BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
witches and sorcerers......The conflict between white and black had been
transmuted into a conflict between the ancestors and witchcraft.^40In the African mind, ‘sell-out’ also conjures up memories of many Afri-
can chiefs and kings who facilitated slavery as agents of imperialism. In
this case, they were viewed as ‘sell-outs’ by their community members,
something much similar to what was done by African Selous Scouts
agents. ‘Sell Out or Mutengesi’ as already hinted is the most common
label used in Zimbabwe national politics and the consequences of using
such a label on those otherwise differing from the majority or senior
leadership cannot be under-estimated. It is an easy weapon ready for use
especially with ruling African liberation parties like ZANU-PF and Afri-
can National Congress (ANC) of South Africa against political rivals
sometimes with tragic consequences. Most opposition parties to ZANU-
PF have always been stereotyped as ‘fronts or agents’ of the enemy or
imperialist forces. Blessing Miles Tendi argues that
The ‘patriots and sell outs’ distinction can be fluid over time but also mark-
edly inflexible at any particular point in time. The meaning of ‘sell-out’
changes in due course depending on the character of the rival. The distinc-
tion has made active politics unattractive to Zimbabweans and partly made
the country’s politics shallow-that is, it sometimes does not deal with sub-
stantive issues.^41
The accusations are consistently levelled against leaders of opposition
parties for allegedly planning to overthrow President Mugabe’s govern-
ment. They are alleged as being helped by foreign forces, for example,
Joshua Nkomo, Ndabaningi Sithole, and Morgan Tsvangirai. The label is
put on the top leadership of opposition parties as happened to Welsh-
man Ncube (Secretary General of original MDC) and Tendai Biti. The
Non-Governmental, Civic Organizations and journalists from independ-
ent papers are also put on the fry as ‘sell-outs’ bent on reversing the
gains of the liberation struggle.^42 The loss of support by ZANU-PF and
Mugabe is regarded as not a result of corruption, economic meltdown
and populist policies resulting in hunger and poverty. The argument by
ZANU-PF is that, imperialist forces use money to buy the souls and
(^40) T O Ranger, Peasant Consciousness and Guerrilla War in Zimbabwe: A Comparative,
London: Univ. of California Press, 1985, 188; See also D Smith & C Simpson, Mugabe,
London: Sphere Books Ltd, 1989,169.
(^41) Tendi, Making History in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, 145.
(^42) T Maodza, Respect Unity Accord: Mujuru, The Herald, 23 December, 2009; Sibanda
dismisses journalists as sell outs, The Zimbabwe Times, 11 March 2010.