Chronicle Editor
There is a saying that, “Little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. There is a variant of this that says, “A little learning is a dangerous thing” and it has been observed that the original quote is often as misquoted as it is misattributed with a couple of names thrown about.
It is Alexander Pope who is credited with a credible coinage of the saying, with the “little learning” variant. One source cites his 1709 “An Essay on Criticism”, saying:
“A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again.”
Yet it is also said the English politician and philosopher Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban, said something next to the same thing in his 1601 “Essays: Of Atheism” when he said: “A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.”
The import of these philosophies is simple: people who pretend to know too much are not only dangerous to themselves but to the society at large.
Dangerously ignorant Jealousy
We were reflecting on this as we read a piece by Jealousy Mawarire, a spokesman at the newly formed Zimbabwe People First party.
We are not too sure if it is correct to say he is a spokesman for the party, or the spokesman of the person of its leader, Joice Mujuru, with whom we understand he has more than a professional relationship.
(Not of the scandalous kind, though, as far as we know.)
Jealousy wrote a piece last week titled, “Mujuru is not a god but Mugabe claims to be one”.
It was in response to this column’s instalment of April 2.
And boy, Jealousy made a complete fool of himself and proceeded to hurt innocent souls in his dangerous and boisterous ignorance!
Here is how he began: “Last week I came across a piece, ‘Till Mujuru’s sins be white as snow’ written by one of the many shadowy columnists in The Herald newspaper under a banner ‘Radar’.
“My sources at The Herald told me it is none other than George Charamba, who now shuttles between Nathaniel Manheru and Radar, depending on which political opponents he would be wishing to attack.”
He then goes on to attack the same George Charamba, who is President Mugabe’s Press secretary and spokesman and also the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Ser- vices.
He christens Charamba as “Radar Charamba” and attributes the whole piece to Charamba – essentially as a gratuitous attack on the person of Charamba and accuses him of all kind of things both as the author and pen of The Radar and as a politician in real life.
He mentions Charamba 15 times in the piece.
Among other barbs he writes: “It is therefore surprising that individuals like Charamba who hail from an organisation that worships an individual, an organisation that deifies Mugabe, seek to tutor us on the subject of blasphemy and God being a jealous God who does not brook the idea of his people worshipping other gods.
“Charamba, if he did not know, belongs to a cult called Zanu-PF where Mugabe is their god, according to Saviour Kasukuwere, the National Political Commissar of the party.”
And he delivers his punch thus: “… I, Jealousy Mawarire, will do, to my uttermost ability and for that, I make no apologies to Charamba or his god, Robert Mugabe. I am fully aware that Charamba and his clones in the State media are out to paint a false picture that ‘Joice Mujuru has been identifiable with corruption and greed which even her expulsion from Zanu-PF has not cleansed her of,’ but in equal measure, we shall make Zimbabweans know the real greedy among us.”
Oh, god, do you have ears?
It is amusing how somebody can write a whole article based on a lie and crows like a village cockerel for it!
Mawarire tells us that he was told by his “sources at The Herald” that this column is written by George Charamba.
It brings us back to the Bible – and the symbolism used in the offending Radar article – where we divined that Mawarire was trying to play god who could wash Joice Mujuru’s scarlet sins snow-white.
It would seem Mawarire is like the false gods alluded to in Psalm 115:6 that “have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not”.
Surely, for someone with “sources at The Herald”, how could he not have heard that the writer of the column – if that matters at all – is everyone but poor George Charamba?
It would be interesting to know who these “sources” are that can so dangerously misinform a man and make a fool out of him as he shouts at the top of the mountain – kuita kurova bembera; kupumha huroyi!
A good guess is that Mawarire does not have any “sources” at all at The Herald, or he may have but they are not only unreliable and but also insignificant.
But he has to pretend to have important people to appear more knowledgeable than he actually is.
People with inflated egos like Jealousy Mawarire, who wastes no opportunity to brag that he is a Rhodes scholar, often do that and go and pontificate about things.
Which is what he did.
The most disgusting thing about this is that an innocent man, George Charamba, with whom Mawarire clearly has a bone to chew, was dragged in the mud.
We are sure if he read Mawarire’s piece Charamba would have been shocked for the life of him.
But we also think that if he takes some interest in it, he could find one or two things that are defamatory, which could earn him a few thousand dollars in a lawsuit.
Who would not want that in these challenging times?
But then Mawarire is a troubled soul and someone who is perpetually angry at anyone and everyone – including, we hear, his family.
Ordinarily, he should be pitied.
And we only have to count up to 10 before he stirs trouble at People First, again.
There, you have it – that’s our bottom dollar!
Online Reporter