Oppah Muchinguri in a fix

By Maggie Mzumara

OUTGOING ZANU-PF Women’s League boss Oppah Muchinguri’s report on First Lady Grace Mugabe’s tour of the provinces was expected to be a hot potato in the Politburo meeting which could either make or break the case against Vice President Joice Mujuru who became the focal point of the 10-day excursion.

The nation has waited with bated breath for Muchinguri, who was an aide to the late ZANLA commander, Josiah Tongogara, to plough through the two week-long, 10-stop “Meet the People” tour by the First Lady since last Thursday when she was instructed to produce the report by the Politburo.

Last week’s highly-anticipated Politburo meeting deflated into an anticlimax as, instead of Mujuru meeting her day of reckoning, action against or for her was deferred as an unprepared Muchinguri requested for more time.

Mujuru stands accused of corruption, divisive behaviour and plotting against President Robert Mugabe, whom she has closely worked with since the 1970s, amongst a host of other allegations.

As a co-author of the First Lady’s recent political activities, the onus has been placed on Muchinguri’s shoulders to give a comprehensive brief to the Politburo, which will then map the way forward. Her report can be the lethal weapon that could concretise allegations that were bandied about against Mujuru during the tour.

Or, if it fails to build a water tight case against the widowed Vice President, could scuttle what the Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa faction — believed to be the hidden hand behind the rally project — has fought tooth and nail to accomplish with the whirlwind tour.

President Mugabe did not make the task any easier last week when he instructed Muchinguri to put out the fire she started. “You are the one who decided that you now wanted a new leader at the Women’s League, now look. Are you going to put out the fires that you have started?” President Mugabe was quoted saying as he greeted party members before the Politburo meeting last week.

“In the report she is expected to talk about the rallies and say what transpired. We don’t work on speculation. We work on concrete evidence,” party spokesman, Rugare Gumbo, told the Financial Gazette. During her tour of the provinces, the First Lady spoke of the need for the party to unite and do away with factionalism. She also spoke about the concerns of women, including their need for land with their own offer letters; their need for empowerment, among other things.

She also referred glowingly to her hard work at her dairy farm and children’s home in Mazowe; and how she made sure she acquired land for these, her projects.  And at all her stops she gave inputs to the provinces.

But the highlight of the tour became the First Lady’s launch of a vociferous attack on Mujuru, which grew in intensity and became more openly direct as the lags of the tour increased.

And at all her stops she gave inputs to the provinces. But the highlight of the tour became the First Lady’s launch of a vociferous attack on Mujuru, which grew in intensity and became more openly direct as the lags of the tour increased.

While in the first few of the 10 rallies, the First Lady would only hint at a corrupt and divisive person, the last three rallies pointed more directly to Mujuru as the target of the attacks which became more scathing by the day.

During the same rallies, the First Lady also tore into a number of provincial chairpersons and other party leaders whom she accused of factionalism or plotting against her husband.

Muchinguri herself, though believed to be a key informant and ally to the First Lady, had been careful during the rallies not to mention Mujuru’s name. Neither did she touch on the specific allegations or play a visible role in the personal castigations.

The report will show how far and how long, she can steer away of naming Mujuru. Will her presentation not betray her role and shine the spotlight on sympathies and agenda she may have well kept under wraps, well out of the public psyche? Only today’s meeting will tell.

While some have doubted the ingenuity of the request for a report, others have hailed it saying it will concretise the import and claims of the tour. “Basically it is a question of buying time,” said political analyst, Earnest Mudzengi.

“There is a lot of scheming going on, particularly on the part of the Mnangagwa faction (which is believed to have been heavily vested in the rallies).

What boggled the mind, Mudzengi said, is why Muchinguri would be the one to compile the report. “Why is she the one writing the report? Perhaps one could say it is because she was the one who opened up for the First Lady to take up the Women’s League position. But still. I just think there is more than meets the eye,” Mudzengi added.

“Of course, it is obvious people like (Jonathan) Moyo may participate in the compilation of the report,” Mudzengi said. Another commentator, Lawton Hikwa, said it was fitting that the report writing task was given as it was to Muchinguri.

“Oppah must compile the report given her role as the incumbent Secretary for the Women’s League, from where the allegations emanate. The allegations raised by the First Lady against the VP are just too many and serious enough to discuss without a dossier to fall back on by either party,” Hikwa said. Financial Gazette