One day king Ahab came back home, sullen and refusing to eat, to which Jezebel his queen enquired as to the source of his gloom. Ahab was precise, “Naboth has refused to sell me his vineyard.”
By Zanda Shumba,Our Reader
Earlier the king of the northern kingdom of Israel had approached Naboth enticing him to sell him his fruitful vineyard. Ahab wanted to convert the vineyard into a vegetable garden. However, Naboth, the Jezreelite refused, citing that the vineyard belonged to his family line for generations, so he could not simply give his inheritance over to Ahab, making the king fume. Perhaps his anger would have subsided over time, but only to be encouraged by his wicked wife, the evil Jezebel.
Jezebel: “Are you not king over Israel? Cheer up, eat for I will get you the vineyard.”
Obviously Jezebel was assuming that she was the owner of Israel and its people.
It is said that Jezebel later wrote letters in the king’s name, stamped them with the royal seal, and sent them out, implicating and setting up Naboth in a scam that would culminate in his being dragged out of the city, at Israeli elders’ orders, to be stoned to death for blasphemy. After being informed that Naboth was dead, Ahab rose to annex the deceased’s vineyard. But the displeasure of God with his act would soon come, conveyed through God’s spokesperson Elijah, reminding Ahab that he has murdered a man to seize his property. Therefore, said God, where dogs licked Naboth’s blood, his and your wife’s blood would also be licked. An aghast Ahab would soon pronounce God his own enemy. There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the presence of the Lord, urged by his wife Jezebel, the chronicler concludes.
The spirit-abiding Jezebel would later manifest in Herodias when John the Baptist disapproved of her marriage to king Herod.
Herod had taken Herodias his brother Philip’s wife to be his own. Unhappy with the criticism, Herodias prompted her daughter, who had entertained the king through some dance, to request the head of John on a platter as a reward.
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Maybe Herodias later ate John’s head because she demanded it on a serving dish. She could have simply asked to have John to be beheaded, but demanding the head on a dinner plate horrifies many.
In Zimbabwe, First Lady Grace Mugabe surprised many by becoming President Robert Mugabe’s mistress while still married to Stanley Goreraza.
They had children Bona, named after Mugabe’s mother, Robert Jr and Chatunga. Part of this happened while the President was still married to his first wife Sally. Grace later abandoned her husband for Mugabe.
Some suggest that if Sally was still alive, Mugabe would have handed over power decades ago, but with Grace urging him on, and wanting to be president too, he continues to rule despite being very old. But having waded into Mugabe’s personal life, Grace soon pushed her way into Zimbabwe’s political life, working against change. Her lack of respect of the will of the people makes her falsely believe Mugabe will even rule from the grave. Grace herself was imposed to become Zanu PF’s Women’s League leader.
So the spirit that earlier inhabited Jezebel, and later Herodias, is here now in Zimbabwe, in Grace. That spirit is insensitive, murderous and considers only the carrier and disregards all others. State media coverage of her rallies has exposed her folly and agenda.
Grace deliberately ignores the rot in Zimbabwe for self-benefit. She simply wants to remain the First Lady.
Grace does not care about the suffering masses, collapsed infrastructure, unemployment, poor health delivery system and a bleeding economy precipitated by her husband’s incompetence and lack of inspirational leadership.
Despite all her insensitivity, haughtiness and ridicule of the people, she is still lavished with the title Amai, meaning mother of the nation. What kind of a mother is she that chooses to adorn herself with costly rings and clothes when her children are impoverished?
The majority suspect that, with Mugabe being old, she is manipulating him to eventually anoint her as his successor.
Some factions of war veterans have however vowed they will go back to war if Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa does not become the next president. They demand this despite Mnangagwa being highly unpopular.
Most Zimbabweans participated in the liberation war in one way or another, so it is unacceptable for war veterans to take the onus upon themselves to unilaterally choose and decide who they want to be the next president. The motive of the war veterans may then seem to be overtly selfish; for they prefer a leader who will prioritise their own interests, while frustrating the needs of the ordinary person, who fought in the liberation war alongside them. Zimbabweans should be given a chance to elect a leader who with the interest at heart.
Grace and Mnangagwa cannot simply impose themselves as preferred leaders to succeed Mugabe.
