When the chickens came home to roost for George Charamba

By Hopewell Chin’ono

George Charamba’s moment of embarrassment when Grace Mugabe dressed him down on Saturday in Chinhoyi shows where real power lies in ZANU PF.

Grace’s humiliation of Charamba was literally a challenge by Robert Mugabe to his subordinates to step up for a fight if they think that they can and should direct how his succession will be resolved.

I have often argued that all these ZANU PF lackeys are only a letter away from being kicked out of their cushy government jobs that they use as an entry point to looting the State coffers through the patronage system created and perfected by non other than Robert Mugabe himself.

This includes the Generals whose power is often exaggerated by those of us lacking the requisite insights into how government and its military operate.

How and why should Robert Mugabe be afraid of the people he appointed to serve at his pleasure?

This is part of many layers of misplaced analysis, which is rooted in peddling outcomes that we desire to see rather than what is actually happening, a big Zimbabwean disease.

I hope that our self-appointed political analysts will stop peddling their wishes and instead use empirics in their analysis and stop being heavily invested in the factional desired outcomes.

The worst thing that can happen to Mugabe is a coup but we all know that nobody in the regional board SADC would support such a move by the Zimbabwean military or elements of it.

The newspaper article outcries from General Constantino Chiwenga and Air Marshal Perence Shiri reflect their understanding of this reality.

They also reflect a lack of understanding on the part of their media advisors of how the modern media operates.

When you have power you act not shout.

Coming back to George Charamba and indeed General Chiwenga, they clearly overreached.

Threatening their opponents through the state media platforms either shows their inability to read where the whole succession thing is going or they are over confident of their power and ability to withstand Mugabe’s tidal wave and the resolve of those around the president.

Now that Mugabe is talking about retiring the Generals, they will realize that their power is only rooted in being Mugabe’s appointees and nothing else.

Joice Mujuru realized this and I would argue that nobody is different from Mujuru in terms of being susceptible to Grace Mugabe’s bile.

The war veterans have been reduced to yelping each time they are angry. That’s the best they can do.

One thing that we often forget about is that people like Charamba are nothing without the State. They have made their names and fortunes through the State and it is the State that protects them from the many crimes and misdemeanors that they have committed.

Mugabe has the files on all these State actors that is why his wife treats them like little children and they are unable to do anything in the face of such brutal humiliation.

The price that one has to pay for keeping their position on the feeding trough.

They created this monster and fed it and enjoyed the fruits of corruption and political patronage whilst they were still on good terms with Mugabe.

Nothing and nobody is too big to be gotten rid of in ZANU PF as far as Mugabe is concerned and this has been fully proved over the years.

Another fallacy commonly peddled by our local media and analysts is that Grace is mad! Assuming so shows a lack of understanding of how Robert Mugabe operates.

Grace’s ranting comedy show is clearly well choreographed, written and directed by her husband.

Mugabe is 93 and physically tired but the old fox still thinks during the few hours he is awake.

The Lacoste faction led by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is not bound by ideology but by a desire to remain on the feeding trough and center of the patronage system.

As such, it is easier for the same patrons to switch sides if their patronage prospects look brighter elsewhere. Whoever is in charge of the State has the ability to attract these soldiers of fortune.

Lacoste’s nemesis, G40, is as strong as Mugabe is in power and they know this, which is why they are frantic for Mugabe to name his successor who is likely to be Sydney Sekeramayi.

Sydney Sekeramayi is the perfect candidate for the drivers of this project, he is the only minister who has been in Mugabe’s cabinet uninterrupted and has been less colourful in his 37-year-old career.

The perfect docile commander in chief that is forever grateful for being given salmon when he expected a Kariba bream.

Emmerson Mnangagwa is the one expecting caviar but it seems he is being offered sweet potatoes.

It is actually astute for Mugabe to retire after having put his preferred successor in place than to die in office as has always been intimated by many of our political analysts.

Mugabe can’t control events from the grave and this requires him to act and act now since time is not on his side.

His family can only be secure if he addresses the succession issue on his watch otherwise they will be at the mercy of whoever takes over after Mugabe’s death, something not so palatable given the number of political players bruised by Grace’s sharp tongue.

It hasn’t helped that the former colonial power entered the fray supporting one of the factions.

It was a kiss of death for Lacoste to get the British Ambassador’s endorsement and I am sure that the British ambassador is now as ineffective as a diplomat in Zimbabwe as the people she openly endorsed as long as Mugabe is in power.

This endorsement has seen people like Tendai Biti, Ibbo Mandaza and academic Miles Tendi going after the British ambassador for interfering in the affairs of Zimbabwe.

Back to Saturday in Chinhoyi, I hope that George Charamba has learnt that nothing will last forever in this lifetime.

Charamba has abused the state media using it as a platform to attack his enemies and employing his surrogates to do his bidding at State media outlets like Zimpapers and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

ZBC is today the worst broadcaster in the region due to Charamba’s commissions and omissions.

It is embarrassing for any self-respecting media professional to be associated with the terrible content broadcast on ZBC.

It is common cause that anyone who is able to transact with their skills elsewhere would not be at ZBC today.

It is a point of last resort more so for those without opportunities, opportunities which were taken away by Charamba’s backward policies of stifling the media, and creating a choir journalism industry singing propaganda tunes praising his boss and his corrupt government.

George Charamba has ruled the information ministry with a cold and determined ruthlessness banning journalists and media houses and crudely calling them names.

This has been enabled by the incestuous relationship between his two jobs of being permanent secretary for the ministry of information and the powerful post of presidential spokesman for almost two decades.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, George Charamba had absolute power until Saturday.

He has abused journalists who were doing their legitimate work threatening them with all sorts of sanctions including arrests, state security harassment, withdrawal of media accreditation and the sharp tongue of his now defunct Nathaniel Manheru column where he abused with reckless abandon.

He helped destroy the media and as an international journalist and filmmaker I am sad to see how he ruined my two professions.

Film in any country relies on decent broadcasting television stations, something that we don’t have in Zimbabwe.

We don’t have such stations thanks to George and his cahoots.

I was banned twice in 2004 and in 2008 and called a state security risk for corresponding for the BBC and was refused access to election accreditation.

Everything works in cycles and every dog has its day. He might survive this telling off but he will never be the same powerful George again as long as Mugabe and his wife are in charge.

In a normal world this would have been the right and opportune time for George to resign and pursue his much desired PhD.

Unfortunately, the word resignation does not exist in ZANU PF lexicon.

In a normal world a civil servant like George wouldn’t have been wearing party regalia at a party rally as he did in Chinhoyi.

But again this is Zimbabwe, anything goes including dress downs from Dr Amai!