Source: Is Emmerson Mnangagwa A Zimbabwean? Unpacking The Facts … – ZimEye
he Hospitality That Mistook Itself for Amnesia:
By Reason Wafawarova
We Zimbabweans are a remarkably democratic, inclusive, and all-embracing people. So generous is our political culture that, from a distance, it can easily be mistaken for national amnesia.
It is difficult—borderline impossible—to imagine a South African President standing on national television and declaring, without a flicker of irony: “Zimbabwe made me who I am today. I was raised there. I did my primary, secondary, and university education there. Everything I am was made in Zimbabwe.”
One does not need a constitutional lawyer to explain how quickly that speech would be reclassified as a resignation letter. Our neighbours to the south are not known to romanticise foreign foundational claims to national leadership.
And yet, we Zimbabweans are made of sterner, or perhaps softer, stuff.
Our President, while in Zambia, offered a confession of belonging so complete it could easily qualify for dual citizenship of the soul. “I am part of you. I am part of this country. I was raised here. I grew up here. I did my primary, secondary, and university education here. Zambia made me who I am today.”
For good measure, we are told that in his early twenties, he was deported—back to his country, Zambia—after a youthful misadventure with the law. A biographical detail that, in less accommodating jurisdictions, might trigger questions. In Zimbabwe, it triggers applause, votes, and seven years of unwavering trust.
We have embraced, elected, and entrusted him with the highest office in the land. We have not interrogated his familiarity with our village life, our classrooms, or the rhythm of our national story. We have not demanded genealogies of belonging. We simply accepted—and moved on.
Because that is who we are.
But even the most generous host expects a measure of reciprocity. Hospitality, after all, is not a surrender of self-respect.
What we expect is simple: respect—for the people, and for the Constitution that binds both the host and the hosted.
Since November 2017, Zimbabweans have extended a political welcome that borders on the sacramental. But even sacred gestures have limits. A welcome, if overstretched, curdles into weariness.
Every five years, we return to first principles. We elect. We renew—or we withdraw. In that brief constitutional interlude between proclamation and swearing-in, power reverts, however fleetingly, to its rightful owners: the people.
That moment is coming again in August 2027.
It would be wise not to treat it as a mere calendar inconvenience.
Let us not test each other’s patience. Let us not choreograph legal gymnastics and call it governance. The Constitution is not a dance floor for political fandango.
Let us not mistake civility for docility, nor tolerance for stupidity.
There are demons best left asleep, and dogs that serve everyone better when undisturbed.
Nyika ine vene vayo. Kwete mabvakure kana mibvandiripo. Zvizvarwa ndivo varidzi venyika veropa.
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