Grace Mugabe’s ‘Final Push’ in limbo

By Thelma Chikwanha

HARARE – First Lady Grace Mugabe’s “Final Push” to oust Vice President Joice Mujuru from her party and government positions appears to be in tatters at the moment, analysts say — pointing to a number of developments within Zanu PF over the past few days.

An angry Grace went berserk at her meeting with mainly war veterans and youths at her Mazowe business hub last Thursday, lashing out even more fiercely at her perceived enemies, particularly the embattled Mujuru.

“Today is the day for (the) final push,” she said. “I’m no longer going to beat about the bush. The moment of truth has arrived. Mujuru should go and rest because she has failed,” she thundered then.

But analysts interviewed by the Daily News said the fact that the politburo had failed to expel Mujuru during its tense meeting last Friday, as well as the reluctance by war veterans to join in the massive assault on the beleaguered VP despite the first lady’s chilling call for her removal on allegations of corruption and fanning factionalism within Zanu PF, were instructive indicators that the “final push” plan was floundering.

In the case of the politburo, it instructed outgoing Women’s League boss Oppah Muchinguri to compile a report on the goings-on surrounding Grace’s controversial “Meet the People” rallies, to be presented at another gathering of the party’s highest decision-making body later this week.

In the case of war veterans, the chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Jabulani Sibanda, bemoaned the plotting by certain “evil elements” within Zanu PF, who he said were planning President Robert Mugabe’s removal from power through the cunning abuse of Grace.

“I think in my view the First Lady is being abused. Let me put it this way, the First Family is being abused. There is a sinister motive being carried out by a few people who are anti-Mugabe, anti-First Lady and anti-Zanu PF.

“The same people want to play smoke and mirror games to hoodwink people not to see their real agenda. Unfortunately, we can see through the smoke.

“We have a few people who are anti-Mugabe, anti-First Lady and anti-Zanu PF who disguise themselves as the ones who love Amai and the party, but we can see through their shenanigans,” an angry Sibanda charged in a no-holds barred interview with the Daily News last week.

Analysts also pointed out that the fact that Mugabe appeared not too keen to show the popular Mujuru the door also indicated that the “Final Push” was in limbo at the moment.

Yet others interpreted the fact that the other strategy by Mujuru’s Zanu PF opponents to expel the party’s provincial chairpersons believed to be sympathetic to her had hit major turbulence was a sign that the VP was unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon.

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo swatted down “people” who were trying to engineer the removal of some party provincial chairpersons such as Mashonaland West’s Temba Mliswa, who is believed to be supportive of Mujuru.

The deduction by analysts was that if Mujuru’s provincial supporters retained their positions, this would prove key at December’s do-or-die national elective congress, as Zanu PF’s ballot procedures dictated that candidates for national office should be nominated by provinces ahead of the congress.

In that light, provincial elections have generally given a good indication of the outcome of the national congress in the past. And so far the vice president has support in all of the country’s 10 provinces who can be expected to nominate her again for the VP position in December.

Gumbo said that this Thursday’s politburo meeting would discuss and finalise the party’s electoral procedures for the forthcoming congress.

During her country-wide rallies, the First Lady said the party’s two vice president posts should not be elected positions, but should rather be appointments to be made by Mugabe — a move that would sway the scales in her opponents’ favour should this proposal be adopted.

Famed international analyst Stephen Chan said: “There are certainly many dynamics right now. One of the key dynamics is a concerted push by both Grace Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa against Joice Mujuru. Some of this has been very savage.

“Either the Mnangagwa faction feels very confident and is making a final push ahead of the party congress, or it is very worried and trying desperately to garner support by going on the attack. However, the congress is still six weeks away, and to an outside observer it all seems too loud, too soon on the part of Mnangagwa’s people”.

Another analyst said: “Do you honestly believe there was a Zesa blackout during the politburo or it was an engineered act to avert discussion on the contentious issues to buy time for a choreography for this week?

“It also came after a failed ‘Final Push’ and this is why the State media at the weekend desperately attempted to rekindle matters through a bogus story that Mujuru wanted to oust Mugabe.”

Journalist-cum-political analyst Jealousy Mawarire said he did not see the faction aligned to Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa prevailing against Mujuru in December, as the VP had “a sound support base”.

“They are not going to succeed because people in Zanu PF are seeing what they are doing. It is unprecedented for Zanu PF to make radical changes derived on submissions by people who lost elections, namely Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Zhuwao and Chris Mutsvangwa,” he said.

Mawarire added: “They have been rejected by their own people in their own constituencies and now they are trying to come up with a list. Why should positions be filled by people who have lost elections?

“The people in Zanu PF can see what is happening and they will not want to entertain these people who are trying to bring in a foreign doctrine of disrespect for leadership and homosexuality.” Daily News