Thread by @Wamagaisa

Zororo

1. It must have a very difficult and anxious morning for mkoma Dougie as he waited for the star rally at Zororo Grounds on Saturday. To appreciate the challenge and the associated anxiety you must know how these events are planned. It’s a huge logistical operation.

2. Star rally day starts early for everyone. There will be a team at the venue preparing the stage, pitching the tents & generally ensuring that everything is in place. There will be a team led by the party organiser mobilising the crowds. Their job is to ensure a good turnout.

3. These teams on the ground will be liaising with the leader’s team at home or at the hotel advising them on progress and when to arrive. The golden rule is that the leader must arrive to a rousing welcome and that can only happen if there’s a large crowd.

4. It’s very easy when things are going well at the venue. Things going well essentially means the crowd is big. But when the crowd is thin on the ground, things get really hard. How do you call the leader to come when it’s so bad? These are anxious moments for all.

5. Just to be sure, the president will have his own advance team which will scan the situation at the venue. If the uptake is slow, teams will make more impromptu road shows & door to door calls in the area to boost the crowd.

5. But the clock will be ticking so it’s a race against time. The protocol is that the leader’s subordinates arrive first. Then the leader is told it’s time to come. If the crowd is large he makes a grand entrance. But if it’s small, his confidence suffers.

6. Big crowds boost the politician’s ego while small crowds are a heavy blow. Mkoma Dougie would have been keen to make a big impression this weekend. After all it was his first serious public event since he took over in 2020. He has had an easy rally-free ride.

7. Therefore all morning his teams must have been updating him on progress at Zororo, when clearly there was none. Some of these chaps don’t tell the truth. They will say “zviri kuita pane vanhu Mdhara” (It’s looking good, we have a good crowd Mr President). Lying.

8. When he left his home for Zororo Grounds it would have been one of the most difficult trips, knowing things were falling apart and the whole world was watching and he was about to be exposed. You put a brave face as politicians often do and blurt out the ridiculous.

9. That’s why mkoma’s estimate of a 5000-strong crowd came out so naturally when he spoke to the media. It was as ridiculous as it sounded. It was a self-comforting overestimation by a man who knew his goose was well and truly cooked. There was no place to hide.

10. I said when he was revelling in the contrived court victories that the true test was in the court of public opinion. There, it wasn’t handpicked judges who would pronounce judgment, no. It was the people. And the scene at Zororo Grounds is just a taste of things to come.

11. I said a few weeks ago that we were witnessing the administration of the last rites for the MDC-T and that Mwonzora would have the dubious distinction of carrying the once mighty party into the grave. It’s apposite that the rally was at Zororo Grounds (the place of rest).

12. It’s one thing to lie to look good. It is different & far worse when you believe the lies. One is tempted to feel sorry for mkoma. But mkoma refused to listen when it was clear that he was on a slippery slope to nowhere. It was a tough day at the office, but worse will follow