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Ranga Mataire-Group Political Editor
One of the most enduring disreputable utterances ever uttered by a politician since the dawn of the New Dispensation is one made by CCC leader Nelson Chamisa in December of 2019.
In the full glare of the media, a seemingly excitable Chamisa told his supporters that he had entered into pacts with several European countries to tighten economic screws on Zimbabwe.
We all know that Freudian slips are common in off the cuff addresses, but this was not a slip of the tongue. He had just been on a sponsored sojourn to Europe and was keen to tell his supporters or rather justify to the world why this trip was import.
It was that address that exposed serious inertia in historical consciousness that hinders understanding of complex global dynamics.
Speaking in the vernacular Chamisa said: “Saka tiri paeconomy, vazhinji mungada kuziva kuti imimi mukapinda munoita sei? Ndonyaya yatiri kufambira mazuva ano.
Ndanga ndiri kuSweeden ndakavamo ndakapinda MuDenmark, ndakabvamo ndakapinda muUK, ndakabvamo ndakapinda muGermany, ndichisunga one-sunga-dozen.”
Generally translated, “sunga-one-sunga dozen” refers creating tiger conditions for the strangulation of the economy.
How Chamisa thought this was a good thing only him has answers.
Although his party has tried to play down the impact of that “sunga-one-sunga dozen” infamous address, it simply confirmed something very disturbing about the former Harare Polytechnic student leader who aspires for highest office in the land.
The first obvious deduction is that the man is not fit to govern as he believes that his path to power should be serenaded by foreign powers that he glowingly alludes to whenever he addresses his supporters.
The second deduction is that he lacks the necessary nationalistic verve that makes one conscious that charity begins at home and that power is derived from the people and not from some foreign tables in foreign lands.
Thirdly, Chamisa lacks both the historical and ideological consciousness of understanding where Europe stands in relation with Zimbabwe — a former British colony that had to engage in a protracted liberation struggle to attain freedom and autonomy.
The buffoonery of thinking that meeting with foreign dignitaries and imploring them to tighten screws on one’s country bestowed some badge of honour is really astounding.
His heart and soul is not connected to the people he claims to love.
Zimbabweans can forgive someone for lacking ideological grounding but I doubt many would tolerate someone who lacks the barest historical consciousness of understanding where the country stands today in relation to the global world and in particular to the Western world, which imposed debilitating sanctions on the country at the turn of the millennium.
While the New Dispensation has been on a thrust of engagement and re-engagement with all nations, the diplomatic engagements are not being undertaking without consciousness of the country’s national interests.
Zimbabwe does not deserve a leader who lacks historical consciousness of realising how the past, present and the future is intertwined and any derailment has devastating on the country’s sovereignty.
Historical consciousness is critical when individuals engage with other nations because without it one is open to manipulation by players with ulterior interests.
Historical consciousness prepares leaders to become vibrant members of a democratic and pluralistic administration. It involves critical thinking skills, assessing information, making ethical judgements regarding the impact of one’s decisions and statements.
One of the most influential historical philosophers of all time, Jorn Rusen, once remarked that of all systems that are expressions of who a people are, the sharpest and clearest is their historical consciousness. In other words, if Chamisa had any historical consciousness he would struggle to make sense of the past and how that past can be interpreted in understanding the present.
What is however apparent when one objectively analyses “the sunga-one-sunga” dozen statements is that Chamisa appears thoroughly brainwashed and indoctrinated in thinking that meeting Europeans bestows some kind of badge of honour in his political career.
The real tragedy however is that there are some amongst who follow this man who believe that being young is an ideological passport for leadership even when it’s clear matters of statecraft are beyond their depths.
It the same man who has many of his supporters idolising the last Rhodesian ruler, Ian Smith, known for declaring that a black man will never rule his country in a thousand years.
His silence is indicative of his silent admiration of the racist Smith who refused to apologised for the atrocities he committed saying “the more we killed, the more they were happier.”
Zimbabweans need to discard that carefulness when dealing with people who are keen to take us backwards.
The historical references of person lost in puppetry are glaringly apparent.
Eulogising Smith is not just extreme, it is repugnant and a great act of betrayal of the thousands who perished in the course of a horrendous struggle to dislodge colonialism.
Now is the time to be alert and vigilant because in the coming elections the contest will be between President Mnangagwa and the resurgent of Rhodies spirit represented by Chamisa.
This is the time when the media, on both ends, educate and inform. Be nimble and alert, clear-eyed and sceptical of rehashing of history, be active rather than reactive.
Now is the time to put the idea of the “liberal bubble” to rest and wake up to the reality that they are those among us who wish us to be “hewers of wood and drawers of water.”
Now is the time to acknowledge that the way the opposition CCC has condescended to white imperial interests is both treacherous and treasonous.
Online Reporter