Where Did The 16 DAy Africa Unity Square Occupation Go Wrong?

Published: 2016 June 08 06:32:07 (4201 Views)

Claims have arisen that disagreements over donor money and personality clashes have all but snuffed a protest that had been organised by opposition-linked activists in Harare’s Africa Unity Square.

The #16DayOccupation (June 1-16, 2016) was organised by a Zimbabwe Activist Alliance, led by Lynette Tendai Mudehwe who, sensing the flop that it has been so far, had gone on to invite other groups and personalities to shore up numbers.

Among those invited was Patson Dzamara, brother to Itai who was reportedly abducted in the previous year.

Sources close to the developments say that Patson has tried to wrestle leadership of the initiative from Mudehwe and a war of words has erupted among the activists.

The Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe, an umbrella body of foreign sponsored quasi-political groups, recently dangled thousands of dollars to fund initiatives around Itai Dzamara, and this has added fuel to the divisions among the activists.

On Monday, Ms Mudehwe accused Patson of being “a pathetic glory hunter”.

“Tow (sic) the line or stay away . . . We all dont want this madness spilling into the media,” warned Ms Mudehwe in a conversation on WhatsApp seen by a local publication.

“Lynnette stop your nonsense. U know u won’t get past me wt your shallow nonsense,” shot back the younger Dzamara.

Patson then accused Ms Mudehwe of seeking to monopolise the “occupation”.

“Get over your inflated ego. Occupying didn’t start today. U r the one who wants to derail the process actually. And hell no, not a chance. That’s not going to happen,” he said, to which the latter scoffed saying she could not “derail an initiative we invited everyone to”.

Said Dirk Frey, one of the few activists that originally sat out with Itai: “Dirty laundry in public is killing our movement”.

“If you (Ms Mudehwe) and Doctor (Patson) insist on fighting here, I will find you boxing gloves,” he quipped.

But the warring parties would not relent and Patson accused Ms Mudehwe of alcoholism saying, “all u do is to go drink while Lynda (Manyawu) does the work”.

“I have had enough of this inebriated lady . . . I will rest my case by stating this. This Lynnete lady is a python. Nyoka chaiyo . . . And your responsibility is to go inebriate your already inebriated mind and then come back to try and disrupt the work.”

Mudehwe would not take it lying down saying, “You stop your nonsense of hijacking initiatives instead of participating or supporting. Inga we support your prayer meetings wani. You can come talk about drinking all you want here. I am not your child but an adult free to do what they want.”

Meanwhile, a local publication revealed that on Monday Mudehwe lost her phone in the Africa Unity Square park during a night vigil and accused Patson of stealing it for the purpose of tracking her movements.

She has not made a police report.

Insiders say that Patson is being viewed with suspicion among the activists.

“He performs rituals at night, and he carries around tobacco snuff for the purpose,” said a source.

He is also accused of being an “agent” of Temba Mliswa, a former Zanu-PF chairman who has since formed Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy, a pressure group he seeks to transform into a political party.

“People are asking where Patson was when we were protesting with Itai. He only joined when Itai disappeared and we never knew him in the trenches.

“Now he is bringing people like Acie Lumumba and Temba Mliswa. We suspect that this is an attempt to hijack the initiative for the benefit of YARD,” another source revealed.

Ms Mudehwe has played down divisions within the camp.

“The occupation is about the plight of suffering Zimbabweans that the Government must address and not individuals,” she told The Herald on Monday.

- Herald

Tags: Dzamara, itai, Patrick, #16dayoccupation,

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