MY first noteworthy impression of Nelson Chamisa was influenced by someone I respect and whose opinion I trusted. He told me about how the 40-year-old preacher and lawyer had been at the forefront of the infamous University of Zimbabwe riots where students went on a rampage destroying furniture and as he said, with a look of disgust on his face, urinating in refrigerators!
Who breaks the same desks and chairs they will need if their demands are met and they have to go back to class? Who urinates in fridges that will tomorrow preserve the meat they must eat? Some barbarian, surely?
On August 12, 2017, both Elias Mudzuri and Chamisa were at pains to make us believe their ailing (now late) president Morgan Tsvangirai had endorsed them to act as president while he was incapacitated. Both men were deputies, a position they shared with Thokozani Khupe.
Each claimed Tsvangirai had given him the acting president position. At 9.12PM on that day, just before I fell asleep, I tweeted these words:
“Nelson Chamisa is a loose cannon. Goodnight.”
A few days later, Tsvangirai died and amid protests and unconstitutionality claims, Chamisa hoisted himself to the presidency of the MDC-T.
I honestly did not take Nelson seriously back then. In my mind I still had the image of the student who had allegedly peed in a refrigerator, so I seriously looked down upon and underestimated him.
Imagine my surprise when Zanu PF Twitter activists started attacking the man. Their discomfort was evident in their clumsy attempts to discredit him. Because I have also been a constant victim of their vitriol, I started posting pro-Nelson tweets as a “joke”, just to annoy them.
On March 20, Chamisa did an interview with Sophie Mokoena (SABC News). I watched it from my laptop at work and I couldn’t contain my excitement. I went to my colleagues one by one and practically begged them to watch the interview and see for themselves. Despite seeming slightly nervous in the interview, Chamisa had calmly and confidently explained his position and his vision. I was sold!
From that day on, I listened to him and he made complete sense to me. He lit a fire of hope in my heart when he spoke of a “bullet train” from Harare to Bulawayo. Because I believe the only hope for fully developing Africa lies in rural development initiatives, he had me when he talked about an airport in rural Murehwa to facilitate efficiency in tomato production and distribution.
I forgave his gaffes such as the $15 billion from Donald Trump claim. I excused it as youthful exuberance. I felt all he needed to do was to get a speech writer. I believed to prevent misfiring, he needed someone to “guide” him, so to speak.
Thus in May, when Stephen Sackur interviewed him on BBC’s Hardtalk, I took what I viewed as Sackur’s bias against Chamisa personally. Hearing Stephen Suckur throw the words “nonsense”, “silly” and other condescending words at the leader of Zimbabwe’s opposition was nauseating.
On the other hand, I genuinely loved Chamisa on Hardtalk. I felt proud of him. He took everything that was thrown at him like a gentleman. Never raised his voice or lost his temper, he just calmly answered the questions.
On June 5, purely by chance, I attended the MDC demonstration in Harare to push for reforms from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). I was one of the first people to get there and I was shocked by the numbers that kept trickling in.
Before I knew it, Africa Unity Square was filled to the brim with people clad in red. We marched to the ZEC offices where Chamisa handed in our petition. He addressed the crowd when we returned to the “square”. I could hear him, but I was too far to see him.
All the same, I was blown away. His charisma; his humour; his articulation of issues; his confidence; all shone through in his voice. I loved every part of his speech. He mentioned something about meeting some army bigwigs who told him they support him. I remember laughing and thinking, “oh God! I do pray it’s true”. I also recall the realisation that no, he doesn’t need a speechwriter after all. His attractiveness lies in his spontaneity.
We marched again for the same reasons on July 11. This time the crowd was even bigger. We filled up a 2km (estimate) stretch of the road. I overheard a young man in his early twenties saying to his friend, “they failed to give us jobs, but today we have found one. We shall march everyday if need be!”
Again, after the March, Chamisa mesmerised us with his short and straightforward speech. “If ZEC doesn’t respond, we will hold an all-night vigil outside their offices!” The crowd erupted into a frenzy. The idea was received with enthusiasm.
Chamisa held a rally in Mutare on July 14, 2018. I watched it on Facebook Live and the numbers there were staggering. At the peak of my excitement and ecstasy I vowed I would attend his Bulawayo rally, and I did.
I got there early and bought myself a cap written “Chamisa” for $5 from a vendor. There was different paraphernalia with MDC party colours and they were selling like hot cakes.
The atmosphere was festive. It felt exactly like being at a fun fair. There were lots of ice cream vendors, there was meat on the braais and the PA system was blasting pro-MDC songs.
At the entrance, I almost fell after being pushed by a group of grannies jostling to the front as one of them said excitedly to her friends “hurry up guys, we need to get a place right at the front so we see Chamisa up close.”
There were people of all ages. In no time all the seats had been filled and people had to get into the field and sit on the ground. There was singing and dancing. I managed to join the journalists at the front so for once I had a front row seat.
At around 2PM, the atmosphere in the stadium changed drastically. All of a sudden the excitement went up a notch higher. Someone said to me the president is here, and I looked up and saw his convoy driving in.
Oh how I ran! I managed to get so close to the cars that I saw everything clearly. Out came Dumiso Dabengwa (former minister in Robert Mugabe’s cabinet, now ZAPU president) from one of the cars. Immediately after Dabengwa got out, there he was, the man I had come to see.
My heart swelled up with an uncontrollable joy. I imagined he was already the President. It was my first time seeing him up close. He looked fresh and clean. I loved the floral shirt I used to loathe. He looked as if he smelled good. He had an aura of humble self-assurance around him.
He walks like a Hollywood movie star. And oh, how he works the people. He shook hands. Identified someone and his face lit up as he greeted him heartily. Then he leapt up the stairs of the stage, strode to the front, lifted both hands, waved at the crowd and everyone went wild. At that particular moment, I had no doubt in my mind that standing in front of us, was Zimbabwe’s next President!
Sadly, the most recent findings of the Afrobarometer survey show that Zimbabweans remain apprehensive about the manipulation of the election.
My brother gave a lift to some old women in the rural areas a few days ago. They told him they believed there was a way to tell who one had voted for. He posted this on Facebook asking everyone to please educate the people around them as it is sad that people are still afraid and ignorant about a lot of things.
What’s encouraging though, is the fact that the same survey shows that Chamisa is gaining popularity.
As I watched the thousands of people leaving White City Stadium that day, I was struck by how there were no busses outside waiting to take them home. A large number walked back to their humble township homes. Many drove away in their cars and the majority waited by the roadside for taxis.
Considering the Zimbabwean “culture” of bussing people to rallies and bribing them with food and party regalia, it is quite overwhelming that everyone got themselves there voluntarily using personal funds. People were there out of free will. Out of passion. Any food they ate, they bought with their own money. Most of the regalia they wore, they purchased from the vendors.
I did not believe in Chamisa when he first came took leadership of the MDC, but he has grown on me. He says he knows he is young and has a lot to learn. He says that is why he surrounds himself with people like Dabengwa and other “golden oldies”, who will play an advisory role when he wins the election on Monday.
There is hope for a second Independence, as Chamisa calls it. According to the Afrobarometer survey, I’m not the only new recruit; it seems as we draw closer to D-Day, a significant number of people, are slowly but surely, also falling in love with Chamisa.
