The Law of Cornering a dog

Weekend reflections with Sabhuku Nhopi (WRSN)

The Law of Cornering a dog

Introduction

Dogs have a way of alerting humans when a situation is getting uncomfortable for them. Humans are often bitten by dogs in many situations but according to Gamiele (2012), 2 main situations when dogs bite humans are when they do what is called redirected aggression and when the dog is cornered. Redirected aggression is when two dogs were fighting and a human happen to be nearby. An aggressive dog will look for the nearest object to sink its teeth in the heat of things and if a human happens to be nearby, he/she may be the target. Secondly, dogs always have two options in any situation they encounter: Thus fight or flight. If a human corner a dog, they will have simply removed the other option of flight as there is no other means to escape leaving the fight option as the only option to save the day. With this in mind, we will talk about dogs pretty much in the next segment but this WRSN shall highlight the past week’s events from Nelson Chamisa being threatened to be killed, to season 2 of Wiwa’s political persecution, Hopewell Chin’ono’s social media hiatus, Obert Gutu ‘compromat’ and Burna Boy’s Scarf boycott.

Kill Chamisa: Zanu pf's Abton Mashayanyika

This past week saw one Zanu pf leaders in Mberengwa Abton Mashayanyika going to lengths to explain the meaning of the word ‘Pasi’ (Down). He explained that when he says “Down with so and so” he means that person must be killed and be buried 6 ft down. He further went on to say ‘Down with Chamisa and his Children’ to which the congregation went on to emphatically agree with Mashayanyika’s slogan. These murderous pronouncements are dangerous, highly treasonous and create a hostile atmosphere among the rural electorate who are at most exposed to Zanu Pf fear tactics designed to cause harm and despondency. The silence from the Zanu pf leadership is too deafening considering that this was caught on video and the evidence is there for all to see. I can only imagine whether the same silence would have been experienced had the opposite happened where an opposition member had threatened to kill Mnangagwa or any Zanu pf party member. Just this week we saw how Job Sikhala has been persecuted for saying at Moreblessing Ali’s memorial that “Kana pano pane vanhu veZanu pf endai munoudza Mnangagwa kuti anzi na Job Sikhala uri mpurwa womunhu” (If there are Zanu pf people here go tell Mnangagwa that you are an alligator). Although the ‘Pasi’ ideology has been the Zanu pf ideology since the liberation war, the behaviour of its members are not vindicating the slogan. We have seen many people even comrades in Zanu pf being taken down and under because of its ideology. The fact that the top leadership is not reprimanding their subjects means they agree with everything that was said at this Mberengwa rally. The pressure on Zanu pf is coming from all corners, from the economy, a better performing neighbour (Zambia), disgruntled civil servants and a constant threat of losing power from opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). All this puts Zanu pf in a tight corner where the flight mode is disabled leaving it with the fight mode to implement. The Nyatsime 13 are still in custody and so are their lawyer Job Sikhala and Sithole as a way of political prosecution.  At this rate coupled with the killings of opposition members, one can only predict that more of Zanu pf aggression is expected as it runs out of any other option.

Job Wiwa Sikhala Persecution

Although the previous segment touched a bit about Job Sikhala’s persecution, it goes without saying that his incarceration specifically is highly political and designed to achieve more than just putting someone behind the 4 concrete walls of Chikurubi. His continuous imprisonment is meant to achieve the following (the list is endless);

·         Next time Job don’t insult Mnangagwa calling him ‘mpurwa’ (alligator).

·         So that fellow change champions may be deterred from effective activism which will further weaken the invisible CCC structures around the country.

·         To weaken Chamisa’s support system by weakening those around him as a way of derailing the struggle for the democratisation of Zimbabwe.

·         To fire warning shots that 2023 is not going to be a walk in the park but the ugly side of Zanu pf will be unleashed to protect the party from being ousted from power removing its leaders from uninterrupted access to the national purse.

·         To ideally remove the incentive in fighting for democracy in Zimbabwe so that people will ask the question “Is it worth it?”

·         To give Job a chance to rethink his priorities whether to keep fighting in the opposition or to join Zanu pf in return for some incentives as some of his erstwhile comrades like Lilian Timveous have done.

The list is endless but as Mugabe once said that “Mnangagwa doesn’t forget and forgive that easily, Wiwa has touched a raw nerve by seeking to expose the regime and as a result all the regime’s might is unleashed on Job and Sithole and many others. His shop which was under construction in St Mary’s has also come under attack and been demolished just to dishearten him and probably break his spirit to abandon the struggle. The only problem with this is that Job has already budgeted for this acrimony the day he joined politics many years ago. His persecution might be effective to some extent but if that extent I surpassed, it might be the Sarajevo spark that Zimbabwe has been waiting for to fight back the regime. Sri Lanka is often cited as a recent example which makes revolt a doable exercise.

Obert Gutu Compromat

This week we also saw Obert Gutu tweeting some road in Nigeria and attributing it to development being done by the Zimbabwean government. Twimbos like renown international journalist Hopewell Chin’ono were quick to post side by side photos proving that indeed the picture was from Nigeria. Others highlighted that in Zimbabwe roads drive to the left not to the right like was shown in that picture and Zimbabwean roads were edge marked with yellow and not white as was shown in the picture as well. This leaves a very big question as to why such a celebrated lawyer of the calibre of Obert Gutu would be that naïve to post a photo from other countries and attribute it to Zimbabwe without interrogating it first. He recently joined Zanu pf and is a recent graduate of the Chitepo School of Ideology where students are taught to defend the party at all cost including to lie. Secondly, as the late ‘Bishop’ Alex Magaisa would say, Zanu pf has Obert Gutu’s compromat. Compromat being secret information of compromising nature that one has of another and uses their possession as a way to influence the behaviour of the other. Obert Gutu has no say over his behaviour from the day he knew someone somewhere has his compromat. Zanu pf has a history of gathering compromats on people and using it to silence or influence some people’s behaviour. We all saw what happened to Pius Ncube when he was exposed by the then Mugabe’s Zanu pf. Next time when you hear Obert Gutu talking or tweeting something meaningless just know it’s the work of compromat.

Hopewell Chin’ono Social Media Hiatus

This past week also saw one of the staunchest proponents of democracy and rule of law in the country Hopewell Chin’ono posting on his social media that he will take a slight 3 month break from social media. This, he says is done to concentrate on finishing one of his film projects. He however promises to be constantly coming out of his break to debunk some of the propaganda peddled by Zanu pf and its enablers. Before the death of the BSR champion Dr Magaisa, taking a break on social media for vital democracy organs like Mr Hopewell would have been feasible but now that he is gone, the warriors are getting fewer and fewer to still pose a significant fight against the regime. It is understandable that he has to work on his other documentary projects yet the public outcry has shown that his Social media accounts are not his anymore but the Citizens’s project. We can only hope and pray that he does not prolong his break as Zanu pf was in celebration mode that it has managed to ‘silence’ Pachedu and now Hopewell.

Burna Boy Scarf Refusal

Last but not least, this week also saw Burna Boy confirming during an interview that when he came to Zimbabwe to perform, he was offered ‘significant’ sums of money by Zanu pf to wear their famous scarf.  Former boxer Floyd Mayweather adorned the scarf after significant sums of money were offered to him. At the time, Zanu pf vehemently denied a report by Hopewell Chin’ono whether Burna boy was offered money to wear the scarf. One may ask why Zanu pf is so obsessed with paying any amount to get someone to wear their scarf. The answer lies across the Zambezi river in Zambia. After a change of leadership in Zambia, we saw a significant improvement which saw their economy and its currency improving. There is no need for President Hichilema to pay anyone to endorse them because the economy is talking by itself though the pockets of the ordinary citizens. Only when there is nothing to show for it is there a need for a national leader to pay for propaganda. Gladly, Burna Boy didn’t fall for the temptation which yesteryear boxing champion Mayweather fell for.

Conclusion

This WRSN has narrated and sought to analyse the events of the past week which saw Job Sikhala persecution continuing, and a threat to kill Chamisa as Zanu’s response to being cornered by the situation of economic mismanagement they have created. We also saw Hopewell announcing that he is going on a social media sabbatical and Obert Gutu copying a Nigerian road attributing it to Zimbabwe and lastly Burna Boy confirming what we already knew that he was offered significant sums of money to just wear a scarf.

Sabhuku Nhopi is a political commentator you can find him on sabhukunhopi@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Sabhuku Nhopi or like or Subscribe to his music on his YouTube channel @Sabhuku Nhopi.

Reference

Glamielle, (2012) Dog behaviors leading to biting, Accessed from https://globalhealthvet.com/2012/07/29/dog-behaviors-leading-to-biting-interview-with-irith-bloom-from-the-sophisticated-dog/#:~:text=Dogs%2C%20like%20most%20animals%2C%20choose,the%20dog%20seems%20completely%20relaxed.