The immortal words “Beware the Ides of March” are uttered in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to the leader by a fortune-teller.
Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
Cry “Caesar!” Speak, Caesar is turn’d to hear.
Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March.
Caesar: What man is that?
Brutus: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
Likewise, a soothsayer, after the weekend event where Harare was turned yellow by the newly launched Nelson Chamisa-led, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), warns Douglas Mwonzora, leader of the splinter group MDC Alliance, to beware the ides of March.
Indeed, March 26 will be a defining moment as Zimbabwe holds some by-elections around the country, caused by recalls engineered by the Mwonzora outfit.
March 26 may entail entrance into the chamber of the yellow-coloured outfit to claw back space to trigger a fresh breeze of air in parliament.
“Beware the ides of march,” the soothsayer said, warning Caesar of his impending death.
March 26 may entail political death for the Mwonzora-led outfit because victory for CCC will trigger mass defections.
The yellows are yearning for a revenge. After losing everything. Dethroned of their name, the colour and their citadel of power- The Harvest House.
Forget about Zanu PF for now. The CCC want to institute a sour revenge. Revenge is a dish of frogs and best eaten cold.
People love power. People follow power. People are easily swayed and the show of force on Sunday will sway so many followers. Politics is about power and it is indeed a game of numbers. Right now, many in the MDC Alliance are sitting on the fence. It is indeed a battlefield of the mind as decisions have to be made ahead of the March 26 plebiscite.
Politics is a dirty game and Mwonzora is in the mud. He has been accused of working with Zanu PF to cripple the opposition.
His court victories against Chamisa’s outfit were largely seen as engineered and influenced by the Zanu PF interests in decapitating the opposition.
Whether the allegations are true or false does not matter in the minds of voters.
He has made it worse by pushing for dialogue with Zanu PF, which many in the opposition think is a way of trying to wriggle himself away of an impending defeat.
He confirmed what many are thinking when he said, at Pelendaba Hall in Bulawayo, “When I left the State House many accused me of being a sell-out, but I said no I didn’t.”
For Mwonzora, dialogue with the ruling Zanu PF is the only route towards solving Zimbabwe’s long running socio-economic crisis.
Chamisa thinks otherwise. He thinks there is need for change in the administration and the March 26 elections are a friendly match as he prepares to take over in 2023… and this is a story for another day.
As political temperatures continue to rise the only warning for Mwonzora is “beware the ides of march.”
