Some characters are a danger to President

By Newsday | Apr 4, 2023 | 3 Min read

Self-styled prophet Passion Java

THE video of self-styled prophet Passion Java that has gone viral on social media platforms is quite telling in more ways than one.

The controversial “man of cloth” boastfully struts around bragging that he does not deal in gold but wears gold.

With a condescending laugh that is basically a cynical snarl, the man swaggers like an untouchable demigod and brags: “There are people who dig for gold, there are people who deal in gold, but I wear gold, I don’t dig for gold, I wear gold… I don’t know what is happening about this Al Jazeera issue, but what I know is these are just campaigns by the young man (Citizens Coalition for Change leader, Nelson Chamisa) who now realises that he has no support on the ground… After the Al Jazeera documentary, you are going to talk about it, but what will you do? That is when I tell people to stand with the ruling party, we are the army, we are the police, we are the courts and we are the prison. So what will you do?”

What is most telling about Java’s social media post is that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s fight against corruption is now a completely lost cause because the responsible arms of the State appear to have been captured by nefarious characters wont on abusing the institutions for self-aggrandisement and enrichment.

It is a pity that Mnangagwa’s good cause has come to naught and those who are trying to warn him that he is now sailing on a ship crawling with pirates are being labelled enemies of the State. When individuals like Java, who are nowhere near government structures, claim that they are the army, police, courts and prisons — and the President remains mum — it gets some of us really wondering what has become of nation Zimbabwe?

We thought Al Jazeera was simply warning Mnangagwa and Zimbabweans at large that the country is being plundered of its resources by people pretending to have national interests at heart.

As far back as 2017, long before he was even voted into power, when he stormed into State House riding on the back of the army, Mnangagwa said: “Corruption remains the major source of some of the problems we face as a country and its retarding impact on national development cannot be overemphasised. On individual cases of corruption, every case must be investigated and punished in accordance with the dictates of our laws. There should be no sacred cows. My government will have zero tolerance towards corruption and this has already begun.”

We painfully wonder what happened to that pledge when he now appears completely uninterested to investigate what Al Jazeera is alleging in its four-part documentary: Gold Mafia: The Laundry Service, which seems to have exposed massive gold plunder and money laundering by those very close to him?

Keep Reading

We also wonder why he appears utterly disinterested to debunk Al Jazeera’s lies by establishing the motive behind the Qatar-based international news channel’s claims. All we hear are those around the President spiritedly rubbishing the entire documentary as Western propaganda meant to de-campaign the President ahead of the general elections.

Something is definitely amiss.

Is there any harm in refuting Al Jazeera’s assertions through an open, transparent and credible investigation or commission of inquiry, instead of outrightly dismissing the claims and in the process threatening to incarcerate journalists who report on the issue?

We have little choice, but to strongly suspect that there must be people around the President who have skeletons in their cupboards and are busy pulling wool over the President’s face so that he does not see what is happening around him.