When some elements in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces wrested power from Mugabe, on very spurious grounds, and mysteriously or stupidly handed it over to his former bodyguard and henchman-in-chief, I stated that it was my hope that Mnangagwa was going to address the nation of Zimbabwe for the express purpose of apologizing for his past inequities. Here is a man who has been at the centre of the ZANU(PF) tyranny since 1977.
1. By his own account, he was involved in the brutal suppression of the Vashandi Rebellion led by Rugare Gumbo and Henry Hamadziripi. Gumbo and Hamadziripi had objected to the ascendancy to positions of power in ZANU by people who appeared disinterested in the principles of the rights of the workers and peasants. Zvigananda, that being the polar opposite of the peasants and the workers, brutally suppressed the rebels. Mnangagwa told us of an incident in which Gumbo was deposited into a pit. When a snake found its way into that pit, the people in the pit appealed for help that was not forthcoming.
2. In Operation Gukurahundi, Mnangagwa’s name has been in every paragraph touching on the atrocities. Some newspaper said he had said this matter had been resolved. I had no idea it had since I have had to contend with the silly accusation that people like me who seek the truth are Gukurahundists on an almost daily basis or every time we speak up.
3. Some say corruption ought to be a synonym for Mnangagwa, so to speak. Fay Chung made a stunning charge when she said Mnangagwa had unbridled thieving habits that almost brought the national economy down after ZANU(PF) had invested in a number of key commercial companies. Mnangagwa had been given custody of the revenue-generating businesses of the party, Chung writes in her book. The situation reached a dire point the party had to institute a serious investigation. Massive cases of serious embezzlement were allegedly discovered. The report has yet to be made public. Mugabe went as far as calling Mnangagwa a crook.
4. Operation Mavhoterapapi, characterized by the same penchant for committing heinous crimes reminiscent of the terrors of Operation Gukurahundi, were committed in an effort to retain power. On this issue, Mnangagwa publicly took credit for the effort. The sense of impunity was such that the criminals did not think twice about abducting James McGee when he went to Mashonaland Central to witness for himself the magnitude of the brutality against unarmed peasants --- bear in mind the reasons that are said to have prompted Gumbo and Hamadziripi to stage an insurrection that was put down with Mnangagwa’s participation. It was absolutely insane to have someone order the abduction of the American ambassador, and a former wartime military officer at that, and hope to get away with it. Such acts of rank stupidity can easily lead to national calamities. Mnangagwa was boastful about the entire operation. He intimated it was his affection for and loyalty to Mugabe that prompted him to act like this. Now we know better, do we not?
5. I have no idea what his role was in the abduction and disappearances of Itai Dzamara, Edwin Nleya and Patrick Nabayana. Prior to the treasonous coup, apparently approved by some elements of the rightwing British aristocracy, Mugabe had been fingered out as the guiding hand in the disappearances. When Mugabe left the seat of power, the release of Dzamara, Nabayana and Nleya ought to have taken a matter of hours, had Mugabe and his alleged circle of criminal elements been responsible. This was a golden opportunity to expose the crimes of the criminal elements that Busi Moyo alluded to, but not by name, to the entire world in his pre-dawn announcement of the calamitous coup. Had Saviour Kasukuwere and Jonathan Moyo been responsible for the disappearance of Dzamara, I doubt their archenemy, Mnangagwa, was going to miss that opportunity to have the public stone them at Rufaro Stadium or a similarly public arena. Concretely linking the G40 to the disappearance of Dzamara was going to be sufficient proof that the G40 group was indeed a gathering of criminals. Dzamara is still missing. Mnangagwa has said nothing to reassure Dzamara’s family that Itai is alive. At least I have not heard Mnangagwa say anything to that effect.
Taking just these five examples into account, be that as it may, I felt Mnangagwa needed to apologize to the people of Zimbabwe for his role in propping up and enforcing what we all came to believe was a Mugabe tyranny. An apology was going to mark a clean break for Mnangagwa. He desperately needed that break for a number of reasons. As examples:
(i) A public apology was going to give him great goodwill, with a grace period within which he had to perform real and tangible penitence. A verbal solicitation for forgiveness is good, but it must be fortified acts of contrition. Karanga tradition teaches us that.
(ii) Contrition serves as a compact between the victims and the perpetrators. By apologizing, the perpetrator is essentially acknowledging the injuries caused by his actions. Going forth, such actions are then acknowledged as malignant. The now-enlightened perpetrator essentially makes a vow not to ever repeat the same acts. A repetition of the same acts becomes willful. Ignorance cannot be cited as an excuse at the time of the commission of the injurious act.
Contrition serves the dual purpose of healing and prevention. It also is not a bad starting point for reformation.
To my knowledge, Mnangagwa did not offer even a modicum of an apology. I actually recall him calling his presumed detractors yowling dogs, though still shaken by his dismissal from the government. That was rather concerning because that insult had previously been made when the so-called Mugabe despotism was at its most toxic stage. There was danger that the self-promoted new dispensation was only new in that it was likely to sink to newer and lower levels of depravity than before. A refusal to apologize for past transgressions appeared to be a signal that the same acts that had cause physical and psychological trauma were likely to be repeated.
From the day of the coup up to this juncture, has there not been ample evidence that Zimbabweans may very well be in far greater danger than they were prior to the coup? Two atrocities committed before the eyes of the whole world, an economy in a tailspin, a medical doctor abducted and vanished much like what happened with Dzamara and other missing Zimbabweans, who do we point our fingers at? Mugabe was now far from the acts of derangements. He is dead now. We do not have Mugabe to blame for the current miseries.
Lastly, are you, my fellow Zimbabweans, better off and safer today than you were before the 17th of November 2019?
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