A leopard can't change its spots

Mmegi Editor | Friday August 3, 2018 11:13

Before the results were announced the youthful leader of the MDC Alliance Nelson Chamisa pre-ejaculated and declared himself the winner of the historic elections that were held on Monday without the participation of the ousted former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.

Chamisa’s supporters violently took to the streets on Wednesday and protested that the ruling Zanu-PF, which is leading by a huge margin in the National Assembly polls, rigged the elections. They claimed that with the help of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), Zanu-PF led by the veteran hardliner Emmerson Mnangagwa stole the votes.

The tactless, inexperienced and immature Chamisa is partly to blame for this mayhem. His social media posts enthused his diehard supporters to violently protest the elections. He did not even provide proof why he claimed he was a winner. Typical of poor political party supporters, his followers did not engage their brains before they toyi-toyied in the Harare streets; damaging innocent people’s hard earned properties.

The security forces typically responded in kind. What happened was not only barbaric but also extreme. Instead of using rubber bullets and other means of controlling the crowds, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) unleashed live ammunition on the protesters and three were reported dead.

This is the same army that unlawfully removed Mugabe from power by inciting the masses to revolt against him and replaced him with his fellow killing machine Mnangagwa. Chamisa should have known better that ZDF would do anything to protect their man, Mnangagwa. He should have known that they would harp on the incitement argument that he started the ‘war’.

Mnangagwa learnt from the best in the business of massacre against innocent people; that is Mugabe. Mnangagwa was instrumental in the violence that followed the 2008 elections that Mugabe lost. We had hoped that this was still fresh in Chamisa’s mind. After all he participated in that disputed elections.

Brutal force was employed to force the MDC to boycott the presidential election run-off.

Four years after the country’s independence in 1980, he is blamed for the Gukurahundi massacres that over 20,000 people mainly AmaNdebele got killed in what he now calls “a bad patch”. His predecessor called the massacres “a moment of madness”. Mnangagwa will always resort to violence when he is under threat, as a leopard never changes its spot.

 

Today’s thought

“There is no explanation whatsoever for the brutality that we saw today.” 

–  MDC Alliance spokesperson