Freeman Chari has caused controversy on social media by sharing excerpts from the late former ZANU PF leader Ndabaningi Sithole‘s book, which explains why ZAPU split into ZANU and ZAPU during the colonial era. Some believe the post is about Nelson Chamisa. Sithole’s book highlights several factors that led to the deposition of the late former Vice President Joshua Nkomo, including Nkomo’s fear of jail and his alleged evasion of necessary decisions. It also mentions contradictions within ZAPU and Nkomo’s habit of concealing the truth from his Central Executive members. Read the excerpts:

1. Mr. Nkomo is very much afraid of going to jail and this fear of jail causes him to evade taking the necessary decisions which any leader in his position is expected to take. The white settlers have exploited this fact to full advantage. Because of this fear, Mr. Nkomo has deserted the people at the time when they most needed bold leadership that does not count the cost.

a) When ZAPU was banned on September 20th, 1962, Mr. Nkomo was then in Lusaka. Much against the advice of UNIP and his supporters Mr. Nkomo fled to Dar-es-Salaam leaving as it were, his sheep to be scattered by the wolf. Mr. Nkomo publicly stated that he did not want to ‘rot in jail.’ Meanwhile, hundreds of his supporters went to jail.

b) When he was finally forced to go back to Southern Rhodesia and face detention, after ten days of chopping and changing, the psychological moment had been missed, and his supporters’ confidence in him was greatly shaken and under-mined, and since then the people have been saying: ‘how can we get our independence with such a cowardly leader?’ While in detention, Mr. Nkomo’s fears were also clearly demonstrated. He arranged for a private plane to take all the members of the Central Executive secretly out of restriction but they refused to jump their restriction.

Nkomo, on the other hand, wrote in his book that the divisions were tribal in nature, citing instances of incitement against him based on his Ndebele ethnicity. He said:

Joseph Msika, then deputy treasurer of Zapu, had an even more disturbing experience. He saw one of our colleagues, Washington Malianga, nervously hiding away a printed document. Joseph asked to see it, Washington refused, so Joseph snatched it away and read it. He found it was a circular openly urging Zapu to bring the ‘majority tribes’ to the leadership of the party, and to get rid of `Zimundebere’, which is a derogatory term in the Shona language for ‘the old Ndebele man’. That meant me: the attack was a straight incitement to tribal feeling against me. Joseph gave the wretched document back to Malianga, who tore it up and pretended it had never existed.

Freeman Chari’s post ignited a range of responses, including speculation that it indirectly referred to Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). Chamisa has faced criticism for not confronting the ruling ZANU PF party more boldly.

Some observed that while yesteryear liberation leaders were only afraid of jail, present-day opposition leaders can be poisoned in jail. Some commentators questioned the notion that a leader must go to prison to prove their worth as previous leaders’ imprisonment did not result in the removal of ZANU PF from power.

Some CCC supporters expressed the belief that if Chamisa displayed the bravery of figures like Job Sikhala or Tendai Biti, ZANU PF could have been overthrown in 2018. Others cautioned against being aggressive, as ZANU PF may use confrontation or violence as an excuse for brutality. They advocated fighting against ZANU PF outside of prison, citing the alleged poisoning and slow death of former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as an example. They argued that going to prison is not a guaranteed solution for removing ZANU PF from power and could pose risks to Chamisa’s life.

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