Chris Mutsvangwa to fire more salvos

By Maggie Mzumara

The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Christopher Mutsvangwa may have found just the right platform for him to launch his salvos and attacks from.

Elected two weeks ago to be the leader of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), Mutsvangwa who had been itching for recognition and elevation, may have found just the right perch which acknowledges him and his contribution to the country in the way that may appease him. At least some.

Earlier in the year when Mutsvangwa let rip an attack on his boss, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, so venomous was the tirade that it betrayed deeply seated resentment which appeared as if had been simmering for quite some time.

Mutsvangwa accused his boss and the ministry’s permanent secretary, Joey Bimha, of sidelining him. What was apparent in the diatribe was that Mutsvangwa believed that he had a lot to give in terms of experience, skills and wisdom which he felt that even though he had in abundance was not being tapped into.

The former Zimbabwean Ambassador to China came across as feeling slighted for not being given the recognition he thought was due to him.  The whole episode also betrayed the feeling that Mutsvangwa thought he was being subordinated to people he should not be junior to.

As such he was itching for his colleagues to look up to — and not look down upon — him and what he could contribute. Tearing into his superior Mumbengegwi and the ministry’s permanent secretary Bimha, Mutsvangwa accused them of running the ministry like a personal “fiefdom” because of their proximity to President Robert Mugabe.

In a no-holds-barred live radio interview, Mutsvangwa claimed his colleagues of failing to consult even on crucial matters such as the standoff between Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU) which saw the denial of a visa to First Lady Grace Mugabe earlier in the year.

“It’s a difficult ministry. There are two people there,” Mutsvangwa is reported to have fumed at the time.

“The minister (Mumbengegwi) and the permanent secretary (Bimha) — it’s a fiefdom. They run the ministry as they want. They have used their proximity to the President over a long time. I fought for this country. I put my life for the President and I will not try to prove my loyalty to the President.”

He argued that the two had acted in a reckless manner by putting the First Lady in an embarrassing situation where she was denied a visa. “We should not have placed the First Lady as the sounding board of our diplomacy. In diplomacy, we should have insulated her from this embarrassment,” he said.

It appeared as if the junior status that was being bestowed on him was something he was not willing to accept. Mutsvangwa’s clashes with former Mashonaland West chairperson, Temba Mliswa, also reeked of a feeling of being belittled.

Again it looked as if the deputy minister was struggling with being regarded as less than and lower than people he thought he should be senior to.  The altercations saw Mutsvangwa snubbing some provincial meetings as if he thought they were beneath him.

In August, Mutsvangwa was in the news again, and this time firing a broadside at the Vice President Joice Mujuru. He said a number of things, but the long and short of it was that Mujuru’s war credentials were no more spectacular than everybody else’s himself included.

In particular, he disputed the claims that Mujuru had shot down a plane during the liberation struggle. Mujuru, whom he refers to as the “un-elected vice president” and Mumbengegwi are not the only seniors he has disdainfully dressed down in public.

Mutsvangwa has also fired salvos at ZANU-PF party number four, secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, who also doubles as Minister of State in the President’s Office.

He has referred to him as the “ever busy body”, “the pretender” and called for him to be “reined in”. Because of all this, Mutsvangwa has portrayed himself as someone ready to pick a fight in a manner that is challenging to seniors above him.

While he repeatedly pledges his allegiance, unwavering loyalty, support for and subordination to President Mugabe, he obviously has challenges recognising the bosses that the President and his structures put ahead of him.  Of course, this he does not say and may very well not be what he feels in his conscious mind.

But subconsciously for those watching from the sidelines, it has throughout the year become abundantly clear that he feels belittled by the midget status-position which repeatedly comes his way. He wants more, he deserves more is the common message that can be derived from salvo-throwing routines he has embarked on repeatedly.

Mutsvangwa is a war veteran who feels he has contributed immensely to the country and boasting as he does of a superior intellect (“everyone knows I was the best lawyer in my class”) and so wants what he deems due recognition. Could he be barking at the wrong tree? Unbeknownst to him? Perhaps?

Because in all fairness, Mumbengegwi and Bimha did not appoint themselves to those jobs? His words in that unfortunate and very undiplomatic outburst showed he doesn’t think much of his boss. But his boss did not appoint himself above him.

Neither did Mutasa. Mujuru whom he wishes to see exposed and toppled also did not appoint herself. To query the ascendance of these cadres is to question the one who made the ascendance possible. Still he does have a lot to say.

And now, thanks to an opportunity that presented itself with the ouster of Jabulani Sibanda — the recently thrown out war veterans leader — Mutsvangwa had just found some elevated platform from which he directs some ship. Now he can be captain of the ship, without being obscured by someone else before or above him.

What more is that with the role the ZNLWVA has garnered over the years of directing moves alongside President Mugabe and enacting, however, harshly his wishes, that body of ex-combatants has emerged over the decades as a force to vigilantly spur on the “convictions” of the revolutionary in so called protection of the gains of the party, including purging wherever its needed, and clearing in the path of the party anyone deemed to be presenting an obstacle.

For long that had been the Movement of Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his followers; but of late those efforts have been directed inward of the revolution to none other than the party’s second secretary, Mujuru.

“Chris Mutsvangwa is now clearly positioned to continue attacks on his political opponents and rivals from the vantage point of the chairmanship of war veterans,” said political analyst Rashweat Mukundu.

Although he had proved that he had a lot of attacks up his sleeve, what he had perhaps lacked was a platform that somehow justified the attacks.

“He now has a constituency that he can claim to represent and we will likely see more unbridled attacks from his as a representative of war veterans,” Mukundu said.  However, some who have been acutely aware of Mutsvangwa’s war veterans record believe his election to the apex of the ZNLWVA was long overdue.

“Mutsvangwa’s elevation was imminent given his previous role in the armed struggle and engagement in government,” said commentator, Lawton Hikwa.

“Like any other citizen and person associated with the struggle, his utterances show a cadre seemingly pursuing the line to be perceived as consistent and loyal.”

Hikwa, however, doubts Mutsvangwa will use the platform to settle some scores. “I doubt whether he will use the position for political expediency alone. He tends to contribute within a context guided by political correctness. I foresee his pursuits following that trend,” he said.

On the other hand Mukundu thinks Mutsvangwa will use the platform. He, however, does not think Mutsvangwa will last in the position. “His leadership will, however, be short lived as others may want to tame his growing influence after congress.”

Although he has never been bestowed with the honour of being a fully-fledged minister, Mutsvangwa has always been appointed to some strategic positions. A former director of the Central Intelligence Organisation, Mutsvangwa was also at one time chief executive officer of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. Financial Gazette