Zanu PF sells another dummy to MDC – Part 2

By Garikai Mafirakureva

Sometime last year, I wrote a piece entitled “Zanu PF sells another dummy to MDC,” in which I described a politician as a manipulative and devious person who uses a situation to gain advantage over his or her opponent but no one took it seriously.

Right now I feel every piece of the jigsaw puzzle is falling in place. If MDC and other political parties, fail to decipher these mischievous stratagems by Zanu PF that lack validity in essence, or if they fail to see that Zanu PF is just rebranding and regrouping under a new banner. Then Lo Behold! Their brains need some rewiring.

The cliché, “Once beaten twice shy,” seems to be ringing nowhere near my good friends’ warped way of thinking, because at one stage, MDC-T, decided to enter into the 2013 harmonized elections without any electoral reforms.

In fact, they received the voters roll a few hours before polling stations opened, but insisted in taking part because the double edged mole, in the form of Baba Jukwa, had instilled confidence in them that it was their biggest chance to ascend to power. And now, before the dust even settled, they are falling into this grand coalition frenzy. 

By arranging events in their proper sequence, one is tempted to think that, Zanu PF’s think-tanks have discovered that opposition political parties and the general populace are full of conspiracy theory without foundation or substance, hence they contrived tricks to sideswipe the hapless opposition into political oblivion.

So recently, the Joice Mujuru led Zim PF pulled out of all by-elections citing lack of electoral reforms. In a telephone interview, Zim PF spokesperson, Jealousy Mawarire said, “As a party that subscribe to the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA) principles, we are not taking part in the by-election. We are demanding electoral reforms first.”

Oh really? I am just wondering to myself; isn’t this the same man who sued Robert Mugabe in 2013, claiming that it was his constitutional right to have an election and forced an election without reforms? Isn’t this the same poor carpenter who carved the current economic and political situation in Zimbabwe, who is now looking straight in our eyes and blaming his tools without any remorse?

Talk of the devil speaking with a forked tongue. Nonetheless, my million dollar question is, Did Mawarire join Zim PF as a Mujuru sympathiser or its one of those coincidences?

On the other hand Mujuru, who is now the president of ZimPF, had the audacity to denigrate the 80 year old, late vice president Joshua Nkomo, who was by far her superior in government, describing him as senile and incapable of making rational judgement.

His crime. He was backing businessman Strive Masiyiwa’s bid for a licence to launch Econet Wireless in 1997. Mujuru then Information, Posts and Telecommunications minister went on to disregard Nkomo and handed out the licence to Telecel.

It is mind boggling to many Zimbabweans that Mujuru, never had the impudence to tell the 92 year old leader in his face, that he had overstayed his welcome because he is far advanced in his years and no longer have the proficiency to run this country, so that she shows the world that she subscribes to agism as she did to his counterpart.

Even right now as a leader of an opposition party, she is not using confrontational politics against Mugabe and seem so hesitant to attack him. However, recently while addressing people at Stanley Square in Bulawayo, the devil spoke with a cloven tongue as usual and went on to accuse the media.

“A lot has been said about me denigrating Father Zimbabwe (Joshua Nkomo). Media is good, but sometimes the media over-exaggerates things. To me Father Zimbabwe was my father…”

If you can collect and combine the two’s (Mujuru and Mawarire) extend of insincerity,  you can easily conclude that these are the kind of people who would force one to count his or her fingers after a handshake. Real crooks.

More so, if we delve deep into the $10 billion estimate of Mujuru’s estate and if that is anything to go by, then she has every reason to protect it. She is not daft to leave Zanu PF and dare Mugabe and his colleagues. They fought together, plundered the country’s resources together and now they have to protect the loot together.

In fact, they are partners in crime so they have to stand by each other. The succession debate has been whispered in the corridors of power and openly discussed in the media but, Mugabe chose to use his dexterity to do it differently. The baton is being passed on to Mujuru right under our noses.

Everyone expected the ageing leader to appoint his successor openly, but that was going to render Zanu PF irrelevant and the country’s woes would persist because no one is willing to work with Zanu PF at the moment, except their friends in the east.

This would have put themselves, their families and their looted wealth at risk because the opposition was going win the forthcoming election. In their last project they used social media, to blindfold the opposition and the nation at large with their Facebook character, becoming an instant hit within a short period of time.

This time around it is real life drama and, most people have already bought the chaff. Factionalism is just a deception operation aimed at fooling the opposition and other observers. Unfortunately, general people and the opposition have been outwitted into believing the so called “split” and the resultant purges.

Lord have mercy ! Does this need a rocket scientist to see that Zanu PF is regrouping in ZimPF to consolidate their power and protect their properties? The State media recently launched a ferocious and savage Propaganda blitzkrieg on Mujuru, not because she is a threat to Zanu PF, but because they want to divert people’s attention from MDCT and other opposition parties, so that they sympathise with Mujuru.

The more they attack her the more people sympathise with her. This has already made her party a more formidable force to reckon with, and many opposition parties are falling over each other, to get in bed with her to form the so-called grand coalition.

Judging from the unfortunate turn of events, it is the opposition that is approaching Mujuru for a coalition and not vice versa. So it is easy to safely conclude that Zim PF, is now the main opposition. We are going to see another scenario of Government of National Unity (GNU), similar to that of 2008. It will be just a replay of the previous events. The usual fighting for posts and MDCT always coming second best as usual.

This was evident when the NERA document was signed. Most parties signed the document including MDCT, the MDC led by Welshman Ncube, Zanu Ndonga, Transform Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe United For Democracy, African Democratic Party, Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe, and recently Tendai Biti’s People’s Democratic Party only because Zim PF signed.

Commenting, after being asked that, in the event of the grand coalition being successful Mugabe is removed from power,  aren’t they going to fall in the same predicament as the one witnessed in 2008, MDC-T Information and Publicity Secretary, Obert Gutu, just played it down and said, ” Let’s not put the cart the before the horse. We are not positions oriented but issues and policies oriented. First and foremost, we are here to serve Zimbabwe and not to serve our own selves.”

To a thinking being Zanu PF is taking every Zimbabwean for a fool. First it was Didymus Mutasa who threatened to expose Mugabe and Zanu PF now it’s Mujuru. To me they are agents provocateur deep-cover agents. The proposed grand coalition should be treated with much suspicion it deserves.

Another question that constantly haunts me is; “Is it not possible for all opposition political parties to form a grand coalition without ZimPF?” It’s becoming clear Mujuru, Mutasa and many others believed to be their followers, are real decoys on a mission to distract and to divert the opposition’s attention, and its already paying dividends.

It baffles many Zimbabweans that any “disgruntled” member of Zanu PF or MDC is now joining ZimPF. From politburo members right to an ordinary card carrying member, and the war veterans have recently jumped on the bandwagon.

MDC-T also lost a sizeable chunk of their former legislators to Zim PF, that includes Heya Shoko (Bikita West), Jeffreyson Chitando (Masvingo Central), Earnest Mudavanhu (Zaka West) Albert Mhlanga(Byo),Senator Chitaka (Manicaland), Matibe (Mash West) only to mention a few.

This Zanu PF smear campaign on Mujuru is impacting positively to her Zim PF. Mugabe could not pass the the baton to Emmerson Mnangagwa because of his checkered background, which would ruffle many feathers especially rights organisations and the west.

Despite his alleged involvement in the Tsholotsho debacle, Mnangagwa’s major undoing is his alleged participation in the Gukurahundi massacres, in which an estimated 20 000 people were indiscriminately and brutally slaughtered.

According to a report by Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice (CCJP), Mnangagwa, the then State Security Minister,  was one of the key men in the Gukurahundi atrocities together with Mugabe and Perrence Shiri, then commander of the 5th Brigade. This obviously left Mugabe and his party with no choice, because Mnangagwa is hard to sell.

So they opted for someone who is appealing to the outside world and to the general electorate; that is how Mujuru and her party came into being. On the other hand, Tsvangirai has made fatal decisions in the past, that left his party members dumbfounded.

After the death of his wife 2009, in a car accident, he has been linked to several women before customarily getting married to Locardia Karimatsenga, briefly and later to his current wife Elizabeth Macheka. All his wives were linked to Zanu PF, something that made party members wonder if the party wasn’t being infiltrated.

Even his decisions to enter the enter the 2013 election without reforms not to mention the voter’s roll and refusal to move out of the Highlands mansion allocated to him during GNU, left many questions than answers.

Tsvangirai pulled another shocker recently, after appointing Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri, as Vice Presidents. Having three VPs for a party that criticises President Mugabe for having a bloated government remains puzzling in many circles. Now, his involvement with Zim PF, for a grand coalition seems to suggest that he does not have self confidence.

MDC-T has been in trenches for past 16 years, without Mujuru or her ZimPF, so they can not give up at the last hurdle and give it away on a silver platter just like that.