(HERALD) Nabobs of negativity and the trenches of Albion

Nabobs of negativity and the trenches of Albion

THE ‘nattering nabobs of negativity’’ is a phrase that was coined by William Safire, speechwriter to then US vice president, Spiro Agnew to refer to the media, particularly its inclination to accentuate the negative over the positive.

Despite the warts that saw him fall with the Nixon administration, which probably explains why he was averse to media scrutiny, Agnew captured one failing of the so-called liberal or ‘‘independent’’ media, obsession with negativity.

Agnew may as well have been referring to some sections of the media in Zimbabwe and their Western overlords, who thrived on Mugabe-bashing over the past decade and who appear out on a limb following the consummation of the inclusive Government.

This section of the media, which transformed itself into de facto mouthpieces of everything opposition be it to do with the MDC formations, the so-called civil society or non-governmental individuals like Lovemore Madhuku is still in the trenches of Albion hurling pot-shots at Mugabe but surprising happy to miss Tsvangirai who is now part of the same executive. These are the media that wore the tag ‘‘opposition media,’’ like a badge of honour. And with the MDC formations joining Government, their favourite target, national discourse has been narrowed to a Manichaen contest between Zanu-PF and the other parties to the inclusive Government.

Over the past four weeks the nation has been bombarded by imaginary contests. First it was Gono vs. Biti, and when Gono saved Biti’s hide in an issue I will not name here; came Tomana vs. Tsvangirai. When the two were sworn-in in Parliament on the same day last week putting paid to claims that Tomana faced the sack, the nabobs mooted Chamisa vs. Shamu. Sadly with youthful enthusiasm,the young minister was baited and stormed NetOne building where Shamu was meeting workers.

Misheck Sibanda had to bring that matter to rest, leaving the arena open for the tired ‘contest,’ Tsvangirai vs. Mugabe. I will not go into detail about the powers of the two men apart from reminding the nabobs that Tsvangirai took his oath of office before Mugabe, just like any of the ministers, while Mugabe took his oath before the custodian of the supreme law of the land, the Chief Justice.

If that does not contextualise the balance of power, then I do not know a simpler way of putting it for the nabobs. Anyway, over the past 10 years we have been fed this ‘‘contest’’ that was supposed to have culminated in Mugabe paying obeisance to Tsvangirai or alternatively seeking asylum in some far off land, but as we all know Mugabe is still here. Talk about missing the point.

When the n’anga nabs one’s own

It was against this backdrop of the imaginary contest pitting Mugabe against Tsvangirai that Western media went hysterical in the wake of the fatal crash last week that claimed the life of Tsvangirai’s wife, Susan. With no shred of evidence linking Mugabe or the Government to the accident, BBC, CNN, Sky News and other weapons of mass deception began peddling conspiracies that the accident was an attempt on Tsvangirai’s life. Bad blood, they opined, exists between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. ‘‘Analysts’’ were brought in to document ‘‘Zimbabwe’s history of suspicious accidents.’’

All of a sudden there was talk of evacuating Tsvangirai to Botswana for ‘‘safety’’ not medical reasons. So hysterical was the melodrama that to the un-initiated, Mugabe had been tried and convicted. Some nameless, faceless ‘‘officials’’ in MDC-T did not help matters either by claiming that Tsvangirai suspected foul play.

Though they did not have the courage to put their faces or names to the claims. Then came the shocker that deflated them all. Tsvangirai was travelling in a party vehicle, with a party driver and party bodyguards. Most importantly, a US embassy truck hit his car. As such if there was foul play, it had to be a CIA hit. From there the conspiracy theories against the Government fell flat on their face.

For the BBC and other weapons of mass deception, it was time for damage control. No apology to the readers for selling them a dummy for hours on end was forthcoming. All of a sudden, one after the other the British and American governments released statements saying ‘‘all indications are that it was a genuine accident.’’

Sadly no one in Zanu-PF or the Government saw the irony, or the need to tackle the duplicitous Anglo-Saxons. It was Jonathan Moyo, independent legislator, who raised the alarm. Why were the Americans and the British quick to put the cart before the horse in saying this was a genuine accident, when only hours before their media were raising quite a stink when they believed they could pin it on Zanu-PF? As Moyo said, the Westerners appear to think all Zimbabweans are stupid as to believe that a genuine accident is one that does not implicate Zanu-PF; or that an accident is only genuine if it involves Usaid vehicles or drivers.

Then the cap fitted

AS it turned out the death truck, 81 TCE 128 is registered to the American embassy and it was, ostensibly, on a mission for a project co-funded by the American and British governments when it hit Tsvangirai’s vehicle. The British Foreign Office released a statement to that effect saying they co-owned the vehicle with the Americans; only for McGee – in his wisdom or lack of it but most likely the latter - to turn around and try to deny the undeniable. The vehicle, his office claimed, did not belong to the embassy (though it clearly bore US embassy plates and Usaid insignia) but was bought by Usaid money for an unnamed ‘‘contractor.’’

I do not know what McGee hoped to achieve by this asinine statement apart from adding fuel to the fire. Why is he denying ownership of a truck that he acknowledges was bought by American money and which, according to the Central Vehicle Registry, is registered with the US embassy technical services division? What is he trying to hide? And what is this that we now hear, that there was a second truck identical to the one that hit the Tsvangirais vehicle? Why didn’t the driver stop to assist the injured? Why were the police not told of this second vehicle, again, driven by a Usaid driver? And why did he rush to brief the US and British embassies and not the police, as a responsible witness should have done. I smell a big rat here. Just imagine, dear reader, the hullabaloo if the tables were turned and Tsvangirai’s vehicle had been sideswiped by a Government truck and it was the Government denying ownership of the truck bearing Government number plates, and clearly registered to a Government department. With the Government only saying the truck was bought, by Government money, for a ‘‘private contractor.’’ Imagine the hysteria on BBC and CNN, and the readings ‘‘analysts’’ would be making from the word ‘‘contractor’’ and Government’s unwillingness to name the ‘‘contractor.’’ Contracted to do what? Carry drugs, as we have been told, or take out Tsvangirai for choosing inclusion over regime change?

Let’s not kid ourselves, the white West is angry with Tsvangirai. They bankrolled him for 10 years, 10 years, in the hope that he would depose Mugabe and return land to the erstwhile baases. If there are people who want Tsvangirai dead in this world, it is these people who vehemently opposed the formation of the inclusive Government, and who have made it clear that they will do everything in their power to sabotage it, they have since renewed their ruinous sanctions. These are the people who are miffed by the fact that the MDCs, which were supposed to spearhead the reversal of the land reform programme, upheld its irreversibility by signing the broad-based agreement that laid the framework for the inclusive Government. These are the people who extended the sanctions on the very day Tsvangirai added his voice to the anti-sanctions lobby, though he chose to misrepresent the punitive sanctions as ‘‘restrictive measures.’’

Infact history tells us that the Westerners have a proud history of carrying out hits in various parts of the world on those people they consider threats or acolytes they consider past their sell by date. These people have permanent interests, not permanent friends. Tsvangirai was of use to them, only to the extent they believed he safeguarded their interests.

The gospel according to Pat Robertson

If a society has evangelists who publicly call for the killing of heads of state and government, to what extent can they go, in private, to do in those people they feel threaten the all-conquering foreign policy of the United States? Remember Pat Robertson of the 700 Club and his calls for the assassination of Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic and Hugo Chavez? By endorsing the land reform programme, Tsvangirai is now guilty of Mugabe’s crime, dispossessing white capital, and he makes an attractive target. Every year, the CIA declassifies files that reveal their misdeeds throughout the world. I bet my last dollar, that 25 years from now, we will read about an abortive mission along Masvingo Road. As Alice said after eating a magical cake in Wonderland, ‘‘it gets curiouser and curiouser,’’ and our security agents must get to the bottom of this matter.

Walking on the wrong side of history

The cheek of it! From the stable of nabobs, last week, came a 101 lecture on media ownership and practice. The writer claimed he saw an excellent opportunity for media reform in the wake of the inclusive Government. And the reform, wait for it, was to focus only on the public media to the exclusion of his stable and others of like mind like The Zimbabwean which is printed in London and flown to Zimbabwe for sale.

For the first time, the writer referred to Zimpapers, for what it is, public media, not the ‘‘State-owned’’ or ‘‘State-controlled’’ mantra that had become the stock-in-trade of the private — not independent please — media. Some may wonder what brought this bout of lucidity but the intention was clear. The papers, the writer said, belonged to the public, and the Government should have nothing to do with them. He proposed that an MDC version of the media comprising of the Western-funded MISA, IJAZ, the likes of WOZA, you name it, lead the said reform.

In other words, the self-serving West should take the lead in ‘‘reforming the public media’’ at a time we are collectively telling them hands-off. Talk about being on the wrong side of history. The writer accused the public media of peddling ‘‘distortions, falsehoods and propaganda.’’ One wonders whether stories like ‘‘My ordeal as Mugabe’s prisoner (Basildon Peta)’’, and ‘‘Woman beheaded in front of kids (Lloyd Mudiwa),’’ to mention but a few, appeared on the pages of The Herald or the so-called independent newspapers. If there is a quarter that needs reform, it is the so-called independent media that has become so compromised that even the US State Department has no qualms boasting about its influence in certain stables.

In its report titled ‘‘Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The US Record – 2006,’’ the State Department revealed that it funds and has editorial influence in certain weeklies that peddle anti-Government sentiment. This was a throwback to Kansteiner’s confession that the US uses some sections of the media to undermine Zimbabwe.

It is these papers that are in need of reform, to make them truly Zimbabwean. The writer should state his real intention. Many of the ghosts walking the Internet are crying for a home and, with the coming of the inclusive Government they hoped they would find it at the ‘‘brick and mortar’’ building. You see, the irony is always stark when the devil tries to run away with the gospel.

l caesar.zvayi@zimpapers.co.zw