The Sunday Mail
Retired Major Action Mandingo
WHOEVER said “There is no turning back when you’re chasing the wind” was spot on.
There is, indeed, no turning back for Nelson Chamisa and his CCC.
They are on a free fall and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Let me repeat what I have been saying for ages, because, in Shona, they say “Dzokororo ine simba”.
Harmonised elections will be held in August this year and there won’t be any electoral reforms before the polls.
And guess what?
The CCC will contest in the elections and they will be thoroughly beaten this time around.
Thoroughly beaten, I repeat!
Of course, as usual, Chamisa will cry foul, but as we now all know, the world is no longer interested in listening to some big-headed young politician who thinks he can hold the country to ransom.
Chamisa will scream and squeak, but this time, selling the story about the credibility of the elections is going to be a tall order.
A few days ago, CCC spokesperson Ms Fadzayi Mahere got a taste of what is to come as she addressed the United Nations Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy 2023 in Switzerland, where 25 NGOs partnered to discuss the state of human rights in different countries.
Ms Mahere thought she would get a standing ovation after going all out to try and tarnish the image of the Second Republic by preaching lies about what she called the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe, but very few bought her story.
Her address received a lukewarm response from the UN and failed to excite the usually excitable privately owned media.
Clearly, the world has moved away from Chamisa and his CCC.
The world is fast coming back to Zimbabwe as the Second Republic’s engagement and re-engagement drive gathers momentum.
Chamisa and his CCC can continue chasing the wind, it is their democratic right, but developments on the ground show that the Second Republic has won the hearts of the world.
Let us take a brief stock of the events of over the past few weeks.
Zimbabwe hosted the Transform Africa Summit in Victoria Falls from April 26 to 28, which was graced by four heads of state who included King Mswati of the Kingdom of Eswatini, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi and President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia.
The summit gave Zimbabwe the opportunity to showcase its peace and stability to the world, but I will not dwell on the event because the prophets of doom will rush to say African leaders have always sided with Zimbabwe and so there was nothing to celebrate in Victoria Falls.
Then came the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) that drew exhibitors from some of the countries that had pulled out of the fair for many years following the dispute between Zimbabwe and Britain over the historic land reform.
The European Union (EU), which had even gone to the extent of imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe, for the first time in many years exhibited at the fair.
Of course, those who do not understand politics may want to downplay the presence of the EU at the fair, but political scientists and experts in international relations will tell you that Zimbabwe scored a major diplomatic victory with the exhibition of the European bloc.
If the attendance of the EU was not enough to signal the thawing of relations between the bloc and Zimbabwe, then the statement by EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst von Kirchmann must really hammer the point home.
Speaking to journalists during the ZITF, Kirchmann said: “This is an important event because I believe this is shared by the Zimbabwean Government that we could do more than what we are doing. We are one of Zimbabwe’s main trading partners and at the moment, we have an annual trade volume of over US$700 million . . .
“We hope that with all the initiatives being undertaken by the NDS 1 (National Development Strategy 1) gradually, we will see a more prosperous business climate that attracts businesses. I am very proud that I personally came to inaugurate this stand and be here for this big stand.
“There is room for much more investments and I think that is also what Zimbabwe wants because I hear you are open for business, you want to build an export-led economy, and I have read the NDS 1 and there is a lot in it. As the European Union, we would like Zimbabwe to succeed and we would like to work together.”
There was a time when diplomats from the EU would take every opportunity to attack Zimbabwe and paint a gloomy picture about developments in the country, and so the statement by Kirchmann was really a breath of fresh air.
However, let me hasten to add, with or without the EU ambassador’s positive comments, Zimbabwe is on a growth trajectory and there is no amount of negativity that can stop the march to Vision 2030.
The positive comments by the EU ambassador are just the icing on a cake that is already tasting nice.
Besides the thawing of relations between Zimbabwe and the EU, the other development that should show Chamisa and his CCC that they are now history was the invitation that was sent to President Mnangagwa to attend the coronation of King Charles III in the United Kingdom a few weeks ago.
Since Zimbabwe embarked on the land reform programme, no Zimbabwean leader had set foot in the UK and the invite was another diplomatic victory for Zimbabwe.
Of course, the country’s enemies tried to downplay the invite, saying all sorts of negative stuff but the truth of the matter is that Zimbabwe and the UK are slowly finding each other.
Chamisa can bark about human rights, but the honest truth is that the train has already left the station.
There is no one to listen to his hogwash.
The world is opening its arms to Zimbabwe and there is no going back.
While in the UK, President Mnangagwa met quite a number of UK officials and went on to have a meeting with the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Patricia Scotland.
If Chamisa and his CCC think President Mnangagwa and Baroness Scotland were just having a cup of coffee, then they do not understand how international relations work.
Anyway, soon Chamisa will be in for the shock of his life.
As the country prepares for the forthcoming elections, Chamisa and his CCC should brace themselves for a serious embarrassment.
And they should know that no one is coming to rescue them.
Their masters are fed up with their childish politics and they have realised that with or without them, Zimbabwe is destined for greatness.
Like tissue paper, the puppets have been thrown into the dustbin of history.
If there is anyone out there who doubts my assertion, then let us wait for August.
Some of us saw all this coming.
