00:00March 31 has been built as a day of mass protest over President Emerson Mnangagwa's corruption-tainted
00:06government in Zimbabwe, the unresolved economic crisis and suspicion that he wants the Kling
00:12to par.
00:13But when most citizens opted to stay at home, the ruling ZANU-PF party and state-run media
00:17began spinning one common narrative meant to illustrate public disinterest in a campaign
00:23to force Mnangagwa from office.
00:25No, there's no stay away.
00:27All these are vaguards, those are buses, those are companies, it's business as usual.
00:32Can anyone who remembers the vile abnormality that ZANU-PF officials tried to concoct when
00:37Robert Mugabe was ousted even buy into that narrative?
00:42Welcome to the Flipside.
00:43The call for the March 31 protest came from inside the house, Mnangagwa's ruling ZANU-PF
00:49party.
00:50The man behind it's an independence-era war veteran, booted out of the party and its
00:55central committee at the start of the month.
00:57We're covering blessed Geza bombshell.
00:59The government says the anti-Mnangagwa agitator would growing online clout is just another
01:04criminally inclined individual who is inciting people.
01:08But there are signs of broad bipartisan support for his March 31st movement.
01:13So why did Geza's call to protest gain a little traction?
01:17I think the people of Zimbabwe cannot protest because the fear of being killed or abducted
01:26and we find that the security forces are all out in full force to defend the government.
01:33Before March 31st, Mnangagwa had moved swiftly not only to expel Geza from the party but
01:39also deploy security forces countrywide and change army chiefs.
01:43Geza went into hiding and a journalist he spoke to was arrested, leaving many more running
01:47scared.
01:48Meanwhile, Zimbabweans living in South Africa protested quite openly on March 31st, warning
01:54Mnangagwa to refrain from exceeding a two-term limit.
01:58So it's really not business as usual in Zimbabwe now, is it?
02:01March 31st to March 2025 was not as business as usual in Zimbabwe.
02:10It was a successful stay away by the people of Zimbabwe.
02:15Those who bravely stepped out onto Zimbabwe's streets now face legal consequences.
02:19In the diaspora, there's a little more room for free speech.
02:22A little over seven years ago, ZANU-PF maintained a bizarre facade of normalcy.
02:28As Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF rivals pushed him from power, the military already had the
02:34elderly leader under house arrest.
02:36The atmosphere was tense, but officially, it was business as usual.
02:40Even Mugabe appeared at a university graduation ceremony, posing for the cameras and soaking
02:45up applause.
02:46Then the masses rallied behind the army.
02:51War veterans were critical in organizing the masses.
02:56And members of the opposition were involved.
03:00Mnangagwa came to power in that bond coup.
03:03Now, it's war veterans like Geza who want Mnangagwa to go.
03:07And Zimbabweans are afraid to express their views openly.
03:11So of Geza, I think it will be just the same.
03:16I don't think they'll bring any change.
03:18So it's a matter of changing the bus, but the driver is, I'm trying to say, changing
03:29the driver, but the bus is still the same.
03:31And that's the flip side.
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