Of a BSAP officer, a purveyor flipflopper, poverty pornography and by-election heartbreak

Of a BSAP officer, a purveyor flipflopper, poverty pornography and by-election heartbreak

Nevanji Munyaradzi Chiondegwa

 

The term ‘poverty pornography’ or in short ‘poverty porn’ is generally defined as any type of media – written, photographed, or filmed, that exploits or fetishizes poverty to garner sympathy or support for a cause.

 

Poverty porn perpetuates a certain narrative and stereotype of what poverty should look like and is circulated to promote an emotional response of the viewers and are often laced with financial gains through donations for the ‘cause’.

 

The results of the most recent by-election in Ward 6, Mutasa Rural District Council have left a lot of people with egg on their faces and others apoplectic.

 

With the current difficulties of electricity, ZANU PF was to be walloped by the Nelson Chamisa-led CCC! And with the results has risen the amplification of poverty porn.

 

Of that result, they were most certain and were of course ready to go to town about it!

 

A victory for Chamisa’s CCC would have been proof to the world that the ‘suffering’ of the Zimbabwean people has led them to reject ZANU PF.

 

After all, lack of electricity is a big problem to the snobbish, urban dwelling, and politically unintelligent CCC outfit. The results though spoke differently; Result of a by-election in Ward 6 (Mutasa): ZANU PF: 1080 and CCC: 433.

 

The seat was won by the MDC Alliance which has since become the CCC in 2018. In the by-election, ZANU PF got 70.7% of the valid votes, CCC got 28.3%, and the voter turnout was 58.8%, pretty high by-election standards.

 

First out of the block was former British South African Police Officer now CCC Treasurer General David Coltart.

 

He came out, typical of the colonialist that he really is, declaring, “To any objective observer this is patently ridiculous. Why would so many vote for a party responsible for the economic collapse, hyperinflation, deep-rooted corruption, ZESA failure, and the destruction of the judiciary? There is either fraud or coercion or perhaps a combination.”

 

Then of course came Jacob Ngarivhume of Transform Zimbabwe, the MDC Alliance, and then Transform Zimbabwe again. The man of course declares himself to be the organizer of the July 31 Demonstration.

 

Not that anyone in the world, let alone in Zimbabwe ever saw or felt the so-called organized demonstration.

 

It exists in his head like his politic he said about the electoral results of Mutasa does not exist in his head alone.

 

Ngarivhume, posted on the micro-blog site, Twitter saying, “We keep expecting an election blowout of ZANU PF but the results say otherwise. People are still voting for ZANU Pf despite their hardships!!!”

 

The testimony by NGARIVHUME is a positive observation of course. Previously, the opposition used to ride on the rigging allegations as the basis for their electoral failure.

 

They have never wanted to admit that ZANU PF has cutting-edge mobilisation strategies that the opposition has failed to match.

 

One would think it’s the dawning of wisdom on the part of Ngarivhume but later responses to his tweet showed clearly that he, like Coltart, have not woken to reality. Coltart on his part can be forgiven, after all, he fought to maintain and entrench white supremacy in Rhodesia where the white, racist colonial leader Ian Smith declared, “Our blacks are the happiest blacks in Africa!”

 

This, is despite the fact that the said “happiest blacks” were fighting for their independence.

 

And yes, Coltart was fixated on making sure that freedom is not obtained through military action including killing freedom fighters.

 

To a man like Coltart, used to force people to remain subjugated, the only way they can love a governing party is through coercion or intimidation.

 

He cannot fathom that the people he called terrorists, the government he has actively fought before and after independence is genuinely loved and supported by Smith’s “happiest blacks”.

 

So he goes to default settings: ZANU PF forces people because for him, blacks cannot love a fellow black, they need a ‘murungu’ to lead them.

 

It therefore is the bane of the opposition. They hawk poverty pornography as an ideology for they lacks strategy, are not pro-people, have no ideology and lack policies that appeal to the electorate.

 

Let’s be realistic, CCC have no constitution, no ideology, no leadership except one person, no structures. The only point they have to sell is that ZANU PF has destroyed Zimbabwe like the people of Zimbabwe do not know what has actually destroyed the country. The people are not stupid and poverty pornography will not work on them.

 

In the West, “poverty porn” has found prominent usage in the political sphere and because the opposition in Zimbabwe is a surrogate of the West, they have adopted it and it has become their only selling. It has of course not worked, much to their chagrin.

 

So it is high time the flip-flopping ‘puruvheya’ Ngarivhume admits fully that ZANU PF as it was loved during the fight for Independence is loved in Independent Zimbabwe.

 

It is high time, ‘baas’ Coltart woke up to reality and realized that the ‘waters’ which sheltered and fed the ‘fish’ during the war of Independence still shelters and feed the fish.

 

ZANU PF is genuinely loved and voted for by the masses for they have the policies that appeal to the masses.

 

ZANU PF was, is, and remains a mass party, the masses identify with it and its policies. The opposition has nothing to offer the masses and is selling ‘rotten donkey meat.’

 

Poverty porn is not and will not be finding buyers anytime soon. It is better for CCC simply remain the donor party that it is and appeal to the West which buys the nonsense. Not to hard-working people like Zimbabweans, who believe you eat via working not welfare.