbabweans even more and got them to expect a VISIBLE RESPONSE from the MDC-A; the absence of which has of course FRUSTRATED many!

9/24 The fact that the next general election is due within the next 23 months, when nothing visible has been done to address the stolen 2018 presidential election & the parliamentary & local govt seats stolen through @DMwonzora's recalls, risks turning the FRUSTRATION into PANIC!

10/24 Since the frustration is a public interest matter, it's crucial for it to find expression in the public domain. If it does not, for whatever reason (including not washing "dirty clothes" in public); then the FRUSTRATION might morph into PANIC or even ALARM & DESPONDENCY!

11/24 There are seven cases which show the real risk and possibility that, if unattended, the palpable FRUSTRATION might lead to panic or alarm & despondency over the absence of a VISIBLE MDC-A response to the stolen 2018 presidential election and recalls of MPs and Councillors!

12/24 First, in addition to the unresolved stolen 2018 presidential election & recalls of MPs & Councillors, there's the Harare massacre & wounding of civilians on 1 Aug 2018 & the Jan 2019 murder & torture atrocities for which the victims & survivors have not gotten any justice!

13/24 Second, there are the abductions & torture of some 117 targeted citizens between Nov 2017 & Sept 2020; about which very little is said. These include the cases of @JoanaMamombe, @MarovaNetsai,@ceechimbiri2 & @TeeMuchehiwa; cruelly labeled by the regime as "self-abductions!

14/24 Third, there are targeted arrests & illegal detentions of @JoanaMamombe, @ceechimbiri2, @MarovaNetsai, @daddyhope, @JobSikhala1, @NgarivhumeJacob, @advocatemahere, @efie41209591 & @adv_fulcrum. There's a plot to put most of these out of political action by JAILING them!

15/24 Fourth, there's the regime's abuse of #Covid19 not to hold by-elections after the diabolic & unconstitutional recalls of MDC-A MPs & Councillors by #ZDF/#ZANUPF. If ex-Northern Rhodesia can hold a general election under #Covid19, ex-Southern Rhodesia can hold by-elections!

16/24 Fifth, the #ZDF/#ZanuPF regime, projects itself as an African success story in its handling of #Covid19, especially regarding its vaccination rollout. This is an unexposed falsehood. As recently revealed by the Auditor General, there's been a looting spree under #Covid19!

17/24 Sixth, while the #ZDF/#ZANUPF regime paints itself as a success story in tackling #Covid19, amid budget-surplus boasts by @MthuliNcube, the reality on the ground is that 7.9 million Zimbabweans, 1.3 million since 2020, are extremely poor & live on less than USD 1,90 a day!

18/24 Seventh, the #ZDF/#ZANUPF regime has abdicated its responsibility & abandoned the people; who are now without POLITICAL PROTECTION. The @euinzim has intervened with emergency cash assistance & nutrition support to the people facing extreme food insecurity due to #Covid19!

19/24 While the seven cases above are not exhaustive, they form the basis of a MANIFESTO of vulnerable Zimbabweans who expect the MDC-A to represent them & address their plight in an organised, visible, robust & sustained manner. The absence of such representation is FRUSTRATING!

20/24 All told, it is FRUSTRATING to observe the officials and others who speak for it, using the MDC-A as a mutual admiration society or a vanity fair in which messaging is less about the burning issues facing a restless and vulnerable population, and more about themselves!

21/24 The FRUSTRATION referred to above is not opposition to the MDC-A at all; it's FRIENDLY but grave CONCERN in light of the dire suffering of the UNREPRESENTED population, given the stolen 2018 presidential election & #ZDF/#ZANUPF's diabolic recalls of MDC-A MPs & Councillors!

22/24 When people get FRUSTRATED in a situation where their LIVES and LIVELIHOODS are threatened, it stands to reason that they'll seek ways to express their FRUSTRATION. Normally, this is done through the political process in general and elected representatives, in particular!

23/24 As a direct consequence of the 13 Nov 2017 military coup, the public sphere in Zimbabwe has been DEPOLITICISED by the #ZDF/#ZANUPF regime. That's the problem in the country: organised political activity is conspicuous by its absence. People expect the MDC-A to REVERSE this!

24/24 The 2023 plot of the #ZDF/#ZANUPF regime is to rig, on the back of a DEPOLITICISED electorate. The MDC-A can preempt this by REPOLITICISING the electorate through CONTENT-BASED: voter registration, voting & vote protection; given that unlike Zambia, Zim is a MILITARY STATE!