Mahoso claims that all machinations of the enemy have failed; neither sanctions, filling African disks with white memory nor threat of military aggression have yielded the desired results in Zimbabwe and in South- ern Africa at the moment, not only because the elders were vigilant and stood to the task; fighting for the rights and justice of their people until the enemy was confounded, but especially because God who speaks through the elders, the same God who believes in pan-Africanism, stood with them (elders) as they defended the nation (pan-African values) and the same God has promised Zimbabwe, Southern Africa and Africa at large that no such disaster shall overcome and overwhelm them again. God, for Mahoso, promised unlimited protection and prosperity to Af- rica, Zimbabwe in particular.
In a long article, worth to be called a sermon of thanksgiving for God’s protection and blessings on Zimbabwe, Mahoso digs deep to expose what he thinks are the evil plans that had been hatched by the enemies of Africa in trying to influence regime change in Africa, Zimbabwe in particular. For Mahoso, the West used Africans with white ‘no fly zones’ mentality, or ‘Africans with disks full of white memory’ some as high as presidents and African Union dignitaries. Despite all these almost seem- ingly intractable strategies, for Mahoso, God has foiled them all and the enemy is on the run. Mahoso interprets the global financial crises in the West since 2008 as confirmation of the scripture, where God outlined a plan for his beloved people (Israelites) Zimbabweans. He thus begins the article, ‘Africans with white no fly zones mentality’ with a biblical quotation from Deut 28:7-13, again from a Ndau translation of the Bible and not English:
(7) Na Jehovah unozoita kuti vavengi venyu vamumukire nokumurwisa, vechip- inda ngenzira imwe chete; Asi Jehovah unoita kuti kana vomutiza vavengi venyu, vachapararira nenzira nomwe. (12) Na Jehovah uchamuzarurira pfuma yake; amupe mvura yenyika yenyu ngenguva yayo; nokuropafadza mabasa ose amavoko enyu; Imi muchapa marudzi mazhinji zvikwereti, asi imi hamuzotori zvikwereti. Jehovah uchakuitai misoro yeutungamiri; hamungaite miswe kwete. (Deut 28:7-13)
According to Mahoso’s biblical interpretation that penetrates deep into the historical social and economic issues bedevilling Africa, Deut 28:7-13
is specifically true on Zimbabwe. The enemies in Mahoso’s view have come to attack Zimbabwe in a single file; to attack through economic sanctions (imposed in 2001 by Europe and America) and other ways such as sabotage, demonization and propaganda among others to cause social strife in order to achieve regime change, which is another version of recolonisation, are now retreating in seven ways. The camp is frag- mented. Some already want sanctions to go. Citing, the German ambas- sador to Zimbabwe Albrecht Conze who has confirmed that ‘in Europe … some countries are pushing a little faster for the review of sanctions on Zimbabwe while others are hesitant’,56 Mahoso brags that, ‘Zim-
babwe and the Sadc region are triumphant and feeling blessed (by God) because Zimbabweans have overcome a decade of full economic and financial warfare and those who imposed their sanctions on this country are frantically looking for face-saving ways to dump the MDC formations they have used for the last 10 years and to start doing normal business again with Zimbabwe; a Zimbabwe which lies at the heart of Sadc and whose economy is growing despite the horrific sanctions’.57 From this
hermeneutical perspective, the sanctions which have been used as an economic warfare by the enemies of the people of God have been de- feated as was promised by God to (Israel) Zimbabwe (Deut 28:7-13). Mahoso claims that contrary to their expectations, by trying to lynch Zimbabwe in every forum, through all channels and on every platform: at the IMF, at the World Bank, at Kimberley Process meetings, at the EU and at the UN, the Anglo-Saxon powers have instead awakened the en- tire population of Zimbabwe to the evil intent of their sanctions. Most importantly, each time they have attempted to pin Zimbabwe down, Zimbabwe has prevailed over them and exposed the aggressors both morally and legally,58 not only because Zimbabwe is led by the anointed
sons, elders but also because God himself was with Zimbabwe, as he promised in Deut 28:7-13.
The sprouting of massive wealth in diamond deposits everywhere coun- trywide in Zimbabwe, which deposits are believed to be 20 % of the world’s diamond deposits and estimated to turn around the economy of
56 Albrecht Conze, ‘EU divided over Zimbabwe sanctions-Conze.’ The Herald. 06 June
2011.
57 Mahoso, ‘Africans with white no fly zones mentality’.
58 Mahoso, ‘Africans with white no fly zones mentality’. AFRICAN FOCUS: The Sunday
the country in two years when Zimbabwe becomes the top diamond producer country and massive deposits of platinum, gold, coal, copper, iron and other minerals are for Mahoso evidence of have God’s provi- dence. For him, these are not only the reason for the imposition of sanc- tions on Zimbabwe by the West, but they are also the ‘means that the (same) illegal sanctions will not only be defeated by the people them- selves but they are likely to end up punishing and embarrassing those who invited them and those who imposed them.’ For him, this is not far from happening; as the rest of the growing economies of the world apart from the struggling and debt-ridden West are very happy to do business with Zimbabwe.59 He thus pushes his argument in another article by
citing 1 Sam 17:49 where David defeated Goliath by throwing stone a stone that struck Goliath on the forehead leading to his death as a repre- sentation of what is happening in Zimbabwe. For him, the mineral deposits especially diamonds are stone that David (Zimbabwe) used to defeat Goliath (the West).60
In practical terms, Mahoso argues that it is business with the emerging markets in friendly nations that shall prosper Zimbabwe (while hostile nations have a down turn) as Deut 28:7-13 says, out of the fruits of the land; agriculture and minerals.61 In the same light, Mahoso sees the
economic crisis in Greece as well as the rest of Europe and America as a fulfillment of the word of God (Deut 28:7-13) that Zimbabwe shall pros- per as her enemies not only scatter but drown in poverty, such that Zimbabwe will never borrow from anyone but will lend (Deut 28:13). According to Mahoso, this is particularly true because already, ‘the very same white racist governments which imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe….today suffer and behave as if they are the ones who have been sanctioned’, that is why ‘they now want to return to a new Berlin Conference and a new partition of Africa’, as ‘has already happened over Libya and Cote d’Ivoire, but Southern Africa’ has survived, thanks to ‘a solid revolutionary alliance between young people of the generation of Julius Malema and their grandfathers (elders) who fought in the Second
59 Mahoso, ‘Africans with white no fly zones mentality’.
60 Cf. Mahoso, ‘Ngoda-Stone that blasted away Goliath’, AFRICAN FOCUS: The Sunday Mail. 14 August 2011.
Chimurenga, the war veterans and liberation intellectuals represented by President Robert Mugabe’.62
The sprouting mineral resources countrywide, therefore is not a mere accident of history. For Mahoso, they are clear signs of the presence of God among the people of Zimbabwe. These natural resources shall prosper Zimbabwe to the extent that she will not borrow but will lend other nations (Deut 28:12). Contrary to several prophets of doom who believe that the future of Zimbabwe is bleak as long as ZANU PF is in power, Mahoso sees the brightest future ever with ZANU PF on the steering wheel and gloomy future if MDC and her allies were to take charge. The logic from Mahoso’s biblical exegesis is; since God prom- ised Zimbabwe under ZANU PF leadership (and not MDC) that all the monetary institutions that have been used by the enemy to arm-twist Zimbabweans will not extend their grants to Zimbabwe again; it follows that it is only under ZANU PF that Zimbabwe will be a lender and not a borrower.
In Mahoso’s analysis, although Africa’s sons and daughters; ‘those with white ‘no fly zones’ mentality have sold out and collaborated with the enemy, God has remained committed to Africa. This is the only reason Africa, Zimbabwe in particular has survived all these years. However, Africa needs to take stock and begin to take measures to prevent such Africans with white ‘no fly zones’ mentality to take responsibilities of countries. In Mahoso’s words for example, Zimbabwe is soon to be a “no-fly zone” for imperialism, even when that imperialism is fronted by black faces. In Zimbabwe, Mahoso is already seeing the defeat of the enemy that was promised in the Bible (Deut 28:7).
The enemy, in the case of Zimbabwe, has been defeated with the help of so many gallant (elders) ‘sons and daughters’ of Africa, especially SADC and Thabo Mbeki, in particular,63 which prompted Mahoso’s gratitude.
According to Mahoso, since Mbeki inaugurated the GPA in Zimbabwe enemies have begun to disintegrate, evidenced by the divisions in Europe over sanctions. As such says, ‘Zimbabwe and much of Sadc feel that Africa is blessed (by God); this region in particular is blessed….Thabo Mbeki’s diplomatic shield (GPA) for Zimbabwe and
62 Mahoso, ‘All Lasting Constitutions secure the majority’, AFRICAN FOCUS: The
Sunday Mail. 24. July 2011.
63 While Mbeki is praised by many pan-Africanists, he is loathed by the West and their
Sadc, has so far survived and been spared from the add-ons which the MDC formations and their Anglo-Saxon sponsors have been spin- ning…’.64 But even after the Unity Government was formed, it is claimed
that the West continued to try to influence politics in Zimbabwe by among other strategies; the setting up of parallel government struc- tures,65 and influencing SADC facilitator’s decisions such as what hap-
pened in Livingstone, Zambia.
For Mahoso, what happened in Cote d’ Ivoire, Libya and what nearly happened in Zimbabwe as evidenced by the Livingston summit, has been a result of Africans with white ‘no fly zones’ mentality, who be- cause they are black they pretend to be Africans while in reality on the basis of their minds, they are agents of the enemy. They are the prover- bial wolves in sheep skins. Like Judas Iscariot who although he was among the disciples of Jesus nevertheless sold out, African leaders who collaborate with the West are traitors, the present day Judas Iscariots, agents of the devil. He thus draws some criteria from the Bible of recog- nising them. The story of King Solomon and the story of Judas Iscariot are the models by which we can see and understand who belongs where.